Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Mark Potter: NZEI President on the introduction of standardised testing for primary school students

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Mark Potter: NZEI President on the introduction of standardised testing for primary school students · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Change also coming to primary schools. As I'm sure you're
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: well aware, standardized testing arrives next to you in ZEIST
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: President Mark Potters back, what does make very good morning
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: to you?
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Morning am?
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: I Some use it, some don't. Those who use it
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  Speaker 1: seem to like it. Is that fair?
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah? The fact the majority use these assessments. So it's
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: not particularly a great game changer really.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: So it's just looking for consistency across the sector. Is
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: that any bad thing?
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  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, we're not saying it's not helpful, but what
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  Speaker 2: we're saying it's so prevalent it's not really to make
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  Speaker 2: that much of a difference. Teachers already assess, they're already
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  Speaker 2: MS and they already use it and to form their teaching.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Why don't those who don't use it don't use it?
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Well, there's actually not that mean that don't use it,
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  Speaker 2: but they aren't using those particular tests. They'll have assessments
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: that they do use that gives similar information.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: So what seemed to come out of the minister yesterday
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  Speaker 1: was the two tests that they're looking to you or
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  Speaker 1: want to use give some sort of allegedly reassurance that
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  Speaker 1: this isn't about standards and goals and polls and all
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  Speaker 1: that sort of stuff. Do you accept that or not?
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  Speaker 2: Really? Well, really, what it is is it's a lovely
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  Speaker 2: sounding statement, but all this doing is a stipulating two
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  Speaker 2: points in a year. That's not going to make a
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  Speaker 2: big difference for the teachers. They already do assessment throughout
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  Speaker 2: the year anyway.
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  Speaker 1: Right, So the argument as parents will know more, is
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: that true or not? Do you think?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's hard to know what they'll know more than
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  Speaker 2: what is currently available now. So just by saying you've
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: got to use these two particular tools won't necessarily improve
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: or increase the information that parents will already have.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Although the information if you're at a school as a parent,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: if you're at a school that doesn't do testing, what
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  Speaker 1: you're taking on board, I'm assuming is the teacher going yep, no,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Brian's doing reasonably well at the moment, as opposed to
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  Speaker 1: something more specific which your test would give.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Well, I don't think they will give such ague comments.
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  Speaker 2: But what there's absolute quality and the conversation between the
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  Speaker 2: teacher and a parent as to what's happening with the
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  Speaker 2: child and their learning and what's the best way forward.
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  Speaker 2: Just using exactly the same standard statement is necessarily going
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: to make that more informed?
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  Speaker 1: Is this a little Chris Hipkins was trying to talk you.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: So they're trying every time the word testing comes up,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: they're trying to sort of elevate the anxiety. Allegedly, kids
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: will be anxious. Do you subscribe to that or not?
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Really, Well, we do know that that is the case,
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  Speaker 2: particularly the children that will find the most difficult. Anxiety
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: is a well known factor that comes out of that.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: So schools and teachers have tried to come up with
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  Speaker 2: different ways of assessing without having that same anxiety inducing
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: option opportunity being arising.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Is anxiety a bad thing necessarily?
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, it really depends on the individual, doesn't it.
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  Speaker 2: If we are children being testers who are very happy
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: and stronger than those areas, anxiety won't be a big issue.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: But evidences, and it's not just for children, anxiety actually
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: does decrease a person's ability to make decisions and to
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: be their best.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: So you I get you back in the year's time
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  Speaker 1: once of testing. Everyone's doing the same sort of tests
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: every year, you would expect no great difference to what
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: we're seeing currently.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Well, we can't see the game changer in this this
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: profession has been asking for many, many years for things
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: that will change the game, such as better resources for
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: learning support and the training of and retention of more teachers,
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  Speaker 2: more options for the teachers to have more time to
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  Speaker 2: prepare and analyze the assessments they do have. We don't
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: see any of those kind of initiatives yet. If those
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: things came in, then I'll be really expecting to see
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  Speaker 2: some shifts and changes. But when we're just doing announcements
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: or of things, the very common practice. Again, you know
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: how many dictais can you move around and think you can.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Get a difference right, Well, watch you. I appreciate it.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Make Marc Potter, who's the n z EI president.
• 4:02
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