Coaching through partnership Dr. Jan Robertson
Academic Director
How do you design professional learning that will develop future generations of leaders who are even more than we ourselves have been able to be? This was our challenge in the National Aspiring Principals’ Programme (NAPP), a professional learning and development contract funded by the Ministry of Education. The professional learning consortium Te Toi Tupu, constituting CORE education, The University of Waikato, Cognition Education, the Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development, with the New Zealand Council for Education Research providing evaluative support, won the contract and developed a comprehensive programme that it has delivered nationwide since 2011. We realised that the current challenges in education today cannot be solved with the same mindsets that created them. I would posit that no one has more influence over New Zealand society than the school leaders and classroom teachers who touch every community from North Cape to Bluff. How then, do we transform ourselves in order to be able to lead for transformative change in our schools and communities? The challenge in all of this is that the change must begin with ourselves as leaders, so that we can become part of the solution. What can we learn and change in our personal and professional practice that will help create the changed practices in those with whom we work? For example, schools with leaders with little knowledge, experience or capability of digital learning communities and the potentiality of technology in creating learning environments, or leaders who have little cultural knowledge of Te Ao Māori or the power of culturally responsive reciprocal practice, will not be competent or confident to lead for these changes in their school communities. The moral purpose to step up – Ka Hikitia – and be capable of addressing inequities in New Zealand education will require changes in leadership capacity. More of the same, or working harder at what we have always done, is likely to get similar results. The quality of the school principal is inextricably linked to student learning outcomes and principals will not change their dispositions, practice and mindsets just by reading policy documents. Professional learning is much more complex than that. Often leaders talk about change as if it is something that everyone else needs to do – the change they are leading others towards. They talk about how difficult it is to lead for the changes that the policy documents are requiring of them – changes towards future-focused learning spaces, changes in teachers’ paradigms
to develop ako learning relationships, building teachers’ understanding of Te Ao Māori and creating the conditions in their classrooms for culturally responsive practice focused on Māori achieving success as Māori, and all students honouring the dual cultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand. These changes are hard to lead because they are in a different paradigm of learning for many educators, and they may require an examination and subsequent change of leadership and teacher identity – questioning all one knows about how to be a leader or a teacher – perhaps all that has been modelled to them through their professional lives; perhaps all that is known to them as educators. An understanding that the first change will begin in their own practice will then make the leadership of change in the leadership of learning much more likely. The personal journey of experiencing change leadership and the exploration of moral purpose are central to NAPP. How are they achieved? Through partnership. NAPP is underpinned by the metaphor of partnership: Partnership as a key principle of the Treaty of Waitangi; Partnership in leadership relationships; Partnership in learning relationships – ako; Partnership with community and iwi. Na to rourou Na taku rourou Ka ora ai te iwi
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We focus on coaching through partnership leading to reciprocal learning relationships where teachers learn from students, students from each other, leaders learn from the people they work with and with each other, school communities learn from each other, teachers learn from parents and whanau. These powerful learning partnerships are important throughout the learning community. At the heart of NAPP is the belief that learning within professional practice is the key to the improvement of that practice and leaders who see their leadership as learning, and are adaptive leaders, will be key to the successful leading of system change in New Zealand education. Leadership is about moving into the unknown – out of our comfort zones – and we do not always have all of the answers about how to achieve our vision. But we do have the questions, and through successful learning and inquiry into our practice, we can learn the way, together, to where we want and need to be, in our education system. The theory of action in the aspiring principal leadership experience is built on four key principles of professional learning, drawn from the international literature on leadership development: Personalised, self-regulated, reflective meta-cognitive learning Connected and networked leaders sharing and creating knowledge ■■ Coaching leadership capacity in self and others ■■ Inquiry-focused leadership and learning, informed by research and evidence. ■■ ■■
Personalised, self-regulated, reflective metacognitive learning What does it mean to learn in leadership, from one’s leadership, so that every year of leadership is considerably better than the previous year? “How have you changed in your leadership?” is a key question to ask. Developing the disposition to learn and become more self-aware is the first step – and recognising that leadership is a practice. Leadership is not just the actions that leaders take – but it is what happens in the space between their actions and others’ responses that is important to focus leaders’ attention upon. Leaders can change what happens in the interactions by changing their own actions. Leaders could solve problems, put out fires and give advice, reacting all day and every day to what comes at them and thereby create a climate of dependency from those around them to stop thinking and be dependent on the ‘leader’ of the school to take responsibility. Or leaders could as easily stop and listen and ask questions and develop critically reflective and thoughtful leadership around them. This does mean a mindshift for many leaders. In fact it is those leaders who are willing to learn from those they lead,
who learn the way into innovative and creative practice with their colleagues, who build the sustaining capacity for change in their schools. An important part of NAPP is that the leadership learning is school-based. Each akonga is sponsored by their own principal initially that they have the disposition to lead, to be able to take part in NAPP. The New Zealand school principals’ ongoing support and mentoring in NAPP is vital to the akonga leadership learning experience. Each akonga develops a context-specific inquiry question, in alignment with the school’s strategic direction and vision, focusing on the learning outcomes for priority group learners. This focus provides the vehicle for the reflective leadership learning as the akonga leads change and leads learning in their school. The issues and challenges they face become the basis for regular reflective and critical questions in coaching conversations and the professional learning support and challenge they design in their own school. Akonga have a choice of discussion topics in their Virtual Learning Network online forums as they study through flexible, anytime asynchronous online learning modules that they can personalise to their own needs and own school context. The personal reflective online journal they develop on the My Portfolio platform becomes the basis for their portfolio of resources; for some it is evidence for Teacher Registration Criteria and appraisal, for all it is a place for ongoing leadership learning as they move in their leadership careers. Connected and networked leaders sharing and creating knowledge Sharing and creating new knowledge together with other school leaders is a key aspect of NAPP. We work to develop the leadership disposition in New Zealand schools that school leaders should be system leaders – concerned for the education system in New Zealand and not just solely focused on their own school. Awhinatanga is at the basis of the design of the mahi and all NAPP akonga have a peer coaching partner on their learning journey. All akonga have a regional professional learning group that meets each term kanohi ki te kanohi and also meets in the online forum. The Virtual Learning Network provides a nationwide online professional learning community, focused specifically on the complex, multi-faceted role of the school principal in New Zealand’s education system. Aspiring leaders select from indepth modules covering all aspects of principalship through finance, law, resource and personnel management, including the research and the policy documents that support the principalship and its practice. They have an e-learning coach and are coached by their peers and their kaiarahi online. The conversations with their own school principal-mentor about the topics enhance the depth of their korero online. The national residential Hui and its complementary online hui, which begins three weeks before the Hui and continues afterwards, help akonga to build networks with leaders throughout New Zealand. By the end of their time in NAPP, all akonga are digitally proficient and confident participating in online learning communities and understand the potentiality of ICT for future-focused learning for teachers and students in schools. They are now part of curriculum and leadership networks to support them on through their future leadership of transformative change. They are also Skype- and Survey Monkey-capable to assist them to further connect and create knowledge with their generation of aspiring leaders and others in their learning leadership networks.
Coaching leadership capacity in self and others The main paradigm that has distinguished the work in the NAPP is that it is about leaders coaching capacity for change – first within ourselves, and then with the people with whom we work. Many people bring many different ideas to the concept of coaching. Our work in coaching is through the principle of partnership – ako – leader as learner in the leadership relationship. I often ask leaders “what do you want in a partnership?” and they call out such things as: “respect, challenge, trust, caring, being better together than alone, complementary strengths and knowledge, learning from each other, fun, commitment, support, creating the way together” . . . actually, you could argue, as we do, that these are all of the things that make a great learning relationship and indeed these are all the elements of a coaching partnership (Robertson, 2005). NAPP is underpinned by a coaching paradigm invested in the elements of relational trust, disposition to learn from practice, co-creating new knowledge, building capacity of self and others, and enabling the agency of self and others to act. Self-development is a major part of the curriculum in NAPP – self-awareness leads to improved social, emotional, cultural and spiritual intelligence, and ultimately the understanding of others and how to effectively work with them. Opportunities to become aware of their own values and beliefs and to further develop their identity as a leader are ongoing throughout the year through kaiarahi (experienced school leader) and peer (aspiring leader) coaching partnerships. All akonga (re)learn the skills of coaching at the residential Hui, have coaching modelled to them throughout the year by their kaiarahi and actively coach and receive coaching through their peer partnership online in the My Portfolio platform. The mentoring conversations with their own school principal are also powerful for akonga to develop in their understanding of the role of the principal in their own context. A shadow visit and conversation with a principal in a different school context helps to provide a critically reflective experience and some challenges to the leaders’ thinking across contexts. Inquiry-focused leadership and learning, informed by research and evidence. The residential national Hui in April has a focus on research evidence, policy documents, and best school practice. Students join with the akonga as learning partners through the Hui, both kanohi ki te kanohi and in the online hui. Successful primary and secondary leaders talk about their journeys of leading transformative change, Ministry of Education personnel speak to the vision and the policy documents that support our work in leadership in New Zealand, researchers highlight key research evidence on leadership for learning. The focus is on inquiry-mindedness and leaders learning from their leadership and from each other. During the Hui the akonga further refine their inquiry focus area and can select round tables to attend and lead that support their kaupapa. The akonga work with their peer partner at the Hui, coaching for clarity around their individual inquiries. The professional learning groups meet
on three different occasions during the Hui to build these relationships and focus on the curriculum and knowledge of the key leadership policy documents. The akonga also build a rich resource library of readings, resources and documents through their module work on the role of the principal on the Virtual Learning Network. Their regular reflective leadership coaching means they are asked the questions that keep challenging them to inquire into the taken-for-granted of their practice, and to seek new and transforming ways of leading change in their schools. Leadership is about pushing into the realm of the unknown for transformative change – it is not simply invested in a position of responsibility such as ‘principal’. There are people who hold positions of responsibility or authority who show very little leadership. Leadership is about transformative change. There is a vision of ‘what might be’ but how to ‘be there’ requires leaders who can learn the way with the communities who shared in the development of the vision. Unless leaders are learning in and from their leadership practice they are likely to repeat their same leadership practice over and over again through the years. Brookfield (1995) warned “Ten years of practice can be one year’s worth of distorted experience repeated ten times.” He goes on to say that experienced educators “may be caught within self-fulfilling interpretive frameworks that remain closed to any alternative interpretations.” Deep reflection and coaching from others with skill in critical questioning is therefore vital to this process to enable different perspectives, challenges and new ways of knowing. Unless leaders can learn successfully, metacognitively and be self-regulated in this continuing process of leadership learning, they are unlikely to have the necessary moments of disorientation where their ways of seeing the world come into question. Unless their leadership practice comes into question, unless leaders are able to move out of the comfort zone of what they currently know, into the zone of “what they didn’t know they didn’t know!” then we will continue to get what we have always got – and our vision for New Zealand education requires more than that from our future generations of school leaders. About the Author Dr. Jan Robertson is an author, photographer, academic researcher and leadership consultant, residing on Waiheke Island, New Zealand. Jan is currently a senior researcher in the Institute of Professional Learning at the University of Waikato, New Zealand and academic director of New Zealand’s aspiring principals’ program. She is an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University, Australia. Jan’s books Coaching Educational Leadership and Leadership and Learning (Co-edited with Helen Timperley) have been influential internationally in professional learning, leadership development and system change. Jan can be reached at info@janrobertson.co.nz and her book Coaching Educational Leadership can be purchased from NZCER at http://www.nzcer.org.nz/nzcerpress/ coaching-leadership-building-educational-leadership-capacity-throughcoaching-partnership For more information on the National Aspiring Principals Programme contact Jill Lunn the National Director – jlunn@waikato.ac.nz