This week we dropped my eldest son down to Wellington to move into his first ever flat. The 27 steps up to the front door are not for the faint hearted, so I was pretty relieved that he has embraced minimalism and moved out with 2 bags of clothes and his gaming PC (which he insisted on carrying himself!) The view from his bedroom window out over Wellington harbour is worth every step and by Christmas I’m pretty sure he will have the calves of a WWE champion. Over the past few weeks, as he has been preparing to move out, I have been thinking back to my own life transitions. Since he is not given to massive bouts of sharing, I have deliberately talked about my first independent experiences of overseas travel on a train ticket around Europe; heading off to Uni as first child in my family with parents who were just as nervous as me; my first night working in a pub; my first flight to a teaching job in Kuwait . . . These deliberate conversations about my own experiences of anticipation, nervousness and vulnerability helped us to begin to broach some of his worries. We got to talking about deliberate steps to work on wellbeing and I found myself talking about the volunteering I had done at Uni. I had taken my bike and so I joined the cycling club, through the Sports Office notice board I signed up to take a partially sighted student out on his tandem – starting was easier than stopping and I may have tipped him off in a ditch more than once. In my second year I played it a bit safer and read to a blind philosophy student – I learned about Hobbes and Locke as well as developing a deep appreciation for the ease with which I could access a book. This has led me to thinking about how we view the transition to adulthood and our view of independence as the ultimate goal. As a woman, my mother impressed upon me the need to seek financial independence. When she got her first job, her mother had advised her to open two bank accounts – the second to be kept a secret so that when she gave up work to have children she could squirrel away money should she need it. She had not done so and had regretted it. At times my parents’ marriage was pretty tempestuous and my mother’s level of education and lack of financial independence gave her few choices, hence this conversation had a strong influence on me. Looking back though, my focus on being fiercely independent meant that I viewed the need for help or support as weakness. When I think about what I want to teach my son as he navigates life away from home, it is to build support networks in order to create a life of interdependence. The contrast between these concepts is often made in relation to Western and Eastern cultures. In her book Tiger Writing: Art,
Culture, and the Interdependent Self, Gish Jen explains, ‘The “independent”, individualistic self, stresses uniqueness, defines itself via inherent attributes such as its traits, abilities, values, and preferences, and tends to see things in isolation. The second—the “interdependent”, collectivist self—stresses commonality, defines itself via its place, roles, loyalties, and duties, and tends to see things in context.’ Thus when the focus is on interdependence – as in Māori culture – success is supported and celebrated by the collective, ‘Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.’ In an organisational context, Stephen Covey sees interdependence as the ultimate goal, yet as with everything it is based on relationship, ‘You cannot continuously improve interdependent systems and processes until you progressively perfect interdependent, interpersonal relationships.’ Reflecting on the educational leadership teams I have been a part of, those where independence is highly valued result in a focus on speed, efficiency and individual achievement through competition. I know I will always trade that in a heartbeat for a team where strong, interdependent relationships allow vulnerability, shared learning and collective problem solving. As I write, I am listening to the government’s 4pm announcement that vaccination is now mandated for teachers and healthcare
MAGAZINE
You can now access the current and past issues of NZ Principal magazine online
workers. As we in Aotearoa navigate this pandemic together, our survival is quite literally linked to our ability to exercise interdependence. In a Boston Globe article titled, ‘This year Independence Day is also Interdependence Day’, the author stresses the need to move beyond our own borders as we think about our survival, ‘ . . . it’s becoming increasingly clear that a vaccination strategy that does not ensure some level of global vaccine equity will leave all of us unnecessarily at risk. We all know that ensuring global vaccine equity is morally justified, but it also might be the best strategy for ending the pandemic and building toward a recovery that helps everyone. If so, how do we turn that vision into a reality? In our increasingly interdependent world, vaccine equity is not charity but the smartest investment we can make for a better future for all.’ Sources https://www.facinghistory.org/nanjing-atrocities/identity/culture-andidentity-east-and-west https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/29/opinion/this-yearindependence-day-is-also-interdependence-day/
You can search by magazine issue, article name or author visit www.nzprincipal.co.nz
Covey, Stephen R. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989. Print.
MoveWell
Supporting children’s learning and enjoyment of movement
MoveWell is a new resource to assist teachers, kaiako and others who may be involved with implementing activities to support and extend children’s learning, confidence, ability and enjoyment in movement. Children love to move. MoveWell aims to build from their playful and creative nature, not by just ‘teaching skills’ but by creating environments that allow them to explore, problem solve and build their movement abilities, competence and confidence to play games with others and feel a sense of success.
Download the resource
MoveWell:
Workshops
• uses an enjoyable, games-centred approach to develop children’s knowledge, attitudes and movement skills
Physical Education New Zealand will be providing workshops for primary and intermediate teachers across the country to support the introduction of MoveWell in Term 1 2022. You can register for a workshop on the Physical Education New Zealand website www.penz.org.nz.
• is a collaboration between Sport New Zealand, Physical Education New Zealand, ACC, and supported by the Ministry of Education. The University of Auckland contributed to the principal writing team.
MoveWell has been sent to all primary and intermediate schools and kura. You can also download the resource from the Sport NZ or Physical Education New Zealand website.
www.sportnz.org.nz
www.penz.org.nz
You only need to replace the Concept main controller for an Integriti controller to receive this offer
Concept Controller
Integriti Controller
Almost all the remaining Concept system is compatible with Integriti meaning that future proofing your school is very cost effective with this update
– FREE management software to maintain staff and visitor access – Easy to use reporting engine to give you more transparency of your system – Ability to upgrade and allow for contact tracing and reports – Future proof your schools security for expansion or addition of access control and CCTV – All existing Concept hardware devices are backwards compatible with the Integriti solution – Integriti is Cyber Safe and constantly upgraded over the wire – Modern, intuitive and easy to use SCAN FOR MORE INFORMATION