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Children don’t usually open NZPF’s annual conference, but this year was an exception. The combined schools of Queenstown led the mihi whakatau with a performance as remarkable and lofty as the mountains surrounding them. Their moving haka gripped the six hundred strong audience and created a platform for the embracing welcome which followed. Morning performances by local school students continued to be a feature of the conference, as delegates arrived each day to be entertained by a new torrent of talent. Superb choir singing, dancing, solo singing, band performances and Kapa Haka were all on display. Congratulations to every one of the two hundred or so children involved. You did yourselves proud! To the teachers who equipped the children, congratulations to you too. You set high e x p e c t at i o n s a n d your young people responded, extending themselves to reach even greater heights. They were terrific. The Queenstown conference theme for 2017 was ‘hauora’ or wellbeing. It is well recognised through sur veys, including those conducted by t he Ne w Z e a l and Council for Education Jehan Casinader M.C. knitted The Conference components seamlessly Research (NZCER), with his wonderful stories and that stress, anxiety and intelligent wit lack of ‘hauora’ is a growing problem for school leaders in New Zealand. The list of offending pressures is limitless, but without doubt, running a school in New Zealand today, is no sleep walk. It’s more like a recurring nightmare for far too many. The complexities of the job have multiplied exponentially in the past decade and this year, NZPF decided it was time to give principals some chill-out treats and assemble a group of speakers with expertise in identifying what contributes to stress and what alleviates it. Treats were included with the registration fee and ranged from high end action, like scaling a mountain side in a 4WD and spending the afternoon planting trees, to laid back tranquillity, like taking a massage. The trip on the TSS Earnslaw across Lake Wakatipu was a middle of the road popular choice on the hot
sunny afternoon. As if primed for the visitors, Lake Wakatipu flattened its ripples to create a glass-like plane all the way to Walter Peak Station. There, conference delegates immersed themselves in the beauty of the historic homestead and its magnificent grounds, took their lavish afternoon tea to the outdoor balcony or one of the many garden seats and felt the stillness wash over them. Filled with calmness, they were then ready to take the farm journey and connect with nature and its animals. They could feed the llamas, watch the sheep shearing and marvel at the skills of the working dogs. Some did, some didn’t. It didn’t matter. There were no rules. Lying on the soft grass and staring at the water’s edge was just as acceptable, as was meandering through the tulip and daffodil gardens or just sitting in the sun, drinking a wine or two. Bliss! Two New Life Members Join NZPF Life membership is a special honour in NZPF circles and conference attendees were delig hte d to welcome Philip Harding and Peter Simpson to the special league. Both are retired principals, were Dr Melinda Webber talks about challenges for Māori students and former Presidents of what can be done NZPF and hail from Canterbury. Harding responded to the dissertation, read by immediate past president Iain Taylor, with ‘I’ve been sitting here wondering who’s that guy you were talking about?’ The accolades were nevertheless rightly placed and spoke of the ever professional, highly intelligent, insightful, witty and engaging Philip Harding. ‘Philip Harding is one of those educators you meet rarely,’ said Taylor. ‘He is exceptionally talented, articulate and passionate and has made an outstanding contribution in every educational role he has held over a long and distinguished career.’ As an NZPF president, Harding was described as a media magnet, which he certainly was. In the end the producers of shows like ‘Afternoons with Jim Mora’ would want him on their panel regardless of whether there was an educational issue of the
The children of Shotover School perform for the delegation
day or not. Even Parliament’s Select Committee rooms allowed him more than the allocated time. He brought the theatre of these occasions into focus through his clarity of expression and irrepressible wit which were so engaging the group found him irresistible. In accepting the award, Harding had the highest praise for the colleagues who had supported him throughout his career, the connections and new colleagues he met throughout his NZPF two-year presidency and the many thousands of children who had educated him. His final word went to his family. ‘I couldn’t have done any of this without my wife Kaye who has been my faithful supporter, personal critic and handbrake throughout my career!’ His three adult children also g o t a m e nt i o n . ‘They’ve never been slow in giving me their personal views,’ he said, ‘whether I wanted them or not.’ Peter Simpson was the second at the conference to be awarded the Life Membership award Peter Simpson delivers his Life a n d l i k e P h i l ip Membership Award acceptance speech Harding, was a most
popular recipient. Whetu Cormick, the current president, delivered the dissertation saying, ‘In serving his colleagues, he always brought his own very high standards of integrity, humility, honesty and commitment to everything he did and everything he said. Consequently, he quickly gained the trust of his colleagues, the media and politicians alike and was able to be a strong and influential advocate for principals across the nation.’ Famously, Peter recognised that national standards would never meet the goal of helping children succeed. ‘It was his year as NZPF President in 2011 for which he will be remembered most,’ said Cormick. ‘His fearlessness in calling a vote of no conf idence in the national standards policy at the 2011 NZPF conference and getting a unanimous endorsement, is now legendary.’ Cormick acknow ledged the difficulties for Peter, beginning his presidenc y as t h e C h r i s t c hu r c h earthquake hit. Torn between serving his colleagues nationally and supporting his Philip Harding shares highlights of his family and colleagues time with NZPF as he accepts his life in Christchurch was Membership Award
no easy call. Peter managed both. Cormick concluded saying, ‘He radiates sincerity and is the consummate statesman who has earned his reputation by matching his words with his actions.’ In response Peter Simpson was ever humble saying, ‘The greatest honour you can ever have is to be endorsed by your peers.’ He told the gathered principals that it had been an honour to serve on NZPF, the best PLD you could ever have, and that the friendships he made through that role would stay with him forever. He also had warm words for his Canterbury Principals’ Association colleagues and Belfast School, his last school. He acknowledged his wife Adrienne for her unfailing support telling us that whilst he is now a retired principal, she is an Acting Principal. ‘I sleep through the night now,’ he said, ‘and she doesn’t.’
Dr John Edwards promoted curiosity, questioning and creativity
Judge Andrew Becroft, The Children’s Commissioner, donned a series of Tee Shirts to make his points
Peter has now taken up a new position as a leadership advisor for principals, a position he ‘considers a real privilege’. I’ve no doubt that the principals of Christchurch will be thinking they are the lucky ones. Dr John Edwards Dr Edwards surprised his audience by introducing himself as a Professor of Ignorance. He drew this conclusion from his lifelong fascination with quantum physics which ‘has continued to nudge me gently into the field of ignorance.’ ‘Physicists’, he said, have no problem admitting to not knowing. ‘85 per cent of the universe is dark matter,’ he said, ‘and we have no idea what it is.’ ‘In the cosmic competence test they’d all receive a failing grade, or maybe a ‘needs to try harder’, and be happy to do so,’ he said. Recognising that there is more that we don’t know than what we do, Edwards shifted his audience’s thinking about how to teach. ‘Knowing how to question is the key,’ he said, ‘because ignorance is by far the largest and fastest growing area.’ He talked about ‘leaning into the unease’, a way of entering the unknown, before navigating a way through that unknown
to emerge as lifelong learners. ‘We are all born with intrinsic motivation and curiosity,’ he said, ‘but what happens to it?’ He told his audience that ‘Research reveals that not only tangible rewards made contingent on task performance, but also threats, deadlines, directives, pressured evaluations, and imposed goals, reliably undermine intrinsic motivation.’ ‘How much attention are you paying to the intrinsic motivation of your staff, your children and your families?’ he asked. The next section of his address focused the lens on testing. On this topic Edwards did not hold back. ‘Standardised tests are driving countries, schools, families, teachers and children crazy. They are misleading, they are dishonest and they are damaging,’ he said. ‘If you want to
Hoana Pearson explains the power of the Māori Achievement Collaboratives and why they are lifting success for Māori children
understand children’s thinking, get close to them, ask them great questions and listen well,’ he said. The concept of the ‘Learning Pit’ came next. ‘Learners first get worse before they get better,’ he said. He described learning as going where you haven’t been before, starting with curiosity, then exploration, challenge and confusion. This is the learning pit and its uncomfortable. After the intellectual struggle, the transformation phase starts. ‘We start to grasp the new idea, and we start up what is often called the steep learning curve,’ he said. After a while, experienced learners are unafraid of going into the learning pit because they see it as exciting. There are some conditions that can help in the learning pit. ‘When we enter the pit, we enter with our whole self and draw on everything that is there,’ he said, ‘and we learn best when all of our dimensions are healthy including the intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual.’ In other words, wellbeing can carry you through. Edwards had some warnings for the attentive principals, not to expect every child to climb out of the learning pit at the same time. Some children need more time and the words ‘moving on’ are not what they want to hear. Further, children who are in the pit with one subject are not necessarily in the pit with another.
The Combined Schools of Queenstown perform for the opening ceremony
Successes in other areas may be used for encouragement. The secret for teachers is to be alongside the children as they navigate the pit. In that way they will learn other qualities such as resilience and confidence and therefore learn to welcome the frustrations, fears and confusions that new learning brings. In conclusion he returned to testing. ‘What would happen if we tested a child when they were in the pit?’ he asked. ‘How would this help?’ ‘Being tested when we are not ready, in the depths of a learning pit, helps no-one. Learning doesn’t wait conveniently for preplanned tests of progress.’ It really doesn’t matter, he said, where the child is at, the secret is to know where we can take them and how. Testing, he said entraps children and teachers in their current reality. He concluded by returning to wellbeing and drawing on his research to tell us that ‘as a community [of learners] becomes more capable, the life essence of the group also grows. This is where we make meaning,’ he said, ‘and is the crucible in which character is forged.’ Judge Andrew Beecroft, Children’s Commissioner A confronting speaker, Judge Beecroft had an agenda of challenges to put to the principals. He told them that there are 1.2 million children in New Zealand, or 23 per cent of the population. Of those he said 70 per cent are doing just fine, 20 per cent not so well and 10 per cent very badly. Given the projected population demographics, he said, it is our Māori children who must be a focus. His challenges included keeping kids in school, being child centred, giving them voice and listening to them, poverty and disadvantage, tamariki Māori and their needs, and neurodiversity. When children attend school regularly, Beecroft told the audience, anti-social behaviour reduces and children learn resilience. If children are resilient they will have better life
outcomes. ‘You are the merchants of hope,’ he told his audience. Acknowledging that for the 10 per cent there are multiple social issues including poverty, housing, health and justice issues, he said in his view the best chance for these children is to have social hubs attached to schools so that the collection of services can be available. This is the best model, he said, to provide what these children need and deserve. He said there were four dimensions of a child’s life and these were a loving stable family, participating in education, having friends and being connected to the community. He then turned to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, pointing out, in particular, their right to have a say. He was quick to mention that as a country we don’t measure up well. Nor do we bode well on other measures with the highest suicide rate in the OECD, the second highest bullying rate and the third highest for domestic violence. He explored ways that children could have a voice including on School Boards and Councils. He noted the implications for children of the Update to the Education Act, and how despite focus groups around the country, the voice of students was missing. When he put this to Government officials he was told that there was a Select Committee process…only it was being held in the middle of NCEA exams. He said he welcomed ideas for schools to create opportunities for student voice and would happily publish them on the Commission’s website. He expressed his concerns about the fact that there was no appeal system for excluding children from school, yet in any other area this would be an expected requirement. He also provided a survey for principals to use in seeking student voice in their schools and told the principals that the Commission would do the survey analysis for them. The address is surveymonkey.com/r/occ-schools. Some good ways to engage children’s voices he said included surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews, child-led tours, art and creativity and advisory groups.
There are 90,000 children living in poverty he said, and 28 per cent of New Zealand children live in low-income households. He is pleased that child poverty has been a major issue for the 2017 election campaign and that parties are talking about setting targets to reduce it. He described as an ‘inescapable and fundamental challenge the disparity in wellbeing rates between Pākehā and Māori New Zealand, and presented a parade of slides to show those disparities. The measures included educational attainment, health, mental health including youth suicide, life expectancy, living standards and justice statistics. On all counts the gaps were significant and troubling. Finally, he talked about the growing rates of neurodevelopmental issues from learning disabilities, dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism to traumatic brain injury and foetal alcohol syndrome. ‘This is why, he said, schools should be the first sight for social investment. History will judge us harshly for ignoring the plight of these children, he said. In conclusion he said, ‘You are the merchants of hope for children and the builders of resilience.’ Mike King, Comedian and mental health educator Mike King opened his address to tell principals that three and a half years ago he was asked to speak at a Northland School because five students had committed suicide. ‘I was running the Nutters’ Club at the time which allowed people to recognise their own journeys through listening to others’ stories,’ he said. ‘I thought I could stop them killing themselves through telling them jokes.’ He went on to say that the jokes were not going to do it. Instead he shared his own story with the kids. It was a story of low self-
esteem. ‘When you have low self-esteem,’ he said, ‘you don’t look for connections, you look for a bully boy who hates you.’ For these kids, he said, he was the most flawed adult they had met. Significant adults in their lives were constantly undermining them, constantly focused on negatives. ‘When our kids tell us five things, four positive and one negative, what do we do?’ he asked. ‘We focus on the negative.’ ‘We are constantly risk managing their behaviour.’ He shared his own school days during which his low esteem meant he was not in the popular group, but wanted to be. When he discovered that he had a talent for making people laugh it gave him confidence. ‘Now I moved into the popular group,’ he said. He was so happy, but, as he explained, it was also the day of his downfall because he was getting his self-esteem from the approval of other people rather than himself. Then came the alcoholic phase. ‘I associated alcohol with fun,’ he said. ‘It gave me confidence to be me. When you are a people pleaser you never give your real self to anyone,’ he said. ‘But when drunk you can and then later say, oh I was just drunk.’ Working with alcoholics and drug addicts, he said, the key was to get them to take off the masks and share their stories. In doing that, he said, I could see myself in these people. ‘Our kids are not the problem,’ he said, ‘it is our attitude to young people.’ ‘Now I go to schools and tell my own story and let them tell theirs and they know it’s OK. I learned that from the kids themselves,’ he said. Some 40 per cent of kids will have a suicide thought, he said, but it’s the recurring thoughts that are the issue. ‘80 per cent of kids who are feeling suicidal don’t tell,’ he said, ‘because they are afraid. They are worried about the judgement Interactive Workbooks
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of others and what we are going to say and think.’ The thing that prevents young people asking for help, he said is fear, and that is what we as adults must eradicate. He suggested adults must learn to offer unconditional love and support young people all the way. ‘Until adults in our society make this attitudinal shift,’ he said, ‘all the money injections in the world won’t make a difference.’ He pointed out that the suicide prevention industry is becoming a crisis industry. It is the only area of health where we have to go and get the help ourselves, he said. He challenged the principals present to take off their own masks and show the kids in their schools that they love them. ‘Value the thoughts and opinions of those kids,’ he said, ‘and you will lift their self-esteem.’ He further challenged the principals
Comedian and Mental Health Advocate Mike King, warms the audience with his humour
Hon Nikki Kaye, sitting attentively in the front row, then thanked the people ‘who had enabled him to stand here today.’ One of those people was his own Scottish father, who was born on the Central Otago Lindis Pass. ‘This area is very much the tūrangawaewae of my Pākehā family,’ he said. Having acknowledged many more life influencers he said, ‘None of us acts alone and none of us succeeds alone.’ ‘We constantly draw on the experiences, advice and wisdom of others.’ Cormick then took us back to his teacher training days to tell us why he was inspired to teach. Top of his list was making a difference in the lives of our young people, irrespective of their cultural backgrounds, their sexual orientation or their religious beliefs; whether they came from advantaged or disadvantaged homes and no matter what their special learning, social or
NZPF President Whetu Cormick, delivers his ‘ovation winning’ speech to the delegates
to model this behaviour to the kids, talk about love and extend those conversations to their staff He concluded saying, ‘There are two things that kids want. They want to be loved and they want to know that their thoughts and opinions are valued by you.’ Further presentations are available from the NZPF website: http://www.nzpfconference.com/programme/speakers/ They include: Dr Melinda Webber, researcher, discussing research on the Māori Achievement Collaboratives (MACs) Pete Burdon on how to cope when your school is the headline news Hoana Pearson National Co-ordinator of the MACs Diane Manners National Co-ordinator of the Leadership Advisory for principals Fiona McMillan Lawyer from Anderson Lloyd Lawyers on principals’ legal protection The President’s Speech One of the grand highlights of this year’s conference was the NZPF President’s speech. Whetu Cormick has a canny awareness of time and place. He knows how to make connections and deliver a message. Cormick welcomed the Minister of Education,
Minister of Education Hon Nikki Kaye, addresses the question President Whetu Cormick put to her in his speech
emotional dispositions. The vehicle for making this difference he said, was a rich, broad curriculum ‘delivered in a school where young people could feel safe to be themselves.’ This was the point at which he returned to Queenstown and the NZPF 2010 conference. The national standards were just making their presence felt, he said, and no educational professional was rolling out the red carpet. They were called out for having no educational value whatsoever but the Government wasn’t listening. It was this conference and its debates on national standards that lit the fire in his belly, he said, and inspired him to stand for the NZPF national executive. He wanted to participate in ‘the on-going action opposing national standards’. Whilst they would never improve teaching and learning, equate to a measure of teacher or school performance or satisfy parents that they provided a measure of their child’s holistic cognitive development, in no time at all, he said, they were being used for all those things. Nine years later it was clear that the national standards were the lynch pin for a much broader agenda, internationally described as the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM). Cormick said we continue to see the ‘roll out’ of this agenda with the more recent Update of the Education Act, the Investing in Educational Success (IES) policy with its Communities of Schools and most
concerning of all, the Strategic National Education Learning Priorities, which threaten the very essence of our world class curriculum. Central to all these policies is the collection of data. National Standards data. The profession is now battle weary, he said, but we will continue to fight for our young people who do not have a voice. ‘We must protect their futures,’ he said. Cormick then congratulated his colleagues for staying positive for their young people and continuing to seek out new ways and new approaches to learning, despite the intolerable pressures the data driven Government policies created. ‘Our young people are being excited and stimulated every day by what you are offering them through your schools and you deserve the highest accolades for your leadership which enables these practices,’ he said. He did not resist reminding the Minister of the intolerable situation many schools were in, struggling to access support and expertise for severely challenged young people presenting with unpredictable and ‘hard to manage’ behaviours. He noted it was not just about money, although that helped. It was about access to experts for these young people and it was about availability of more teacher aides in schools. ‘Teachers are not medical doctors trained in diagnosis, and they are not psychiatrists, social workers or speech therapists,’ he said. Clearly more of these specialists were needed to help these young people. He talked also of services and programmes that NZPF continued to develop to support leadership. Services like the Leadership Advisory Service, run for principals by principals, so that school leaders can be mentored, coached and supported when they need it. He also talked of the Māori Achievement Collaborations (MAC), a partnership between the Te Akatea
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Māori Principals’ Association, the NZPF and the Ministry. This professional learning and development programme is about changing school culture so that Māori children feel a sense of belonging at school and thus be more likely to succeed. It is a step in advancing our nation towards biculturalism, he said. After four years, independent research studies have shown that Māori children in MAC schools have now lifted their success rates, and more importantly want to be at school and their whānau want to be involved in school activities, he said. His final lobby was directed at the Minister. So much more of this wonderful work could be achieved for our young people, he said, if only the stresses and the work load were reduced. Data collection and paper work which adds no value whatsoever to our young peoples’ learning is strangling us, he said. ‘We are drowning and choking in over-assessment and data analysis for no gains.’ He once more called out the global reform agenda saying, ‘I am talking about the global education reforms that have undermined our ability and that of our communities to work together and own our decision making so that schools and communities together can share their aspirations for a prosperous future.’ He went on to point out how Asian countries, once top of the international league tables, realise the damage standards and testing have done and are moving to ban the approach altogether. It impinges on students’ ability to question or think for themselves and kills creativity. These are the very skills needed for our future, he said. He concluded with a powerful ‘Let’s put up a big STOP sign on national standards, global reforms and data obsession. ‘It’s time now, Minister, to break with the practices of the past decade which have contributed nothing positive for our young people,’ he said. ‘I challenge you,’ he said, ‘to throw out the global reform agenda, ramp up support for the profession and engage with us. In partnership we can collaborate with you; share our ideas with you and together find solutions that WILL make a positive difference for all young people.’ Six hundred principals rose to their feet as one and clapped and clapped and clapped. Cormick had nailed his message home. Minister of Education, Hon Nikki Kaye Cormick would always be a hard act to follow, and to her credit, Minister Kaye was fronting the conference just forty-eight hours out from a general election, at the end of a campaign that had proved surprisingly challenging for her party. She deserved a fair hearing and the audience politely offered her that. Kaye focused her address on just a few main policies, in her efforts to meet Cormick’s challenges. First, she talked of the $34 million injection to address learning support issues and especially the high end behavioural challenges and mental health issues facing schools. There would be a programme of social investment alongside schools to address these issues, she said. The money would provide in-class support for 4,000 more students. ‘We are trying to make it easier for schools and parents,’ she said, ‘by having a single point of contact across 30 communities of learning.’ Next, she acknowledged that there are areas, including Auckland, that have become hard to staff and told her audience of moves to alleviate that. These included offering a voluntary bonding scheme, scholarships, relocation grants for those returning from overseas, and extending the Auckland beginning teacher project. continued over
The funding review was next on her list and Minister Kaye explained the rationale as first trying to overcome the damage caused by the decile system which unfairly labelled schools. She talked about addressing equity through targeted funding where young people would be identified according to a set of risk factors, and the schools funded accordingly. The identity of the targeted students would not be made known to the school however, to preserve their privacy. Inevitably, the new digital technology curriculum was a highlight, since this is one of Minister Kaye’s passions. ‘We have invested $40million to support the digital technology curriculum,’ she said, ‘and we will build on our $700m investment in online learning access and resources by ensuring all schools have uncapped high speed data.’ In this way, the Minister assured her audience, there will be more opportunities for young people to engage in the IT sector, with digital academies for 1000 students and 500 digital internships to build a pathway between school and work. To address Cormick’s challenge on national standards she talked about national standards plus. She said a National Government will provide real time online reporting of learning progression – not just achievement – by 2021. This record of learning would travel with the child throughout their educational life and there will be a further $20m injection of funding to develop this, she said. At the end of her address, the Minister agreed to take questions from the floor. Question You say children don’t like being labelled by their school decile number. But what about the way national standards label them?
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They are labelled below, at or above the standards. Most of our kids don’t care about the school decile number but they do care about the national standards label. Answer Not every school uses that language and you don’t have to. I trust education leaders to communicate that information to parents and they have an absolute right to that information. National Standards Plus is not about a point in time but about progressions. Question We disagree with national standards and you’ve got another $160 million for national standards plus, which we also disagree with. Yet we are crying out for special needs support, especially children with high, severely challenging behaviours. That $160 million would be a great help for special needs. Answer What we are arguing for is a progression [measure] based on the Learning Progressions Framework. We are spending more on learning support and [children with] complex needs. It’s not either or. We have also increased ORS funding and I believe we should do that. Question I am relieved to hear you say that special needs will be a focus for you. Are you aware of the level of commitment to blind children? We get fifteen hours of assistance a week but we are not covered for the other fifteen hours. We also have a Syrian refugee child without a limb. We get zero support for this child. Answer We can’t do this alone. We need social investment. Minister Adams and I are working on this. We have fractured data. Some will have housing needs and some will have addictions. We will be investing more in housing first or place based social investing. We need more wrap around support. Question What is your view on a fully funded public schooling system? Will there be more charter schools or not? Answer I believe in diversity and choice. We do have bottom lines. There won’t be hundreds of charter schools. There are fifteen now and there will be about five or six more. It’s a small number for a group of parents who have voluntarily chosen that option. It won’t massively involve a whole lot more schools. Question How do you reconcile the closure of special schools with the funding of charter schools? Answer Salisbury School has been given a six-month extension. What’s occurred is that when we brought in the Intensive Wrap-around Service, some residential schools became unviable. There is absolutely a place for residential schools but it is the way they are set up. The numbers are small therefore closures are inevitable. But I am open-minded. Salisbury was pleased I took the wider view. Question How do you manage your own Hauora, Minister? Answer My world shattered when I was diagnosed with cancer. So was my family’s. During that time, I got closer to my family, so I feel more grounded than ever. I used to worry about the small stuff. Now every day’s a good day. There are lessons for me. I delegate more and am clearer about my responsibilities and where we are going. I can go to other people now and say, ‘You can deliver this
part.’ I am more conscious of health and wellbeing and eat a lot better. I make time to switch off. I go running amongst other things. I can deliver more if I am healthy. Question There is an endless supply of tasks for you. How do you decide when to stop? Answer Everyone is different but having confidence and faith is important. If I’m burnt out I won’t have the judgement to do things well. I trust the people next to me and have changed the way I operate and expanded my team. Steve Francis We hear a lot about work-life balance and even more about how out of kilter that balance is for many, especially in education. Whether leading big urban schools or small rural ones, sole charge or small teaching principal schools, the complexities are growing for all principals and there is less and less time for family or time for ourselves. Steve Francis knows all about the pressures of leading a school. He spent a big chunk of his own career teaching in and leading Australian schools. He has a different take on the work-life balance challenge. He says it is quite unachievable so we should stop talking about it. Steve Francis talking not about Work-Life Balance but Work-Life In schools ‘You have Satisfaction. the opportunity to change lives every day and that’s not easy. It is hard to disconnect school life from home life, so let’s not talk about work-life balance for educators, but life satisfaction,’ he said. He then referred to the Reality TV show, The Block, saying, ‘On The Block, you can start on Monday with an empty shell, bring in the water proofer, tilers, grouters, plumbers and electrician
and by Friday have everything finished and cleaned up! You feel completely satisfied that the job is complete.’ In teaching, he said, you can’t see what you’ve achieved in a week, because you don’t get satisfaction immediately. To compensate, he suggested that it can be useful, at the start of every day, to decide on one thing that you will finish, so that you can feel satisfied. It might be to make a phone call to a troubling parent, or have that difficult conversation with a teacher. Whatever it is, set it down as a priority goal for the day. To experience satisfaction, he said, you need to understand what drives and motivates you. In his view there are seven drivers: 1. Purpose: You want your work to have purpose that you can identify, so you need to reflect every now and then on the fact that you have influence in shaping a future society. 2. Reward: This will be different for every person, but will likely involve observing your students’ successes 3. Opportunity to explore: This might involve leading a new project for the school 4. Relationships: we all want to feel valued and we want the people around us to feel valued 5. Work-Life Balance: Replace this with worklife satisfaction 6. Work Fulfilment: We like to feel we have achieved our goals, so it’s important to set Sven Hansen of the Resilience them realistically Institute shares his research with the and often audience 7. Leadership: We are all inspired by other great leaders. Take the time to think about who they are and why we admire them
More important than all of these, however, is attitude. ‘At all times you need a 5/5 attitude,’ he said, ‘because this has the most significant impact of all.’ He flashed a slide up at this point
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which read ‘Attitudes are contagious . . . is your attitude worth catching?’ Importantly, we all need to live the reputation we want to have, he said. He concluded with a further list of tips if we are to be effective and healthy leaders with increased work-life satisfaction.
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1. Monitor your self-talk, stop feeling guilty about what you haven’t done. Lists are never-ending and you don’t get to sit in your office with the door closed. You have constant interruptions 2. Check what you have actually achieved at the end of each day and feel good about that 3. Check the email at home. That’s two hours taken away from other more important things 4. Make a commitment to have at least three dinners a week with your family or a café breakfast on Sunday 5. If you have to work on the weekend, limit it otherwise work will pollute everything 6. Perform only the leadership role at school and remove yourself from ‘administrivia’ 7. Remember you are the most expensive resource in the school and you need to devote your time to being the leader not doing the trivial jobs. 8. Not all actions lead to results. Only choose the ones that do 9. Long hours do not necessarily equate to the most effective principal 10. Remember the 80/20 rule. 80 per cent of results come from 20 per cent of your time 11. Avoid DHS (Delayed Happiness Syndrome) 12. Set some personal goals, just for you, such as going to a place
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you’ve never been before, or doing something for the first time, or learning something new that is unrelated to your job, and set a deadline to achieve this.
Dr Sven Hansen – Eudaimonia: Resilience as a Solution Sven Hansen is the founder of the Resilience Institute. He is a medical doctor with an interest in sports medicine and resilience. He has a specific interest in developing leadership teams and the application of biological principles to leadership, strategy and resilience in the community. He introduced the audience of principals to a new concept which he defines as ‘bounce’. Bounce is a critical skill according to Hansen, affecting life, work and relationships. He talked his audience through some practical skills that can be learned to build resilience and ‘bounce’ in their young people. School, he said, is a place where students can learn how to bounce, grow, connect and find flow. These life skills can be learned and will contribute to academic achievement, wellbeing, social skills and improved behaviours. We call this the journey to Eudaimonia – living with good spirit. He insisted we can improve bounce, attention, positivity, selfawareness, situation awareness and empathy. Research (Richard Davidson) correlates performance of these with functional and structural change in the brain. These are invaluable skills in life, work and relationships, he said. He went on to tell his audience that hauora is positive wellbeing including physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual vitality. Starting with the principal and leadership team, resilience is a methodology to extend hauora through teachers, students, parents and community.
This, he said, is a noble aspiration for education. He then turned his attention to students saying that while many students thrive, the incidence of obesity, inflammation, ADHD, Autism, anxiety, self-harming and depression have increased alarmingly. Seventy years of research shows that young people can learn bounce. Not only might this save lives but it will increase quality of life and learning, he said. He then proposed a sequence of practical skills that can be learned, practiced and mastered – even in challenging times. For example: 1. Tactical calm We know that it is possible to learn how to recognise distress and take deliberate action to restore a calm, focused and connected state. Supported by breathing skills, mindfulness and relaxation, this skill can be mastered. Would we want any young person to leave school without mastery of tactical calm, he questioned. 2. Daily practice When appropriate fitness, quality sleep and good nutrition become a part of every day we build bodies that are well, emotions that are controlled, and brains that work better. These are foundation practices that must be part of a good life in a sedentary, overloaded workplace and toxic food environment. 3. Emotional literacy We know from many long-term studies (including the Dunedin Study), that impulse control predicts long term success. To restrain destructive emotions, we must recognise and name them. Doing so activates the pre-frontal cortex and makes emotional regulation possible. Emotional learning is desperately
needed in those most challenged and can reduce the incidence of destructive behaviours. 4. Attention control We live in a hyperkinetic environment with digital overload. This has reduced attention span and increased attentional blink (disengaged behaviour). Even so, we can train the brain to strengthen, sustain and focus attention. The earlier we start, the faster the young brain can mature and master attention. 5. Mastering flow When we tackle a meaningful challenge through skilful expertise, our capacity to succeed and enjoy a task leaps. Productivity can increase five-fold. By nudging towards a good match between our developing skills and the right challenge, we are successful and fulfilled. 6. Deliberate practice Research in the science of expertise (Anders Ericsson), is crystal clear that success in life is based on deliberate, purposeful practice – not ‘natural talent’. A growth mindset opens the door. Tenacious practice, outside of the comfort zone, with clear goals, and good coaching secures a life-long habit of achievement. Whether we frame this journey as hauora, wellbeing, mental Health, positive behaviours, or resilience is not material. What’s important is that school increases the probability that students will learn and master the skills to bounce, grow, connect and flow – in opportunity or adversity present.
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