Editor
If we had to pick just one thing that would symbolise a healthy many who can benefit. Those in small, rural, or isolated areas society, I would pick connections. If we are connected, we belong. are generally excluded because of the travel demands and rarely We can build relationships, communicate, share, be supported, have the spare cash to fund travel, or the release time to enable care and be cared for. Connected people it. These are some of the inequities which listen to each other, learn from each This year the new and vex the system. other, teach each other, are informed and None of this diminishes the need for have fun together. They understand each exciting Aotearoa New schools to be better connected, however. other, accept each other’s differences, Without connections, schools will not Zealand histories form coherent groups, and respect each achieve the high standards of learning other. They do not feel isolated, excluded, curriculum will be and teaching that all principals aspire to uninformed or worthless. for the nation’s tamariki. This year the The four-week long parliamentary embedded. new and exciting Aotearoa New Zealand protests of 2022, held when our Covid19 histories curriculum will be embedded. infection rates were at their peak, is a good example of what The histories curriculum holds huge promise and invites schools happens when people are disconnected. A disparate throng, to connect with their local marae, hapū and iwi in learning the peaking at around 3,000 people, gathered at parliament in local stories of their place. It is a perfect opportunity for schools desperate need of connection to a group, a cause, to feel a sense to work together regionally with mana whenua to give all of belonging. These people represented the disenfranchised, tamariki the broadest experiences and knowledge of local Māori the fringe, the angry, the oppressed and powerless. They were and their practices, the lands around them and the relationships a diverse group of young, middle-aged and old; Māori, Pākehā, between land and people. As has been said many times, when Asian; hippies, gang members, church groups, stoners; Donald all tamariki understand Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a document of Trump supporters, conspiracy theorists, and the politically equal partnership and know the true stories and tikanga of their far-right. Most of them were anti-vaccination and anti the local whenua, the nation will be greatly advantaged and racism vaccination mandates – which were imposed on people employed and discrimination will take a heavy knock. in certain occupations (Police, educators, health care workers). Hard on the heels of the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories But in the absence of any cohesion or leadership, the protesters curriculum is the ‘Curriculum Refresh’. That too is expected to were quickly hijacked by the far-right fringe who advocated be implemented this year. The Ministry started preparations last violence and threats. year beginning with nationwide roadshows on the mathematics If we imagine the parliamentary protest as a microcosm curriculum. Sessions were not held in every region and so of ‘society’ then it is an example of a very dysfunctional one. again, there are those who could easily attend and benefit from Inevitably this ‘society’ lost any focus or coherence it might the sessions and those who could not. Inevitably the roll out of have had and disintegrated, ending in violent riots, with police the curriculum refresh will again be uneven with some schools called in to clear the occupiers from parliament’s grounds. It was competently well prepared and others not. a society devoid of connections. Is there an answer to the disconnects within our education In her first ‘President’s Pen’ column in this issue (p.3), system? Cathy Wylie, a former researcher for the New Zealand President, Leanne Otene, also emphasises the importance of Council of Educational Research (NZCER) proposed a solution. connections. She explains that connections between schools She suggested, after reviewing the Tomorrow’s Schools policy, were a casualty of the Tomorrow’s Schools’ policy, as under the that regional hubs should be established which would not only new self-management system, schools were set to compete with provide the vital connections principals needed but would also each other. This is contrary to the way in which schools operate provide a range of support and leadership services to schools, best, which is to collaborate and share good practice for the which they could choose to access or not. They would also benefit of all tamariki. Whilst Principals’ Associations play a employ principals. Principals roundly rejected the idea of hubs role in connecting principals in their regions, and providing a at the time, but maybe it is time to revisit this decision. Some certain level of professional development and social activities, would say it is vital that we do if we want education to be a largely, principals work in isolation from each other. Even healthy ‘society’. when principals seek out connections through Ministry funded ‘Communities of Learning’ or Kahui Ako, there are only so
NZ Principal | March 2 0 2 3