INVERCARGILL MIDDLE SCHOOL Liz Hawes
EDITOR
The fabric of Invercargill Middle School is tightly woven with glowing strands of pride, clearly visible throughout its extensive history. The oldest in the district, the school has been cultivating its reputation for 146 years. The first students to make the school’s honours board were James Fox and Jane Jamieson in 1880. The honours have continued and in both 2016 and 2017, Invercargill Middle School was the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award, which comes with a $20,000 cheque as a reward for the school’s outstanding efforts. The certificates hang proudly in the entrance lobby, alongside representations of many other impressive achievements. The school was originally called Invercargill Grammar School and opened its doors to 180 students. Later it became Invercargill District High School. Male and female pupils were segregated with separate playgrounds and classrooms, a practice that was strictly enforced.The school stood witness to the diptheria outbreak, 1874 – 1917; the influenza epidemic of 1918; and the 1957 ’Flu. Wars also intruded and pupils of the day engaged in cadet training, rifle practice and improbably, were taught how to
dig trenches at school – such was the young colony’s enthusiasm to support the war efforts for the British Empire! When the secondary students moved to the High School in 1881, it became Invercargill Central School. In 1885 it was renamed Invercargill Middle School, not because it had become an Intermediate or ‘Middle’ School – they wouldn’t be invented for at least another 35 years – but because it is situated in the middle of the city. Whilst the weight of history sits firmly on the shoulders of the school’s current students, there are enormous advantages to having an alumni stretching back a century and a half. In 1973, for example, when the school celebrated its centenary, ex-pupils, who formed the centennial committee, made a substantial contribution to the school library. At Invercargill Middle School, history keeps on growing and giving. The modern school reflects few practices of the century old establishment, beyond loading up the coal bunker, which still fuels the school’s water heating system. The complexion of the school has also changed. There are not many students called Alfred, Oswald, Ethel and Ida any more. The Pākehā population of the school today, is just 45 per cent. The current 183 students
The juniors are enthusiastic about performing their action song
Sam Tiatia is proud of his family of staff, students and parents
are just as likely to be Māori (23 per cent), Pacific Island (7 per cent) or one of the many other ethnicities such as Indian, Pakistani, Filipino, Turkish or African (25 per cent). Over time, homogeneity has given way to diversity. Principal, Stan Tiatia, himself of Samoan decent, recognises that cultural diversity can also bring challenges. ‘Our diversity brings such wonderful richness to our school community,’ he says, ‘but some, especially our growing number of migrant families, are unable to find stability of accommodation or income.’ This means Stan’s school also has a population of transient students and those living below the bread line. ‘Having a solid foundation on which to build the children’s learning is critical,’ he says, so that we can give them clear expectations and help them set challenging but realistic learning
goals. We help them grow as life-long learners, make learning relevant, fun and interesting and make them want to learn more,’ he said. That foundation comes in the form of school culture and it is to school cultural experts that Stan turned for inspiration and guidance. Russell Bishop and Ted Glynn’s work Culture Counts: Changing Power Relations in Education was a good starting point along with Bishop & Berryman’s research into the highly successful Te Kotahitanga: Towards effective Education Reform for Indigenous and other Minoritised Students. ‘Our school culture is based on the concepts of whanaungatanga and manaakitanga. ‘As the children will tell you, we help others, but without taking over. That way all children can participate,’ he
The mantra for Restorative Justice is liberally displayed throughout the school
The 2016 Prime Minister’s Award sits alongside the 2017 Award
Children interacting together
Invercargill Middle School is a school of diversity
says, ‘All children learn and all children make progress,’ he said. ‘We also emphasise whanaungatanga or working together as one, like a family,’ says Stan. ‘We all have high expectations of each other, and that includes the teachers and the children.’ He went on to explain that whanaungatanga was all about looking after each other because if something happens to one, it affects all of us. He said children learn to do the right thing and help their class mates. They are encouraged to operate as a team, even if the ones you help are not your friends. ‘Our school strategic plan is closely aligned to these values, because we all live these values in everything we do at school. The wellbeing of staff and students is critically important to us, because we are at all times considering the whole person and their circumstances,’ he said. Stan reasoned that if his young people were to get the best learning possible, then every experience would be a learning opportunity. They would be learning from school leaders like himself, from the teachers and from each other. At the same time our teachers learn from each other and from the children too. It’s all reciprocal learning under whanaungatanga. The children also bring learning from their own homes to share. For example, fly-fishing is the passion of one student’s mother and her young son often joins her. He knows all the fishing rules and regulations and why you must release any fish that is under-size. He knows the nuances of salmon and trout including how to smoke them. He shares this knowledge with his class mates, thereby enriching them all. The culture of the school supports and facilitates such examples of shared learning.
The day I visit, staff are meeting to share the curriculum and learning progress of the children. It is a very open and collaborative encounter of staff looking at assessment results, interpreting them and applying the results to the learning progress of the children. Conversations are not fixated on labelling the children by their position in relation to others or in relation to documented expectations. It’s not even about looking at their own class of children. These teachers take responsibility for all children. It is about moving the children’s learning in a positive direction from where they are now. Some have arrived at school well behind and many with no English. That’s not an issue for these teachers. It’s all about the progress. It is clear from the conversations that the wellbeing of the children at Invercargill Middle School, is very much at the heart of everything. It was like being privy to a kitchen table discussion about the children from a very large family. The difference was that most of the conversation centred on how the children are learning and what could help improve their learning, as individuals, as groups and as whole classes. Then it was about how they can support each other, learn from each other through observing each other’s practice, share resources and realistically identify what is achievable. Out in the playground the children are eager to talk about their learning ‘My teacher teaches me about numbers,’ says one little girl as she swung from the climbing frame, but guess what?’ I am all ears . . . ‘I teach my teacher how to draw beautiful things!’ It sounded like a win-win to me. In the school’s garden I meet more students who tell me about
The coal still fires the hot water system for Invercargill Middle School
Māori language is encouraged at all levels and as the language of the Treaty precedes all other
There is pride in the performance of the haka
Looking after each other is expected behaviour
summer planting. ‘You plant strawberries in the summer but not make,’ says Stan, ‘because our parental engagement is not strong in the winter, spring or autumn,’ one little boy informs me. ‘And enough yet, but importantly we are making good progress,’ he why is that?’ I ask. ‘You need to ask a teacher,’ he confidently said. replied, ‘and whoever finds the strawberries when they are ready, In a school of such diversity, there are bound to be some they can keep them,’ he said with a smile. difficult behavioural issues and I am A cursory look through the healthy plants interested in the school’s approach to assured me I was a few weeks early for ripe discipline. strawberries but I had a fair idea who might ‘We have a restorative justice’ approach just get lucky when they did ripen. to managing behaviour,’ says Stan. ‘What The day I visit is also Kapa Haka practice we want in the end is for relationships day. It was heartening to see both senior and to be repaired when someone offends or junior children performing in a passionate hurts another,’ he said. Throughout the display of action songs and haka. ‘We have a school there are plenty of reminders about very strong base now of both Te Reo Māori what happens if children deviate from the and Tikanga Māori coming through, which expected school values. both our community and children hugely ‘When we make a mistake, we own it, fix appreciate,’ said Stan. ‘Performances of it and learn from it’ haka and our own school action song, add Billboards and posters belt out this another layer of pride to our school and our message from every vantage point. I am community,’ he said. fortunate to witness ‘restorative justice’ in Operating from a research evidence base action. It is the case of a conflict between is also important to Stan Tiatia, and he is two boys. They are each invited to reflect grateful for the Prime Minister’s Award on the incident, explain what happened money to keep researching the concept and through careful questioning and of whanaungatanga in his school. He prompting, are led to accept ownership. wants to be sure that the school values Fixing the problem came down to each The school honours board stretches back are contributing to the children’s learning. apologising to the other and each agreed to 1880 Deputy Principal, Kathie Pennicott, has that they had breached the school values. been charged with pursuing a case study of four classes to They acknowledged they had not behaved in the expected way examine the influence of whanaungatanga and make any links and had let themselves down. They accepted the consequences to learning. Beyond this study she will move on to investigating of their behaviour. the concept of Ako, to teach and to learn, and Manaakitanga, It was a pleasure to talk with Stan about the focus for his school supporting through empowerment. and to see his intense enthusiasm for the learning progress being Parental engagement at Invercargill Middle School occurs made both with students and staff. It was an even greater pleasure at many levels. Stan maintains an open-door policy for to see it all in action, in the classroom, in the playground and parents, teachers and children and he also reaches out to his in the staff room. parent community seeking their voice through surveys and As we reflect now on Tomorrow’s Schools and where the report conversations and encouraging them to participate in school might take us, it is helpful to also reflect on those aspects of Stan activities. He and his teachers visit local marae and the Pacific Tiatia’s Invercargill Middle School which make it so successful Island Trust. He has also sent staff members to visit schools of and recognise that his school leadership, teaching staff, children high parental engagement in South Auckland to look at practices and parents all have an equally important part to play in the that might be helpful. Parents are coaching sports teams and success of the school. If Stan Tiatia is going to maintain the pride instructing the children in Kapa Haka. It was through listening of his school for the next fifty years, then maintaining all these to the parent voice that Stan tells me, he established a Māori special relationships is key. language class in the school. ‘We have more improvements to
A tool to gauge collaborative Susan Lovett Associate Professor in Educational Leadership, the University of Canterbury Lyn Bird Principal, Selwyn House School
The word ‘collaboration’ appears frequently and seems almost to be taken for granted in matters related to school leadership. It is nevertheless challenging work, easier in the saying than the doing. The purpose of this article is twofold. Firstly, it highlights a newly developed online survey tool to help ascertain the strength of espoused values for collaborative work within schools, or, if desired, across a cluster or kāhui ako. Secondly, it presents an opportunity to share the experiences of those who have already participated in a trial of the tool so that others can see its potential. The article is structured in three parts. It begins with an explanation of how the four espoused Ariki values underpinning the survey tool originated. This is followed by a brief overview of the online survey tool and then a selective account of the insights gained from the trial showing the extent of teacher agreement on collaborative ways of working and how such information can be used to plan and prioritise next steps to further the collaborative intent of individual schools or those working as kāhui ako across schools. Professional values for school development: The legacy of David Stewart We are indebted to David Stewart (1933-2013) for his foresight in developing and naming four professional values for school development. David was an educationalist with experience as a teacher, primary school principal, academic, author and researcher. He had strong connections with NZEI and NZPF over many years. His work with New Zealand school principals focused on the development of their reflective capacities, a topic pertinent today. David initiated and developed the Te Ariki Project, a professional development programme for school principals. David was an early advocate of professional learning communities called quality learning circles (QLCs) because he believed leadership was intellectual work which was enhanced when practitioners gathered together to make collaborative sense of what worked and why. It was David, who, along with Tom Prebble, adapted the industry-based QLC approach for use in New Zealand schools. This approach provides protocols for principals working with teachers to explore and make meaning of their practice. It is an approach which has been used extensively in New Zealand schools for some years (Lovett, 2002, Lovett & Gilmore, 2003; Lovett & Verstappen, 2004). The ongoing relevance of David’s work with the Ariki Project (drawing in regional directors) has been encapsulated in the Te Ariki Charitable Trust, of which NZPF and NZEI are trustees. The four professional values which underpin the work of the Ariki Trust have gained in currency over time. They may even be more pertinent today given the Ministry of Education’s
encouragement of school rebuilds and new builds which endorse a collaborative intent in teaching, learning, leadership and school designs. We believe the Ariki online survey tool, the focus of this article, has potential to highlight what it takes to create, maintain and develop unique and vibrant learning school communities through a closer interrogation of four key professional values. The four professional values are ‘Professional Discretion,’ ‘Collegial Obligation,’ ‘Reflective Inquiry and Discourse,’ and ‘Evidence-Based Professional Practice.’ A commissioned literature review (Lovett, 2016) and Lovett (2018a) provide further information about each of these values drawing upon recent research studies which confirm the importance of such values for collaborative practice. An online survey tool was developed from that literature review and piloted in 2017 (Lovett, 2018b). An extended trial (later in 2018) was coupled with an analytical conversational strategy to explore how participating schools could work with the survey data to prioritise and plan action related to the survey values. ‘Disciplined Dialogue’ was the conversational technique introduced in the trial by Dr Lyn Bird (a Regional Director of the Te Ariki Trust) drawing upon the work of Swaffield and Dempster (2009). Dialogue was structured around three key questions, namely: ‘What do we see in these data? Why are we seeing what we are? What, if anything, should we be doing about it?’ (Dempster et al, 2017, p.44). The outcomes of the trial using the disciplined dialogue technique are featured in the third part of this article following a description of the survey tool. The Ariki online survey tool The survey tool contains items which help to unpack the meaning of the four Te Ariki professional values. The twenty-six items drawn from the commissioned literature review (Lovett, 2016) establish processes underpinning collective commitment to learning and development. These items provide a language for talking about what works and why under each of the four values. They also serve as a measure for schools to gauge the strength of how teachers and school leaders can work together to enhance student learning and achievement. Each of the items is answered by participants responding to a generic stem, ‘To what extent does the staff of this school . . . ’ (eg realise that collegial sharing provides new insights into practice). The strength of agreement is recorded using one of four points on a Likert scale (ranging from to a great extent, to a moderate extent, to a slight extent and not at all). Schools then work with anonymized aggregated data in order to understand the levels and strength of agreement, identify and explain where and why results differ in their percentage spreads and decide on what, if any, actions are required. Details of the survey tool appear below:
learning cultures
Te Ariki Online survey tool: Professional values for school improvement To what extent does the staff of this school . . . ?
1. Stick to the moral obligation to improve students’ learning no matter the pressures 2. Adopt a continuous improvement mindset for teaching practice 3. Take opportunities to deepen professional practice through partnerships or networks within & beyond the school 4. Create opportunities for teachers to lead 5. Accept that those new to leadership work need to be supported 6. Realise that collegial sharing provides new insights to practice 7. Collect and act on data to inform next steps 8. Establish trusting and constructive relationships 9. Show willingness for mutual vulnerability in discussions about practice 10. Value opportunities to question, interrogate and reshape practice with colleagues 11. Blend considerations for colleagues alongside concern for task completion 12. Fulfil assigned responsibilities so others see them as credible and trustworthy 13. Trust one another’s caring intentions and show commitment to others 14. Take risks knowing support will be there 15. Respect the integrity, honesty and commitment of colleagues 16. Invite others to observe in one’s classroom as learners 17. Share best lessons with colleagues 18. Know the types of questions which help to make sense of practice 19. Make time for reading research & discussing insights with colleagues 20. Co-construct meanings of practice with external facilitators 21. Interpret & use data for improvement 22. Discern what is important & what is irrelevant 23. Show sensitivity to teachers’ feelings & competence when interrogating student data in public 24. Work with a data coach/team to build data literacy 25. Develop mutual relationships where both parties increase knowledge, skills & thinking 26. Construct new knowledge through collaborative work and social interactions
To a great extent
The first value, ‘Professional Discretion’ features items related to how a school keeps its focus on students and their learning despite other pressures. The second value, ‘Collegial Obligation’ Not at To a To a emphasizes the importance of collective all moderate slight meanings of practice so that professional extent extent strength is gained from being part of a larger whole rather than leaving individuals to act alone. The third value, ‘Reflective Inquiry and Discourse’ recognizes the need for trusting relationships and opportunities to make sense of practice together. The fourth and remaining value, ‘Evidence-based Professional Practice’ is about having robust data sources to inform teaching and learning. This is more than merely collecting data but being able to use it to plan for improvement strategies. Outcomes from the trial Nine schools participated in the trial in 2018. For the purpose of this article, examples from one of those nine schools (pseudonym Tui School) are used to illustrate the kind of insights that may be gained by working with the survey data across the four Ariki values using the disciplined dialogue technique. While each school was given a template to record answers to the three questions, what they recorded and the detail provided was their choice. The first disciplined dialogue question, ‘What do we see in these data?’ was an opportunity to interrogate and exhaust the data for as much descriptive detail as possible without jumping to explanations or conclusions. The second disciplined dialogue question, ‘Why are we seeing what we are?’ enabled those with an understanding of the context to contribute their professional judgements for explaining the results. This brought multiple perspectives to the discussion. The remaining disciplined dialogue question, ‘What if anything, should we
be doing about this?’ linked discussions to the moral purpose of schooling motivating decisions about what to do or not to do as priorities were raised and discussed. Tui School’s discussion of the survey results was undertaken by the principal and two deputy principals. Their strategy for the first disciplined dialogue question was to take each item and place it in one of three categories on a chart to compose a visual representation. Category 1 included items which were clear strengths showing 70 per cent or higher responses ‘to a great extent’. An example which contained all of the staff responses in those two categories was ‘stick to the moral obligation to improve students’ learning no matter the pressures’. It revealed 82 per cent and 18 per cent respectively in the highest ratings. A second category recognized items for which the result was considered satisfactory or in need of strengthening. One example was ‘know the type of questions which help to make sense of practice’ which showed 50 per cent of staff responding ‘to a great extent’, 45 per cent ‘to a moderate extent’ and 5 per cent ‘to a slight extent’. ‘The remaining category showed a spread across three or more ratings with higher percentages of ‘to a moderate extent’ or ‘to a slight extent’ or ‘not at all’. An example was ‘make time for reading research and discussing insights with colleagues’ for which 18 per cent rated it ‘to a great extent’, 59 per cent ‘to a moderate extent’, 18 per cent ‘to a slight extent’ and 5 per cent ‘not at all’. When answering the second disciplined dialogue question, Tui School took the five items from Category three. These were ‘coconstruct meanings of practice with external facilitators’, ‘make time for reading research and discussing insights with colleagues’, ‘share best lessons with colleagues’, ‘invite others to observe in one’s classroom as learners’ and ‘value opportunities to question, interrogate and reshape practice with colleagues’. They also noted ‘weaving through these items was improving our understanding and use of evidence through ‘work with a data coach/team to build data literacy’. In looking for reasons to explain these results, wider data literacy work was named and acknowledged as being in the early stages of change and development. Other questions were posed such as ‘Are the current systems we have, actually meeting the needs of our teachers? Where does the variance lie? Are they [the systems] being used in the way they have been designed? If not, why not? Do we need greater outcomes from teacher talk about students’ learning?’ The third disciplined dialogue question then took those same five items and placed the Te Ariki values alongside the ERO Evaluation Indicators to examine alignment. This enabled the ‘why’ to be considered with the next step of ‘how’ and the setting of priorities for action. They decided their strategy was for the principal and deputies to meet with the junior, middle and senior hub leaders to build understandings of why these five items had puzzled them. They decided to work with the team leaders to: exhaust the data; examine current practices that are effective and affirm beliefs about what useful systems actually are; ■■ identify those systems that are being fulfilled as compliance requirements, rather than making a difference for learning outcomes; and ■■ clarify next steps. ■■ ■■
In this way they were able to match the ERO domains of leadership for equity and excellence, professional capability and collective capacity, and evaluation, inquiry and knowledge building for improvement and innovation alongside the four Ariki values
of ‘Professional Discretion,’ ‘Collegial Obligation,’ ‘Reflective Inquiry & Discourse’ and ‘Evidence-based Professional Practice.’ One specific example of how the discussion progressed is evident in the senior leadership team’s mention of the school’s use of teaching as inquiry (TAI). The team asked three basic questions: Is the current format for TAI growing our teachers? Are teachers linking research to best practice? ■■ Are teachers confident to work with data within the team to build data literacy? ■■ ■■
Quality Learning Circles were then recognized as having the potential to improve four key aspects of professional learning and development. These were the need to: continue building relational trust and connections amongst staff; ■■ build confidence in a culture of critique and inquiry; ■■ continue developing a growth mindset and acknowledge one another’s personal responsibilities; and ■■ change the ‘default’ position to ‘what does our evidence suggest’ when thinking and practice reverts to the ‘status quo’. ■■
Conclusion Comments from principals using the Ariki Survey tool in disciplined dialogue conversations indicate clear support for its use. One said: The findings ignited much discussion and acted as an anchor for the inclusion of other information sources. These connections assisted us to hone in and identify not only our areas for development but also those elements of within school culture that were to be celebrated. The strategy emerging from this work will inform future steps. Another principal commented: The Ariki Survey provided the opportunity for me to learn from the feedback from teachers through an anonymous survey. The disciplined dialogue process was useful in that it focused my thinking on the feedback as ‘data’ with the purpose of what the overall data was saying. I have always tended to hone in on feedback that sticks out the most, positive or negative. The disciplined dialogue process was useful to remind me to take caution before making assumptions, especially when considering what future actions to take. The wording of the values and their corresponding items are useful for several reasons. Firstly, they provide a way of talking. It is useful to name aspects of each value so that they may become embedded in practice. Secondly, as each item is about an action, it is possible to explain the results in terms of current strengths and identify areas for ongoing development through the setting of priorities for future action. Thirdly, as a set, the items highlight the need for continual learning, reflection and responsiveness to context about the cooperative work needed to raise student learning and achievement. Fourthly, collegial relationships matter and are deepened through processes of questioning, interrogating, sharing, trusting and respecting the contributions of one another when each contributor is valued as a leader and learner simultaneously. As school development is collective rather than individual work, this online survey tool is timely because it draws attention to processes which are
important for collaborative learning cultures where a moral purpose of improvement in student learning is what drives professional work.
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References Dempster, N., Townsend, T., Johnson, G., Bayetto, A., Lovett, S., & Stevens, E. (2017). Leadership and Literacy. Principals, Pathways. Cham: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74430-8 Lovett, S. (2002). Teacher’s talk helps learning: the quality learning circle approach. SET: Research Information for Teachers 1, 25-27. Lovett, S., & Gilmore, A. (2003). Teachers’ learning journeys: The Quality Learning Circle as a model of professional development. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 14(2), 189-212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/sesi.14.2.189.14222 Lovett, S., & Verstappen, P. (2004). Improving teachers’ professional learning: the Quality Learning Circle approach. New Zealand Journal of Educational Leadership, 19(2), 31-43. Lovett, S. (2016). Values for New Zealand School Leadership: Literature Review for the Te Ariki Trust. University of Canterbury. Commissioned by Te Ariki Trust. http://hdl.handle. net/10092/14982 Lovett, S. (2018a). Core professional values for school leaders and teachers: Piloting an online tool. Journal of Educational Leadership Policy and Practice, 33(2), 72-89. Lovett, S. (2018b). Te Ariki professional values for school development. Final report from the online survey trial for the Te Ariki Trust. Te Ariki Trust. Commissioned by New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) & New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZDF). http://hdl.handle.net/10092/15647 Swaffield, S., & Dempster, N. (2009). Shared leadership (principle 4). In J.E.C. MacBeath., & N. Dempster. (Eds). Connecting leadership and learning: principles for practice. (pp. 106-120) Routledge. Authors Susan Lovett is an Associate Professor in Educational Leadership at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch and the Postgraduate Programme Coordinator for educational leadership qualifications. Her teaching and research interests include early career teachers’ professional learning and development, teacher leadership, and leadership learning. She has recently published a sole-authored book ‘Advocacy for teacher leadership: Opportunity, preparation, support and pathways’. Susan has undertaken three projects for the Te Ariki Trust related to the Ariki professional values for school development.
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Lyn Bird is principal of Selwyn House School in Christchurch and is Lead Facilitator of the Advanced Leadership for Women in Education Programme (Core Ed). She is also an Executive Leadership Coach. Lyn has a keen interest in future focused education, school development and leadership coaching. She has been a Regional Director for the Te Ariki Trust since 2009.
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