NZ Principal Magazine Term 1 2020

March 2020 Volume 35, Number 1

Climate Change – implications for Schools Also

featuring

• Team Teaching • Leadership Capability • Eight Principles for Principals

• How can you foster assessment capable leadership?

• Linton Camp School

CONTENTS

Editor Liz Hawes Executive Officer PO Box 25380 Wellington 6146 Ph: 04 471 2338 Email: Liz.Hawes@nzpf.ac.nz

March 2020

2 EDITORIAL Liz Hawes

Magazine Proof-reader Helen Kinsey-Wightman

3

Editorial Board Perry Rush, NZPF President Geoff Lovegrove, Retired Principal, Feilding Liz Hawes, Editor

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PRESIDENT’S PEN

Perry Rush

Team Teaching

Karen Boyes

Leadership Capability

Cathy Wylie

Eight Principles for Principals

David McKenzie

Linton Camp School Liz Hawes

20 How can you foster assessment capable leadership across your school?

Jennifer Charteris and Dianne Smardon

24 Climate Change – implications for Schools Rachel Bolstad NZCER

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NZPF Farewells President, Whetu Cormick, Jen Rodgers, Debbie Smith & Dr Lester Flockton as columnist

Liz Hawes

33 35

Kia hiwa rā Martin Thrupp

Opinion – ‘Having honest conversations about the barriers to educational success . . . ’

Helen Kinsey-Wightman ISSN 0112-403X (Print) ISSN 1179-4372 (Online)

PHOTOS FOR THE MAGAZINE: If you have any photos showing ‘New Zealand Schools at Work’, particularly any good shots of pupils, teachers or leadership staff, they would be welcome.

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MAGAZINE

Linton Camp School

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Editorial Liz Hawes

Editor

A new decade, a General Election, and for NZPF, a new no such specialization in ITE right now. president! President, Perry Rush, will be known to many of you as Further, they are skeptical about the promise of an influx in a fierce supporter of the BTAC (Boards Taking Action Coalition) specialist teachers to meet the current diagnostic and individual from the cheerless days of national case planning needs for the most severely standards, and is currently principal of youngsters right now. The Another exacerbating challenged Hastings Intermediate School. prospect of importing these specialists As is frequently the case, education is issue is the threat of does not over-excite principals who again likely to be a prominent theme for have already found shortcomings with this year’s Election, and as ever, there is teacher shortage, employing overseas teachers for ordinary no scarcity of issues. What is also likely is classroom teaching. Principals point to which is never far from there will be a disconnect between what the cultural gaps, lack of understanding the Government believes is an education principals’ minds. of Tikanga Māori and say that some policy achievement and principals believe overseas teachers struggle with the is an on-going problem. diversity of contexts within which our New Zealand schools For example, it is likely that teachers and principals will function. Importing teachers from overseas was never a longcontinue to list the shortcomings of learning support as a term solution. Rather, it was a response to a teacher shortage key unresolved issue, whilst Government might point to the crisis. Suffice to say the teaching profession is over dealing with substantial additional funds that have been allocated in the crises. Stability and calm are what it hankers for. past two years, the 600 Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) Playing front stage to this dispiriting backdrop of learning that have been funded, the new learning support plan and support issues, are new curriculum and assessment expectations. implementation trials underway in the Hawke’s Bay. An endless menu of tasty and colourful topics abounds. Schools The battle line is drawn between the systemic view and the have been freed from measuring the reading writing and maths day to day realities. Teachers and principals want immediate achievement of children against a dodgy set of standards! They expert support for the young people in their schools who are are now invited to participate in a curriculum that can be as presenting with severe behavioural challenges every day. They broad and rich, contextual and authentic as a school and its want respite for the teachers of those youngsters who cannot community chooses. successfully function in a full-time mainstream school without Future focused is a common theme and usually includes the placing both the teacher and other children at risk. They are five key competencies, developing EQ skills and resilience, sick of battling restraint regulations or guidelines when those understanding globalisation, environmental awareness and with severe disfunctional behaviours – the ones likely to need climate change, civics, Te Reo and other languages, social studies restraining – should be offered safer alternative education options and digital competencies. There will also be more topics that in the first place, not just full- time mainstream schooling without emerge after consultation with local communities – they will expert help. depend on the aspirations of the community. Alongside and Whilst LSCs will be a very welcome addition for many, there embedded in these curriculum subjects will of course be learning are concerns from some principals that RTLBs and existing, to read, write, comprehend and function numerically. There will school funded SENCOs – who already have strong relationships be New Zealand history, performing arts, physical education, with the special needs children and their support teams in their music, art and more . . . school – might leave their posts and choose the LSC route as a It is a veritable feast of learning – exactly what teachers trained career path instead. There are further concerns that little progress for. Teachers want to excite kids about learning every day. They has yet been made on alternative education. want to provide authentic learning contexts so that young people Another exacerbating issue is the threat of teacher shortage, can discover meaning through doing, take ownership, be excited which is never far from principals’ minds. Now, with the LSC about their new knowledge and thirst for more. option available, they fear more quality classroom teachers The stage is set for a grand future performance, from will be lost. A further concern is how the LSC workforce will which Kiwi kids can soar to the dizzy heights of international be sustained over time. Only if Initial Teacher Training (ITE) recognition and ready themselves to take a lead in making our courses include specialization will we have a future work force country, our region, our planet, a better and more functional to help give our most challenged youngsters a fair go – there is place. We just need to change that gloomy backdrop!

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President’s Pen Perry Rush

National President, New Zealand Principals’ Federation

What is the difference between a manager of people and a leader? I think on this question constantly as I ponder what is required to carry teaching and learning forward in our country.

Perhaps it is that managers concern themselves with organising the minutiae of work whereas a leader aspires to ideals that have meaning and value and is effective in growing commitment to a vision.

I often ask myself to think about leaders that truly embody these qualities; Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Dame Whina Cooper and in our own educational backyard, giants such as Jack Shallcrass, Elwyn Richardson and Dame Marie Clay.

Thinking about each of these leaders and what is common about their leadership, I am struck not by their adherence to rules and expectations but rather their challenge to the status quo and their capacity to act on what they know is right.

Each of them acted with courage, challenging orthodoxies that were commonly accepted. In many ways they spoke truth to power.

Great leaders are not timid, nor do they seek permission to act. They do so because they know, deep down, that they act on beliefs that they care about and that have meaning.

Therein lies a road map for our work in school leadership.

Thirteen years ago, in 2007, we took receipt of a brand-new curriculum. It was at the time and still is, an outstanding curriculum. It set in place the expectation that each school community localise the curriculum by giving it effect in ways that reflect that community’s aspiration. It was designed to be generic in nature so that specificity could be awarded through this localisation process.

Sadly, the advent of the National Standards dealt a blow to this fledging curriculum and it never recovered to realise the full extent of its intended design.

Over the years, the compliance mentality encouraged by National Standards and the lack of a coherent national education vision had the effect of stultifying the educational leadership needed to fully actualise it.

However, the opportunity exists right now to revitalise our work with the New Zealand Curriculum and to more effectively deploy the courageous leadership required to enable it.

Over my past 20 years of principalship, I have sought as often as I can to exercise what I believe. I do not ask for permission to act when I know my decision-making places the wellbeing of students at the heart of my work. I trust the integrity of action that is based on what I know in my gut is right for young people.

The true power of New Zealand schooling is that principals and teachers in their own local context know their students.

At the outset of the year, I want to encourage you to nurture beliefs about learning that are built on powerful educational ideas. Run a ruler over your school and challenge practices that don’t align with your beliefs. Don’t be concerned if it challenges convention.

Be prepared as every professional should be, to justify your beliefs and be confident that you exercise strong leadership when you enable vision.

The capacity of leaders to do this well occurs when we understand that such leadership is an art. It does not arise from a formula that can be learnt and deployed in a consistent manner.

It arises from what Dr Elliot Eisner (2002) calls the ‘rightness of fit’. This is the exercise of judgement in the absence of rule. It is what a painter experiences when juggling the elements of their art—colour, texture, space, form, shape and line to communicate

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an idea. It is ‘right’ when the painter judges in themselves that these attributes work in unison to express an idea.

We need to trust the genesis of such decision-making as school leaders. The attributes of our practice exist in unique ways in every school community. How you experience them and how you respond to them is framed by your knowledge of your students and your community.

Only by having the confidence to exercise this sort of leadership will we get close to seeing our National Curriculum flourish. Localisation encourages schools to be unique and personal, colouring the curriculum in distinctly unique ways.

The true advantage of a national school system that embraces localisation lies in the capacity for principals to pay attention to the diversity of practice in other schools. Over time this enables the most effective practice to be identified and implemented. It is an approach that encourages new thinking and innovation.

Of course, the reverse is also true. Localisation is weak in a system where schools are isolated and disconnected from one another and where they are pitted against each other in a culture of competition.

So, as a new school year begins, let’s be brave in our leadership.

Let’s push onwards and breathe further life into our National Curriculum. Let’s enact powerful educational ideas in ways that are personal and local. Let’s embrace the differences between us and let’s work to be more open and connected to each other.

He rangi tā matawhāti, he rangi tā matawhānui.

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Team Teaching – practical ways to structure and organise it Karen Tui Boyes

Team teaching can be both an incredible privilege and an immense challenge all at the same time! One teacher recently described team teaching as going on a blind date and getting married! And it can be like that. However, with some simple structures and strategies team teaching can be the best teaching years of your career. Let’s explore . . .

What is Team Teaching?

Team teaching is when two (or more) teachers equally share the responsibility of the learning for the students in the classroom.

It is different from job sharing where one teacher might teach three days a week and the other two days. In a team teaching environment, both teachers interact with all the students at different times. There are six widely accepted models used in classrooms and you may use several of these over the course of a day or week.

status in all six models. Of course, there are pluses and minuses for these approaches . . .

The Advantages of Team Teaching: Whilst we know that all students don’t learn at the same rate, team teaching gives your learners the opportunity to have a more personalised and expertise rich experience in the classroom.

Team teaching allows teachers to work from their strengths and have their weaknesses remedied, meaning students receive a higher level of instruction in all subjects. Research shows an increase in quality teaching as each teacher approaches topics from a different angle. Evaluation can be less onerous,

6 Ways to Team Teach: 1. One Teach One Observe: While one teacher is delivering instruction to the class, the other teacher observes specific students and collects data. This may be for an IEP or a behavioural analysis. It is important for both teachers to make time to analyse and act upon the information collected.

2. One Teach One Assist: One teacher takes on the primary responsibility for the instruction while the other assists by roaming around the class, helping individuals and managing behaviour.

3. Parallel Teaching: The class is split into two groups and both teachers teach the same instruction to each group.

4. Rotational Teaching: Each teacher plans and is responsible for a different aspect of a lesson. Students are divided into 2 to 4 groups and they rotate around the ‘stations’ including 1-2 independent work stations.

5. Alternative Teaching: One teacher teaches to the majority of the class, while the other takes small groups to work with. This might be an extension, catch up or remedial group of the same or different lesson.

6. Tag Teaching: Both teachers are at the front of the class teaching together. Here teachers plan together and share equal responsibility for the content and learning. This teaching may be scripted or spontaneous.

It is important to note these styles are mix and match and there is ‘no one size fits all’ formula and that both Teachers have equal

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more insightful and balanced when a team approach is used.

Responsibilities are spread and working closely alongside colleagues builds a stronger community in a school. Teachers can share insights with one another, give new ideas and try out different strategies, as well as learn from each other. Shared decision making can boost morale and self confidence.

The Disadvantages of Team Teaching: On the flip side team teaching is not always successful. If a teacher is fixed in his or her ways and not flexible in their thinking, team teaching could be a challenge. Personality clashes often occur and the vulnerability of working alongside another colleague can cause teachers to worry about the fear of failure or humiliation.

Some teachers also fear the loss of control. Team teaching can be more demanding on a teacher’s time and energy and finding a mutually agreeable time for planning and evaluation is sometimes a challenge.

The approach of team teaching is not the only answer to challenges faced in education. It requires planning, skilled management, willingness to risk change & failure. It takes humility, open mindedness, imagination, and creativity.

Experienced teachers comment, ‘the results are worth it’ Success Strategies & Best Practice: ■■

Plan together: Two teachers bring a rich expertise and experience so take time to work out each other’s strengths and how best to use these. Mix and match the six ways to team teach throughout the day and even lesson. It is recommended you spend 15 minutes each morning going through your daily plan and aligning your day. Use this time to ‘check in’ with

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each other on a personal level and see how you might support each other for a successful day. Communication is key, as is clear planning. Lack of planning can lead to territorialism which is counterproductive to the learning for your students.

Clearly define roles and responsibilities: Creating a united front is imperative. Discuss topics such as classroom procedures, behaviour expectations, home and school communication, homework views, even cleanliness of the classroom and teacher workspace. It is often the little things that will be ultimately important to ensure you work together well. Having mutual agreements about how the classroom runs will also help avoid students playing one teacher off against the other.

Respect each other: Mutual respect is a critical component to team teaching success. Take time to learn and get to know about each other both professionally and personally. There will be times you disagree. Remember you are disagreeing with the idea and not the person. Practice listening to understand rather than listening to reply. Your words and gestures can speak volumes, so show respect towards your team mate in all you do.

Be flexible: Be willing to take risks and grow. Try new ideas and something different. Be willing to put aside your ‘tried and true’ strategies.

Don’t take yourself too seriously: Take your work seriously but not yourself. Innovation requires failure and if a new strategy doesn’t work, have a laugh together and evaluate to make improvements. Approach this role as an adventure and a wonderful learning opportunity for yourself and your team mate.

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Communicate clearly: Ensure you are in constant communication and find ways to also plan in less formal ways.

Have lunch together each day and quickly check in on how the day is going. Use google docs for shared planning so as not to replicate work. Use text and email with clear guidelines of how soon you want the other person to respond and the actions you want them to take. Talk about how you will give feedback to each other. Decide on boundaries of communication, for example not after 9pm, and the appropriate response times.

Check in periodically: Prioritise time every 3–4 weeks to check in and have an honest conversation about how you are working together. Discuss topics such as, are there any management issues which need clarifying, are you sharing the airtime with students, is the work divided equitably, are you using your strengths in the best way?

Seek support when required: If teaching together is not working ask for help. Avoid going to other teachers who may take ‘sides’. This is also about respecting the collegial relationship you have with your team teacher and you do not want to undermine this. Ask leadership for guidance and observations in class to feed back on specific aspects of the teaching. It is always helpful to approach these meetings with respect for your colleague and having a couple of possible solutions that might solve the challenge you are having.

Choose a focus student of the week: Team teaching sometimes means you have more students in your classroom and it is possible that some students get ‘missed’ by the teachers, as the students are simply compliant and get on with their work. Choose a focus student of the week and both take time to observe and learn more about them. Prioritise a time at the end of the week to discuss this student and what

you noticed and any actions that you might both take to help enhance the learning for this student. The student is not required to know they are part of your focus – it is just for you both. Ensure you diary note and record observations together.

If you are team teaching please share your favourite success tips.

If you are about to launch into it, take your time and enjoy the process.

References ILE, Karen Tui Boyes, MLE, Team Teaching. Published on Saturday, March 16th, 2019, under Modern learning environment, Teacher Effectiveness About the Author Karen Tui Boyes is a champion for Life Long Learning across nations, industries and organisations. Winner of the NZ Educator of the Year 2017 and 2014 and the NZ Speaker of the Year award in 2013 & 2019, Karen is a sought after speaker who continually gets rave reviews from audiences around the world. Her dynamic style and highly informative content—which turns the latest educational research into easy-toimplement strategies and techniques — sets her apart from others in her field.

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How the Educational Leadership Capability Framework can Strengthen School Leadership Cathy Wylie

Chief Researcher at NZCER

2020 should mark the start of a new era for school ■■ Embodying the organisation’s values, and showing moral leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand. We have a long overdue purpose, optimism, agency and resilience national Leadership Centre being established within the ■■ Contributing to the development and wellbeing of education Teaching Council, anchored by the Leadership Strategy launched beyond their organisation. in 2018. Ongoing, customised support for principals and other school leaders is heralded in the new role of local Leadership What the exercise of effective agency looks like in each of these Advisors, who are also to support local capabilities is described across three development of school leadership and spheres of responsibility: leading an sharing of knowledge and experiences. We should see more organisation, leading a team, and an Over time, we should see less need for growth of leadership expert teacher, leading curriculum or an individual principals to reinvent the initiative. Setting out the similarities and wheel or tackle vexed situations on within schools, across differences in how these nine different their own. We should see more growth capabilities are practiced in different of leadership within schools, across different formal spheres offers a developmental roadmap different formal roles. The principal role roles. for individuals and a tool for reflecting should become more manageable, less on a school’s overall leadership strengths stressful. and needs. The Educational Leadership Capabilities Framework The Educational Leadership Capability Framework is a pivotal comes with reflective questions to support ongoing development, part of the Leadership Strategy https://teachingcouncil.nz/ and a note that the capabilities should not be used as appraisal content/leadership-strategy. The Leadership strategy approaches checklists. It also gives links to relevant research and illustrations leadership largely in terms of agency in working with others of what these capabilities look like in different contexts. to advance learning and flourishing among an organisation’s Here is the detail: students and staff, focusing on practices.

The Educational Leadership Capability Framework was https://teachingcouncil.nz/sites/default/files/Leadership_ designed to give practitioners and those who support their Capability_Framework.pdf work a set of high-level guidelines about what good leadership looks like – and what is needed for a school or early childhood Developing the capabilities education service to work well.

So how were these capabilities developed? How sound are they?

NZCER was asked to develop the Educational Leadership Nine core capabilities are fleshed out: Capability framework by drawing together the capabilities identified in the draft Educational Leadership Strategy, the ■■ Educational Leadership Capabilities profession’s feedback on that draft, key existing government ■■ Building and sustaining high trust relationships outlines of leadership, including ERO’s school and early ■■ Ensuring culturally responsive practice and understanding childhood services evaluation indicators, and the research on of Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural heritage, using Te Tiriti o effective educational leadership linked to gains for students’ Waitangi as the foundation learning and wellbeing. I was familiar with this research because ■■ Building and sustaining collective leadership and professional we had used it in the development of the Teaching, School and community Principal Leadership Practices (TSP) survey tool for schools’ ■■ Strategically thinking and planning self-review, (www.tsp.org.nz), first used by over 300 schools ■■ Evaluating practices in relation to outcomes in 2017. My colleague Sheridan McKinley (Ngāti Kahungunu ■■ Adept management of resources to achieve vision and goals ko Wairarapa and Ngāi Tahu) and I now did a further scan of ■■ Attending to their own learning as leaders and their own relevant research and evidence about effective leadership to wellbeing update our knowledge, and to find accessible examples from Aotearoa New Zealand.

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We also looked carefully at the work that was done almost a decade earlier, after the landmark Best Evidence Synthesis on school leadership. Along with sector contributions and review, that research synthesis and its illustrations fed the Kiwi Leadership for Principals guidance, and it also provided the grounds for the forerunner of the TSP, the Educational Leadership Practices survey.

Tū Rangatira was part of this earlier joint work between practitioners, researchers, and policy advisers (http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leadershipdevelopment/Key-leadership-documents/Tu-rangatira-English).

It has been an important and vivid resource for Māori-medium educational leadership – and one which needs to be more widely known to English-medium educational leadership as well. We made links with Tū Rangatira in our capability descriptions.

We also had a look at some other countries’ leadership frameworks or standards, seeing some common themes but also complexity and over-detail that could glaze the eyes and encourage superficial responses. The Ontario Leadership Framework (https://www.education-leadership-ontario.ca/application/ files/8814/9452/4183/Ontario_Leadership_Framework_OLF. pdf, last updated in 2013) was the closest to the vision we could see in the draft Educational Leadership Strategy developed for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Once we had all the material together, we started by identifying the convergences across these different sources. That led to a draft set of capabilities, and the basis for giving each capability a succinct description. We could see that these capabilities are distinct but not discrete: there are some overlaps. Each is important; high trust relationships seem to be the essential anchor.

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We did not develop the capabilities in isolation. They needed to be consistent with the work and thinking that had been done on the Educational Leadership Strategy — to be true to its vision, and the way it brought together different experience and expertise.

Robyn Baker, who led the writing team for the draft Educational Leadership Strategy, provided critical feedback as we sketched the capabilities. Then we fleshed out and tested them with the (then) Educational Council team working on the Strategy. Our final drafts of the full Capability framework, with illustrations drawn as much as possible from Aotearoa New Zealand work, were shared with other Aotearoa New Zealand leadership researchers and professional developers, leading to some useful refinements and more illustrations for the final version.

I’ve been delighted to hear from those working with educational leaders that they find the Educational Leadership Capabilities refreshing and useful. They make it easier to identify what’s important, and set out ‘next steps’ for individuals and schools.

They point to aspects that can be included in much professional learning, not just that tagged ‘leadership’. They provide a common language that can be used to talk as teams, and for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to work together to enhance the sustainability and quality of the leadership, essential to the flourishing of our schools and learners.

About the Author Cathy Wylie is a Chief Researcher at NZCER, and was a member of the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce.

Eight Principles for Principals David McKenzie

Edendale Primary School – Southland

Running a school is not a solo expedition. There are simply too many different roles bearing down on the one position for anyone to be able to do everything, flawlessly, on their own.

We lead our staff, manage a breadth of physical and financial resources and through our membership on a BOT, have the charge of strategic oversight. To have the perfect collection of skills and understandings to navigate the complexity of each realm flawlessly is rare, if not impossible. It can only sustainably be achieved in genuine concert with others. It requires a collection of the right people, positioned in the right place, surrounded by a culture conducive to growth.

Running a school is not a science. There is no Newton’s law for this, or Einstein’s calculations for that. What we do as principals is based on the information that we have at the time, with the resources available to us, combined with the collective input of those around us. Then, on top of that, we have external forces being applied to us from shifts in Government policy and changes to Ministry of Education regulations. This is where a genuine altruistic judgement, discernment and wisdom comes in. When things are done with transparent sincerity, the stick of ‘hindsight’ that can beat us up sometimes, is less harsh.

It’s a complex role, with a host of expectations, coming from many different directions, some even mutually exclusive. With that in mind, here are eight principles for principals, that can help straighten the crooked path that we often face.

Mine mistakes, to grow excellence. Mistakes aren’t pleasant.

They are errors, mini-failures, and defeats. They come from the fact that we are human, have limited insight, constrained resources, and inadequate skills. There are variables beyond our influence and circumstances that occur beyond our understanding. When bad stuff happens we can feel vulnerable and exposed. We have to be very careful at that moment of weakness in how we react. Avoid the short term ‘out’ which is to lie, blame shift, or run away. These are understandable reactions because we feel inadequate, but they are detrimental to our reputation and unhelpful in building our credibility. They put a veneer over the problem allowing us to carry on as if nothing has happened. Yet, we are only fooling ourselves, everyone else around us can see it, see our reaction, and wish that we would simply acknowledge it and move on.

A principal faces up to the fallible, acknowledges the issue at hand, and looks for solutions. It takes an excellence mindset, that allows mistakes, to sharpen the focus to bring about positive change. Over time, mistakes improve us, failures strengthen us and defeats empower us. An excellence mindset mines failures for the gems of progress.

■■ Listen, to improve. Many people think a leader is the one with the biggest mouth, saying the most, filling up the empty silence with their own words. Sure, there are times that we do open our mouths and speak clearly and precisely, and at times ■■

forcefully, but that should not be our only modus operandi. It is hard to listen with your mouth open all the time. It is also hard to listen when you are framing a response, looking for the ‘one-up’ story or having a deficit listening mentality trying to find what is wrong with what the person said.

Professional principalship requires the mouth to be shut at least in equal measure to it being open. In fact, the more mature a principal, the more time they will spend listening.

A discerning principal listens for what is being said and also what is not being said that could have been. Both what is voiced and not voiced, contains a message. School improvements come from seeking advice, sounding out others, inviting input and welcoming feedback.

■■ Step out, to grow others. Just two little words, ‘ego’ and ‘glory’, can keep us from becoming good leaders. Ego always wants to be the centre of attention and glory always wants to be admired and acknowledged. Both can cause poor behaviour called ‘glory-stealing’ where the credit is stolen from someone else and claimed to ourselves. Both ego and glory, can cause us to hold tight to power, and turn leadership into a political power play as we compete for the worship of our subjects.

Such egotistical selfishness destroys morale, ferments frustration, divides staff and creates a toxicity in the school culture that drives away the very people we want to stay.

Empowered principalship reigns in our ego and unplugs itself from the elixir of glory. This is done in private, with very few ever being smart and discerning enough to know the important transition that you made deep within you, to step out to allow others in so that they can flourish and grow.

Principalship creates space for others to step into. When staff step up they see that they are trusted, this sparks initiative, ownership, and increases discretionary input. Staff begin to contribute more and more. Once that occurs it is our role to encourage and acknowledge their growth. This is a very powerful cycle that strengthens our schools. The ‘me’ becomes ‘we’. To adapt an ancient Chinese proverb – A principal is at their pinnacle when people barely know they exist, that when the work of school is done, the aim of a year fulfilled, the staff they lead will say, ‘We did it ourselves.’

■■ Do less, to achieve more. With so many ‘good’ projects, initiatives, and latest trends it is very easy to get swept up in keeping up with Jones Street School. This can come from our own or a shared sense of insecurity and lack of confidence.

Yet, we do not have to be mirrors of each other. Difference is enriching. By chasing the trend from down the road we can end up being tossed from one thing to the next, with the net result being, we’ve done nothing significant ourselves.

Experienced principals become sharper and sharper, doing less and doing it well, to the point that it defines them and the schools that they lead. The clarity of focus and the intensity of direction, provides security for those around us, defining what is acceptable and what is not. This focus has an ear towards our community and an eye on the future. It balances the now N Z Principal | M a r c h 2 0 2 0

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with the not yet. Strategic plans become less wordy and less cumbersome as they become more focused and defined. There is less and less of an attempt to do everything to try and please as many people as possible, but rather the realisation that quality comes from doing fewer things very well.

■■ Bed in, to mature. There are times and circumstances when principals shift too much and too early. Changing a principal is significant for a school. It thrusts a school into a state of uncertainty that takes around one whole year to settle. Schools find it hard. If they are changing principals too much, it is hard for that school to grow.

Shifting too much as a principal stunts our growth as well, where we can run away from the pressure that can grow us.

The first year is ‘The Honeymoon’, the second year is ‘I’ve-GotThis’, the third year is ‘The Beginning of Pushback’. Push back is not fun. It can unsettle our confidence and belief in our ability. Our natural reaction is to get away from it so we tidy up the CV and look elsewhere.

A focused principal beds in for the long haul, knowing that true character growth is not in retreating from the challenge but in being courageous and reflective enough to weather the storm and go through the fire. They push through the push back. This pressure and heat do not destroy us, they refine us. Out of this comes a depth of maturity that jumping ship could never bring. We begin to know ourselves better, which enables us to know other people better. We explore the depths of ourselves that few people are prepared to journey into, but by doing so, we learn to break unhelpful habits, celebrate what we can do and reach out for support from others who can do things we can not. We begin to lead more from a point of gratitude and graciousness knowing ourselves and valuing others.

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NZ Principal | March 2 0 2 0

Lead, don’t boss. The world thinks that a good leader bosses.

The world thinks that this means constant instruction, direction, telling and if the job is not done properly, reprimanding, chastising, micromanaging and punishing.

Boss-leadership is always checking up to ensure that things are done right. Boss-leadership is a stickler for compliance and rules. With this fractured belief structure the word ‘boss’ and ‘bully’ can easily connect themselves and the school can be gripped by a climate of fear.

An expert principal leads out of a culture of trust and respect.

Principalship inducts new staff into the school over a period of time, allowing them to settle in and find their feet. It gives clear structures around position descriptions and curriculum delivery expectations. It provides time for questions and clarifications. It allows for mistakes and has open discussions around such mistakes keeping the topic the issue and not the person.

■■ Have clarity, to establish purpose. All too often a principal’s view of their role in the school is too small. It can become a job, with a whole series of tasks to be completed, in order to get the job done, nothing more and nothing less. The passion dies, overwhelmed by a wave of expectations and tasks, that all needed to be done yesterday.

A mature principal goes much deeper and finds a strong inner altruistic motivation. Schools are the receptacle of our communities’ most precious wealth, its young. We take them in and are charged with their nurture, guiding them, in partnership with their family and whānau, towards a future that has their dreams and potential realised. Leading a school is a mission. We are not doing a job, we are changing the world, one child at a time. It is a service, that in giving our talents and skills, we grow others.

■■ Think successionally, to establish a legacy: Even on the first day, we should be thinking about the next person who takes over the role from us. We will be replaced one day. Someone else will ‘sit in the seat’ leading the school. We want them to be successful. I’ll repeat that, we want them to be successful. This is repeated because, sometimes, somewhere, deep down, there is the temptation to hope that they aren’t, so that we then look good. That is not successional thinking, that is selfish thinking.

A successful principal is a successional principal. They create a legacy of success that others grow upon. Such an attitude lifts our thinking from the here and now, from our wants and desires, into the long term reputation of the school. We are part of a line of principal’s in the past and into the future who take up the mantle of leadership for the families of the children in our community. We don’t want our successor to inherit a mess. This means we are constantly bringing order to the chaos by simplifying, reducing replication, digitising, rationalising, streamlining, clarifying, modernising, structuring. It means we sort out the problems of today so that they are not the problems of tomorrow. It means we run a financially viable school with money for the future, so that our replacement can continue to run a successful school. Our legacy is that we have spent our time working ‘on’ the school not ‘in’ the school. When we leave things should go from strength to strength.

■■

As principals we hold a privileged position to have an influence over both adults and children, and through them, our communities. It is an important position that we need to handle with the right attitude and understanding. It is challenging. It is stretching. It is demanding. By being principals with principles, we can take the role to a new level and sow positive seeds of hope into our nation.

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All Eyes Right – on Linton Army Camp School Liz Hawes

EDITOR

If a person armed with a rifle was spotted in your school playground, you would probably call an immediate lockdown.

When a squadron of men, carrying rifles and backpacks sprints across principal Geoff Frank’s school playground, the kids call out and wave to their Dads.

That’s because Geoff Franks is principal of Linton Army Camp School, located on the southern outskirts of Palmerston North.

‘Ninety-five per cent of the families of children attending Linton Camp School are connected to the military,’ said Geoff.

The school itself is much like any other state school of similar size (143 students). The entrance lobby is welcoming and warm.

Brightly coloured art works, awards, trophies and photographs – representing the history and achievements of the young learners within, liberally adorn the space.

Principal Geoff Franks with his Te Reo teachers

Parents like to be involved in their children’s schooling

What is less typical than many other Manawatu Schools is that 62 per cent of the children are male and 38 per cent female. Of those, 58 per cent are Māori, 31 per cent Pākehā and 11 per cent from other backgrounds.

Geoff Franks and his teachers know all the children well. They also know the parents and whānau and have strong relationships with the local community. Parents are encouraged to be involved in their children’s learning and progress and are always made welcome at the school. In turn, many parents support the sports programme and other activities through coaching and organising big sporting events.

‘The Army are great to work with,’ says Geoff, ‘and we have regular conversations with the Base Commander, who is also a member of our School Board,’ he said.

‘Everyone on the base is right behind the children and their education and willingly support us, especially with physical activities and sports, which are very popular with our kids,’ he said.

Once a year the Army hosts ‘Army Day’ for the kids.

Orienteering and obstacle courses are very popular alongside myriad other physical related activities.

Everyone looks forward to this day and the kids, their parents 16

NZ Principal | March 2 0 2 0

and teachers hugely appreciate the effort that goes into making it happen, ‘It’s always a physically fun day and generates a competitive spirit through team activities as well as individual pursuits,’ says Geoff.

The Army facilities on the Camp’s grounds are extensive and include large playing fields, a well-maintained swimming pool and a well-equipped library.

‘Our school has access to the outdoor facilities including the swimming pool and the library,’ said Geoff, ‘and we don’t have to pay to maintain these fantastic assets. That is a bonus other schools do not have and allows us to host local schools so our children can have sporting competitions right here at the Camp,’ he said.

Military Trucks in formation parked expect­ antly as a backdrop to the School grounds

Linton is the largest New Zealand army base in the country and home to the Headquarters of 1 Brigade. It bears little resemblance to its 1941 ‘tent city’ which upgraded to prefabricated huts in 1942. Today it is the operational hub for the NZ Army with 2000 personnel based there.

1 Brigade supports peace and security by providing task organised forces in several places both home and abroad. Except for the Special Forces, HQ 1 (NZ) Brigade commands the NZ Army Field Forces day to day and prepares them for operations.

These operations are undertaken by several Combat Units including the Royal NZ Infantry Regiment, Queen Alexandra’s Mounted Rifles, the Royal Regiment of NZ Artillery, the second Engineer Regiment, the Royal NZ Corps of Signals and the Royal NZ Army Logistic Regiment.

The Camp operates much like a small town with its own residential streets, shops and services, fire brigade, Police and medical centre. The difference is the Camp’s grounds also include a parade ground, assault courses, rifle ranges and mess buildings.

The mess is where military personnel socialise and eat. There are separate messes for ordinary personnel and Army Officers – demonstrating the hierarchical nature of the Army Defence

Principal Geoff Franks loves to talk about the children, the families and their successes

Force. Linton Camp is also the headquarters of Training and Doctrine Command, which trains and educates the Army’s personnel, develops leaders, establishes training standards, manages doctrine and integrates lessons learned and training support across the Army.

‘These represent the military careers that our children’s parents have taken up,’ says Geoff.

About half of the school’s families would be in residence at the Camp and the other half would live in the city or nearby towns.

It isn’t possible to buy a house on the vast army camp site. They are all owned by the State – specifically for military families to rent – but only for a limited time after which they must vacate for the next family.

‘Six years is the maximum you can rent an army house throughout your entire military career,’ said Geoff, ‘which puts a lot of pressure on families to be looking out for alternative housing,’ he said.

Families moving out of the camp, might also shift their children to schools closer to their new house, unless both parents are employed by the military.

‘All of this means that few children who start with us at age five, are still with us at year eight,’ said Geoff. ‘We have a turn-over of about one third of our school roll every year, so that’s not a high level of stability for us. Between 2010 and 2015, we lost 359 children,’ he said. Housing is not the only reason the school roll fluctuates. ‘We also have families moving to other army camps or to serve overseas,’ he said.

At Linton’s base Camp, there are expansive areas for housing the large fleet of military vehicles and an extensive array of workshops for servicing them all. As a strategic partner to the New Zealand Defence Force, Lockheed Martin provides services to the Defence Force for maintenance, repair and overhaul of

the fleet.

A multimillion-dollar upgrade is planned for Linton Camp which will include a new explosives store, a Queen Alexander’s Mounted Rifles headquarters, a field workshop, vehicle shelter and a logistics main fleet utilisation warehouse. Already upgrades are underway for the sewage pump station, perimeter fence, CCTV and the electrical network.

‘We are also looking forward to development of the central Camp Base area,’ said Geoff, ‘which will provide a centre for people to gather and socialise,’ he said.

There are some other bonuses for the kids like visiting the Fire Station on the base. ‘They love us bringing the kids down and the kids love learning about their work,’ he said. ‘They also enjoy the military parades and watching training exercises like Dads leaping in and out of helicopters’, he said, ‘so we make good use of those experiences for our kids.’

It’s great to have friends

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Whilst the Army’s influence over the Camp families in residence is inescapable, the school operates much like other schools.

‘We try to minimise the influence of the Army within the day to day running of the school,’ says Geoff, ‘and just get on with the learning.’

‘Owning our Learning, owning our future’ is the mantra at Linton and it has buy-in from staff and students alike’.

One of the ways this mantra comes to life is through the ‘seesaw’ app. It turns school reporting on its head. Seesaw empowers the children to report what they are learning at school.

Their reporting extends far beyond the ‘twice a year reporting in plain English’ requirement. Linton kids are continuously reporting to their parents and teachers what they are learning,

Rides on the Fire Engine are always fun

Elastic skipping – an old time favourite!

using photos, videos, drawings, text, PDFs and links. The children are providing the evidence base from which teachers can draw conclusions about progress and next learning steps. It’s an authentic learning approach and attracts frequent and pertinent feedback from both parents and teachers alike.

‘We are heavily focused on skills for our children’s future like problem solving, team-work, social interaction, communication, creativity and critical thinking, which are the competencies of our New Zealand Curriculum. Last term we had a special focus on collaboration and Science communication,’ he said.

A very high percentage of the Linton Camp School children, including Māori students (who outperform their Pākehā peers), meet learning expectations or exceed them. The very few who struggle are well supported by reading recovery services, RTLB, RTLit, and teacher aide assistance.

Māori is the dominant culture in the school and a likely contributor to the high success rates of Māori students. There is a bilingual class and intensive te reo me tikanga. These programmes are available to all who wish to participate.

‘We maintain a culture of collaboration throughout the school and with other schools,’ said Geoff, ‘and have joined a Kahui Ako which shares the same high expectations and cultural aspirations as we do.’

Geoff is one of the two Kahui Ako leaders. ‘I can bring strategies and plans for collaborating to the Kahui Ako, which is a well-established practice at my school,’ he says, ‘and this is an excellent forum for PLD opportunities through sharing agreed PLD together.’

A second factor in the school’s success is its inclusive practices and focus on children’s wellbeing. It’s a school where the whole child turns up and teachers respond to the whole child. Pastoral care is just as important here as physical safety and academic achievement.

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NZ Principal | March 2 0 2 0

With sport being so popular with the children, the school uses sport as a metaphor to define the competencies they expect children to achieve. These include positive learning, team-work, having goals, being resilient and applying effort and focus on always improving. ‘The same values apply to the staff,’ says Geoff.

One of the problems that constantly concerns Geoff Franks is the decile funding system. His school is designated decile ten which means he is on the lowest funding band with the least learning support funding. It is assumed that decile ten schools are located in affluent communities which can ably support the school’s funding shortfalls. In the case of Linton Army Camp School, Geoff argues, the school does not sit in an affluent community.

‘We ask families for between $70 and $100 a year in school donations, and we are lucky if 30 per cent of the families can

Some Amazing Art Work displayed in the school foyer

pay,’ he said. ‘We don’t have many beneficiaries but neither do we have a stable roll. Many families do not own their own home and we are not a school with large reserves. You need a car to live here and bus trips are expensive for the kids. It’s impossible to predict learning support needs and we don’t have the extra funds to respond in a timely way. If we were decile 7 or less, we would qualify for the $150 per student in lieu of school donations. That would give us an extra $20,000 which would be far more than the current donations income,’ he said.

Another issue which limits growth in the school roll is that the school is located on the army Camp base. Families that are not military, do not think of the school as public. It would not occur to parents outside of the Army to consider Linton Camp School as an option for their children, whereas in Waiouru, another Army base, there are far more children attending school who are not military related families.

I ask Geoff how the children cope when a parent is sent away on service to the other side of the world, for example the Middle East.

‘It’s no big deal when mums or dads are sent away on military service. We make contact quickly with the family if we notice any behavioural changes,’ he said. ‘There have been instances of soldiers not surviving these missions, but none has been a parent of our children here. It can cast a shadow, however’, he said.

Overall, Linton Camp School is a great place for kids to learn and grow. With the relatively high achievement rates of the children, especially Māori children, Geoff Franks can feel very proud of his leadership style and the talents and dedication of his staff. It’s a school with a very different character to most, but for all that, it is a school where the children know that their learning is front and centre. If they have military facilities and activities to support that learning, then that is a bonus.

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N Z Principal | M a r c h 2 0 2 0

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How can you foster assessme leadership across your schoo Jennifer Charteris and Dianne Smardon

Assessment practice has changed enormously with student agency and pedagogic voice (student voice about teaching and learning) linked with assessment for learning over the last few years in Aotearoa/New Zealand schools. In this article we share leader voices (with pseudonyms) and findings from our research into dimensions of assessment leadership. These leaders shared deliberate aspects of their leadership practice that focused on leading assessment learning and development in their schools. The following examples of practice and the table detailing the features of ‘assessment capable leadership’ provide an opportunity to consider what this looks like in your school or Kāhui Ako. Assessment capable leaders draw on their pedagogical leadership and understanding of assessment principles to support teacher learning. Trina, principal of a regional secondary school, describes how she embeds formative assessment practice in her work with teachers.

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I don’t consider that I teach general secondary students anymore. I consider that I am teaching other teachers.

I try to use similar practices with them. In other words, getting them to reflect on their practice – giving them an opportunity to look at how they are [teaching] – to actually get them to look at their learners first before they [start], and then, use that to inform how they’re going to teach.

Assessment capable leaders foster understandings around the principles of assessment design, such as ensuring that the assessments are fit for purpose, and that approaches to assessment have a positive impact on children’s learning and wellbeing. Kim, assistant principal of an urban primary school, is critical of narrow approaches to assessment.

I get a bit hung up because people just think of assessment like one running record or a maths test or whatever, so assessment should be more global than that to see the whole child and their progression.

Our graduate profile, which we have a progression for, is not only about those basic competencies in your basic literacies, but it is about that global perspective of a child and how far they have come, and how they are able to be resilient when things get tough in their learning . . . It comes back to that design for learning and to individualise that learning for each individual child to make it just the right amount of challenge.

Assessment capable leaders not only demonstrate curricular and pedagogical capability but also the intention to foster teacher assessment literacy. Bella is principal of a small regional full primary. She highlights that leaders should not assume that teachers are assessment literate. She signals the importance of the principal’s role in ensuring staff are taught to analyse data and to triangulate evidence in order to generate a balanced and dependable overall teacher judgement.

You have to strategically plan for modelling assessment to staff and you actually have to teach staff how to assess . . .

So, you can’t make assumptions and wonder why the data is not shifting. You actually have to teach staff how to analyse data and teach them to understand what the data is telling them, understand which test does what.

We know that assessment capability takes time to build. Eliza is principal of an urban intermediate school. She highlights that there is a time consideration around building teacher assessment capability with teachers who have different levels of assessment knowledge.

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NZ Principal | March 2 0 2 0

ent capable ol?

Jennifer Charteris

It’s building the capability. For five years we’ve been working really, really hard on the constructional process . . . It takes time and energy and commitment to establish teacher practice and build that knowledge with teachers of different ages and stages and understandings. So, this is the biggest challenge – just the amount of work it takes to build that real clarity around assessment and build teacher consistency.

Assessment capable students exercise the power to initiate learning and voice critique when an approach to learning is not working for them. In the classroom they co-produce agency in learning together and are encouraged to be learning resources for one another. Helen is principal of a rural school. She describes how she challenges the power structures in classrooms in her leadership work.

For me it’s leading so that children can be in control of where they are at and where they are heading, and making sure that the teachers realise that. ‘Hey, this is something the kids can do’. So, it’s leading that change, really.

Table 1. sets out features of assessment capable leadership. We generated these features through our research speaking with 38 Aotearoa school principals. The leadership features are not the characteristics of a single leader but produced through the relationships between principals, teachers, and students (and where relevant parents/whānau and the community).

Dianne Smardon

Table 1. Key assessment capability practices Features of assessment capable leadership • Leadership that encourages power sharing to develop student assessment capability • Leadership to address unethical and inappropriate student assessment • Leadership that encourages children to initiate of their own learning (agency) and use assessment so that they coconstruct learning with others • Leadership that leverages clear assessment principles on a day to day basis • Leadership that ensures accuracy of assessments • Leadership that develops teacher data literacy • Leadership that promotes assessment professional learning focus • Leadership that uses accurate information to enhance curriculum and teaching and strengthens teacher assessment capability • Leadership in assessment policy development and implementation • Leadership in promoting the collaborative use and communication of student achievement information • Leadership in critiquing different approaches to assessment • Leadership in ensuring balance in assessment approaches • Leadership that facilitates teachers’ leadership • Leadership that fosters collaboration around the use of data • Leadership for managing tensions between mandated accountability (reporting) and school-based decision making

MAGAZINE

You can now access the current and past issues of NZ Principal magazine online You can search by magazine issue, article name or author

• Leadership for enabling a positive school assessment culture

These assessment capability practices could be a useful framework for you to explore with your colleagues. You could take a formative approach, where you use it to identify areas to further strengthen in your school. It could provide a reflective tool to think about how you and your colleagues can foster teacher leadership in these areas. We hope this article sparks a conversation around practices that support leader, teacher and student assessment capability in your school.

Acknowledgement The authors wish to thank the Principals across New Zealand who contributed to this research.

visit www.nzprincipal.co.nz N Z Principal | M a r c h 2 0 2 0

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Education and climate change Rachel Bolstad

Senior Researcher, New Zealand Council for Educational Research

Climate change will have ‘major impacts’ within our students’ lifetimes, according to more than half of the primary and intermediate principals and teachers surveyed by NZCER in 2019 (Figure 1).1 FIGURE 1: What impact will climate change have on the place and community where your school is located?

Within your students’ lifetimes?

7

Within your lifetime?

7 40

12 8 30 Not sure

25

28 20

53

36 10

None

0

10

Minor

20

21 30

Moderate

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Major

SOURCE: NZCER 2019 survey responses from primary and intermediate principals (n=145) and teachers (n=620)

In 2019, tens of thousands of New Zealand students joined millions of others around the globe in the school strike for the climate (SS4C) marches, demanding that leaders and governments act faster to address the climate crisis. Other surveys show that a majority of New Zealanders are concerned about climate change (Leining & White, 2015) and think more action is needed (IAG-Ipsos, 2018).

Climate change impacts everything, including land and water, food systems, economies, health, migration, jobs, access to resources, and much more. The best science knowledge available provides a clear signal about the urgency of action required (Table 1). The all-encompassing nature of climate change poses an unprecedented challenge to political leaders, policymakers, and leaders within every sector, requiring us to address traditionally separate issues in an interconnected manner (UNESCO, 2015).

What can or should the education sector be doing about Resources to kickstart your thinking Climate Change – prepare today, live well tomorrow is a new teaching resource for Years 7–10 on TKI2. The resource includes information and activities to help build knowledge about climate change, guidance for local action, and a wellbeing guide.

Getting climate ready: A guide for schools on climate action (Gibb, 2016) outlines strategies for whole-school approaches that encompass governance, teaching and learning, school facilities and operations, and community partnerships. In the New Zealand context, Enviroschools also has a well-developed kaupapa for whole-school approaches to sustainability.

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NZCER research team: Rachel Bolstad, Sophie Watson, Sinead Overbye (L-R)

climate change? This question drives NZCER’s current research project: Education policy and practice for a changing climate: What are the options? We’re exploring what a ‘whole-system’ educational response to climate change might look like in Aotearoa New Zealand. We have been reviewing national and international literature, and surveying and interviewing a range of people. The research is still in progress. This article pulls out a few emerging themes and provides ideas about what we can do as schools and as an education system.

It’s not about pushing the burden on to young people Thinking about climate change can trigger a range of intellectual and emotional responses, including scepticism, confusion, fear, disbelief, anger, grief, paralysis, and avoidance. Understandably, some educators have mixed feelings about climate change being part of young people’s education. Some principals in our survey said, ‘Let young children enjoy their childhood’ and, ‘I don’t The Climate change empowerment handbook (2017) from the Australian Psychological Society provides eight strategies to help people to engage with the challenge of climate change, using the acronym A.C.T.I.V.A.T.E. The first T stands for talk about it, and the I stands for inspire positive visions.

Mental health and our changing climate: Impacts, implications, and guidance (Clayton et al., 2017), a report from the American Psychological Association, includes five top tips for leaders and practitioners: 1) build belief in one’s own resilience, 2) foster optimism, 3) cultivate active coping and self-regulation skills, 4) maintain practices that help to provide a sense of meaning, and 5) promote connectedness to family, place, culture, and community.

– what can schools do?

believe it should be pushed upon primary age children. Enough is enough! Stop making it their responsibility!’. However, a systemic educational response to climate change is not about placing the burden on young people, nor making it their responsibility to fix the problems of society. Nor is it about pushing, ‘yet another thing’ onto schools to ‘do’, on top of all the other things.

It is about bringing an informed, climate-conscious way of thinking into all aspects of education.

This includes looking at how we support young people’s learning, as well as critically reflecting on our own values, beliefs, and practices as educators and as a system.

climate-changed future. This means thinking about curriculum, teaching, and learning, and every other aspect of our education system, including infrastructure, transport, governance, workforce, and schools’ long-term relationship to their places and communities. Some responses will require immediate action, and some will require vision and longterm planning. Many responses will require the engagement and support of local communities, the general public, and alignment with other sectors.

Educational leaders at all levels need to help society prepare for life in a changing climate.

Leaders are ‘uniquely positioned to foster new levels of support for climate solutions’ and can help It’s about seeing education’s by becoming climate-literate and role in the bigger picture being ‘vocal, model leaders within Students from Ross Intermediate who worked with Ekos to A systemic educational response [their] communities’ (Clayton et develop school carbon calculator requires thinking beyond the al., 2017, p. 8) short-term inputs and outcomes that drive our daily activities.

It calls on us to think into the long-term future, and ask how our Education’s contribution from a global perspective work today contributes to a liveable world for future generations. Globally, education is seen as playing a central role in responding At its deepest level, it asks us to think about purpose, and whether to climate change. Article 6 of the UNFCCC (1992) outlines the the things we’re currently doing are the right things to do for a need for education, training, and public awareness initiatives ‘to Table 1: Climate change: Why action is needed Climate change has always occurred on our planet as a result of changes within our atmosphere, biosphere, lands, and waters.

However, research indicates that high amounts of greenhouse gas emissions (such as CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide) through human activities have exacerbated warming of the atmosphere.

Earth has already experienced a 1 degree global temperature rise, compared with pre-industrial times.

New Zealand is a signatory to The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international environmental treaty whose objective is to, ‘stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.’

The scientific community’s consensus is that given existing greenhouse gas emissions, we are already ‘locked in’ to at least a 1.5 degree average temperature rise. In October 2018, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2018) released a landmark report in which leading scientists warned that we may have only a dozen years left to act to keep the temperature rise

within +1.5 degrees. Greater warming will lead to greater impacts, including some that will be irreversible. In some scenarios we may reach 3 degrees within this century. The associated effects of rising global temperatures present multiple environmental, social, economic, political, cultural, and ethical challenges for human societies. For more about climate change impacts for New Zealand, see the Ministry for the Environment’s recent report, Environment Aotearoa (2019).

Mitigation and adaptation These two key responses to climate change have implications for every sector of human activity.

Mitigation – this describes actions to slow down or stop activities which cause global warming, reducing the severity of impact, and limiting various feedback loops that can amplify the damaging effects of temperature rise.

Adaption – this involves anticipating, planning, and preparing for the changes that will occur in our lifetimes and for future generations – given that some temperature rise can no longer be prevented or reversed.

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reduce the impact of climate change by enabling society to be a part of the solution.’3 Although the education sector is not a high contributor to greenhouse gas emissions relative to other industries, education can contribute directly and indirectly to mitigation and adaptation efforts. Education also needs to respond and have input into changes that will happen across many other sectors.

Climate change is a social justice issue In terms of whole-system plans and strategies, there has been more activity in least-developed countries, who are experiencing the impacts of climate change faster and more severely. There has been less forward-planning in wealthier, developed countries, like New Zealand, which also tend to be high per-capita contributors to GHG emissions. This is one of many ways in which climate change exacerbates other global and social inequities. As one interviewee noted, ‘Our middle-classes live in a way that we can be quite resilient or even isolated from a lot of those changes . . . and in that middle class we need to sense the consequences of all of this to take more meaningful action’.

People we have interviewed note that within New Zealand, climate change is likely to put even more stress on alreadyvulnerable groups including those in poverty, Pacific migrants, communities with complex social issues, and communities that may be forced to retreat from rising sea levels, erosion, flooding, or fire. Transitioning to a low-emissions economy will also affect people in certain industries and communities. It is important that these communities are supported through a ‘just transition’.4 What can we do?

Souza et al. (2019) describe two big domains upon which we can collectively act with respect to climate change and sustainability: the ‘material’ and the ‘immaterial’ (Table 2) Table 2: Two domains over which we have influence Material ‘Things’

Our built world, the buildings, objects, vehicles, materials and products that we use and consume, and waste products we generate.

Immaterial ‘Ideas and ways’

How we think, what we value, how we act in the world, our visions and expectations of how the world should be.

Material/tangible actions There are direct climate benefits to reducing the environmental footprint of our materials and infrastructure, and seeking more efficient, cleaner, and longer-lasting alternatives. In November 2019 the government announced that there would be more support for schools to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact, including a $5 million contestable fund for sustainability initiatives such as installing solar panels, replacing inefficient heating systems, and removing coal boilers.

New school builds also provide opportunities for thinking in climate-smart ways.

What’s your school’s carbon footprint?

Understanding carbon footprints is a great starting point for making sense of how everyday activities contribute to climate change, and identifying areas for improvement. Students and teachers at Ross Intermediate school worked with Ekos, a social enterprise, to develop a free school carbon footprint calculator, launched in December 2019.

See https://ekos.org.nz/school-calculator.

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FIGURE 2: School-wide practices reported by primary and intermediate principals (n=145) We have a school-wide focus on kaitiakitanga/care for the environment.

11 15

We have a school-wide focus on reducing waste.

We have a school-wide focus on reducing resource consumption (including energy) within the school.

We support students who choose to take part in protests or school strike action about climate issues.

10

Our school connects with local and/or regional organisations that take action on climate change.

We have a school-wide focus on reducing emissions relating to transport.

45

100 90 80 70 No response

53

30

5

32

50

12

10

30

40

10

10 16

43

43 68

60 50 40 30 20 10 Strongly disagree

32

10

10 6 0

10

Disagree

20 30 40 50 60 70 Agree

80 90 100

Strongly agree

SOURCE: NZCER 2019 national survey of primary and intermediate schools

Schools can also have a direct influence on living systems within or near the school grounds. Planting trees, building and sustaining food gardens, composting, worm farming, beekeeping, avoiding food waste, and building healthy soil all have climate impact benefits, as well as presenting rich opportunities for student learning and engagement. In the 2019 NZCER national survey of primary and intermediate schools, most principals said Enviroschools or student environmental/ gardening projects were ‘well embedded’ (46 per cent) or ‘partially embedded’ (32 per cent), within their schools and 15 per cent were ‘exploring’ these activities. In another question, most principals indicated a school-wide focus on caring for the environment. Waste-reduction and resource consumption was a focus for many (Figure 2).

School transport-related emissions are a more complex challenge.

Over half of NZ students now travel to school in a private vehicle (Theunissen, 2019). Schools can encourage low-carbon options such as walking, cycling, and public transport, but this option is not always available for all families. Recognising the significant cumulative CO2 impact of individual school transport choices (Devonport, 2017) highlights the need for creative, futurefocussed urban planning, transport design, including strategies that support children to learn locally Learning to think and live sustainably Education can also focus on the knowledge, values, attitudes, behaviours, and capabilities people need to live sustainably.

It is often easy for tangible ‘things’ to become the focus of sustainability initiatives, with less reflective consideration of ‘the deeper values and principles upon which people as individuals and as part of collectives are currently building their future’ (Brouwer et al., 2016, cited in Souza et al., 2019). We must ‘look to fundamentals’ and ‘examine the degree to which existing education is adapted to, and prepares people for, radically different futures.’ (UNESCO, 2012, p.8).

One youth climate educator interviewee said that many students she worked with expressed disappointment with the lack of quality climate change education they’d had at school.

She reflected that while many students learned about recycling and other ‘low-hanging fruit in the sustainability basket’, climate change ‘is the complex, high-hanging fruit’. Data from primary and intermediate teachers surveyed in 2019 suggests climate and sustainability is addressed to varying degrees in classrooms

FIGURE 3: Primary and intermediate teacher descriptions of classroom practices (n=620) In my class, we talk about changing our lifestyles to reduce our impacts on the environment.

7

58

In my class, students learn about ecological and conservation issues for Aotearoa New Zealand.

15

58

In my class, students undertake direct actions for the environment.

17

46

31

In my class, we talk about the causes and impacts of climate change.

22

51

20

I have good access to resources/ people/organisations to support education about climate change in Aotearoa New Zealand.

35

In my class we talk about adaptation for living in a changing/warming climate.

46

43

I find it challenging to address climate change issues in my classroom programme.

In my class, students undertake social actions for the environment.

100 90 80 70 No response

38

52

27 5

7

60

23 7

Strongly disagree

0

10

Disagree

31 23

12 12

14

60 50 40 30 20 10

indigenous people, and schools are still experienced as ‘white spaces’ by many young Māori and Pacific youth (Milne, 2013). Indigenous people have often been at the forefront of environmental movements as land and water protectors.

Indigenous worldviews and knowledges are recognised as a source for solutions and ways of thinking that enable humans to live sustainably with the environment. One challenge for sustainability and climate movements is to enable indigenous people to lead and self-determine their own sustainability priorities, including their rights to preserve and pass down their language, culture, traditional practices, and physical and spiritual relationships with the natural world. There are many opportunities for climate and sustainability education in Aotearoa New Zealand to nurture the potential of young Māori and Pacific people, as well as strengthen and uphold mātauranga Māori, tikanga me te reo Māori, and develop long-term strategies that derive from Māori and Pacific knowledge and traditions.

20 30 40 50 60 70 Agree

80 90 100

Strongly agree

SOURCE: NZCER 2019 national survey of primary and intermediate schools

(Figure 3). However, some young people tell us climate change has virtually never been addressed in their school learning, and many interviewees say it is too dependent on whether individual teachers or schools have the interest and capabilities to address it in their programmes.

How should we respond as an education system?

Here are a few big ideas emerging from the international literature, and our own research.

Taking action Engaging in positive action is an essential component of effective climate change and sustainability education. Action helps people of all ages to feel that there is something they can do about these problems. As one secondary student put it, ‘My climate anxiety was worse, way worse, before I started acting and it’s worse when I’m not acting than when I am.’ Taking action doesn’t just help with personal wellbeing – it actually makes a difference, however big or small. Believing one’s actions can make a difference to climate change has been positively linked with actually taking action, and vice versa (Leining & White, 2015).

Schools and other learning spaces can also be great sites for innovation, where learners can develop and test new ideas, designs, and strategies that can scale up to make big differences.

The hard stuff, and the opportunities When we engage with climate change and sustainability beyond the surface level, we must confront underlying drivers that have led to our present global situation. This includes normalisation of consumption and waste on a massive scale, and global economic systems which don’t factor in the real environmental costs of pro duc tion and consumption. At a deeper level, we can question social and economic systems that allow for high levels of inequity, Empowering and mobilising and worldviews that treat the young people environment as a resource School climate strike marches, 2019 You n g p e op l e h av e t h e to exploit for human benefit.

Social systems and norms have grown around these deeper ideas potential and motivation to drive sustainability and climatefor decades, even centuries. Education can help by supporting conscious movements. They also benefit from positive changes learners to understand, critique, challenge, and develop the that can be made for the future. Schools can help by honouring capacity to see alternative ways of thinking about the world and young people’s rights to be centred in plans and decisions their relationship to it. It can be uncomfortable to see that we are that affect them. As one teacher interviewee said ‘the most all ‘part of the problem’ as we go about our day-to-day habits. important things are our students. If we are not going to tackle Education can support people of all ages to navigate through this – in terms of re-shaping our education – and look at what these complex issues, and identify what shifts we can make as our young people want out of it, we are going to get it wrong’.

Teachers can use pedagogies that respect and support young individuals, and at collective levels.

Sustainability and climate change also intersect with issues people’s capacity to generate creative ideas, approaches, and like colonisation, systemic racism and the harm that has been solutions to problems. Schools can support young people’s done to indigenous people, culture, and lands. Education has a initiative and capacity for leadership and enable students to role to play here, too. Colonial education systems in Aotearoa have a voice in school planning and decision-making. and elsewhere have been complicit in approaches to assimilate

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schools are created equal. And in this instance, that’s not going to be acceptable’.

School climate strike marches, 2019

Strengthening local sustainability solutions and climate resilience Local-level activities matter. There are many benefits in connecting with the places and communities in which we live, learn, and work. With support from other local bodies, schools can play a role in empowering communities to engage in local mitigation and adaptation actions, deepen community resilience, and bring together untapped resources and potential within local areas in innovative ways. There are pockets of outstanding practice happening in schools all over New Zealand, often involving links and partnerships with governments, NGOs, businesses who value young people’s involvement and engagement. System-wide, we need to share and celebrate these practices and seek opportunities to cross-fertilise and inspire other schools and communities to show ‘what’s possible’.

Building teacher capabilities and supporting rich curriculum design Educators can be powerful agents for change, but many teachers haven’t had explicit guidance about how to approach climate and sustainability education. Teachers may need support to develop pedagogies that are interactive, learner-empowering, action-oriented, and promote critical and systemic thinking, collaborative decision-making. We also need to bring a climate-conscious lens to curriculum planning, within and across learning areas. Local curriculum can be designed to give learners space and opportunity to integrate knowledge from different domains, while building capabilities to plan and carry out meaningful projects that have tangible benefits for people and the environment. There are also system-level implications for national curriculum and assessment design, to ensure climateconscious education is woven into the fabric of our systems and supported in practice.

Advancing policy support and strategies for strengthening climate and sustainability education Finally, we need joined-up, forward looking policy and strategies that ensure climate and sustainability education isn’t just something that happens around the edges, or something that is dependent on individual schools and teachers having the motivation and confidence to drive it. This isn’t just a problem we have in Aotearoa New Zealand; it’s a problem for most educational jurisdictions. As one interviewee said, ‘we tend to do a really good job in education of saying, ‘We want to do this’, and then it’s just left to people to get there on their own. Not all 28

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Final thoughts The changes we need to make as a sector, as a society, and as individuals will require sustained collective effort, commitment to a vision for a positive future, and recognising that the viability of future lives depend on the choices we make today.

This article has only scratched the surface of the conversations we need to have about systemic educational responses to climate change in Aotearoa New Zealand. If you are interested in following our research, or would like to share what’s happening in relation to climate change at your school, please email rachel. bolstad@nzcer.org.nz or go to our project page www.nzcer.org. nz/research/educational-policy-and-practice-changing-climatewhat-are-options References Australian Psychological Society (2017). Climate change empowerment handbook. Psychological strategies to tackle climate change. https://www.psychology.org.au/for-the-public/Psychologytopics/Climate-change-psychology/Climate-change Clayton, S., Manning, C., Krygsman, K., & Speiser, M. (2017). Mental health and our changing climate: Impacts, implications, and guidance. American Psychological Association and ecoAmerica.

Devonport, A. (2017). The impact of secondary school enrolment schemes on school desirability, academic achievement and transport Thesis, Masters of Geographic Information Science, University of Canterbury.

Gibb, N. (2016). Getting climate-ready: A guide for schools on climate action. Paris, France.

Leining, C., & White, S. (2015). From fact to act: New Zealanders’ beliefs and actions on climate change (Motu Note #19). Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.

Milne, B. A. (2013). Colouring in the White Spaces: Reclaiming Cultural Identity in Whitestream Schools. Doctoral thesis, University of Waikato.

Ministry for the Environment, & Statistics NZ. (2019). Environment Aotearoa 2019 (New Zealand’s Environmental Reporting Series).

Ministry of the Environment.

Souza, D. T., Wals, A. E. J., & Jacobi, P. R. (2019). Learning-based transformations towards sustainability: A relational approach based on Humberto Maturana and Paulo Freire. Environmental Education Research, 1–15.

Theunissen, M. (2019, October 3). New census data reveals more than half of NZ’s students use private vehicles to commute. Radio New Zealand News.

UNESCO. (2015). Not just hot air: Putting climate change education into practice. UNESCO. 1 NZCER’s 2019 national survey of primary and intermediate schools gathered data from a sample of English medium schools.

2 See https://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-resources/ Education-for-sustainability/Tools-and-resources 3 See https://unfccc.int/topics/education-and-outreach/ workstreams/education-and-training 4 See https://www.mbie.govt.nz/business-and-employment/ economic-development/just-transition/

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NZPF CELEBRATES OUTSTANDING Liz Hawes

EDITOR

Whetu Cormick Retires as NZPF President Māori attending MAC schools.

What an absolute honour and pleasure it has been to work His last project, as his presidency concluded, was working with alongside Whetu Cormick, NZPF President, for the past three Pasifika principals on a PLD model to help lift the educational years. Many qualities make Whetu a stand-out president. success of young Pasifika people. This project has the full support The first is his uncompromising focus on the young people of of Minister Jenny Salesa, who has witnessed the success of the Aotearoa New Zealand. Every media comment, every argument MACs and aspires to similar success for Pacific Island youngsters. in any forum, reference group or meeting; every position he ever Throughout his tenure, Whetu’s advocacy for stronger and took, was centred on how it affects the learning, culture, health better funded learning support for challenged learners was and wellbeing of our young people. relentless. In all his meetings with Ministers and sector heads Working with Whetu, I was so often reminded of the words he would take the opportunity to hammer home the severity of of Dame Whina Cooper need and the importance when she said: of relief and support for ‘ Ta k e c a r e o f o u r teachers and leaders so that children. Take care of the students could benefit what they hear, take care from an education they of what they see, take care so richly deserved. It was of what they feel. For how no secret that as he began the children grow, so will his presidency, special be the shape of Aotearoa.’ education was a broken These words – from one system. That had been of the greatest leaders of agreed by all the Ministers Aotearoa New Zealand involved in the Education – encapsulate Whetu’s portfolio. What was required approach to everything. was not another review but His role, as President, a plan. That plan now exists was to advocate for school and implementation trials principals so that they are underway. In the course From left to right Jack Boyle (PPTA), Deidre Shea (SPANZ) and Whetu could be more effective of his presidency many Cormick, enjoying a moment together at Whetu’s farewell party leaders of their schools. In millions of dollars have been this way they would develop teachers of high quality to influence allocated to special education. It is not yet a perfect system, but and support the learning of children in Aotearoa. That requires no one would deny that Whetu’s continual lobbying for solutions, sound knowledge of what school principals are thinking and has had an influence on the progress so far. saying about issues that create barriers for teaching and learning.

Another of Whetu’s strengths was how he conducted himself It requires personal credibility, relevance of argument and the with the media. The level of media attention NZPF attracted in ability to bring others with him. the last three years is unprecedented. Key to Whetu’s success Advocacy will be ineffectual without building connections with was his truthfulness, sincerity, cutting-edge knowledge and those who can influence change. Whetu has a gift for connecting the relationships he built with reporters. He recognised that with people and building strong, sustainable relationships. This to have political influence, public support was critical. The was evidenced at his farewell at which colleagues and sector view of principals on education matters had to be expressed heads spoke of his outstanding debating skills and his ability to credibly, influentially, clearly and often. Whetu fulfilled these sustain those all important relationships. requirements with ease.

He was very clear about what he wanted to achieve when he A new era begins for Whetu now. There is no doubt that he will first stood for election to NZPF. It was about achieving equity continue to make outstanding contributions for the betterment of learning outcomes, particularly for our Māori and Pasifika of young people. He will continue to use his considerable young people – and advocating for an increased level of learning knowledge and talents to give voice to our young people and support for the growing number of severely challenged young ensure they have access to the kind of education they need to people in our schools. become successful adults.

He was instrumental in designing the Māori Achievement Whetu leaves the NZPF membership stronger, better informed, Collaborations (MACs) and has always been an ardent supporter and better supported. He built so much good will across the – not surprising – because the MACs have been hugely successful sector giving NZPF a very solid foundation to build on into in changing school culture and have lifted the success rates of the future.

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CONTRIBUTIONS Debbie Smith (Otago) Another strong advocate for children with special needs, Debbie joined the executive in 2016, becoming president of the Otago Principals’ Association in 2017.

Her role on the executive also included representing NZPF on the Southern Region’s Property Forum and she was a member of the NZPF Business Partners’ Team throughout her tenure.

She brought considerable knowledge of her region to every debate, never forgetting those principals who supported her to sit at the NZPF table. Her perspectives on issues, particularly special needs, was always reflective, authentic and helpful. At Musselburgh School, South Dunedin, she implemented an inventive programme to bring a culture of inclusion and support for her school community through ‘Play is the Way’, a programme which encourages student agency, ownership of behaviour and team-work. She brought ideas from these and other personal experiences to the political debates of the executive and used them to help form solutions for the system.

We will all miss Debbie’s considerable wisdom and knowledge and her ceaseless support for the NZPF leadership. Debbie will continue to use her strengths and knowledge for children of the Otago region as a Learning Support Coordinator, based in Central Otago.

Jen Rodgers We are saddened that Jen Rodgers, also from the Otago region, was not re-elected to the executive for this year, after such a short time with us. Jen brought the voice of Area Schools to NZPF debates and gave us invaluable insights into the issues faced by the Area Schools sector. As the NZPF membership grows and more secondary and Area schools join our organisation, we acknowledge the importance of growing our own knowledge and understanding of secondary school issues.

Jen is the former principal of both Oxford Area School and Cheviot Area School and is current principal at St Clair School in Dunedin. The executive placed high value on Jen’s contributions, which were informative and like her Otago counterpart, Debbie Smith, always authentic.

We trust that Jen will continue her excellent work for the young people of St Clair in Dunedin and will consider standing again for the NZPF Executive, to bring the Otago voice back to the NZPF table.

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Dr Lester Flockton Retires as Columnist Liz Hawes

EDITOR

Many, especially any who have listened to a Lester Flockton presentation on NZ Curriculum, will be saying that for the sake of the nation’s children and their education, Lester must never retire. There is possibly no other academic in the country who is as expert in curriculum and broader educational matters as Lester.

It would also be difficult to find another who has such an understanding of the interaction of education and politics; who can accurately distinguish political rhetoric from truth and reason; who has had teaching and leadership experience in both the era of Education Boards and Tomorrow’s Schools; and who displays such acerbic wit. Dr Lester Flockton is almost without peer.

As Editor of this NZ Principal publication I have been honoured to have Lester in our stable of writers. He has an extensive knowledge and experience in all aspects of education including as a teacher and school principal, academic researcher,

critic and generator of new ideas. Couple these talents with his astute understanding of the world of politics and Lester produces opinion pieces that are not just thoughtfully researched but which provoke and generate discussion. Whether the reader agrees or disagrees with Lester’s views, they cannot ignore them. His contributions have incited discussions across the tea rooms of New Zealand schools for many years and we are all much the richer for that.

Thank you, Lester, for your outstanding work over many years.

We shall miss your sharp- witted pronouncements, your clarity of argument and your ability to conflate complex policy issues into meaningful messages. You set a high bar, always maintaining professional integrity for our publication.

In this issue we welcome Professor Martin Thrupp who will take over Lester’s column. We look forward to on-going, thought provoking columns from Martin who, like Lester, will be well-known to many of you as an academic who will challenge your thinking.

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Kia Hiwa Rā Overtaken by events Martin Thrupp

thrupp@waikato.ac.nz

It was last November that Liz Hawes emailed from NZPF to wry. It’s born of dealing with countless situations where it’s hard ask if I would become the regular columnist for The New Zealand to know whether to laugh or cry. Sound familiar?

Principal. Of course I immediately said ‘yes’. It’s a wonderful Principals also deal with numerous situations where success is opportunity to speak directly to you as principals on a regular uncertain. Education is like that and it helps to make principals basis, and through you to the wider communities of your schools tenacious and self-reflective. Principals may be ‘in charge’ but and kura. Thanks for asking! there are many humbling aspects of the role as well.

It’s nice to follow on from Lester Flockton, a highly astute New Principals draw energy and optimism from their daily Zealand educator that I have long respected. Lester and I have interactions with children and families in schools. It helps worked together several times in years gone by, especially with them keep a sense of perspective. It’s often been salutary for me NZPF members on campaigns to do with National Standards when thinking that New Zealand society is going to hell in a and Investing in Educational Success. handbasket, as I sometimes do.

After accepting the role, I then had just the small issue of what You can see where I’m going with this. to write about. Not in all my columns – I view the growing climate crisis as a there are plenty of good topics – but in place where New Zealand principals are Principals have their own well-placed to show genuine leadership this first one. That problem was solved in January when our skies turned that networks and under and should have the confidence of their strange smoky orange colour. I decided positioning. A bit like the Canterbury to begin with why principals make such the right conditions can earthquakes, the Christchurch mosque good leaders in times of community massacres, the Nelson fires and countless mobilise them very crisis. other smaller crises over the years.

It starts with principals being part effectively. I’ve seen It is not keep calm and carry on, it of a helping profession with deeply is keep calm and lead through. As you social concerns. They are used to that in action many times show concern and take local action in looking out for vulnerable children, and around your school or kura, you over. vulnerable families and indeed vulnerable reassure not only children but their colleagues sometimes. Empathy, fairness, whānau and the wider community that community-mindedness and respect are more deeply ingrained we can look after each other and our environment and that than in many other occupations. something can always be done.

Principals have such a wide brief. To make good decisions By 2020 many New Zealanders seem to be losing their way. about their school and the curriculum they have to have broad Writing in the Herald, Simon Wilson recently referred to ‘our interests in society, politics, culture, the arts, science and the broken country’. Of course there has been political failure here environment. Principals are necessarily generalists as well as as well as in Australia and it goes back decades. But the problems having some very specific skills. now go deep into our societal attitudes and behaviours as well.

Principals have strong and active local networks – families, What about those squirrelling away multiple houses at a time community groups, businesses, local bodies. They are embedded of shortage? Or the meth epidemic that apparently now impacts in context and generally know it very well. They also have a a wide cross-section of people? And while many New Zealanders pretty astute view of what help or hinderance they can expect like to think we are generous, Johnathan Boston of Victoria from Wellington.

University reports steep falls in voter support for egalitarian and Principals have their own networks and under the right communitarian values since the 1980s. conditions can mobilise them very effectively. I’ve seen that in Since about the same time it has become more difficult to action many times over. question the motives or behaviours of parents. They have Principals are used to working in teams. Indeed in many rural become seen as the consumers of education and ‘the customer schools, those on staff are often the only adults quickly available is always right’. But to what extent do you think the people in the in a crisis. A shout out to associate and deputy principals here communities you serve have their priorities right? too. My wife, Marika, is a deputy principal.

I meant to introduce myself in this first column but have Principals are educators. They can nearly always read their run out of space. If you don’t know my work I recommend audience and get their point across well. starting with a piece which is online in various places. It’s Principals tend to have a great sense of humour, usually rather called ‘Education’s ‘inconvenient truth’: persistent middle class

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advantage’. It begins with a long tauparapara that I was taught by the late Matt Mataira when I was teaching at Waiopehu College in Levin back in the 1980s. It has been my go-to for pōwhiri over the years and includes these phrases: Kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā Moe araara ki te matahi tuna Moe araara ki te matahi taua Kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā Kia hiwa rā i tēnei tuku Kia hiwa rā i tērā tuku Be alert, be watchful Lest you sleep and miss the eels Lest you sleep and miss the war party Be alert, be watchful Be alert on this rampart, be alert on that rampart That’s why I have chosen to call this column Kia hiwa rā. It has overtones of warning, of urgency, of missing opportunities, of needing to protect. In this context it’s something like ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ or ‘get your thinking cap on’ which is what my pieces will be all about. I hope you enjoy them!

Having honest conversations about the barriers to educational success . . .

Helen Kinsey-Wightman

We started the year with a staff workshop on restorative practice and how this fits within our focus on culturally responsive and relational pedagogy. The more I learn about being restorative and developing relationships the more I come to appreciate the power of using open ended questions to listen.

This week there has been a lot of discussion in the media about the cost of starting back to school. One story in particular hit the headlines, KidsCan surveyed 210 teachers and principals who shared stories of life in their schools, ‘We had [four] boys attending on different days of the week and the excuse was illness . . . [It] turned out they only had one school shirt so they picked their favourite day of classes to come. Mum was too embarrassed to tell anyone,’ one teacher wrote.1 What impressed me about this story was the fact that someone (a teacher) had taken the time to observe what was happening for these children and asked some careful questions which allowed this parent to overcome some of the embarrassment and shame of economic hardship and access help to get her boys to school every day.

Many of the students we work with experience a number of barriers to educational success – these barriers often result in poor school attendance. I have noticed that the systems we put in place to deal with attendance and lateness are often anything but relational and restorative. Often we start with the question, ‘Why are you late?’ and sometimes the shame is maximised by asking this in front of an audience of 25 others.

Sometimes attendance issues are rooted in economic hardship, sometimes there are issues of mental health, anxiety, addiction or family violence. These result in shame and embarrassment for parents or students or both, getting to the root of the issue and giving the rights support requires an ability and a willingness to ask open questions and listen carefully to what is said and what isn’t. We know that poor attendance is linked to poor achievement, so we all need to support our staff to ask about the issues around school attendance with care and empathy.

The people I know who ask the best open questions start: ‘I’ve noticed that . . . (you are not at school on Mondays, you have been late a lot this week.) We’ve missed you at school, tell me about what’s happening . . . ’ ‘What else . . . ’ ‘Anything else?’

‘What can I do to support you?’

In between they pause a lot and wait for an answer and then listen. If you are working on your questioning, I found a great article called 9 openended questions to use with students on a blog called Presence.2 Having genuine conversations about the tough issues our students face often requires us to tackle our own underlying prejudices around poverty, mental health and parenting s k i l l s . We a l l m a k e judgments based on our own experiences and prejudices, sharing these and talking them through can help us to see different perspectives.

Last year a colleague and I went to visit a family whose Y9 daughter wasn’t attending school, to ask for their help in supporting her.

When we knocked on the door it became obvious that the student was part of a large family, living in a small home with a low income. We talked to Mum – who was clearly shocked that we had taken the time to visit her at home – and agreed a time when she could talk to us about how we could support her daughter to be at school. As we left Dad pulled up with a pile of Pizza Hut boxes for dinner.

On the drive back to school my colleague (an Economics teacher!) and I talked about the visit. I shared that I had grown up in financial hardship and I struggled not to judge a family who clearly had a very low income and chose to spend money on fast food. She talked about the relative costs of fast food in the 1970’s compared to now and about how easily $100 of groceries can disappear overnight in a family with hungry teenagers, we also talked about how time poor a family is when both parents N Z Principal | M a r c h 2 0 2 0

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need to work. We concluded that $25 worth of $5 pizzas might be an effective way to feed a large family in such circumstances.

As a result of the visit, we began a relationship with the family that means that, despite a term in Alternative Education, she is still engaged at our school a year later and I had one of my prejudices around poverty challenged.

This term we have Year 10 Camp – we work hard to support all of our students to attend and offer financial support to those who cannot. (Whether this approach will be able to continue should the draft guidelines on school donations become law is difficult to determine – here’s hoping for some genuine consultation around this legislation so that the ideals around equity result in a reality that is equitable.)

In the 5 years I have been running this camp, I have noticed that more and more families need financial support and less and less are able to communicate that. After sending a general letter to families with only 1 response, I sent an email to families with outstanding camp fees with the subject line, ‘Camp fees are now overdue – can we help?’ As a result I have been able to offer financial support to a number of families who had not previously felt able to ask.

On a side note, in the course of thinking about and researching this topic I came across an edutopia article about a teacher who calls the roll – and builds student relationships – by asking a daily attendance question. He starts with the ordinary, ‘What is your favourite food?’ He says, ‘After those first “getting to know you” questions, I introduce this one: “How is the weather in your world?” If students are

feeling stressed or tired, they may answer “stormy” or “cloudy.” If they’re in a good mood, it’s “sunny.” The answers give me a sense of the general mood in the room, and I can adjust my lesson in response. (Giving a test makes no sense when the general weather report includes storms with lightning and thunder.)’3 Finally, Ministry data tells us that School attendance declines over Term two. 2015 data indicates a drop from 93.2 per cent half-days attended in the first week of Term 2, to 87.8 per cent in the last week.4 If you believe attendance matters then now is the time to talk to your staff about having conversations of care and connectedness with students and whānau who are struggling.

References 1 https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/teacher-reportsfour-brothers-sharing-one-uniform-families-struggle-backschool-costs 2 https://www.presence.io/blog/9-open-ended-questions-to-usewith-students/ 3 https://www.edutopia.org/blog/building-community-withattendance-questions-lizanne-foster 4 https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2503/ attendance-in-new-zealand-schools-2015

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