The article by the above title, was first published in the NZ Principal magazine in 2000. It was authored by the NZPF President of the time, Kelvin Squire as an abridged version of his speech to the May 2000 NZPF conference. Many of the arguments published fifteen years ago remain as relevant today as when they were first penned. This article captures the main points that still pertain to education today. The four Rs, Reading, ’ Riting, ’ Rithmetic and RELATIONSHIPS are the skills that underpin the quality of our very being. The most important of the Rs is RELATIONSHIPS, says Kelvin Squire. ‘Our relationships with ourselves, our partners, neighbours, colleagues, and communities will dictate the quality of our existence. Life is like sailing on a storm tossed sea – peaks and troughs, peaks and troughs. We handle the peaks reasonably well although we could improve on the way we celebrate them – but the troughs? Inevitably the troughs are coming and we will be judged on the way we navigate them. As principals we are not employed to make easy decisions, but to provide guidance and leadership!’ Throughout his article, Squire emphasises the importance, indeed the centrality of healthy relationships to achieving good leadership. He argues that as educational leaders, principals will from time to time, have policies foisted upon them that are not necessarily in children’s best interests. Instead of passively accepting policy initiatives he suggests principals use relationships already built with their communities and other agencies to point out policy short-comings and demonstrate that the teaching expertise and professionalism of teachers in schools can be relied on to provide a high standard of education irrespective of current policy direction. Squire maintains that transparency and honesty are critical when dealing with the issues of our time. These include literacy, numeracy, the gap [between high and low achievers], technology and a changing society. He colourfully expresses the importance of principals being high performers saying ‘We need to become the best quality tomatoes in the glasshouse because we have chosen a profession that is increasingly operating within the glasshouse.’ Here Squire refers to the growth in community involvement in schools as a result of the ‘Tomorrows Schools’ policies, which made the classroom far more accessible to scrutiny. There is an obvious parallel today with the growth in public achievement information and the publishing of school national standards results on the ‘Education Counts’ website. Squire points again to the importance of having strong and
healthy relationships with communities and establishing quality communication channels. He then reflects on what factors a newly appointed principal might have to consider if they wish to succeed in a new school. For example, he says other staff members already employed at the school will have a profile and quite possibly a vested interest in the community. They will hold all the knowledge about the way things are done at the school. He said the Board appointing the principal will often say they are looking to progress the school yet whilst the Board is looking for progress through change it does not necessarily want to change the way things are done! In other words, they don't want to change the culture of the school or its community. He draws on the work of Stewart and Prebble (1993) to define culture as ‘the way we do things in this school, and why we think we are doing them that way – the habitual patterns of beliefs, attitudes, values and activities shared and engaged in by members of an organisation.’ (1993, p.84) Squire suggests it would be in the best interest of any newly appointed principal to spend some time understanding ‘the culture’ of a school before they set about making changes to it. We need to continually ask ourselves why we do things the way we do, according to Squire, because often the answer is simply ‘because it’s always been done that way!’ He goes on to say that the culture of a school creates the environment within which staff, community and student relationships are developed. He says relationships are central to all school and community interaction. ‘The way things are done around here’ should be continually shared with the community, and be integral to ongoing development. Some schools, he said, have enshrined their belief systems in their school charters which act as a moral compass. This culture of a school, he says, will prepare the individuals within for the ‘troughs’ that will test relationships. He acknowledges that these ‘troughs’ often have their source outside of and beyond the control of those within the school. His next argument is drawn from the work of Brandt (2000) who describes a school with heart as a learning community, where everyone feels known, is considered important, and works for the common good. Brandt says, that to understand the essential qualities of a school as a learning community, you have to ask what the school means to her: ‘I feel that I belong here. There is a place for me. I make a difference here. I have the power and the skills to change what needs to be changed.
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I am known as an individual, and I am prized for what I am. I know that people here care about me. They know when I am absent, they sense when I am hurt. I feel needed. I am part of a learning family, who need each other. I feel safe here. And most of all, I feel I am myself.’ (Brandt 2000, p.113) Squire expands on this saying that there is a growing body of research indicating that schools structuring themselves as caring communities develop students with a greater sense of belonging, higher engagement in academic work and improved student achievement. Caring communities, he says, are founded on relationships. Returning to Brandt’s work he writes that a school with heart would make incremental changes to the curriculum. The curriculum would: Be relevant and assist students to make sense of their lives. Have unity and diversity to celebrate what binds us together whilst also celebrating the diversity that is our strength. ■■ Provide students with the connections to their lives, past, present and future. ■■ Reflect human values to assist in the development of individual character ■■ Emphasise responsibility. ‘We deny responsibility for what we have become – blaming our parents, teachers, or the larger society in an endless whine of 'It's not my fault’. We need instead to seek out the obligations of being human (Brandt, p.116) ■■ ■■
‘Our sector operates within an environment of imposed policy compliance and accountability,’ says Squire. ‘Good leadership rises above that, is visionary, creative and takes initiative. To navigate current policies and compliances requires leaders with telescopes not managers with microscopes.’ Here Squire draws the distinction between the role of a manager and that of a leader and using the research of Lester Levy suggests that we have been conditioned to manage rather than lead. A typical example he uses to illustrate this point is the teacher who firmly places their problems on the principal’s shoulders. ‘If we manage the problems for them, they will return with more. As leaders, not managers, our role is to encourage our staff to reflect on their problems and consider a range of self or team generated solutions. To achieve this we need a culture of trust in our relationships with staff. In turn it is important that we as leaders model reflective behaviour to our staff,’ he said.
His next section drew on the research of Hargreaves & Fullan and their 1998 book entitled ‘What’s worth fighting for out there’. They argue that teachers are already leaders of children and offer a useful set of guidelines for all teachers: 1. Make your pupils your prime partners. Every piece of paper your pupils carry, every story they tell, or secret they hide speaks volumes about their teachers and their experience in school. Teachers who are approachable to their pupils have more chance of being approachable to their parents. According to students the teachers most likely to engage them and enhance their learning were the ones who: Enjoy teaching their subject. Enjoy teaching students. ■■ Make lessons interesting and link them to outside school. ■■ Are fair. ■■ Are easy for students to talk to. ■■ Don’t shout. ■■ Don’t go on about things (e.g how much better an older brother or sister was). ■■ Explain things and go through things students don’t understand without making them feel small. ■■ Don’t give up on students. ■■ ■■
2. Respond to parents’ needs and desires as if they were your own. We are seen as the gatekeepers of the child’s future. Parents are scared they are losing control over their child’s destiny. Try to encourage your staff to: See things from the parents’ point of view Talk with parents informally both in the school and in the community. Seek their opinions. Really listen to what they have to say. ■■ Focus on the 90 – 95 per cent of parental involvement that is positive ■■ Work on developing strong professional relationships with parents – don’t wait for the reporting sessions ■■ From time to time you will come across angry parents. Remember anger is often a consequence of other emotions that people feel. Try to get past that anger and discover what deeper issues are at stake. ■■ ■■
3. Become more assessment literate. Teachers who have nothing more than their own individual intuition to fall back on when they face parents, easily feel exposed,
vulnerable and threatened. Clear and detailed assessment that goes home regularly provides learning for parents. Act as critical consumers – engage with research data and self-review. Effective leaders are those who focus on student learning outcomes and link this information to improving teaching and learning strategies. We know our kids and our school and this is what we are doing by removing barriers. Be proactive, not reactive. 4. Refuse to mind your own business. Teachers must not act as if their business is only in the classroom. What happens outside the classroom has a profound effect on what happens inside it. Beware the political stealthbombers. We can become so consumed by what is happening in our daily lives that we do not see the big picture. Vigorously debate change. 5. Assist the recreation of our profession: Support self-regulation. Help raise the standards and the public perception of our profession. ■■ Encourage/demand ongoing professional rejuvenation through focused and meaningful professional development. ■■ Develop initiatives that really benefit students. ■■ ■■
These arguments for making learning authentic and relevant, building relationships with children and parents, understanding and using assessment data wisely, being aware of what goes
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1. Avoid ‘if only . . . ’ statements. These types of statements externalise the blame and immobilise our teachers 2. Start small, think big. Don’t over-plan or over-manage 3. Focus on the fundamentals including curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional culture 4. Practise fearlessness. We have to be prepared to lose before we can win, for example, by establishing clear expectations of male achievement and holding to these. 5. Embrace diversity and resistance while empowering others. Research clearly shows that to initiate complex change requires top-down initiation, but if anything worthwhile is to happen there must be shared control and decision making. Successful schools share power. 6. Build a vision relevant to both goals and processes. To be effective, an organisation needs both a vision of the content it represents and a clear vision of the processes it values and follows 7. Decide what you are not going to do. Learn to say ‘NO’. Senior leaders are ‘victims of the moment’. They are constantly dragged into crises. Spend less time on things that are not essential. Think about agendas for staff meetings, senior leaders’ meetings and team meetings. 8. Build Allies. It is imperative that we have opportunities to liaise with the wide range of groups with whom we interact – from our parent body to the Education Review Office. 9. Know when to be cautious. Exercise caution when you don’t know the situation, you sense survival is at stake or you are in a zero trust environment. 10. Give up the search for the silver bullet. Do not adopt the latest fad or fashion. Craft your own theory and practice. As principals we are at the forefront of change. Shared decision making, a sense of humour and leadership will assist us to navigate a path through the inevitable chaos that awaits.
He concludes by saying that ‘we are the models. The way forward is through shared vision, risk taking, initiative and conclusion. It is through leadership not management. It is through the strengths of your relationships.’
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on outside the school gate and helping to grow sustainable leadership are just as valid today as they were fifteen years ago. Finally, Squire draws again on Fullan’s work listing ten guidelines for principalship, or as he prefers to call it, leadership:
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References Brandt (2000). ASCD. Education in a new era Brown & Moffet (1999) The Hero’s Journey Fullan, M. (1997). What’s worth fighting for in principalship?
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Hargreaves, A & Fullan, M. (1998). What’s worth fighting for out there? Stewart, D. & Prebble, T. (1993). The reflective principal About the Author: Kelvin Squire is a retired principal. As principal of Stratford Primary School, he also worked as a principal coach and mentor to many. He was president of the NZPF in 2000 and served on the Rural Education Reference Group and as a national literacy mentor and national NAG facilitator