I’m still reeling a little from Minister Stanford’s comment on Hosking's radio show (and quoted in the NZ Herald 5 August), "No more of this 'your kid turns up to school and decides what they want to learn'".

This comment implies that she believes a few things such as:

• Teachers have handed over all autonomy to children in our classrooms and let them do as they wish
  
• Students should turn up, sit down, shut up and do the work that the teacher has determined, in the context the teacher has determined, at the pace the teacher has determined and have their understanding assessed in the way and at the time the teacher has determined without students having any voice in any of those matters.
  

I am no longer based in a school but I am still working closely with schools and leadership teams. I see colleagues struggling to align what they see happening in their schools as a result of their strong leadership, the awe-inspiring work of their teachers and the efforts of their students with the picture being hurled out of the mouths of our political leaders.
My unease was first raised when we were hit with the mixed messages from the Minister of Education (Stanford) and the Associate Minister of Education (Seymour). Very quickly Stanford has moved to promoting a one-size-fits-all model for the teaching of Reading and Mathematics with mandatory requirements for all state schools because this is what the research and evidence says is the way to go. But on the other hand we have Seymour moving at apace, taking a lot of the money that could be spent in the state sector, to introduce Charter Schools that will not be bound by any of these mandatory requirements which, apparently, research says is the answer. Surely they can't both be right.
There is no doubt, in my mind, that a crisis is being manufactured by our political leaders. I am really worried about what the purpose might be for such a determined intent to manufacture this crisis.