Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland Liz Hawes
EDITOR
New Zealand has sometimes been described as more like Ireland than Ireland. If that all sounds a bit Irish it probably is because we’re a bit Irish too! As we were reminded by Damian White (‘Breath of Fresh Eire’ p 19 v.33 (4) Nov. 2018), we are countries of similar population, size and landscape – the further south one travels in Ireland, the more ‘pastoral New Zealand’ it becomes. We both have bigger countries as neighbours to shield us from the rest of the world and we are both countries built on immigration – in our case, a sizeable number of Irish people, who like us, revere the sport of rugby. As Damian White reminds us, Ireland is a country of friendly, generous spirited, engaging people, much like us. It is also a country proud of its education history and like us, has endeavoured to resist converting its public education system to a business model. Killarney, in County Kerry, Ireland, was host to the last International Confederation of Principals’ School Inspector Harold Hislop addresses the Council members Council (ICP). This is a gathering of the heads of Principals’ Organisations from across the world. It is an event at learning outcomes; he spoke of the industrial model of schooling which member countries examine the ICP structures, values and which followed, and the radical upheaval of the late 1980s, led by operations to ensure that the organisation maintains relevancy a new economic approach firmly based on the business principles and currency; they build networks, forge partnerships and work of market forces and the merits of competition. He explained that this was the context into which collaboratively for the benefit of school Tomorrow’s Schools was introduced, with leaders across the globe. the stated aims of self-management, At the ICP Council, Finland and partnership, accountability and equity. New Zealand were invited to present This, he said, was followed by the most a ‘Country Update’. It was clear that recent standardisation era and further ‘the world’s eyes were on New Zealand’ entrenchment of public accountability as our new Minister of Education had and competition. The move towards just delivered all vestiges of the Global standardisation, he said, closely followed Education Reforms to the scrap heap. the Global Education Reform Movement, National standards, charter schools and criticised by academics and practitioners any other policies supporting Global from across the globe. Education Reforms were now history. The change in Government in New The world leaders were all ears. Zealand, heralded a new direction NZPF President, Whetu Cormick, for education, he said, and this would first gave his audience a brief potted be firmly centred on quality public history of the development of New education, equity, collaboration and Zealand’s education system. He spoke a well-supported system. With the of the early effects of assimilation on detrimental mechanisms like national our Tangata Whenua learners, who standards, school league tables and were denied their own world view and competition now discarded, New cultural identity and were expected Zealand, he said has a clean slate to begin to learn in a new language and belief Location of the ICP Council meeting, Brehon Hotel, Killarney, County Kerry building an enduring system (preferably system, with the inevitable negative
Excepting the stone fences, the further south one travels in Ireland the more pastoral New Zealand it becomes
Restful scenes surround the town of Killarney
free from political interference) that will benefit all learners, including Tangata Whenua, our Pacific Island students, our new migrant children, our special needs students and those living in poorer circumstances. He then outlined some of the tasks ahead, including a full review of the Tomorrow’s Schools document. Already, he said, conversations had been held across New Zealand and some emerging ideas included the importance of maintaining equity funding for schools and partnership with local communities. Further ideas on managing, developing and supporting school leadership included the establishment of a separate College of Leadership. Another theme coming through, he said, was supporting the wellbeing of students, teachers and leadership in our system. A highlight of the national conversations so far was the new focus on curriculum, he said, and with national standards now gone, a return to looking at children’s progress. In the words of New Zealand’s Minister of Education, ‘there will be a shift from testing to teaching’, which the profession warmly welcomes, he said. He made it clear that he had come to the international gathering to listen and learn from others about successful models of governance, wellbeing, leadership development and teaching and learning to take back to the Task Force groups already set up to begin the work of rebuilding and strengthening New Zealand’s schooling system for the future. The Council meeting covered many issues relevant to the New Zealand context. Topics included wellbeing, leadership, curriculum and classroom practice, school culture and evaluation. As we look to our own future post Tomorrow’s Schools, where the role of our own Education Review Office is
likely to have a radical shift in focus, it is timely to report on the presentation of the Chief Inspector of Schools for Ireland, Harold Hislop. The title of his address was encouragingly ‘School evaluation and leadership in Irish schools: A co-professional approach to quality and improvement’. His outline of Irish schooling illustrated how it bears a strong resemblance to our New Zealand schooling context:
Central Ministry of Education (Department of Education and Skills – DES) and locally managed schools ■■ Individual schools managed by boards of management – volunteer members including the principal – some support from management associations ■■ Many small schools especially at primary level ■■ High degree of trust in the education system – strong links to local communities ■■ Partnership approach to policy formation enshrined in national legislation ■■ Strong school leadership organisations – IPPN (Irish Primary Principals’ Network and NAPD (National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals) – take a professional role. ■■
There were also similarities within the leadership context. Increased expectations and responsibilities for all public sector bodies ■■ The need to re-build leadership capacity recognised by the DES (Department of Education & Skills) who have worked with management bodies, leadership organisations and the Centre for School Leadership. ■■
Of special interest was how the School Inspectorate approaches its work. Hislop described a co-professional approach, which, he said, should be complemented by self-evaluation. Elements include: A balanced approach including both improvement and accountability ■■ Development of inspection approaches through consultation, trialling with teachers, school leaders, parents’ groups, students and management bodies ■■ Respectful engagement as a core principle in the way we work ■■ Core belief: The most powerful factor in ensuring children’s learning is the quality of teachers’ individual and collective practice and how school leadership enables this to happen. ■■
How all this might look in action was equally enlightening. Most of inspectors’ time is spent in classrooms with less time on paperwork ■■ Feedback to individual teachers and staff teams as well as to principal and board ■■ Inspections must identify strengths of the school as well as areas for improvement ■■ Commitment to avoid over-reliance on test and examination results as the sole or dominant measure of a school’s effectiveness ■■ Inspection reports do not include statistical data on academic performance that could lead to the compilation of league tables ■■ Respect for the complexity of schools: Inspection reports record judgements on areas of the school’s work but no single overall judgement about the school ■■ Reports are published and follow-up inspections may take place ■■ Processes for schools with serious weaknesses but ‘special measures’ label avoided. ■■
The Framework principles under which the Irish inspectorate operates includes: A holistic view of learning Broad, balanced, challenging and responsive to learners’ needs ■■ Well-being is intrinsic to learning ■■ Quality teaching is a powerful influence on achievement ■■ Schools are dynamic learning organisations – individual and collective work of school leaders and teachers is to build capacity towards improvement ■■ Leadership and management are inseparable ■■ Leadership recognised through formal roles (including deputy principal) and as teacher leadership ■■ External & internal evaluation are complementary contributors to improvement.
Messages on well-being promoted at the ICP council
MAGAZINE
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For a country that is performing significantly above the OECD average in reading, writing and mathematics, (as demonstrated by PISA results) the Irish approach to school evaluation is one worth investigating.
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