When looking at emerging trends or issues in education there
are many that capture my attention. The
main issue I wish to focus on however is that of keeping children safe and
sound. In the OECD (2016) review on ‘Trends
Shaping Education’, it is stated that well-being of children has increased due
to “advances in medicine, better nutrition and healthier lifestyles” (p.88). This combined with safer environments has
also lead to a steady decrease in child mortality. Stress on students due to hours of homework
has also been shown to be decreasing in the OECD report. These trends are positive. The OECD then talks about there being a “difficult
debate about the rights and responsibilities of parents and schools. Who is responsible for keeping children healthy?”
(2016, p.89).
When doing teacher training, one of the first things we
learnt about was Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1954). Maslow’s theory tells us that the most basic
needs must be met before the individual will be motivated to higher level needs. The theory is depicted in a pyramid with the
bottom four needs called ‘deficit needs’ and the top one a ‘being need’. Without the deficit needs filled, an
individual cannot move on to fulfilling their full potential, or self-actualization.
With all this in mind, how can schools ignore the bottom of
the pyramid whilst expecting higher levels of thinking and learning? Child poverty in our country is at 28% with
almost 305,000 children living on or below the poverty line (Unicef, 2016). This means cold, damp, overcrowded housing,
no warm or rain-proof clothing, worn out shoes and regularly going hungry. How can these children stand a chance to fulfil
their potential? What can and do schools
do about this?
Many low decile schools are taking advantage of the free
fruit, weetbix and milk available to schools.
Gargiulo (2014) is the principal of Manurewa High School (MHS) where
they have gone a step further and are also providing soup and toasted
sandwiches for lunches with the help of a local charity. They recorded steadily increasing performance
in National Certificate of Educational Achievement at all levels in the years
2006-2013. Alongside introducing
breakfast and lunch for students, MHS took a look at pastoral care and
upskilled teachers on understanding the world view of the community they worked
in and building better relationships with students and their whanau. In terms of the hierarchy of needs, MHS
allowed many of their students to fulfil their potential by stepping back and
addressing the basic needs of the students, building a healthy and safe
environment.
In my own practice, I find that I have often had to address
the basic health and well-being of students before moving onto the other ‘core curriculum’
parts of my day. I have taken students
to hospital appointments, when families have been struggling to attend. I have
made breakfast or lunch for students, dressed wounds, found adequate clothing
and even given a hug when needed. I feel
these responsibilities should lie with the parents, however, when children’s
basic needs are not being met, I feel the school also has a responsibility not
to ignore it. Whether this is education
for parents, breakfast clubs, facilitating contact with appropriate agencies to
help the child/ family. At the end of
the day, if our objective as a school is to help students reach their potential
we need to be ready to look at what is holding each student back. ERO (2012) want to see all schools using
assessment to get to the bottom of each individual students learning
needs. If the needs are at the bottom of
Maslow’s heirarcy only the relationships that schools build with the students
and families will help to identify those needs, no amount of standardised
testing will help. We need to delve
deeper into assessing what is holding back our most vulnerable priority
learners.
References
Education
Review Office. (2012). Retrieved 5 May 2015, from http://www.ero.govt.nz/About-Us/News-Media-Releases2/The-three-most-pressing-issues-for-N
Gargiulo, S.
(2014). Principal sabbatical report. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leadership-development/Professional-information/Principals-sabbatical-reports/Report-archives-for-2007-2014/Secondary-award-recipients-2014/Gargiulo-Salvatore
Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation
and Personality. New York: Harper Brothers.
OECD (2016),
Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2016-en
Unicef. (2016). Child
poverty in New Zealand. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org.nz/learn/our-work-in-new-zealand/Child-Poverty-in-New-Zealand?gclid=CISMx5Lr0M8CFUWUvQodVycIrQ
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