A new LearnWell resource: perspective of a teacher

In our last news post, we let you know about the new range of NZ curriculum-specific print and digital learning guides that LearnWell is producing to meet the current needs of teachers, schools, learners and parents.

Jodie Kennedy of Hillcrest High School worked on this resource with the LearnWell team as a SME.  SME is short for Subject Matter Expert - they are essential to the development of our resources.  Jodie is a business studies teacher and was our link to how the subject is currently being delivered in secondary schools. She was a key collaborator when it came to gathering material for the resource, and moderated the content that made it into our final published work.

We asked Jodie some questions about the project.

For me the highlight was the ability to focus the content more on Mana ōrite mō te mātauranga Māori.  We did this by ensuring we have used Māori owned enterprises as case study examples throughout the resource.   The Māori business concepts are thoroughly explored at the beginning of the resource to enable students to apply these concepts while they are learning the rest of the content.  I believe that in Aotearoa all businesses would benefit from ensuring these concepts are valued in their organisations. In exploring them with our students — who are the business leaders of tomorrow — we can really have an influence on the students' future success.

How do you see teachers using this resource?  What do you think the advantages will be for them choosing a resource like this?

Because this text is available both digitally and in print it is a really versatile resource.  Throughout the text there are questions that students can complete on their own and then check their own answers. This could also be done using the digital resource as a whole class.  The digital resource will really support teachers to work through the content and provide excellent examples and activities that will build on student understanding, while enabling the teacher to weave in their own experience and expertise.

In what ways do you see this resource adding value to students studying 90843 Internal Operations of a Large Business?

This resource will be really beneficial to students studying AS90843 as the text is based around understandable and relatable case studies.  Students will be able to see how all of the theory covered in the standard applies in real life businesses.  The businesses we have used have really informative websites and students will find links on the digital resource or QR codes on the printed resource that direct them to the relevant websites.  There they can see the practical application of the theory.  The other benefit of the resource is the real-time feedback on the questions.  All of the questions asked throughout the resources have sample answers for students to immediately check their understanding.  

Are there any other thoughts that you would like to share about the resource?
Another useful addition to the resource that we have incorporated is reference to AS90848: Carry out, review and refine a business activity.  This could be used in two ways:

• Teachers may wish to use the content in the text while working through writing the business plan with their students.  This enables the students to gain theoretical understanding of the practical application they are experiencing by running their own business.  The examples in the book will help them produce a more professional business plan — for example when writing policies and procedures for their business they can learn and understand why policies and procedures are vital for all businesses. 
• Alternatively students may have completed their business plans, and teachers may use the references to AS90848 to alert students to their own practical experiences of the theory covered in the resource.  

Ka pai Jodie, thanks so much for sharing your part in this journey with us.  We have valued your input tremendously!

 

Purchase 90843 Internal Operations of a Large Business in print here.

Teachers, purchase the resource in digital format here.

Students, purchase the resource in digital format here.