Disciplining and drafting, or

21st century learning?

Presentation to Cantatech and Aoraki e-clusters
Darfield, 3 September 2008

Rachel Bolstad
New Zealand Council for Educational Research
• PAST
• PRESENT
• FUTURE?
Schooling in the Industrial Age…
Primary school for
everyone – “the basics”

Secondary school:
academic orientation

Tertiary education:
for the minority
Working
class
Manager/Professional
classes
The Industrial Age Economy…
Economy based on exploiting natural
resources
Mass production
Owners, Managers, Workers
Workers’ - roles clearly defined. Needed
to be able to follow rules, respect
authority, and carry out role responsibly
Managers – More highly educated.
Needed to understand “big picture” and be
able to make decisions
The traditional Academic Curriculum
Plato’s ideas
Students who are good at learning this knowledge are
intelligent and deserving of further education

The academic curriculum was the tool for sorting

students “Bread for all and jam for the deserving” (Beeby)

Curriculum is
• discipline-oriented
• knowledge-centred
• taught by subject specialists

NB. Generally speaking, students don’t get the chance to be

knowledge producers until they reach graduate level
Our mental models of knowledge, mind, and learning
(from Gilbert, 2005)
Knowledge Learning
Minds
•Knowledge is “stuff” •Learning is the process by
•Minds are like containers;
•It can be stored – in which knowledge gets
they store knowledge
minds, books, or stored in minds
•Minds also process
other kinds of •Learning is an individual
databases knowledge; they take it in,
organise it, represent it activity; it takes place in
•It is something stable individual minds
•Some minds have more
that accumulates •Learning is easier if the
over time capacity than other minds
for storing or processing knowledge is broken down
•It is built up by into parts and introduced
knowledge
people, but it exists as a series of steps,
objectively, beginning with the easiest
independent of or most basic concepts
people
Metaphors for the Industrial Age
secondary school system?
 Industrial age?
X
Metaphor 1: A forked river © NZCER

R. Bolstad & J. Gilbert (2008) Disciplining and drafting or 21st century learning? Rethinking the New Zealand senior secondary curriculum for the f
Metaphor 2: A braided river © NZCER
Metaphor 3: A braided river with campground for “drowning” students © NZCER
Characteristics of the “Knowledge Age”/
21st century world…

New ways of working New kinds of problems

Sustainability challenges
Interconnected dimensions:
•Environmental
•Social
•Political
•Economic

“We can’t solve problems by using the

same kind of thinking we used when
we created them” – attributed to
Einstein
THEN NOW
Young people followed clearly-defined Young people have huge array of
pathways – through education, possible futures
training, into the workplace.
Young people “responsibilised” with
Choices were limited and often planning their own pathways
constrained
Knowledge is partial
Knowledge was stable
Future is unknown
Future was predictable
P. 41
Rosemary Hipkins (NZCER) says
that dealing with complexity and
ambiguity will be an important part
of the education of Gen Y. She
gives the example of omega-3
being found to protect against
heart disease. Great, but if
everybody ate more oily fish, what
would happen to wild fish stocks?
“We have to find a way to educate
kids to see the big-picture
connectedness and to understand
that there isn’t one right answer
anymore….”
 21st century learning – what is it?
20th century learning 21st century learning
Industrial Age Knowledge Age
Learning means acquiring Building learning capacity, learning
information, building knowledge dispositions, lifelong learning, learning
(bit by bit), ‘filling up’ with how to learn, developing key
knowledge; competencies;

Accumulation of knowledge- Doing things with knowledge;

based credentials

One size fits all; Personalised learning;

Disciplined, passive learners; Active, engaged learners;
 21st century learning – what is it?
20th century learning 21st century learning
Industrial Age Knowledge Age

Independent work on teacher- Teachers and students generating

generated tasks. new knowledge together;

Real-world, authentic, learner-

Ritualised solving of teacher- generated learning tasks, Real world
generated problems. problem-solving.

General intellectual skills Foregrounding of general

developed implicitly via exposure intellectual skills: analysing,
to the traditional disciplines; synthesising, creative thinking,
practical thinking, ethical thinking;
 21st century learning – what is it?
20th century learning 21st century learning
Industrial Age Knowledge Age

Separate subjects /disciplines; Interdisciplinary focus;

Emphasis on ‘left brain’ thinking ‘Left brain’ thinking necessary but

- logical, analytic, detail- not sufficient;
focussed;
disciplined rule-following, ‘Right brain’ thinking - aesthetic,
respect for authority; synthesising, big picture,
contextual, simultaneous thinking,
knowledge in ‘bits and pieces’
thinking ‘outside the square’;

The “independent scholar” People, relationship, teamwork

skills & EQ;
The 21st century world
The NZ Curriculum
Principles
Vision
Values
Key Competencies

You, your
students,
your school,
your
community
How are we to respond to a more open ‘framework’
curriculum?
• Ignore it (anyway “assessment drives the curriculum”, at least
in years 11-13)

• Tweak our existing unit plans to fit

• Focus mostly on our learning area, and use it to streamline and

improve our units/lessons, and to generate clear learning
outcomes

• Focus mostly on the front end (at least initially), embarking on

a journey into new territory that could transform our practice
and students’ learning
The New Zealand Curriculum
 Changing the foreground

“Schools can choose to organise their curriculum

around values, key competencies or learning areas
and deliberately weave the other two through their
programmes.
Alternatively they might decide to organise their
curriculum around central themes, integrating
values, key competencies, knowledge and skills
across a number of learning areas….”
(p37)
Some examples of a 21st century learning
approach to the NZC

Two “micro” examples Two “macro” examples

Science: understanding Education for
the structure of atoms sustainability
Health education: Education for
exploring an adolescent enterprise
health issue
 Science: the structure of an atom

20th century (based on a true story: Rachel Bolstad circa 21st century
1991-1995):
•Open textbook.
Type the
•Turn to page about atomic structure.
•See diagram of atom provided by textbook, or drawn on board by word “atom”
your teacher. and search
•Accept that this is what an atom looks like. Redraw this model in
test to show that you understand
using Google
•Experience shock and disbelief the following year when told that Images
this is not the “real” model.
•Wonder when the teacher is going to finally reveal the “truth”
about what atoms look like
• C20 Lens: The purpose is to teach how things
are represented in science.

• C21 Lens: The purpose is to teach how things

are represented in science and to develop an
understanding of how these representations
show what is important in science. The
ultimate goal is for students to see science as
a particular way of looking at the world.
Understanding Language, Symbols, and Texts
Making explicit that these are representations of phenomena – (not the “true” picture)
Shows that there are common conventions for representing certain concepts
• Who came up with these conventions?
• How did they decide?
• What kinds of evidence led people to model things this way?
• How does human experience shape the metaphors and models we can imagine?
(e.g. models of atoms - models of the solar system)

Science essence statement: New Zealand Curriculum

“Science is a way of investigating, understanding, and explaining our
natural, physical world and the wider universe. It involves generating and
testing ideas, gathering evidence – including by making observations,
carrying out investigations and modelling, and communicating and
debating with others – in order to develop scientific knowledge,
understanding, and explanations. Scientific progress comes from logical,
systematic work and from creative insight, built on a foundation of
respect for evidence. Different cultures and periods of history have
contributed to the development of science.”
 Health and physical education

20th century (based on a true story: Rachel 21st century

Bolstad circa 1991-1995):

Run around the school field 3 times a Students work in teams to

week, Play a bit of sports research and produce a video
Class visit by a public health nurse documentary about an
adolescent health issue
Learn a bit about sexual health,
nutrition, the food pyramid, etc… This is made into a DVD
resource available for the
whole school to use
• C20 Lens: The purpose is to learn knowledge
about health and healthy habits, so that these
can be put into practice in one’s own life

• C21 Lens: The purpose is to accept

challenges in health-related contexts, learn
about what it takes to be healthy, and
undertake considered actions to contribute to
their own health and wellbeing and the
health and wellbeing of those around them
Health and PE essence statement: New Zealand
Curriculum
“Through learning and by accepting challenges in health-related and
movement contexts, students reflect on the nature of well-being
and how to promote it. As they develop resilience and a sense of
personal and social responsibility, they are increasingly able to
take responsibility for themselves and contribute to the well-being
of those around them, of their communities, of their environments
(including natural environments), and of the wider society.”
• Participating and contributing
• Relating to others
• Managing selves
• Health-promoting schools framework: Students’ contribution can
benefit the whole school
• Plus: film and video editing skills, research skills, interviewing
skills…..etc etc etc etc…..
Education for Sustainability
- Relevant to the 21st century world
Global sustainability issues directly or indirectly affect everyone
on the planet.
Sustainability issues are “open-ended problems” – they demand
continuous research, the development and application of new
thinking, drawing on and recombining existing knowledge, and
the willingness to take action to change current unsustainable
practices

- Relevant to the needs and interests of

students and the community
Local/Global issues intersect
Students and communities’ health, wellbeing, and livelihoods are
dependent on the environment
Students and communities actions, choices, beliefs, and behaviours
have a direct impact on their environment, etc.
Education for Sustainability
How does this relate to the New Zealand Curriculum?
VISION PRINCIPLES VALUES
Students will be
Young people: The curriculum encouraged to value:
who will seize the encourages students to - community and
opportunities offered by look to the future by participation for the
new knowledge and common good
technologies to secure exploring such significant
sustainable social, future-focused issues as - ecological
cultural, economic, and sustainability, which
environmental future for sustainability, citizenship,
our country enterprise, and includes care for the
globalisation. environment

The Learning Areas: Multiple references to the

environment, sustainability, and students taking actions to
contribute to their environment = see essence statements
and achievement objectives
Education for Enterprise (E4E)
- Relevant to the 21st century world
Many countries aspire to move towards the concept of a
“knowledge-based society” where KNOWLEDGE is as valuable
as raw physical materials.
How do we meet the challenge of sustainability?
Social entrepreneurship
- Relevant to the needs and interests of students and the
community
• Community partnerships are central to enterprising learning.
• E4E has the potential to support long-term social and economic
development within local communities and regions: by
connecting young people to what is going on in their
communities, and encouraging schools and community/business
partners to form relationships that are mutually beneficial
Education for Enterprise (E4E)
How does this relate to the New Zealand Curriculum?
VISION PRINCIPLES VALUES
Young people: The curriculum Students will be
encouraged to value:
Who will be creative, encourages students to -innovation, inquiry
energetic, and look to the future by
enterprising…. and curiosity
who will seize the exploring such significant - integrity
opportunities offered by future-focused issues as -(plus all the rest!)
new knowledge and sustainability, citizenship,
technologies to secure
sustainable social, cultural, enterprise, and
economic, and globalisation.
environmental future for
our country

The Learning Areas: Multiple areas refer to being

creative, enterprising, entrepreneurial…and almost
unlimited ways in which learning in any area can involve
being enterprising…!
 A sharper focus on learning to “be”

Lifelong learners Key competencies

(vision) •Using language,
• Literate and numerate symbols and texts

• Critical and creative •Thinking

thinkers

• Active seekers, users, •Participating and

and creators of contributing
knowledge

•Managing self
• Informed decision
makers
•Relating to others
Communities and the curriculum
NZC says school curricula will need to take
into account the:
• needs, interests, and circumstances of the
school’s [students and] community.
• values and expectations of the community
 Students and the curriculum
Who decides what students’ needs and interests are?
The curriculum is usually designed for students, not
by students, or with students
In a 21st century world - “School’s focus…
must change so that the interests of students
Some possible exceptions: and their transformative work are at the
• Curriculum integration centre of educational attention” (Kress,
2008)
• Negotiated curriculum
• Inquiry learning (?)
 To sum up
•The NZC gives us permission to do things differently
but if these ideas are going “to take” we need to look
at the beliefs and assumptions our schools are based
on. These shape how the curriculum will be
interpreted.
•The curriculum can be “navigated” in many ways!
•Subject knowledge and competencies are interwoven
in C21st learning – it is not an either/or situation.
•21st Century learning requires bringing together
rigorous content and real world relevance.
•Schools must now take up the challenge of
developing curriculum with students, and bringing the
community into the process as well!
Metaphor 4: A networked campground © NZCER
 Acknowledgements
Thanks to my colleagues at NZCER whose ideas have
contributed to this presentation:

• Jane Gilbert
• Rosemary Hipkins
• Ally Bull