This was a guided tour of the new campus at Hobsonville
Point Secondary School, led by Maurie Abraham, the Principal and he was
assisted by the Chairman of the Board, Alan Curis.
The campus is unlike any secondary campus I have ever
visited. It is built to accommodate 1350 day students, but currently it has a
roll of around 120 year 9s. The roll is expected to be added to year by year
for the next five years. There is a wide central corridor, with large open
areas branching off in either side. There are no classrooms as such, however,
within each broad space, there are smaller room that can be closed off if
necessary.
The feel of the building is much more in line with what a
modern library, university campus or software development company office might
feel like. It is physically set up to encourage openness and collaboration.
The hierarchical structure of the school is also very
different. Although there are still traditional positions of responsibility
like Principal and Deputy Principal, the boundaries between teacher/student are
somewhat more blurred than in traditional schools. Students are on a first name
basis with their teachers and freely roam all areas of the campus, including
the staffroom.
There are no classrooms, form-groups, timetables, bells,
periods or subjects. As a teacher from a ‘traditional’ school, the question
begs, how on earth does anything get learnt?! (or taught)
Yet, despite the apparent lack of structure, the year 9s
were busy doing all sorts of things. The walls were covered with examples of
student work.
Whole term themes underpin the direction of the school.
Teachers come together to discuss which achievement objectives from the
curriculum are to be covered in that term and what will have to happen in order
the learning to take place.
Students are also given scope to choose their own direction
within the theme. Students are free to explore their own curiosity and pursue
particular areas of interest, while linking it back to a particular theme.
What struck me a lot within the way students self-direct
themselves was the way they are encouraged to be self-aware of their goals and
what they will have to do along the way to achieve them. Maurie quoted an
example where a student articulated that he needed to choose a maths option in
an elective area to ensure he had prerequisite knowledge to do further maths
that would lead to credits in NCEA in three or four years’ time, enabling him
to get into the university course he needs.
Such a pedagogical structure places massive amount of
responsibility on the individual student. This is not a fact lost on the staff
at Hobsonville Point. They seek not to fill young minds full of facts, but
develop a sustainable disposition of self-awareness so students are able to
know their own strengths and weaknesses and develop them appropriately.
I was inspired, not so much by the building, but the
philosophy of education at Hobsonville Point. It is about taking the onus of
teaching content off the teacher, putting them in more of a position of ‘guide’
or ‘facilitator’. The onus is on the student to be responsible for their own
learning, but in a very caring and supportive environment.
As I reflect on the big picture of society, and question
what do I want to come out of process of education in New Zealand, for me the
answer is not ‘people filled with knowledge’ but ‘community minded individuals,
filled with drive, conviction, responsibility, collaboration, diligence and determination’.
Can this happen only at a campus like Hobsonville Point Secondary School? No, I
think it can happen anywhere. But it has more to do with the teachers and
leaders within schools than the physical buildings they occupy.
My next step will be to ask my year 9s a few
questions like: -what do you enjoy? What do you want to do? What has been most
interesting in maths this year? Then I want to explore how I can fit the
curriculum around their responses. They must learn, but they don’t have to hate
it.