Toki Pounamu

There is so much more to the Toki Pounamu Project than throwing a device in front of a student and expecting them to learn. 

Toki Pounamu is a philosophy; a philosophy that embraces 21st century expectations of learning. We as a school have to do everything within our powers to prepare students for their futures. No, we do not and won't ever truly be able to anticipate what those futures will entail. However, one true constant that continues to define each generation, is the evolution of technology. As humankind evolves, technology evolves with them. There was once a time where we thought telephones, microwaves and personal mobiles were superfluous. Look at how reliant we are on this technology now.  

There is no escaping it. You either take a leap of faith and jump on board or risk getting left behind. 

An exciting aspect of the Toki Pounamu Project for me as a teacher on the West Coast is the potential for change in terms of our reputation and how the West Coast is perceived educationally. When I was training to be a teacher, the West Coast was the last place you wanted to win a position. If you got a job over here, you were a joke. Misinformed, crude statements like "the West Coast is 20 years behind everyone else", "there's no future on the Coast" were commonplace. 

We have some really high calibre educationalists here but this project will attract and retain more of them.