Wesley Primary is a part of the Manaiakalani network. This means that Manaiakalani’s “Learn, Create, Share” pedagogy underpins the school’s teaching and learning. At its core, this pedagogy is about ākonga sharing their learning with each other, their whānau, and their community in such a way that whoever they share with can give them feedback. Manaiakalani created this with 21st century learners in mind – they wanted to rethink the traditional system in which ākonga create work, kaiako give feedback, and ākonga often never engage with that feedback because the work is over. Rather than focussing on a shift from assessment of learning to assessment for learning, Learn, Create, Share is about gathering feedback that is not tied to assessment but comes from meaningful sources. Like other schools in the Manaiakalani network, Wesley has a 1:1 device policy and each ākonga maintains a personal blog where they post (share) about what they learn and create. These blogs are shared with each other and with the wider community. This inspires learner agency in multiple ways: the ākonga have control over what they choose to share, there is a sense of motivation to learn because sharing the learning is fun and empowering, and ākonga are also empowered to give each other feedback. 

This last point is key: across Manaiakalani schools, there is a pattern of ākonga updating or re-working posts unprompted according to the feedback that they have received (which could be from whānau, friends, or even ākonga at another school as well as from kaiako). There is also a pattern of ākonga continuing to post about their own self-directed learning over the summer even though this is not required of them by their schools. The Woolf Research Centre looked at Manaiakalani schools and found that “blogging twice a week can completely eliminate the ‘summer slump’ – a dramatic drop in reading and writing which occurs over the long summer holiday break” and results in ākonga returning to school in the new year feeling ready and motivated to learn rather than having to get back into learning mode and re-learn content and skills from the previous year. Wesley runs some optional drop-in summer programmes and Principal Lou Reddy describes “Forty-five kids in the school holidays coming in daily to do maths – who would have thought?” He goes on to explain that these ākonga don’t see themselves as doing maths: “what they’re doing is problem-solving with their mates. And it’s gamified, because every time they pitch [a solution] to each other, they get a buzz out of it, and they get feedback from each other. They get the questions to go deeper from each other.” Reddy sees this kind of collaborative learning, where multiple perspectives are valued and multiple solutions are possible, as a positive move away from the traditional model of learning where there is one “right answer” and the prioritised viewpoint is often Eurocentric. He acknowledges that it takes work, but he is hopeful that these ākonga are part of a future where a wider variety of cultural perspectives and approaches to learning and thinking are valued in our society.

The fact that ākonga at Wesley and other Manaiakalni schools stay engaged in the summer is significant considering that all Manaiakalani schools service high-deprivation areas - the Learn, Create, Share pedagogy and the learner agency that it inspires are actively uplifting disadvantaged ākonga and setting them up to make better use of their time in school. Kaiako Sam Bound, called Whaea Sam by her ākonga, also notes that Learn/Create/share feels culturally responsive to her ākonga, because they are able to share what they learn with the people who matter most to them and they are able to frame what they share in ways that suit how their whānau and culture communicate. In a world where many parents expect hearing from the school to be a negative thing, it is a gamechanger for both ākonga and their whānau to have so much positive communication coming home from school. 

Whaea Sam reports that since Wesley became a Manaiakalani school, she has seen noticeable growth in ākonga self-efficacy, confidence, and resilience. Since they began using hybrid learning and Learn/Create/Share in particular, Wesley ākonga have become more willing to give things a go and more empowered to make mistakes without feeling discouraged. She also reports that her ākonga are able to confidently articulate their learning goals and next steps without guidance from her. Ākonga describe being excited to have choice in their learning,  and to have so many challenges and opportunities to use different types of technology. The ākonga interviewed were especially excited about hands-on, creative technology, such as Makey Makey kits and robotics, which allow them to invent their own designs and solve problems with their own creative solutions.

Manaikalani’s website describes Learn, Create, Share as putting “our young people at the very centre of their learning” in a way that “drives toward visible and ubiquitous learning, with a connected and empowered learning community to grow knowledge.” Of course, in order for a learning community to operate largely online, everyone involved needs to be confident using the technology that the ākonga use. To this end, Wesley provides frequent and in-depth opportunities for whānau to learn about digital technology and become confident using the school’s systems. All schools in the Manaiakalani network provide financial support for whānau to buy devices that they might not otherwise be able to afford and subsidise or otherwise support home internet access for their ākonga and whānau. Wesley prides itself on being seen by the community as a community hub: whānau are frequently invited to the school and know that they are welcome to drop in and ask questions. The school uses digital tools such as Learning Sites and Facebook to maintain a regular, two-way flow of communication between the school and whānau, and whānau often attend trips and school camps. The school understands that building strong partnerships with the local community is key to ākonga success, and they prioritise this.  

Ākonga and kaiako at Wesley are split into multi-class groups called Teams, each of which is named for a native bird. All Teams use Google-based “Learning Sites” as a hub for learning content which can be access on- or off-site – each week ākonga are given a choice of integrated learning experiences to engage with. Kaiako are digitally fluent and Google Certified themselves, thanks to an intensive course provided by Manaiakalani that includes off-site PLD one day per week for an entire term. Kaiako make an effort to give ākonga ownership over their learning as well as a clear understanding of why they are learning whatever content they are engaging with that week. Whaea Sam highlights the importance of multi-modal options – plenty of hands-on choices as well as online ones. There is a focus on inquiry-based learning and learning that links to real local contexts, with student-led inquiries running each term across the school. This leads to all sorts of ākonga-led innovation, from broadcasting to boat-building. There is also a focus on teaching complex systems where there are multiple perspectives or potential solutions to consider rather than one clear “right answer.” 

The Kea Team, led by Whaea Sam, has excelled at developing a culture where ākonga are agentic in their learning and empowered to learn in authentic contexts. A great example of this is Kea News, a learner-led news broadcast in which ākonga report on what they have been learning and creating at school. The broadcast is shared on Facebook, where the wider community watches and comments. Kea News was the brainchild of Kea Team ākonga, and while it was originally created to strengthen school-home relationships during the pandemic it has only continued to grow since then. 

Kea news and inquiry projects are not the only initiatives at Wesley that are thought up or led by ākonga. Every term, ākonga in each team are surveyed on their passions and interested and what they would like to learn. The kaiako and ākonga in the team then co-construct that term’s learning, which they review together at the end.

In general, there is a culture of growth and future-focus at Wesley. Their mission statement, Ki Te Marama (towards enlightenment) is aspirational and acknowledges the idea that the process of learning is never finished. The school strives to empower ākonga to take this learning journey into their own hands, and it is evident from the joy that Wesley ākonga find in curiously learning and sharing that this is indeed happening very effectively. Ākonga at Wesley are taken seriously by their kaiako and seen as agents of change — they have even been involved in the design of furniture for the school’s new building.