This theme ‘taking the lead’ had clearly enthused the regional presidents who turned up in big numbers to listen to their national president and to other professional colleagues on a number of burning issues. In the traditional spirit of the moot, these issues were all vigorously debated and ideas generated were discussed, shared and shaped for future or immediate action. The morning speakers provided plenty of scope for debate and discussion and there were no shortage of tough questions put to both Paul Gaulter, NZEI Secretary and Secretary for Education, Peter Hughes.
MC Philip Harding kept the day on track
Several years of government policies have left the profession feeling distracted, demoralised and powerless, said president, Denise Torrey, in her opening address to the 2015 NZPF moot. She argued that for too long there had been frustration upon frustration at not being able to just ‘ . . . do what we know is best for kids.’ It was time to take back the lead, she insisted, and that would begin with this 2015 moot. She went on to say that the NZPF national executive had already taken the lead with two important initiatives. These included the Māori Achievement Collaboratives (MACs) and more recently, a plan to share ideas and examples of best practice for educating children with Pacific Island backgrounds. Torrey told her appreciative audience that whilst the Ministry had developed some very useful documents at the strategic level to guide both Māori and Pacific Island education, principals and teachers needed assistance and guidance to translate the good ideas into good practice in their own schools. No agency had so far ventured into this territory so NZPF had taken the initiative to lead this work, she said. Torrey thanked the regional presidents for responding to the pre-moot survey and noted that in answer to the question, ‘What is going well in your region?’ the response was overwhelmingly collaboration! She joked that ‘ . . . we probably don’t really need a Government policy to tell us to collaborate . . . but to fund our collaboration projects – now there would be a useful policy,’ she smiled. As national president, she then challenged the regional presidents saying, ‘We want to encourage you all to take the lead in your own areas, unshackle yourselves from the burdens of inhospitable policies and refocus on what matters for kids.’
Paul Gaulter NZEI Secretary Paul Gaulter pulled no punches in his opening statement to the moot. He said that the Government was not ‘playing around the fringes’ of the education system but was intent on making absolutely fundamental changes to the way the system works. Like the NZPF president who spoke before him, he reiterated that the sector has been feeling bruised, alienated and disaffected because changes have not been introduced in conjunction with the sector but rather in isolation from it. He used the current Education Review, which the Minister described as an exercise in ‘getting rid of red tape’, as an example. ‘This is about making serious changes to the Education Act. That’s not decluttering, that’s fundamental,’ he said. He warned his audience that this review would follow the precepts of the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) and would create a very powerful lever in the Government’s system change agenda. It would question the vision and the very purpose of education in NZ. He encouraged every principal to engage with and make a submission on the process calling for a holistic approach to education incorporating the goals that sit within the NZ Curriculum. The second phase of the review, he said, would address issues such as models of ‘super-governance’ and operational matters such as the length of the school day and the school year. Gaulter also signalled that a funding review would be underway before long. ‘Funding,’ he said, ‘is another very powerful lever.’ He suggested that funding should be about equity but we could expect the Government to be floating ideas like performance based funding and vouchers which follow the student. It would be necessary, he suggested, to mobilise communities to support principles of equity. His main focus however was the Government’s $359 million Investing for Educational Success (IES) policy, how 93 per cent of teachers had rejected it and how the NZEI and the Ministry were working in good faith on an alternative model called the Joint Initiative.
Paul Gaulter (NZEI) and Ian Taylor (NZPF Vice President) in deep conversation
There were some common areas of agreement, Gaulter explained, including the emphasis on collaboration, transitions and career pathways for teachers [and support staff]. Where the Government’s IES model failed, he said, was first in not consulting with the sector and secondly, having a weak evidence base. Instead of presenting a model and asking the sector to make it work, the Government should have invited the sector to co-construct a model for the $359 million spend he said. He told the audience that the Joint Initiative would start with consulting the sector on how best to collaborate and deal with transitions and career pathways. Those transitions would include the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Sector. Flexible models would be the key, he said. He added that any model would need to be student-centred and about children’s learning, not just about communities of schools, teachers and principals. It would take into account children with special needs and Māori and Pacific Island children, he said. Gaulter concluded his speech with a warning to principals not to commit to the IES model until work on the Joint Initiative was completed. He encouraged all principals to contribute their own examples of best practice to the Joint Initiative development. The deadline for presenting a report on the Joint Initiative to Cabinet was set for May. Questions for Paul Gaulter Q The Joint Initiative is a ‘primary school’ level model. How will that work with the secondary sector? A Of necessity, the Joint Initiative is about transitions and that includes secondary level. We don’t know what the secondary sector will look like in the Joint Initiative or whether they can
legally come in [the PPTA has already signed off on a process to access the IES funds]. As time goes on the broader model will take over the narrower. Q I understand the problems for the primary/secondary issue with the Joint Initiative. ECE transitions will also be difficult with fragmentation and private providers. How will that be accommodated? A There is a drive to collaborate but the whole ECE sector is driven by a model of competition. You can’t force collaboration on ECE. We could end up with public money in private hands so it is difficult. We have begun the conversation with the Ministry but they have no ideas about how to progress ECE. The Joint Initiative group is engaged with the Kindergarten Association but admit this is difficult. Q In the ‘Joint Initiative’ what is the representation for the special education sector? A There are special education representatives on the ‘Joint Initiative’ team. Q What constitutes a good Education? I suspect Government and grassroots think differently. The Ministry talks about educational achievement and NZEI is talking about educational success. Are we trying to modify the Government definition through the ‘Joint Initiative’? A I agree there is no consensus around that and I think when we talk of educational success we look at the NZ Curriculum because when you put the child at the centre that’s what you are looking at. We can’t progress unless there is a common understanding and that makes it difficult for the Ministry who have to deal with what is in front of us.
Moot organiser Julie Hepburn and MC Philip Harding exchange last minute notes before launching Moot 2015
Graham Barber, Canterbury has a quick catch up with Pat Newman, a long serving principal from Whangarei
Peter Hughes, Secretary for Education Hughes won the attention of his audience immediately, telling the gathering that the new word in the Ministry was ‘stewardship’. He insisted that under his leadership, ‘stewardship’ was at the heart of an entire culture change and that the role of the Ministry was to focus on the system of education, not leadership. The principals are the leaders, he said and the Ministry the stewards. He expressed optimism that after two years in the job he believed that the sector and Ministry were coming together more. He openly acknowledged that there was no shared vision about the direction education was taking and his ambition was to fix that. He said that educational achievement should be
one unifying goal and that within the context of curriculum discussions, it was. There were however differences, he said, including the way achievement is measured and the way targets for achievement are set. He noted that student achievement was listed as one of the Government’s ‘Better Public Service’ goals. He added that it is however important to know what it is you are trying to achieve no matter what the system. The IES and Joint Initiative were also a focus for Hughes who said they were trying to take a more sensible approach, using the big idea of collaboration over competition. He remarked that it was significant that ‘ . . . we have both sides of politics saying collaboration is the way of the future, not competition.’ He was very clear that in this new world of collaboration, it would be principals who set the goals and defined the challenges to make a difference for kids in the community. Central to observing the difference would be achievement [measures]. He contrasted how the future would look under a collaborative system and how it looks now. ‘We are set up to be a market system [where parents go out] to find the best deal. They shop around. That’s [from] the ’90s.’ He went on to say that as communities of schools start to form they are enjoying working together on collective challenges. He said people like collegiality and support and achieve more by collaborating. The two major challenges however were aligning the system to support collaboration and changing the culture of how schools operate. ‘There are neighbouring schools where principals see themselves as competitors,’ he said, ‘and I worry about that the most.’ He assured the audience that they will be able to work through the IES and the Joint Initiative. But the greatest challenge would be culture change. His next concern was career pathways. He described the pinnacle of a principal’s career as heading up a large high decile secondary school. This ambition reflected the ‘CEO’ aspects of the principal’s position rather than the ‘leader of teaching and learning’ attributes, he said. He added that some smaller rural schools created more difficult challenges than any large high decile school. His message was clearly about redefining the pinnacle of a principal’s career in terms of leading ‘teaching and learning’ rather than being a CEO. The newly established Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (EDUCANZ) also took his attention momentarily as he told the principals that there was no going back. The legislation
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had been passed, he said, and it was critical that the right people were appointed to the Council’s governing board because that would make a huge difference. His last words were about the parents and their influence. ‘Parental engagement is the Ministry’s mission,’ he said, ‘because the evidence says that parental engagement and expectations have a huge impact on achievement.’ He questioned whether there was more that could be done at a system level to help parents get the right information and the right resources so that they could better understand their children’s progress. ‘When we put information out to parents, they hoover it up,’ he said excitedly. One thing the Ministry was looking at were ‘apps’ for parents through which they could help their kids. To sharpen his point about where the real influence lies, he left the audience to ponder a few statistics. ‘There are 2,500 principals, 100,000 people working in schools, 750,000 kids and 2 million parents . . . ’ He then returned to his main messages. ‘You are the sector leaders not us . . . We focus on the system . . . We don’t focus at the programme level any more . . . We are talking about a ‘change group’ which would comprise the heads of all peak bodies, to help with the ‘culture change’ [3–5 years] which is about one third of the way down the track now . . . The sector is moving from scepticism to optimism, coming together and working together better. He thanked the principals for being open to change which made a difference, and for their commitment to children and young people. ‘You’re a great bunch of people!’ he concluded. Questions for Peter Hughes Q I am interested in the peak body to lead change. What [would be] the work of that body? A It is to schedule change better. At the beginning of the IES [process] we spent time on change. I envisage four times a year we would get the heads of the unions and the peak bodies together in a session which I would chair. It would be for leadership and management of change in the sector Q How do we resolve the elephant in the room which is that we are state sector employees [so have the right to] and can object to [Government] policies? EDUCANZ shuts us up. A I am the public servant in the room! You are the ones with more freedom as state servants and can say what you want because you are not constrained by a code of conduct as I am Q Can you elaborate on what is happening in special education? A We have a system of special education that is locked up. We have silos and those trying to access help navigate across silos. Parents waste time getting their child categorised to get resources. We want a system that starts with the child and looks at their needs. [We want] a menu and package for that child. I won’t call it a review because that’s a loaded word. There will be bite sized bits. [It won’t be] as big as Ben Hur or nothing will happen. Q Where does the Minister sit on competition vs collaboration? A We have a centre right Government. At the top end of cabinet is a range of views. IES is Government approved and it was discussed at the highest policy level. They’ve signed off the version that came out of
Cabinet. When I signed off on the Joint Initiative the Minister supported that, no problem. The Government might think competition is good in some ways, but collaboration needs to be the engine in education. Is it all going to change when the Government changes? I think not . . . it gives us stability and clarity of direction. Q With [your] systems approach, will there be more support for principals before they fall? A I need to better understand what support is needed. If we need to put more support in we will do that. STA [also] has responsibilities in this area. Taking the Lead in Special Education James Le Marquand, Te Atatu Unequivocally the most impassioned speaker of the day, James Le Marquand left the audience in no doubt that support and resource allocation for special education in New Zealand is not in good shape. The principal of Arohanui School and Specialist Outreach Service in West Auckland, Le Marquand opened with a potted history of the Arohanui School. He explained its evolution from a school for special needs students, operating in a joint arrangement with the Ministry and the IHC in the ’60s and ’70s through to the ‘deinstitutionalisation policies’ of the ’80s and becoming a four class school with special satellites and classrooms in the mainstream. He outlined how the role of Arohanui teachers had changed from teaching classes within the school to also providing expert advice to mainstream teachers and teacher aides. Mainstream settings, he explained, were now the location of most special needs children. ‘We are about creating communities around the child’, he said, ‘and following the students on their life journey.’ This might include involvement with Special Olympics, for example and taking careful note of transitions. ‘One of our key initiatives was to set up a transition outreach programme for 18 – 21 year olds,’ continued pg16
NZPF President Denise Torrey delivers her speech to the Moot
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he said, ‘ and work is progressing with high school providers on transitions post-school.’ Le Marquand also talked about the challenges they faced every day saying that ‘the politics of inclusion are a civil war issue!’ ‘It [inclusion] is a flawed concept,’ he declared which simply doesn’t work.’ He went on to explain that the expectations of the disabilities sector, the Ministry and schools simply don’t line up. ‘Three per cent of our students have high needs,’ he said, ‘and one per cent is funded by the ‘Ongoing Resourcing Scheme [ORS]. Who is being served and how are they being served?’ he asked. He noted some of the new challenges facing the sector under the ‘inclusion’ policy saying that every school is now a special school and demands for new expertise are increasing all the time.
His message was essentially not to bother with prescribed options because there were no single answers to the PLD needs of any given staff of teachers. Rather, he said, PLD should be an organic process, emanating from the people involved. He urged his audience to ask some pertinent questions before embarking on any PLD programme. These include first asking what our purpose is and what vision we have developed to fulfil our purpose. For inspiration he suggested principals might look to Clarence Beeby who set a vision for education in the 1930s that ‘every person regardless of background or ability had a right to an education of a type for which they were best suited.’ This vision endured for many years and continues to underpin the educational drive of many principals today. He also suggested
James Le Marquand led the discussion on the state of Special Education in NZ
Mike Anderson dispelled some myths about PLD
‘We have ‘P’ babies, autism, premature babies, mental health problems and of course special needs,’ he said. We have to start doing things differently, to lead politically and to fight for the necessary resources. He suggested that perhaps the Resource Teachers of Learning Behaviour (RTLB) could be differently deployed and more collaboration and congruence was needed if we were going to achieve ‘success for all’, an aspiration of both the Ministry and the sector. Whilst Le Marquand views the notion of ‘inclusiveness’ as completely misguided, he acknowledges that out of the debates has come a focus on the purpose of special schools like his. ‘We have become the hothouses of pedagogical development,’ he said, ‘and compared to what is happening overseas, we are second to none.’ Despite his infectious optimism, it is clear that being a political football is not Le Marquand’s preference. The continuum of special education is currently a downward spiral, he said. ‘Whilst New Zealand is the most inclusive country in the world, the resources haven’t come in behind to acknowledge that.’
principals might also draw inspiration from educational greats such as Sylvia Ashton Warner who was famously quoted as saying ‘You must be true to yourself. Strong enough to be true to yourself. Brave enough to be strong enough to be true to yourself. Wise enough to be brave enough to be strong enough to shape yourself from what you actually are.’ Anderson suggested that the best vision statements came from heads and hearts and conversations. They came from ideas, and were not born of statistics. He insisted that education is not a technical activity but an artistic one involving setting people free and urged his audience to be educationally wise, not to focus on ‘how to’ but to believe in the theatre of ‘light and sound’ because education was a musical journey to live, to love and to enjoy. Just as children must be part of the experience for learning to occur, so also do adults. In other words professional development cannot happen by transfer because the person must be part of the experience or it won’t work. He referred his audience to the Dreyfus Model as a useful tool to plan PLD. The Dreyfus model explains how skilful knowhow is progressively acquired by passing through developmental stages. These include moving from novice (rule bound behaviour) to competent to expert stage (ability to read context). The model explains that people will apply any new expertise to the developmental level they are at. That said the approach adults need is very different from children. He drew a distinction between pedagogy (children’s learning) and androgogy (adult learning) suggesting that the former is more instructionally bound while the latter is self-directed. Thus, the traditional practices of teacher observation, feedback
Taking the Lead in Professional Learning Development (PLD) and Appraisal Mike Anderson, Christchurch Mike Anderson brought a series of warnings to his audience about ‘PLD peddlers’ dragging their wheelie bags around the schools and so called ‘experts’ presenting at conferences. ‘It’s nonsense to listen to people at a conference who do something different. It’s boring. You need to bring light and sound and be educationally wise. It’s also a truckload of fun,’ he said.
Taking the Lead in Collaborative Clusters Kaylene McNee, Upper Hutt In describing the 2003 beginnings and composition of her
quickly on political issues such as the IES. There are however challenges, McNee told the audience, and these include funding release time for teachers, coping with school mergers, national standards, finding common ground and not having sufficient free time to pursue collaborative activities. McNee is confident that the organic nature of the cluster of schools will sustain it into the future. The cluster was formed because it was needed. It is responsive to local needs, adaptive and has involvement from all levels of the school sector. Leadership is shared and an effective system of communication has developed over time. ‘We all visit each other’s schools annually and geographically we are in close proximity,’ she said. The immediate plans for the future include setting strategic
Stephen Lethbridge enthused on e-learning and modern technologies
Stephen Lethbridge introduces his audience to ‘Scratch’ and ‘MakeyMakey’ programmes
Upper Hutt School cluster, Kayleen McNee portrayed a perfect example of the organic nature of effective collaboration. ‘When our local secondary school’s NCEA performance declined,’ she said, ‘that was the catalyst for principals across all levels of Upper Hutt schools to analyse and share their literacy data to try and identify just where things were going wrong.’ The schools began collaborating and decided to set some targets for themselves around literacy PLD. Once established, the cluster grew and by 2009 comprised 19 schools from decile 3 to 10 including urban and rural schools, contributing, intermediate, integrated and both state and state integrated secondary schools. These schools were now setting new targets in ICT, Māori Achievement, innovative practice and special needs education. Out of collaboration evolved other practices such as all of the principals meeting once a term; the office teams meeting once a term; and Board meetings being held across the schools once a term. In addition the assistant principals and deputies meet from time to time as they see fit. In the course of the cluster’s evolution other informal and formal systems have developed. Curriculum leaders across the schools now meet to question their data and collectively seek interpretation to inform their future planning. A relational trust has built up amongst the participants who are now constructing a shared interest in Hutt Valley students beyond the confines of their own school boundaries. ‘This is one of the great strengths of working collaboratively. Competition between schools diminishes and opportunities for sharing practice increase,’ said McNee. Relationships have strengthened and both principals and Board chairs can unite
and annual goals and sharing some professional reading. Each participant will be examining areas of principalship they wish to develop and these will become future challenges for learning. ‘It’s about continuous improvement and learning across our school region,’ said McNee. The audience was left feeling as confident as McNee herself, that the collaboration would continue well into the future. They were also in no doubt that the shape of the cluster would continue to evolve as you would expect in an organic system.
and technical checklists should be consigned to the archives in Anderson’s view. ‘It’s nonsense,’ he said. ‘You behave differently when someone is watching and observing and giving teacher feedback is presumptuous,’ he said. Only self-directed learning should prevail according to Anderson. On principal appraisal, Anderson referred his audience to the commercial entity ‘Inter-lead’ for the best appraisal programmes and recommended that if they haven’t already, that they should all read: ‘The beautiful risk of Education’ by Gert Biesta
Taking the Lead in E-Learning Stephen Lethbridge, Henderson, Auckland A leading enthusiast for embracing new technologies, Stephen Lethbridge opened his address with a brief history of how teachers have moved from the blackboard, to the roller blackboard, to the overhead projector to the calculator, the laptop, the iPhone and iPad. We have robotics, scratch, coding and 3-D printing. Today, he said, many schools have their own ‘Bring Your Own Devices’ (BYOD) policies. ‘Digital is in residence,’ he announced. ‘Throughout all the changes we have witnessed rejecting and embracing of technology,’ he said. There is no denying however that Lethbridge was here to tell us that the context of the world is now digital and we cannot afford to reject it. He refused to accept that age is a barrier to adapting to the new technologies saying, ‘Age is not a barrier [but] mind-set is’. He explained that people have their own mental models which can either support or oppose technology. He also acknowledged that you cannot make anyone do what they don’t want to do. His solution to bringing people on board with technology lies in changing your thinking about it and being strategic. For
This helps shift the culture within your school, said Lethbridge. Māori Achievement Collaboratives (MACs), Te Ara Hou – The new pathway Ros McQuillan-Mains, Canterbury Māori Achievement Collaboratives (MACs) grew from discussions within the NZPF national executive. The discussions led to the executive wanting to understand and experience more about a Māori world view, how Māori think, feel and achieve as Māori. Led by Peter Witana, Kiri Milne-Ihimaera and Whetu Cormick, the executive travelled north to spend a weekend immersed in Tikanga Māori on Te Tii Waitangi marae. It was a transforming experience which led to further discussions about how all principals, especially Pakeha principals in mainstream Ros McQuillan-Mains introduces the MACs to the participants schools, might access greater understanding about example, the ‘e’ in e-learning does not have to mean ‘electronic’. Tikanga Māori in their own areas, build stronger relationships with iwi and better appreciate children’s learning through a It can mean ‘effective’. Lethbridge acknowledged that there are mixed views about the Māori world view. This led to the birth of a new professional virtues of technology. He did not however mention the views development programme, by principals, for principals called Te of Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, who sent his own children to Ara Hou, the new pathway. We are constantly reminded that New Zealand’s future is Waldorf (Rudolph Steiner) schools so that they would have plenty of hands on practical learning experiences and no exposure to linked with Māori achievement and Māori success is a major even a television screen, never mind a computer screen, before Government target. That being the case the importance of their teenage years. Jobs believed that technology was not good being comfortable walking in both Pakeha and Māori worlds is for children’s thinking and creativity development and did not essential. Higher levels of cultural literacy and the new skills to want his children to become addicted to games like ‘Candy acquire that therefore need to be a national priority. The vision for the MACs is to create ‘A collaboration between Crush’. However, Lethbridge said that if you do want your school those knowledgeable and successful in improving pathways and community to embrace technology, they need to be involved in outcomes for Māori and those who want to, but need support’. They setting the vision in the first place. Once the vision is set it’s a are about creating education that fits Māori learners, promotes matter of changing patterns of behaviour which takes time. He self-learning and builds strong relationships, cultural identity warned that compromise may be necessary, such as reducing the and whānau engagement. Central to the success of MACs is the number of meetings for staff to free up time to let them ‘play’ notion of ‘changing hearts and minds’ through whānaungatanga. In partnership with Te Akatea, the Māori Principals’ with technology and build their confidence in using it. ‘My job is holding peoples’ feet to the fire of the vision they Association, NZPF approached the Ministry and the Minister and gained approval and resourcing for the MACs which are have constructed,’ he said ‘and encouraging creative tension.’ Lethbridge emphasised the importance of standing back clusters of principals led by a facilitator who is knowledgeable and allowing others to shine as you go through the process of in Tikanga Māori. The clusters are self-selected, organic change. Collaboration and empowerment are two very powerful groupings. A national coordinator and six regional facilitators learning influences and in Lethbridge’s view, you find both in were appointed and MACs took their first collaborative breath. MACs facilitators walk with and beside participants. They modern technology. With open source learning materials and creative commons, teachers can freely access excellent resources visit individual schools, help develop strategic and action plans, and legally share ideas, approaches and activities in a truly facilitate full day cluster workshops at each of the participants’ schools, provide professional development for staff and collaborative way. Most importantly of all, Lethbridge sees modern technology contribute to an annual Hui/conference to bring all participants as the perfect context for empowering children. ‘Technology across the country together. The MACs are based on relationship building and a common can be used in every-day learning for kids to make stuff,’ he said, reminding his audience of how important it is for kids to purpose, sharing resources and supporting each other. They learn through ‘doing’. ‘Kids can build their own computer,’ he have been operating now for the past twelve months and have said excitedly, ‘and even better if you take the instructions away been independently evaluated by a group of researchers from the Auckland University of Technology (AUT). They have you’ll be amazed to see what happens!’ He also advocated forming technology clubs outside of school shown they are hugely successful in transforming the thinking of hours. To join, each child brings an adult. In this way, you get principals who are now in a much stronger position to respond to technophobic Mums and Dads quickly involved in designing the learning needs of their Māori students. There is now verifiable and making things through programmes like ‘MakeyMakey’. evidence that the MACs professional development programme Teachers can also join the club if they wish. Over time the is having a positive impact on Māori student achievement. influence of the club grows and more and more want to join.