Kerre Woodham: The ideologues are responsible for the education mess

There was a headline in The Post: ‘Scathing survey results from teachers on NCEA level 1 roll out’. That was the headline. The story goes on: “A survey of teachers saw the vast majority indicate that the NCEA standards are poorly designed, changes have increased workloads, there's insufficient support from NZQA NCEA, and the provided exemplars often don't align with assessment specifications.”  

So legitimate concerns. Teachers have been dealing with massive changes of curriculum and it's no wonder that many of them have thrown in the towel. In fact, it's a wonder more of them haven't thrown in the towel. So, this government, the clear implication is, has stuffed up right? Scathing survey results from teachers on NCEA Level 1 rollout. That's very, very clear in the headline that the teachers are furious with this government, that is what the story implies. Education Minister Erica Stanford was on this morning talking to Heather du Plessis-Allan and she said no, the fault lies with the previous administration.  

“I get on very, very well with Chris Abercrombie and the PPTA. And to be fair to them, technically the grumblings that they're having at the moment is not with the curriculum, because there is no curriculum, it's with the NCEA changes to Level 1, and that is aimed at the previous government, and I agree wholeheartedly with them.  

“When I came into office last year I saw some results that showed that well over half of schools felt not prepared or only somewhat prepared for next year's Level 1. This is in November I saw this. And then I started fielding calls from principals and teachers saying we don't know what to teach next year because there are no subject learning outcomes, we don't have any exemplars.  

“So we had six weeks to scramble with the Subject Associations to write subject learning outcomes over Christmas — Associations did an amazing job— and push NZQA to get those exemplars ready, that weren't going to be ready till May. This was a disastrous rollout by the previous government of NCEA Level 1.” 

Who do we believe? I mean, there were massive changes to the curriculum under the previous administration, absolutely massive, and I do not blame teachers for being fed up. The coalition government said we are going to correct a lot of those changes, the curriculum that was being rolled out is going to be drawn back in and we're going to rewrite it and get back to the basics.  

There was very little guidance or support over the last six years, despite the huge numbers employed by the Ministry of Education. Remember the number of teachers employed by state schools rose by just over 5% from 2017 to 2022. In that same period, the number of full-time staff employed at the Ministry of Education rose by 55%. So the number of teachers actually at the coalface rose by 5%, the number of full-time staff at the Ministry of Education rose by 55%. There were 1700 more staff at the Ministry of Education than was employed in 2016, so they were undertaking huge projects. There was the building of classrooms, there was the new schools.  

Then there were the changes to the curriculum, and it was a seismic ideological change, incorporating Te ao Māori into mathematics and into science and there was all kinds of debate going on, ideological debate about the relevance. The Royal Academy of Mathematics was, I think, furious. Not just sad, but furious. Te ao Maori has its place they said, in maths? No, no, no. Maths is maths, it's its own language.  

So you have all of these people and the Ministry of Education, each with their own reckon and galloping along on their ideological stallion taking education in one direction. You had consultants up the ying yang, you had ten consulting firms that relied completely and utterly on the

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the carrywood of morning's podcast from News
Talk sed B.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
There was a headline in the post scathing survey results
from teachers on nca Level one rollout, So that was
the headline. The story goes on a survey of teachers
saw the vast majority indicate that the NCAA standards are
poorly designed, changes have increased workloads, there's insufficient support from

(00:33):
NZQA NCA The provided exemplars often don't align with assessment specifications,
so you know, legitimate concerns. Teachers have been dealing with
massive changes of curriculum and it's no wonder that many
of them have thrown them the taiel. In fact, it's

(00:54):
a wonder more of them haven't thrown in the towel.
So this government, the clear implication is has stuffed up
right scathing survey results from teachers on NCAA Level one rollout,
very very clear in the headline that the teachers are
furious with this government. That is what the story implies.
Education Minister Ericus Stanford was on this morning talking to

(01:17):
a Heather diplici Alla and she said, no, the fault
lies with the previous administration.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
I going very very well with Chris Abercrombie and the
PPTA and to be set to them. Technically. The grumblings
that they're having at the moment is not with a curriculum,
because there is no curriculum. It's with the NCEEA changes
to Level one and that is aimed at the previous
government and I agree wholeheartedly with them. When I came
into office last year, I saw some results that showed

(01:44):
that well over half of schools felt not prepared or
only somewhat prepared for next year's Level one. This is
in the empests or this, And then I started fielding
calls from Principles and Features saying we don't know what
to teach next year because there are no subject learning outcomes.
We don't have any exemplars. So we had six weeks
to scramble with the subject association to write subject learning

(02:07):
outcomes over Christmas. Associations did an amazing job and push
MZQA to get those exemplars. Really that weren't going to
be ready to May. This was a disastrous rollout by
the previous government of NAT.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Can you fix it, I think, was the answer, and
she said yes, given time. So who do we believe
I mean There were massive changes to the curriculum under
the previous administration, absolutely massive, and I do not blame
teachers for being fed up the government. The coalition government
said we are going to correct a lot of those changes.

(02:44):
The curriculum that was being rolled out is going to
be drawn back in and we're going to rewrite it
and get back to the basics. There was a very
little guidance or support over the last six years, despite
the huge numbers employed by the Ministry of Education. Remember
the number of teachers employed by state schools rose by

(03:08):
just over five percent from twenty seventeen to twenty twenty two.
In that same period, the number of full time staff
employed at the Ministry of Education rose by fifty five percent.
So the number of teachers actually at the coal face
rose by five percent. The number of full time staff

(03:30):
at the Ministry of Education rose by fifty five percent.
There was seventeen hundred more staff at the Ministry of
Education than was employed in twenty sixteen. So they were
undertaking huge projects. There was the building of classrooms, there
was the new schools. There was then there was the
changes to the curriculum, and it was a seismic ideological

(03:53):
change incorporating say al Maori into mathematics and into science,
and there was all kinds of debate going on, ideological
debate about the relevance the Royal Academy of Mathematics was
I think furious, not just sad, but furious. You know,
to ol Mali has its place, they said in maths. No, no, no,

(04:17):
Maths is maths. It's its own language. So you have
all of these people in the Ministry of Education, each
with their own recon and their sort of galloping along
on their ideological stallion, taking education in one direction. You
had consultants up the ying Yang. You had ten consulting

(04:38):
firms that relied completely and utterly on the Ministry of
Education for their funding while they came up with their
own reacons as well. They galloped off on their ideological stallions.
In came the coalition government who had whoa, come on, tonto, no,
we're pulling you in. Come back, herded all the ideological

(05:00):
stallions back into the paddock, and then said right, we're
getting on dobbin the old cart, and we're going to
trudge along the field, and we're going to plow basic
maths and basic science and basic English and to our kids.
This is what they need to learn to get them
up the international standards. And the teachers are like they've

(05:23):
been on the galloping horses. They've been going there and
here and everywhere, and now they're back wondering what the
hell was that. No, wonder they need teacher only days.
I have the teacher only days involved lying on cultes
and having soothing compresses placed on their foreheads because they
have been through a lot. I'm amazed more teachers. It's

(05:45):
only when you go back and look through the proposed
curriculum that was being laid out, especially under Chris Hipkins
and then when he was as Minister of Education and
then when he was Prime Minister, were extraordinary and there
simply wasn't any underpinning to them to allow the teachers

(06:06):
to teach. So they were given these ideological concepts and
very much left to their own devices to come up
with their own kind of underpinning to teach it. Very
few resources. I'll find your own, it's within your own community,
which some teachers could do better than others. And then

(06:31):
now it's all changed again. If the teachers are confused,
I'm not at all surprised. I don't know how you
make this better. And ultimately you know and I know
that it's the kids who are suffering because it's you
and I who are paying for the extra classes after school,

(06:54):
paying through the nose, finding money you don't have to
shore up gaps and the knowledge because it's not the teachers,
the ideologues are the ones responsible for the miss that
education is in.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
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