Tuesday, January 30, 2018

School Virtues and the Key Competencies

As a staff we looked into prioritising the daily use of our 20 school Virtues in a natural and meaningful / contextual way. Therefore we decided to 'unpack' the Key Competencies and linking them with our school Virtues.

In past years we have been weaving the Key Competencies and Virtues into the planning of learning experiences, but now we are reflecting on how we could / would make this work better for our students and how this could help them with their reflections on learning outcomes.

As stated "The key competencies element of The New Zealand Curriculum brings with it exciting possibilities for making students’ experience of learning more relevant, engaging, meaningful, and useful. Key competencies-rich programmes will enable students to be confident, connected, actively involved learners in the present and in the future. They will encourage lifelong learners who are equipped to participate in rapidly changing local, national, and global communities." (NZ Curriculum Online, 2014)


Why do key competencies matter?
Constant change in the nature of work and technologies means that learning is a life long pursuit and students should be taught to think, to work collaboratively, to be creative and to discover. The key competencies support this and brings with them a future-focused outlook to teaching and learning, where students are at the centre.

Some things to ponder...
- Skills required 'today' is not being taught in today's schools
- Think about how many students might finish school without knowing their potential...



References:
NZ Curriculum Online (2014). TKI - Culture / Leadership and the key competencies



~ 'Thinking': "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thingking we used when we created them" - Albert Einstein ~
~ 'Participating and Contributing': "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." - Helen Keller ~
~ 'Relating to Others': "Always put yourself in the other's shoes. If you feel it hurts you, it probably hurts the person too." - Rachel Grady ~
~ 'Understanding Language, Symbols and Texts': "The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn the more places you'll go." - Dr Seuss ~
~ 'Managing Self': "The moment you take responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you can change anything in your life." - Hal Elrod ~

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