Principles and pedagogy underpin Common Practice Model

Minister of Education, Jan Tinneti during a visit to Konini Primary School in Wainuiomata along with colleague, MP Ginny Anderson.

The Common Practice Model (CPM) incorporates evidence-informed pedagogical approaches and practices that will better support all educators and address inequities in education. It’s being developed collaboratively and reflects sector experiences, evaluation and research findings. The CPM is part of the larger body of work to support literacy, communication and maths through Te Whāriki and the refresh of The New Zealand Curriculum.  

Education Gazette asked Education Minister Hon Jan Tinetti why the model could be a real game changer.  

Q: Why do you think the CPM, the Literacy & Communication and Maths Strategy and the Curriculum Refresh are important at this time?

A: Literacy, communication, and maths are foundational areas that young people need to succeed in life. For many years teachers have told us that they don’t have enough clarity or direction in achieving what we want them to achieve. I can attest to this having come out of the sector – the number of approaches I adopted over the years! We just haven’t had consistency across the sector of the principles that underpin really good practice and the pedagogies that will get us there.  

The Common Practice Model to me is the essential part of the Literacy & Communication and Maths Strategy because it’s going to guide teachers in delivering the best possible teaching, learning and assessment. In all of that we have to make sure that the Curriculum Refresh is part of this and that our teachers have a totally integrated approach to everything they’re doing.  

The principles that underpin good practice are really important and we want to ensure that our teachers are feeling confident and capable – not grasping at straws. Every teacher wants to do a great job for their kids but sometimes they lack confidence because we haven’t been consistent in the messaging and support that we’re giving to our workforce to be able to achieve those goals.  

For me, the CPM is the cornerstone of the Strategy and the Refresh. If we get this right, it’s going to support our workforce to be the best that they can be.

The CPM could be a real game changer, says the Minister of Education.

Q: You’ve told me what your vision is – do you think it’s achievable? 

A: I 100 percent think that it’s achievable and the reason I say that is because we’ve got a workforce that’s crying out for it. We just have not addressed this until now. That’s why so many schools have adopted practices that might look different to what we were doing 20 years ago, they’ve done their own research. Let’s get that consistent across the system that we have.  

Teachers are wanting to be engaged in this. I acknowledge the fact that there’s been a lot of pressure on teachers in the last few years, but what teachers tell me is that they know if they put the time in now, it’s going to give more clarity and make things a lot easier for them to understand down the track.  

Having said that, I also am aware of the pressures that we put on teachers and those are things that I am constantly weighing up all the time. I just hope that this is key to making changes in our system.  

Q: One of the aims of the Common Practice Model is to address inequities, particularly for Māori and Pacific children. How do you think a Common Practice Model will achieve this? 

A: It’s considering all of the settings that we have and the different young people that we have in the country. We have to make certain that we don’t just have a generic take that doesn’t consider different aspects that young people bring to the education process. That’s what the experts have been working through.  

What the model will do is consider the teaching and learning pedagogies and practices that we know work for all of our learners. But it will have a particular focus on the needs of those who are not having their needs met within the current system. The CPM will give direction and flexibility for educators to be able to target those learners as well.  

Q: This is a very large piece of work – what kind of timeframe is achievable and what is required to move it forward?

A: It is a large piece of work, so we have to be realistic about that. It will take time and that’s why we’re getting this first part out into the sector now. It focuses on pedagogical approaches, then we will look at pedagogical practices: we know that teachers are raring to go and are wanting to be engaged in this. I really believe that we can achieve this very quickly. But to get it embedded, we have to be realistic that it will take time, resources, and professional learning supports.  

This is the first tranche, but as it develops there will be discussions, for example, about what might work for different learners. We’ve seen a lot of schools that have started their own research in these areas and they’re already down the track in many instances. This is just bringing the research together. I was in the sector for 27 years and this is the first time I feel that has been taken into account. And I feel that this is going to serve those young people so much better than we have done before.  

Q: What would you like teachers, kaiako, leaders, experts to do to engage with the CPM? 

A: Our teachers are the experts here, they work with our young people day in, day out, so we want to get this right. We need them to read the Common Practice Model and think about how it relates to them in their setting. We need teachers who work with all demographics of young people to engage in this.  

Having been a teacher, I so value that voice. I value what we can get right here, but also what we could potentially get wrong because we aren’t listening to the sector. The Ministry will be organising webinars to talk about what’s been developed and why, and I really encourage you to attend those, and then they’ll be looking to test the Common Practice Model with kaiako and leaders later in the year.  

We’re trying to create an even playing field, and I think we’re right on the cusp of achieving that.

• Education Gazette profiled the Common Practice Model including kōrero with five members of the contributors’ groups in Issue 2, 202(external link)3
• Literacy & Communication and Maths Strategy – Education in New Zealand(external link)
• Common Practice Model – Education in New Zealand(external link)