Well apparently a tornado just hit the next town over, so I felt it was a good idea to stay indoors tonight. Tornadoes? In NZ? Really? Well whatever it will give me a chance to add some to this entry.
The purpose of my Lynfield internship is not only to continue building experience in the classroom (planning and delivering lessons), but also to understand the differences in the NZ education system (I have completed internship programs in two american schools to serve as a comparison). So far here's what I got:
- Funding distribution: In the USA the school is funded by the property taxes collect from that district. So obviously the wealthiest families (who generally have more expensive homes, and thus pay high taxes on their property) will be the ones who have access to the best schools (more money means better teachers, more resources). In the NYC, you'll find all ends of the spectrum. A top-notch public school equipped with a planetarium, a zen garden, and fresh mac computer labs can be just a short drive away from an overcrowded, dirty school that cannot even supply its students with textbooks. It's a mess, for sure. In NZ, the money for taxes is collected and an the government census determines the average socio-economic status for different districts. Schools that lie in poorer districts receive more funding. This is based on the observation that richer communities will naturally contribute more wealth to their children's school and can thus recieve less gov't funding. A great example I heard was that of a community raffle fundraiser. In a poorer district of Auckland, the community donated a big roast pig feast and sold raffle tickets for $50 (this is a fair price that people in that area could afford to purchase tickets at); the collection total was about $4000. In a richer district of Auckland, a new car was donated to the raffle, and tickets told at $300 a piece; the collection total was about $300,000. The goal of this funding method is to keep every district on a relatively equal playing field... and, although no system is perfect, NZ is doing a hell of a lot better than us.
- Diversity. Incredibly different. In my placement, I would say the breakdown is 40% pacific islanders, 25% Caucasian, 15% asian, 10% Indian, and the rest Maori, and refugees from the Middle Eastern Countries. Yeah so compared to white-bread upstate NY, is a huge and beautiful difference.
- Campus: Most NZ highs schools are set up in "blocks" with many different, non connecting buildings. Between these buildings are outdoor open spaces, courtyards, gardens, murals, and sweet sunshine... it doesn't even seem like our version of a public high school (which I think of as a big brick prison with white walls, you enter at 9 am and cannot leave again until 3). The kids are given freedom to go into town for lunch, or dawdle outdoors between classes. The school design is different partially because NZ has nicer weather year round, but also because american schools still have a factory style design left over from our industrialization period. Anyway, NZ wins in this category as well.
- Teaching independence: The district, or even the principal does not enforce/monitor how and what the teacher teaches. The teacher is allowed to make their own professional decisions and build their own curriculum to communicate academic ideas most effectively to their classroom. The best way to demonstrate this huge difference is to look at the difference in "learning standards," or academic objectives the teacher must meet with their class. For New York State, where I am getting certified, these are the 'guidelines for earth science'. That pdf makes me tired just to look at, i've had to quote and read through it extensively when submitting a formal lesson plan in the states... it's extensive. So that is for one full class year in the states, and the NZ version is just the picture to the right... so short, quite refreshing. You also don't submit formal lesson plans very frequently as a teacher down here.
- The kids call the teachers just "Miss" and "Mister" but with their kiwi accents sounds like "Miz?" "Mista?", yeah it's adorable. All students wear uniforms, there are very few districts in NZ that do not have uniforms.
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| Auckland Volcanic Field <3 <3 |
Like i said, earth science is a new part of the curriculum, so one of my projects is to build and deliver a program on local geology. Right now I'm observing/assisting in chemistry and physics classes, and using a few free periods to research/construct my own lesson plans. Also I am totally using this project as an excuse to climb and explore the local volcanoes and study material that I love, ie all those sexy sexy rocks.
So there's the volcanic field from my region. Alot of the lava fields and volcano cones were destroyed by european settlement, especially since the volcanic rock was quarried away and used to build structures (which I see in buildings and walls throughout the city). So not all of them are preserved perfectly, but I've made a list of the one's worth checking out that are actually accessible to me.
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| Right, I picked up a big thorough map on the first day, and I've slowly been filling it out with recommendations from local people and geologists i've encountered. I mean, this is like a 1/16 size of the map, but here's my immediate area where I live in the City. The lower left is Blockhouse Bay, my new home. Everywhere else is my playground, my new land to explore. Most of the other people in my program are placed at houses in Mt. Albert to the north, or in Lynfield. |
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| had lunch in the park at the summit, downtown Auckland and Rangitoto in the background |
I hiked Mt. Eden by myself after school on Thursday, and then hiked it again this weekend with some friends because it was so awesome. Amazing, I don't even know how to describe it. Big steep grassy slopes, panoramic views, and a magnificent crater at the summit. It was just a taste of what this country has to offer. I could sit up there for hours, enchanted by the blue bay and bright warm grasses...I obviously need to check out the other volcanoes first, but I am actually in love with Mt. Eden and might marry that place.
So that's where I'm at right now. It's sunday night and I'm ready to start another week. NZ is still very new to me but already it is beginning to feeling like home... I really mean that. I have a lot more I need to write about, namely the huge celebrations for the Rugby World Cup, but I have no energy or time left right now (still haven't started my school work for tmw, gah!). There's a lot of Maori language and customs built into the NZ culture, so i'll share some Maori wisdom to top this entry off. I think this one is appropriate because myself, and the students on my program, had to learn a lot this week, had to be brave and throw themselves willingly into new and sometimes uncomfortable situations.
Kaua e mate wheke mate ururoa, this is said to encourage somebody never to give up, even when life's not a piece of cake. The literal translation is "Don't die like an octopus, die like a hammerhead shark." Apparently, when an octopus is caught, it doesn't really resist, while a hammerhead will really put up a fight (so much so that even after you kill it the meat will continue to move). So it's all a little weird, but you get the idea... sharks are cooler than octopuses and we all live happily ever after.
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| Hammerhead sharks |
Just a side note for anybody in the market, there are no student planners for 2011 available in the whole of the southern hemisphere because theirs school semester started so long ago. After a long and laborious hunt, I had to settle with this so-lame-its-cool "monthly gardener's diary" from the bargain bin. Okay, now my semester has officially begun!
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