He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata! What is the most important thing in the world? It is the people, it is the people, it is the people! This well-known Māori proverb might well have been the philosophy on which the Principal Leadership Advisory Service was built. It is certainly what drives the Northland inaugural appointee of the service, David Hain. David is a recently retired principal. He is well known and respected by colleagues in the North, where he has lived, taught and led schools throughout his entire teaching career. An early evaluation of his new position, undertaken independently by NZCER, shows that a key function of his new role is building relationships. A prerequisite to that is developing a high level of trust. Principals in the North report that is what they value the most. It means they can talk freely, express concerns, ask questions about anything of concern and feel comfortable doing so. It’s a strong endorsement and a clear indication that principals are appreciating David’s approach to coaching, mentoring and offering advice. These are much needed professional and pastoral services for Northland school principals. NZPF has been advocating for this service for the last two years, suggesting that what principals most need is more targeted and freely available professional and pastoral support from experienced principals within their own region. In their recommendations to the Ministry, NZPF proposed that leadership advisors would preferably be principals, trained in mentoring and coaching, who were well known and trusted by local principals. They would be respected, knowledgeable principals with proven success in their own careers. It was further recommended that the selection process would include representatives from the local principals’ association and regional Ministry personnel to give a sense of ownership and wide sector support for the appointment decision and the role in action. The case was accepted by the Secretary for Education in 2014, and in 2015 David Hain became the first Principal Leadership (Rural) Advisor for Te Tai Tokerau region, employed by Team Solutions at the University of Auckland, through the current Ministry of Education Leadership and Assessment PLD contract. The prioritistion of work is overseen by a reference group made up of Te Tai Tokerau Principals’ Association, regional Ministry of Education and the University of Auckland as the employing organisation. David has a Bachelor of Education degree and Post Graduate Diploma in Educational Leadership. In 2006 he was awarded an Auckland Primary Principals’ Association ASB research fellowship to study initiatives in low socio-economic communities to sustain life-long learning. After forty years’ experience in Te Tai Tokerau, teaching in both primary and intermediate schools at all year
levels, and leading sole charge, rural and urban schools, David brings deep knowledge and broad experience to the position. He describes his role as being in essence ‘principal support, both pastoral and professional, alongside relevant leadership development and management advice and guidance.’ It requires him to seek specific expertise through liaison with a number of agencies including Ministry of Education advisers, Te Tai Tokerau Principals’ Association, NZPF, NZEI, NZSTA, the University of Auckland First Time Principals’ programme, and the various principals’ sub association groups throughout Northland. When I meet with David, he had already made contact with and worked in a majority of the region’s schools. With approximately 160 schools in Northland, and the related geographical challenges, prioritising need has been necessary and David explains ‘priority groups include first time principals, principals new to a school, acting principals and those leading in isolated situations, either geographically, professionally or collegially.’ The Ministry has acknowledged the challenges of school leadership in Northland, and has recently made funds available for a second full time Principals' Leadership Advisor role, which has been filled by a principal with a secondary background to complement David’s primary sector experience. David is quick to identify that ‘empowering’ the principals he works with to find their own solutions to issues or plans they may have is a key aim. ‘My job is to support them in their development’ he says. ‘It’s about keeping in touch on a regular basis and giving them the confidence to lead amidst the many and varied calls on their time. The aim is for the longer term sustainability of those who become principals, and working to support them to lead more effectively. This means often helping principals put things in perspective and sometimes even helping them put things into a priority order. He described just some of the things that can at times overwhelm rural principals in Northland and indeed many other principals elsewhere. As an example the complexities of understanding and implementing the new Health & Safety regulations, and the requirements of the Vulnerable Children’s Act are some of the things David is commonly asked about – ‘Every principal wants to make sure the children and staff in their schools are safe’ he says. ‘What many rural principals seem to need are guidance, advice and clarity on how to simplify the sometimes complex requirements of school management, from policy to implementation’ says David. ‘For principals, there is a plethora
of information to wade through about all manner of educational policy, new initiatives and programmes etc., which can be overwhelming to some. In my role I am in a position to support them with this through my own background experience, but also be brokering complementary support available through my connections with other agencies’. Some other challenges that David notices principals commonly struggle with is access to the PLD they feel they need, limited release time given the complexities of the role, and access to, and the cost of relievers, all of which impact on their learning and development as leaders. Best practice and requirements for target setting can also be an area of difficulty for principals to work through, especially those new to the role. ‘It’s not so much the setting of the achievement targets but the need to keep a balance and focus on the achievement of all of their learners, and advice and guidance on this is much needed for new, and indeed all principals. One of the greatest challenges for principals, David adds, is to continually maintain their focus on the primary purpose of their leading teaching and learning, alongside all the other management and related issues contained within daily school life. Fundamentally it is relationship building that will determine whether a principal has set the foundation to succeed with those communities in which they lead. ‘Parents and community members perceive that they need their principal to be visible and available,’ he says. ‘They like to see them at the gate, at the breakfast club, at sports and other school and community events. ‘I sometimes challenge principals to not only know the names of all of their children, but their parents and whanau too.’ David has some additional advice for principals of small rural and isolated communities. ‘In reality, these principals are rarely off duty,’ he says. ‘When you are living in a very small rural area there will be expectations for principals to participate and contribute to broader community events and occasions outside of their specific school leadership role. For rural Northland school principals, engaging with all community members, cultures and groups is vital to being accepted and gaining the commitment of community, staff and students. ‘Not everyone sees this as important however, or realises how critical it is to building the strong relationships that make the important aspects of their job so much easier,’ he said. David’s involvement with the many First Time Principals (FTPs) in the area, through attendance at their regional management seminars is rewarding and provides him with an opportunity to contribute to the programme, and then follow up with visits to their schools afterwards. On a recent first visit, a new principal commented: ‘I don’t know what I don’t know,
and you don’t know what I don’t know’ which to David summed up the importance of being involved with FTPs’ meetings and with colleagues when they meet together outside their schools. This has led to valuable contacts with those school leaders who have the most urgent need for support. Sharing teaching experiences, methods and approaches is also part of David’s every day work when working with principals. ‘Sometimes,’ he said, ‘the applied approach is best.’ Using the context of the local community to teach students the skills and knowledge they need can be very effective. For example, at one Northland school David has visited students who learn about statistics through the catching of fish and eels, turkeys, possums, connected through a local community hunting competition – a very relevant context for authentic learning. ‘When you are a teaching principal in a small school, and teaching multiple levels, integrating the curriculum into an authentic teaching programme takes experience and skill. David is currently experimenting with bringing groups of rural principals together to share successful practice in this area. Technology can also be useful in overcoming isolation and distance, assisting and enabling student learning and the professional learning that teachers and leaders need. ‘The growth in information technology in a very short time has been massive,’ says David, ‘and that is another area of challenge for our rural and remote principals, with connection issues, and access to affordable on-going technological support for schools that have competing financial priorities.’ While access and availability to all manner of things can challenge the principal’s leadership role, some underlying themes permeate much of David’s work, and to that effect he is a valuable conduit for principals in providing advice on where to go and who to contact for suitable specialist support services, whether for technology, appraisal advice, special education services, advice on attracting suitable teachers, or other issues that principals constantly face. David agrees that there are areas across the country, other than just the north, that would benefit from having a position like this to offer on-going mentoring, advice and pastoral support for principals. After completing his first year in the job he recognises that building the strong relationships needed to effectively support our rural principals will take time, and he hopes that for the sake of principals in Northland, this type of position will be continued beyond the current contract brief. Since the interview with David, we are delighted to hear that the Ministry has appointed two other part time advisers in Southland and the East Coast respectively.
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