What next?
Michele Heywood: "Every year we make programmes for the students we're actually getting in front of us, as opposed to having a programme and just teaching it. We look at who we've got, what they need and where we can take them. It makes it harder to plan but easier to teach, and the Alternative class has probably been the one I've enjoyed the most because I got a lot of satisfaction in getting them somewhere at the end, whereas the boys in Electronics were going to get there anyway, regardless of who their teacher was. It was full-on teaching – I didn't want to take a day off because if they got a reliever it took me three days to get them back on side."
Most of the students opted to continue in the Alternative Multi-materials programme in the following year, and the two that dropped out only did so because their timetable didn't have space for Technology as well as the extensive ESOL study they required. Students needed 12 NCEA credits to get into the Year 12/13 course, but could repeat the Year 11/12 class which offered Level 1 and 2 Unit Standards and Industry Unit Standards.
Developing a new programme when school had already started inevitably meant that it wasn't planned as thoroughly as Michele would have liked. As the course evolved throughout the year she discussed with students what they would do, how well things had worked and what needed to be 'fixed' for the following year. Michele is keen to offer more engineering to the Year 12/13 class but doesn't have the teaching skills within the department at this point.
In 2008 Andrew Ferguson took over delivery of the course, so the focus of the major project changed to his area of expertise while retaining the spread of skill sets.
The 2008 class worked on a new programme, and some of the 2007 unit was incorporated into the mainstream Multi-materials programme. Michele says that the Alternative Multi-materials students again responded well to the structure and stability of the course, and that while they found it difficult coping with relieving teachers they learnt to adjust to the change "Basically, as long as they knew what was going on, they were comfortable."
Andrew has continued teaching the course in 2009, and has concentrated on helping students work towards developing useful work skills and building up 'CV data' to show their accomplishments. Some external provider training was introduced into the programme when students did some work with Site Safe.
Andrew says he looks at industry links with the class and discusses how things are done in industry and society. "The core thing I focus on is that 'this is how it's done in industry, so this is what we will do'. If we don't have the exact tools then we'll do a 'workaround' and I explain that not all factories will have all types of equipment".
Andrew discusses how Technology links with other subjects such as maths, English and science, and the importance of these for students wanting to get an apprenticeship. In class they refer to 'maths calculus' and Andrew jokingly tells them that maths is just a tool of technology – to reinforce the need for them to think about other subjects.
When students are planning to apply for an apprenticeship Andrew ensures they talk to him about it first, so that he can check it's a legitimate apprenticeship and decide what skills they're likely to need. He then works those particular skills into that student's programme.
The class programme varies each year, depending on the students in the class, and Andrew often works on individual learning plans for particular students. "If they're prepared to give up their lunchtime or holiday to do this, then I'm prepared to do it".
An emphasis on class work has continued over the three years, and Andrew says he sometimes has one student write the group findings on paper so that others can then copy these notes. This helps those who can articulate what they have done but not write it easily.
Integrating lots of photos with the portfolios also acts as a scaffold to help the students with their writing. Instead of having to remember each stage of their practice or skills and write it out, they can explain what they have done based on the photos. This helps speed up the writing process, especially for those uncomfortable with the writing aspect. The work folders are generally kept at school to ensure that work is completed and filed during class time.
Before developing their final outcomes, students model the joints they will use. This practice on what they call their "brag joints" gives the students confidence in working on their projects, because they know they are capable in these skills. Andrew comments that some students are set up at school to think " I can't achieve" but that this shows them that they can.
He points out that over the year the focus is on the learning experience, rather than the projects. For example, when the students develop their tables they learn about joining materials, base shaping and use of refinement machinery.
Andrew plans to move into offering more Achievement standards with this class, noting that the top students are capable of gaining Merit or Excellence.
