GRADUATION
ADDRESS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, Monday, 5 May
2014.
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“Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Members of Council, Members of the
University, Graduands, families and friends...”
Kia ora and may I offer my sincere congratulations to those,
graduating here today...
I’m honoured to be invited to speak to you and it’s appropriate that I
begin by honouring the memory of my late grandmother who was a very influential
educator in my own life. In fact, in 1916 - at the age of just 16 – she was a sole-charge
teacher at a school in the small isolated town of Ross, south of Greymouth
on the West Coast. Imagine that today. Sending untrained year 11 students to
small rural schools and not only expecting them to teach unassisted but to run
the school as well. In those days you were trialled as a teacher before you
were sent to training college. Only the best got through...and she was
definitely one of the best.
I read a great line recently about Gen Y increasingly switching their
career focus from “success” to “significance.”
It’s an important insight into a trend I believe is now rapidly sweeping
the world where meaning and purpose are much more highly valued than simply
success...
The most popular course at Harvard Business School these days is no
longer finance or investment baking, it’s now Social Entrepreneurship.
Consumers are increasingly seeking out products that are produced by
ethical manufacturers.
Businesses are redefining their role in the societies in which they
operate.
Disruption and innovation have become the two most important words in
the business lexicon. Right now, they should also be the two important words in
the education sector as well.
I want you to think of yourselves as disruptors because my sense is that
education in the next decade is about to be disrupted on a scale few people
truly appreciate.
This idea that we process students in batches through an industrial style model is clearly outdated. And while we
haven’t quite worked out what to replace it with I believe we are beginning to
get a sense of what that change is going to involve.
In the time I have available I want to share with you three stories of
disruptors I have covered in the course of my work who are already making their
mark on education both in this country and overseas.
Last year when I was in the United States I had the opportunity to meet
with and interview Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy which many of you will
be familiar with. This former hedge fund manager earning a multi-million dollar
salary discovered mid-career that he was in fact a gifted teacher. Today, he
earns probably a quarter of what he was on previously but here’s the thing...he
told me he has never been happier or more fulfilled. In just three years he has
built the world’s largest online school where an estimated 10 million students every
month are able to teach themselves a vast array of subjects including
maths, physics, chemistry, biology, history, art history, economics and even
computer coding....and all FREE of charge as a result of funding provided
by the Gates Foundation.
But as he points out in his book - The
One World Schoolhouse - a book I can highly recommend you read - the idea
of Khan Academy is not to replace the teacher, but to support them with
a technology platform that is truly outstanding.
I want to quote from an essay sent to me by a Year 13 student on the
North Shore detailing his experience using Khan Academy after hearing my
interview with Sal Khan on my RadioLIVE programme last year...
My realisation, we wrote, that things needed to
change came at the end of 2013, when I was required to take full control of my
own learning. It was as though the
traditional brick and mortar classroom model had failed me. After a year of
attending classes and doing my homework I was still unable to score a passing
mark in practice exams. I decided that drastic action was needed; so, with just
six weeks to go until my external exams I turned to Khan Academy.
I used the website every day for hours on end –
In fact, truth be told, I actually preferred it to my real classroom at
school. After a few weeks of using Khan Academy I began to realise that, not
only did I understand concepts I never had before, but I was also gaining a
real passion for the content that I was being taught. After six weeks I completed
my external exams and the results were absolutely amazing. Across my subjects I
scored an ‘A’ average. In just six weeks Khan Academy had taken what a
traditional school would have called a “sub-par” student and turned him into a
high achiever.
Today that student is in
his first year at this university undertaking a conjoint degree in engineering
and commerce, an opportunity he would have been denied without the assistance
of Khan Academy. It’s a reminder of the importance of blended learning options
that now exist for students to literally take control of their own learning.
My second story is about a
remarkable 12 year old student some of you may have heard about already. In
fact, he featured in the NZ Herald just last week. I first met Tristan Pang
last year when I was his speech coach for a TEDx Youth event I helped organise.
What makes Tristan truly exceptional is that, despite being just 12, he has
already passed Cambridge Year 13 maths gaining 96% in the final exam. In fact
this year he is already studying stage one mathematics at this university and
next year he will be a full time student.
Prior to speaking at TED he
was perhaps your typical gifted child who would run a mile from being put on
stage to speak to an audience of 500+ people. But with coaching and support I
was able to provide him with; his awesome talent has been truly unleashed.
Following an approach from his parents to be his mentor I’ve had the
opportunity to work closely with Tristan which I have to say has been quite a
remarkable experience.
Last year I organised for him
to speak at a decile one school in Glen Innes where he had been invited to
deliver his TED talk in person. The reaction from the more than 200 students
who attended surprised everyone. Not only were they in complete awe of his
achievements but the applause at the end of his talk went on for some minutes.
One student even asked me if Tristan would consider becoming his new maths
teacher while others told me his talk had inspired them to try harder
with their own learning.
As a result of his visit,
Tristan told me he wanted to do something to help the school - a challenge I
encouraged him to pursue. He proceeded to spend his entire Christmas holidays
building a website he has called Tristan’s Learning Hub. With no prior
experience working with HTML or coding, he simply taught himself how to build
the site, just as he’s been teaching himself maths for the last 11 years. He
brought all the necessary equipment and now writes and delivers his own maths
lessons in a series of five minute videos, much like Sal Khan, but importantly,
he doesn’t differentiate between year levels.
Today Tristan is a
confident speaker and an inspiring student who is able to share his talents and
gifts with a wide audience. Just recently he received an email from Professor Amon
O’Brien, in the Maths Department, praising him for his efforts developing his
new website and thanking him for helping him do his job. In an email to me,
Tristan expressed utter astonishment that he could actually help a professor
with his work!
The other aspect of the
story is about celebrating this remarkable new paradigm that now exists where it’s
possible for an increasing number of gifted and talented students to also be
teachers at the same time.
I know of one year 13
student who has established an after school academy teaching other students how
to code. I believe this idea of peer-to-peer learning presents a whole new
opportunity to reshape the way we look at education where the roles of student
and teacher can be much more interchangeable; particularly when it comes to IT
and technology.
My final disruptor is
Frances Valentine, founder of the Mind Lab in Newmarket, a facility for 4-14
year olds that allows them to explore technology in a way that truly captivates
students. In a converted warehouse, Frances has literally created an Aladdin’s
Cave filled with technology allowing students to develop their skills in
robotics, web design, computer coding, app development, animation and digital
design with highly skilled tutors on hand to assist. Students can visit the
Mind Lab either as part of their class or after school. Turn up there on any
day and it’s like stepping into a classroom of the future.
There are plenty of other
disruptors I could mention including the likes of Booktrack who have developed
world class technology right here in NZ that allows student readers to hear an
audio track of sound effects as they read significantly increasing engagement
levels....or Terrance Wallace who has founded the In-Zone project in Epsom, a
small whanau style hostel where 55 Maori & Pacifica boys from low income
backgrounds get the opportunity to attend Auckland Grammar School or Pat
Sneddon who was instrumental in establishing the Manaiakalani Trust which provides
every student in one of the poorest parts of Auckland with a digital device of
their own that forms an integral part of their learning.
What each of these
disruptors, all of whom I might add have come from outside the education
profession, have successfully achieved is taking a piece of the education model
and completely reimagined it.
My challenge to you today
is to think about how you can follow in their footsteps…
Two years ago I developed a
Confidence Course for students at Manurewa Intermediate School after becoming
aware that this was an issue that was preventing many of the students from
being able to achieve their true potential.
Establishing the course
allowed me to pass on a range of communication and presentation skills to the
students that I had acquired from working in the media. Time doesn’t permit me
to tell you the full story about the structure of the course itself, you can
watch my recent TEDx talk for the backstory, but suffice to say I’ve always
been interested in the role of confidence and ambition to unlock potential and
the course has certainly proven that to be the case.
I want to share with you a letter written to me by one 13 year old student
at the end of the first course I ran. Listen to the power of his words and the
liberating tone he conveys...
Dear Mr
Patterson,
I am writing to
thank you for helping me with my confidence
I also want to
thank you for taking time out of your hard and busy day to do something to help
all of us.
You’re the man
bro! I feel like I could talk in front of my class now without having to panic
or freeze. I just don’t know what to do or say for all your hard work.
I had decided
before I came to the course I wouldn’t answer any of the questions because I
didn’t want to be judged for what I said.
I was nervous
once, but now I believe what I want to believe. You taught me that.
I especially
loved how you changed all the others who were just like me on the course.
They were all
kind of nervous…but then BHAM! There they were, talking before my eyes with a
lot of pride and self-confidence and I was watching them and I felt I was on
the same journey with them.
It was just
amazing how everyone had improved and learnt so much.
So I’d like to
make you a promise. When I’m older I will get a great job and buy you a
Lamborghini.
Yours
sincerely,
Bailey Manga
(13)
I told Bailey it was one of the most sincere thank
you letters I had ever received and if ever a Lamborghini turned up on my
doorstep at least I’d know who it was from !!
Bailey announced to his family recently that he now
plans to go to university – something he had never considered or thought about
previously.
I want to conclude with a
few pieces of advice to take with you into your careers as educators.
Research says that most
people only remember one thing from any speech and after six weeks even that
one thing is usually forgotten. You’re educators, so I want you to remember
five!
The key words to remember are
connect, innovate, exceed, success
and responsibility or CRIES if you prefer mnemonics to assist
your recall....
Firstly, connect with the young people
you are working with and stay connected. I realise as you progress your careers
that will become more of a challenge but the ability to be that person who
inspires, motivates, nurtures and empowers is such a powerful relationship. Never
underestimate the impact you will have, and can continue to have, on lives both
now and in the future. I’m still mentoring students I tutored more than 30
years ago!
Be innovative
and disruptive in your approach. These days it’s no longer about thinking
outside the box, it’s about thinking in whole new boxes.
Thirdly, don’t just help students achieve their
potential. As John Hattie pointed out in a lecture he gave at the recent
Festival of Education, the true measure of your success as an educator will be
your ability to help students exceed
their potential.
Show students what success looks like. Either bring that success into their
world or take them to see it. Bring it to life for them and help create
pathways that allow them to see their own success in the future.
Finally, get students to see themselves as their
own teachers and to take responsibility
for their own learning. That way you help them to learn one of life’s most
valuable lessons; you only get out of life what you put into it.
When Holocaust survivor and renowned psychology
academic Viktor Frankl, who wrote the bestselling book “Man’s Search for
Meaning” – a book I might add everyone should read – was once asked to express
in a single sentence the meaning of his own life he said this: “The
meaning of your life, is to help others find the meaning of theirs.”
That’s a challenge we should
all embrace….
DOFF MORTARBOARD
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