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In early February within our Service Innovation Team at Te Tari Taiwhenua, we ran an activity to reflect on Waitangi Day. This was led by a small group of GovTech interns, who alongside our hosts at Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and several Service Innovation Lab staff all shared their story of what Waitangi Day means to them. We told these stories at various locations around the Department of Internal Affairs. We started on Level 10 and then 8 in the Pipitea Street building, moved to Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, and then finished at Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, inside the He Tohu exhibit. ...

“At this historical moment of serious constraint, walking constitutes a tactic through which Palestinians not only resist dispossession and appreciate the beauty and richness of their land but also transform and contest the dominant depictions of Palestinian life as merely bare life, one devoid of the joys, hopes, laughter, creativity, and energy that also mark daily life in Palestine.” Anne Meneley’s thoughtful and thought provoking essay, Walk This Way: Fitbit and Other Kinds of Walking in Palestine explores the power of walking, as a salve, as a humiliation, as a release, as a political act. ...

shake the dust This is for the former prom queen, this is for the milk-crate ball players. This is for the nighttime cereal eaters and for the retired, elderly Wal-Mart store front door greeters. I love this poem - and I stumbled back upon it earlier this year, as I was cleaning up my timeline on Twitter. No great epiphany that led me to doing the cleanup. I’d just found that over the last 6 months I wasn’t really sharing that much on Twitter, other than brief conversations and pushes from Instagram. ...

In moments, I wonder for their future. I cannot shield them from that future. I cannot keep them safe from harm. I cannot know what choices they will make. I can be angry at the world as it is. I can vote for, fight for, and build for a better, kinder world. I can believe in them. I will. Photo by @karenrkong

“You want to tell me what this is all about?” This is the story of a good friend of mine, who’s a teacher. My friend is a former soldier, who applied for, and got offered a teaching job in a South Auckland high school. In this, her first year of teaching, she was confronted with a classroom of tough, sullen teenagers, all from lower-class and underprivileged backgrounds, involved in gang, neglect, and drugs, flatly refusing to engage with anything. ...

This Wednesday August 15th, for the first time in over 20 years, primary teachers are scheduled take legal strike action, as part of a campaign to lead, teach and learn. It’s a campaign I support - there is a teacher shortage, there are enormous workloads on teachers and school leaders, and there is a need to align and strengthen the career paths for people in the school sector. Articles such as this one from Charlee Jobson, a Facebook post picked up by the media has been getting some traction and shares over the weekend ...

I wrote this earlier today, and then Jack posted his weaksauce response to Alex Jones and Infowars, and a part of me wants to throw it all in with Twitter. But my point still stands. Being human truly matters. We get to choose what humanity we have. We get to choose the humanity we engage in. We’re free to choose to not be here, or on any platform. For forever, or just for a break. That doesn’t make us any less valuable. And there are always ways to stay in touch with those we care the most for. ...

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jose Vilson (@thejosevilson) A post shared by Jose Vilson (@thejosevilson) on Oct 23, 2017 at 2:41pm PDT It’s January first - the day in which we’re all meant to start new, feel free of the last year, and boldly look to the next. But I’m struggling, still exhausted from the end of last year at my place. Worried for myself and what that lifestyle choice actually means for me. ...

Somedays as a leader I feel like this person. Supporting from the sidelines, assuming good intent while my team attempt really big challenging worthy things. And then there’s the impact of that intent, as I get cracked in the face. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Enduro Live | Hard Enduro (@enduro.live)

There are some days working in a school, where you get to the end of the day and think, “What did I get done today?” Then there are days like today. A day packed and full of worth. One of my work-life privileges is that once a week, I drop my girls to school and kindergarten, before heading to school. It’s a simple way of being part of their routines and being Dad. Today was that day and I’m always grateful and feel lucky that I can do so. It means a later start to my day at school, but it’s always a feel good start. ...

Back in July my daughters and I watched Moana for the first time. We were in London, staying with friends 12,000 km from these shores. This friend about two-thirds of the way through the film got up, and said “Sure it’s alright, but the songs, they’re not as good are they?” I looked over at my two girls, absorbed as they were in the movie, and wondered if they were bothered that the songs weren’t as catchy as Frozen (which they still love singing) or if they were seeing a story that mattered to them. ...

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. “Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” I think sometimes it feels like all of this is mad. That life is getting madder by the day. And like Alice, I don’t want to go among mad people. This video - the same but in 3 parts sort of unpeels and exposes some of the madness I think. ...

“And what other profession needs hope the way teaching does? Hope is the reason so many of us stay in the profession. What’s more, hope can’t – and shouldn’t be – a neutral act. It’s a flashlight we point in the direction we’d like to take ourselves and those around us collectively. Teaching is a political act. Ultimately, our teaching sets precedent for how future generations view the spaces they inhabit. ...

This piece, Silicon Valley Courts Brand Name Teachers should be no real surprise to anyone who’s been in education in the last decade. It focuses in on a few teachers who are creating powerful personal brands, to lead change in their classrooms, to integrate digital technology, innovative thinking and social media. The considerations of ethics, in regards to publicly funded education in particular are well covered and worthy of further discussion. ...

In 1999 - I had the privilege of being part of Underworld’s road crew, on their Beaucoup Fish tour. I worked as a projectionist for the first 3 weeks, but in April they asked me to come out to the US - and mix the show visuals. They asked me that on a Tuesday, on the Friday I was flying to NYC and I mixed my first show on Saturday. ...

This is the manifesto that’s just been released by the ITP - boldly titled: New Zealand’s Digital Future The word origin for manifesto is “manifest” - from the Italian. The definition of ‘manifest’ is: readily perceived by the eye or the understanding; evident; obvious; apparent; plain After reading through the first few pages of this manifesto, it’s apparent to my educationally orientated eyes at least - that the intentions and opinions of this manifesto are well adrift of any meaningful educational purpose or use. ...

Over the weekend we took the girls to Avalon Park. It’s got an old school bike park, with the mini roads painted out with proper signage, roundabouts and intersections. It was designed and built I assume to help children learn and practise road safety. The local mini-train enthusiasts run their miniature railway through the middle of it, so there’s even train crossings to contend with. After that we went across to the more recently developed section of the park, which is similar to the Margaret Mahy park in Christchurch - a fantastic place for kids ...

The Green Party announcement that they will create a plan for universal te reo in public schools has naturally generated a lot of reaction across the New Zealand media, both mainstream and social. Don Rowe’s piece in the Spinoff is an excellent response to the mostly negative commentary. Rodney Hide has provided his opinion, in a piece titled Cost of te reo too high - and I have to wonder what he thought about the implementation of a digital curriculum, which was heartily supported by industry and business. ...

It’s been an incredible 48 hours, watching what’s happened across the USA, as thousands have turned out to defy and protest against Donald Trump’s executive order to ban citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the USA. There was chaos that ensued, and arguably there is a constitutional crisis brewing in the Republic. Some would argue that this confusion is exactly what Bannon and the inner circle of the White House want. ...

Cleaning out a classroom this past week, I found this quote from Thomas Jefferson on the inside cover of this small book. “I know of no safe depository of the ultimate power of the society but the people themselves and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion” ...