Some might say that the corporatisation of schools has been around for a long time (this blogger remembers in the distant past Gillette giving 'free' razors to boys in his school aged 15! I wonder how many of us are now on Mach Turbo 6.75?). And I am sure there are many, many more examples. So it might seem inevitable that today's generation of students are likely to be hooked in by 'new media', of which the 'Doodle for Google' competition is a fine example, and has recently reached NZ shores.
The idea is simple: represent New Zealand by embellishing the well known google typeface. There are probably heaps of teachers who have done a 'kiwiana' topic and used stamp or postcard design competitions to a similar effect in the past, so the Google approach may well appeal to teachers. Apparently more than 600 schools took part in the competition which was open to Year 1-10 students.
The fact that such a competition is so 'universal' did make WASSA think about the implications of teaching NZ identity through a 'symbols' lens. It is clear that children as young as Years 1-3 have started picking up images that form part of the national identity. By the time students are in Year 9 & 10 they have a wider range of symbols as part of the kiwiana collection, and the artistic talent may be better overall, but conceptually does time spent on kiwiana symbols add much to what has already been learned at lower levels of the curriculum?
Further, what learning about NZ identity that goes beyond symbols should year 9 & 10 (and possibly year 7&8?) students be learning about to develop their understanding of the (highly contested) concept of national identity?
Before we forget, judges have whittled down entrants in 4 age categories and you can vote here.
No comments:
Post a Comment