National President, New Zealand Principals’ Federation
The Education landscape is a little disjointed at the moment, and there is change coming from all directions. Some of the change comes via legislation, and the Surrender, Search, and Retention legislation is a good example of a law that has made things harder for schools. The Ministry responded with guidelines, but principals reacted quickly, to say that the developed protocols would not work in practice, in schools. The Ministry’s response was to quickly convene a new working party of school leaders and ask them to come up with clearer direction that resolved the concerns. The trouble with that is of course, that the law is the law, and no guideline can protect a teacher from a failure to follow the law. Many examples of the challenge have been discussed, but perhaps a good example is when a teacher realises that something “harmful” has been taken from a classroom, and that the thief is one of the class in the room right now. Perhaps it was a craft knife, or maybe a tool taken from the woodwork room, but the teacher simply doesn’t know who may have taken it. Can the teacher demand that every child line up and turn out their pockets? They may ask the question, but if half the children refuse, what then? The answer is that the non-complying children must be dealt with for that non-compliance through the school’s discipline procedures. They can’t be forcibly searched. In the primary school the context may or may not be slightly less dangerous, but the issues are the same. If a game or plaything brought to school goes missing, and the teacher has reason to believe “on reasonable grounds” that Lizzie has taken that toy and stashed it in her bag, can the teacher search Lizzie’s bag? The answer is no, as the child owns the bag and the teacher may not search it unless Lizzie agrees to “surrender” the bag. Once again the non-compliance can be dealt with, but only as a breach of the school’s behaviour expectations. This means that parents might be called to the school, but they too may not be compelled to open the bag! In many of New Zealand’s schools children are supervised and taught at times during the day by support staff. They might have interactions with members of the school’s administration, or the caretaker. Let’s imagine one such hypothetical setting, where a small group is being disrupted by a child who is disrupting the learning of the group by flicking everyone with a ruler. Unless the teacher aide has been formally authorised in writing by the board to take such action, they may not ask the child to surrender the ruler. I won’t even start to describe the situations involving technology, where the harmful item may be stored on a student’s phone as an image, or an email, or a text, or indeed, any digitally stored item. It is further complicated when the harmful item is
hosted somewhere else and only being temporarily viewed on a device. The key question always comes down to this: Is the surrender of the item necessary in the circumstances to protect the safety of students or to remove a negative influence on the learning environment? These requirements came into force at the start of this year. Have you briefed your Board and teachers on the new guidelines? Has the Board authorised and briefed all non-teaching staff who may be working closely with children? The new guidelines offer some clarity to a complex piece of new legislation, which already feels as if it needs to be reviewed. In the meantime all principals need to become well informed, and to ensure that all affected staff are too.
Resilience for Educators: Professional Development A growing body of evidence suggests that the difficult conditions in some of our work environments, the excessive demands on a teacher’s time, and the heightened job pressures too often grind these professionals down, distort their ideals of professional practice, and erode their commitment to their chosen profession; as well as taking a toll on their personal wellbeing. (Dr. Paula Barrett)
Resilience for Educators teaches skills and strategies that are evidenced based and scientifically proven to help professionals build resiliency, specifically; • Self-Reflection • Mind based strategies – Attitude & Paradigm Shifting, Positive Psychology & Mindfulness • Brain based strategies – for understanding & accessing our ability to stay calm under pressure • Body based strategies for dealing with stress – self regulation, self-soothing, movement & relaxation • Communication strategies that build relationships and enhance problem solving while respecting boundaries • Presents ideas for preventing, releasing and dealing with stress • Long term skills for staying fresh and preventing burnout
Contact us to Book your PD or for further information. Contact: Jenny Bell – p: 027 245 2749 e: jenny@jennybell.co.nz w: www.jennybell.co.nz