Educators set sights on New Zealand

A group of Northwest Arkansas educators will travel to New Zealand next month seeking inspiration for innovative teaching methods that could be implemented in their schools.

The group includes 25 teachers and administrators from the Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Springdale school districts. Haas Hall Academy, a charter school, and the Thaden School, a private, independent school that opened this year in Bentonville, also will be represented.

The New Zealand trip, set for Oct. 20-28, is part of a two-year project called “Learning Journey: Global Perspectives to Ignite Innovation in Education,” a partnership between the Office of Innovation for Education at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and the Walton Family Foundation.

Their itinerary has them visiting eight schools in Auckland, a city of about 1.5 million people near the island nation’s northern tip.

“It will be a very busy week of school visits followed by debriefing time as a group,” said Denise Airola, director of the Office of Innovation for Education. “Then delegates will have downtime in the evenings for individual reflections.”

The foundation is providing $350,000 for the project, according to Kim Davis, a senior education program officer for the foundation’s Home Region Program.

“When we started looking around at world-class school systems, for what we have here in Northwest Arkansas, we thought New Zealand was a nice match,” Davis said. “About 70 percent of the population is white, 30 percent are students of color. That starts to mirror what we have in Northwest Arkansas.”

The foundation is interested in creating a world-class system of schools in Northwest Arkansas that offer great choices in the traditional public, charter and private sectors of education, he said. He added New Zealand students consistently are among the best performers in the world on standardized tests.

New Zealand has been practicing educational methods other countries are just starting to look at, said Airola, who also will be making the trip along with a few of her staff members.

New Zealand has “taken a look at how do we make sure all kids have access to education, and how do we do it in a way that’s future-focused,” Airola said. “If you’re preparing kids for the workplace of today, they’ll be ill-prepared for the workplace they’ll encounter in the future.”

Delegates will go to Little Rock at the end of this month for the two-day Education Innovation Summit. After returning from New Zealand, they will reflect on what they saw and design innovative educational approaches that may be tested in their schools, Airola said.

“We anticipate the delegates will have different things that really jump out to them,” she said.

Jessie Walls, a first-grade teacher in her 13th year at Springdale’s George Elementary School, was among those chosen to participate.

“I think this is going to be a learning opportunity not only for the teachers going, but for the district and the state,” Walls said.

Eric Hipp, who’s in his third year as principal at Bentonville’s Barker Middle School, found out shortly after the end of last school year Barker Middle School had been selected for the project.

“To be able to spend a week in a foreign country that is doing things at a high level, I mean, the career opportunity there is amazing,” he said.

He doesn’t envision turning Barker Middle School into a completely different place when he returns, but said he’s convinced there’s something useful he can bring back that will have a positive effect.

“I’m not looking to fix something that’s not broken. But at the same time, if there’s something out there that we could be doing better, we need to be doing it. And sometimes you need to go where you can breathe some fresh air and get a new perspective,” Hipp said.

He said he invited all teachers in his building to apply to join the group. About a half dozen of them expressed an interest. Kimber Jungles, a math teacher, eventually was chosen.

Shelly Poage, principal at Springdale’s Tyson Elementary School, said Megan Slocum, an associate superintendent, contacted her this summer about the opportunity.

“I said I would absolutely be interested, because it’s talking about innovation and how you reach every student,” Poage said. “I’m a lifelong learner, so I wanted the opportunity.”

Asked about the importance of having educators see firsthand what’s happening in New Zealand — as opposed to just reading about it — Davis said the experience allows the group to get to know each other very well.

“Most studies say when you take folks outside and provide them the opportunity to reflect without all of the distractions that come on a daily basis, these things begin to get integrated in what they do,” he added.

Matthew Wendt, superintendent of Fayetteville schools, thanked the foundation and Office of Innovation for Education for their investment in the schools.

“I am confident the visit to New Zealand’s educational system and the opportunity to network with other educational leaders will generate innovative approaches to education that will benefit our students,” Wendt said.

Dave Perozek can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWADaveP.