Section
Commentary, critique, and advocacy from voices across the New Zealand education sector.
This section publishes opinion pieces on curriculum reform, education policy, equity, standardisation, political change, and the lived realities of school leadership. Contributors include principals, academics, sector commentators, and federation leadership writing in their own voice — not necessarily reflecting NZPF policy. Topics range from the Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill to school culture, staff wellbeing, and the place of equity in curriculum design. Use this section to engage with the debates shaping education in Aotearoa, sharpen your own thinking on contested issues, and hear how colleagues are responding to the political and curricular pressures on schools.
New Zealand principals operate within one of the most devolved education systems in the world. Because of this, our roles are complex, made more so by a challenging political landscape, the diversity of contexts in which we work and because of the diversity of leadership learning opportunities we access, as we move through our careers. […]
Does white fragility exist in Aotearoa? Helen Kinsey-Wightman A few years ago I was at an excellent workshop on communication, led by a facilitator I respect. Our task was to give an impromptu speech – I spoke on racism. I talked about my grandfather – whom I adored – who had been in the British […]
thrupp@waikato.ac.nz Term Four is always so busy, but are you planning to do some more professional reading once the year winds down? If so what will you read? It’s a daunting task to get to grips with the educational leadership literature. There is a lot of it and from many perspectives too. So here are […]
Welcome mistakes; through mistakes we learn Helen Kinsey-Wightman One of the enduring images of post-lockdown New Zealand will be Ashley Bloomfield’s stricken face, as Health Minister David Clark threw him under a bus. Stopped by media outside a Parliamentary select committee and asked whether he took any responsibility for the border failures, as Bloomfield stood […]
thrupp@waikato.ac.nz Every year or so I try to break out of my normally sedate European backpackers with trekking poles, pushing up the valley life and do something physically demanding, harking back to and climbing to the highest point above the Emerald Lakes. This my earlier days as a keen tramper and mountaineer. And so it […]
COVID-19: a bump in the road or a new highway forward? Helen Kinsey-Wightman 2020 was already going to be a unique year for me. After unexpectedly spending much of 2019 in an Acting Principal role, I applied for a TeachNZ Study Award to spend a year studying Te Reo Māori. After only 2 short weeks […]
thrupp@waikato.ac.nz Well, my last column was called ‘Overtaken by events’ and didn’t we get more than we bargained on! However I believe the main theme of that article about principals being well placed to lead in their communities is as true for the pandemic as for the climate crisis. At the time of writing (just […]
Her face has haunted me again these past weeks. I was teaching in a school devastated by the earthquake that killed 370 people in Mexico City in September 2017. The crowded classroom with over fifty children and dozens of local artists, musicians and theatre makers seemed to be overflowing with singing and dancing. Six weeks […]
Principals’ Voice Lysandra Stuart, Glenbrook School and President of the Franklin Principals’ Association Within hours, on March 23rd, Franklin schools prepared to close for an historic and unprecedented event. Immediately our principals, as a collective, led from the front. Across the Franklin region we had great support from our colleagues. Being able to talk through […]
Having honest conversations about the barriers to educational success . . . Helen Kinsey-Wightman We started the year with a staff workshop on restorative practice and how this fits within our focus on culturally responsive and relational pedagogy. The more I learn about being restorative and developing relationships the more I come to appreciate the […]
School Lines Take Courage Localise! It’s your curriculum! Lester Flockton lester.flockton@gmail.com Many years ago, when teaching in Kent (England), I often passed a billboard urging viewers to ‘Take Courage’. (For more than 2 centuries, Courage was among the best-known names in British brewing.) I’ve often thought that this, metaphorically speaking, is exactly something NZPF should […]
Vulnerability as a leadership trait . . . Helen Kinsey-Wightman My Principal has been on sabbatical this term . . . Obviously when she opted for Term two she wasn’t to know that the PPTA/ NZEI would take strike action, her PA would retire and we would be advertising 2 science teaching positions. Fair to […]
