Teacher Learning Communities

Along with exponential roll growth, the Senior High has experienced other pressures that have influenced our approaches. Particularly disruptions to our curriculum during COVID and the advice of employers and the tertiary sector telling us that our young people need skills beyond acquiring subject knowledge to experience successful futures. These experiences have impacted our thinking about our curriculum and what is important to teach and learn. In the three years (sometimes less) that a student spends at a Senior High, there is a lot riding on gaining NCEA qualifications to access future pathways. Like many schools, weʼve felt the pressure that comes with helping students reach their academic goals—sometimes, it can lead to courses and lessons that feel more like “teaching to the test.” When COVID hit, that pressure only increased, with reduced curriculum opportunities and a focus on helping students get through. For us, as a growing school with a large number of beginning teachers, some of our staff had only ever experienced this scaled-back approach to teaching.

While gaining qualifications is important, there is a clear consensus across industries that young people need a lot more than just grades to thrive in current work environments. The World Economic Forum (2023) recently reported how skills like analytical and creative thinking are now top priorities for the future. Along with key competencies highlighted in the report (for example, resilience and empathy) applying critical and creative thinking skills to solve problems signalled a shift in capabilities employees needed to adapt to disruptions and change. At Rototuna Senior High, if we truly wanted to realise our vision and empower our students to soar, it was essential to re-evaluate our current approaches so that our students developed the skills and competencies needed to meet changing demands.

To bring this vision to life, we developed a theory of improvement. We began to explore how NCEA assessments might open up and deepen learning opportunities. Our thinking was informed by a mix of research primarily drawing from Dylan Wiliamʼs assessment for learning strategies, and a version of Lesson Study—a fresh approach planning for and learning about impactful teaching practices. Our theory of improvement centres on deepening learning experiences that empower students to think critically, creatively, and with empathy in ways that make connections within and beyond the classroom.

Throughout this journey, we have held regular schoolwide professional learning to build our shared understanding of deep learning and what it means to teach to promote the kinds of thinking we value for our students. Through collaboration with our middle leaders and teachers, blending assessment for learning, mātauranga Māori, and the principles we already valued, our efforts culminated in our “Quality Teaching for Deep Learning” model. The intent of the model is to act as a guide to help us align our teaching approaches with our schoolʼs principles and our collective beliefs about meaningful learning (see Figure 1). As our model continues to evolve, it emphasises both the “ways of being” (relationships) and the “ways of doing” (pedagogical practices) that help teachers intentionally design learning that fosters critical, creative, and caring thinking.