Indian Newslink 15th May 2017 Digital Edition

08
Educationlink
Connectivity, not cash, can solve truancy
Ari Luecker
According to the Programme
of International Students Assessment
(PISA), 42% of New
Zealand students are skipping
school at least once every two weeks.
Why are children skipping school,
and how do we engage students in the
classroom and make sure they stay there?
Brentin Mock, a staff writer at The
Atlantic’s web magazine ‘CityLab,’ and a
parent, suggests that paying students for
showing up to class, using compensation
rather than discipline to encourage students’
attendance.
While it seems far-fetched, some of the
ideas behind paying students to attend class
are grounded in real concerns.
Potential to help
Mock argues that a universal attendance
payment to students by the state has the
potential to help children who are most at
risk.
Research shows that children who grow
up in poverty are at increased risk of educational
underachievement and antisocial
behaviour, such as truancy.
Providing fiscal compensation for
education makes it available for those who
need it most. Perhaps materially deprived
families could pay for their child’s school
lunches with the cash they got from
attending school rather than having to go
without, or use it on a club or extracurricular
activity.
However, this kind of payment is not
a perfect solution, as it does not appeal to
Cultural components improve Pasifika learning
Staff Reporter
info@indiannewslink.co.nz
Teachers of intermediate-aged
Pasifika students should include
more cultural components as
their teaching method to ensure
that young adolescents stay engaged with
learning throughout secondary school, an
academician has said.
Massey University PhD graduate
(Education) Dr Alet van Vuuren, has
explored factors facilitating better learning
by Pacifica students at intermediate level in
her recent study.
Dr Vuuren is a Registered Psychologist
at the Education Ministry.
Dr Alet Van Vuuren
Positive difference
Her study showed the positive difference
to student engagement when teachers
include critical cultural content into
classroom practices.
“Despite considerable effort to improve
student engagement, achievement and
performance outcomes within the required
inclusive educational contexts, a significant
number of Pasifika students still leave
school without any formal qualifications.
Although 80% of Pasifika students stay at
school until the age of seventeen, they do
not necessarily achieve high enough qualifications
to guide them into the workforce
or tertiary education,” she said.
Pasifika Education Researcher Associate
Professor Bobbie Hunter and Special Education
Expert Associate Professor Mandia
Mentis (both from Massey’s Institute of
Education) supervised the Study.
Assessment Tool
The Study generated a cultural assessment
tool called ‘Feeding the Roots Model
what really motivates students to change
their behaviour.
Financial needs
Management theorist Frederick
Herzberg proposed that lower order needs
(physiological, safety) such as financial
needs are associated with dissatisfaction,
not motivation.
So, we will complain about our low pay,
but we will not necessarily work harder in
order to prove we deserve more money.
Individuals instead look to fulfilling
their higher-level needs (social, esteem,
self-actualisation) to motivate themselves.
This implies giving students a salary
may lead to fewer complaints about school
but would not even motivate them to listen
in the classes they are attending.
Paying student may cause nominal
truancy rates to go down, but educational
attainment - students’ learning, responsiveness,
engagement – will not improve.
Recent childhood development research
into personality and other character skills
doesn’t support Mock’s claim either.
It shows that these personal qualities
play empirically important roles in shaping
performance completely apart from the
effects of incentives.
Money, no solution
More than payments, having a warm,
supporting parent or mentor can transform
lives. Money does not solve relational
issues.
We do not just want high schoolers to
turn up to class, we want them to engage
with the tools to succeed in their lives,
through listening to their teachers, gaining
academic qualifications, and developing
‘ako,’ a Māori term describing a reciprocal
“teaching and learning relationship”
between student and teacher.
of Pasifika Student Engagement.’
The objective is to help teachers understand
the importance of acknowledging
critical cultural components when engaging
Pasifika students in learning.
Dr Vuuren interviewed students, staff
teacher aides, Resource Teachers of Learning
and Behaviour (RTLB) and parents at a
South Auckland intermediate school where
52% of the students were from Pasifika
backgrounds.
Her study found that teachers who
explicitly integrated cultural references,
knowledge, language and learning styles
(solving a problem as a group rather than
focussing on the individual) achieved higher
levels of Pasifika student engagement
MAY 15, 2017
What really inspires students to attend
school are things like challenging work,
recognition for achievement, responsibility
and involvement in decision making.
Good Programmes
The government is already doing
some good work around this, with school
programmes like “My Friends Youth” and
“Check and Connect.”
When a teenager wags school, it is not
usually because they are strapped for cash.
If we want children to be engaged
in class, we should look to encourage
mentoring, participative classrooms,
and integration between work skills and
traditional education.
Money will not inspire disenfranchised
teenagers to engage with education, but
connection and challenge will do so.
Ari Luecker is a Research Assistant at
Maxim Institute, Auckland.
in learning. Examples include; displaying
student work in classroom to enhance
a sense of belonging, allowing students
to learn from within the context of their
cultural experiences and identity, showing
personal interest in students and their families,
having high expectations of students,
and encouraging them to collaborate with
peers to problem-solve.
Editor’s Note: The above is an extract of
a detailed analysis that appeared in our
Web Edition dated May 7, 2017. Dr Alet
van Vuuren, graduated with a PhD in
Education at the College of Humanities
and Social Sciences ceremony in Auckland
last fortnight.