Here I go again - NCEA Level 1!

For the first time in twenty years I didn't spend the summer break with some concerns about the upcoming school year nagging away at me like a rock under my towel on the beach. 

Every prior summer would have me worried about things like staffing, resourcing, property and also my own sense of my own capability and capacity. Retirement from principalship has brought some advantages (though I still miss the impending excitement for a fresh year with students and staff!).

I still got riled up about the seasonal issues that rise to the surface such as the cost of school uniform (who needs it?), the growing anxiety that some students would be experiencing as they grappled with the institutional demands of their school (uniform, jewelry, hair styles, fear of not fitting in, lack of connection) - obviously not all students, but apparently an increasing number.

Last week I came across this post on LinkedIn:

I got the dreaded question very early in my course this year - “When do we start NCEA?” Oh dear. How did we get to this point?

We have our young people so focused on outcomes we are in danger of losing the importance of learning for the sake of it. This has been recognised in the NCEA review of course. However, I am unsure whether that will change anything without teachers thinking a little differently.

To be clear, I was a big supporter of NCEA when it was introduced. I supported standards based assessment and influenced by David Hood’s excellent “Our Secondary Schools don’t work anymore”, was fired up for a major change to our education system for the good. There has been some. The increased flexibility and customisation of NCEA has enabled some innovation in both assessment and curriculum. The shift to internal assessment has created a far more equitable environment. 

However, NCEA seems to have become the curriculum. Topics are presented as standards. Teachers when meeting their students for the first time, show the NCEA standards. I generalise of course. It isn’t all like that. And once again, this is something the NCEA review is supposed to solve. We shall see.

I can think back to teaching Bursary, which for History was 40% internally assessed so it wasn’t all on the exam. The exam still dominated. However, at least none of my students rocked up asking when we start Bursary. It wasn’t like that.

NCEA is a system of assessment (and accreditation). It is there to assess student understanding. Not to drive learning. Not to become the sole focus. It isn’t that difficult to shunt into the background. It really isn’t. However, I rarely see that. It is ever present.

My question to teachers and schools is, do you feel the NCEA change will solve this?

 Anyone who's ever read or listened to me about this topic know my view, a view that we brought to life at Hobsonville Point Secondary School and brought about deep learning, quality qualifications and meaningful pathways for all:

• NCEA Level 1 is a qualification with no currency
• It is not needed for any job, further training or pathway
• It is not needed prior to achieving Level 2 or Level 3
• NCEA Level 1 is damaging to learning
• It moves the focus from learning to being assessed
• It creates the credit counting amongst students we are frustrated with
• It creates the culture of asking how many credits something is worth before a student commits to any effort
• It creates stress that impacts learning and engagement because of the continual focus on high-stakes assessment
• NCEA Level 1 is damaging to teaching
• It creates a culture of 'teaching to the test'
• It creates massive teacher workload with it's incessant moderation
• NCEA Level 1 takes time away from learning and teaching
• Mock exams eating into learning time
• Marking eating into teaching time

I posted my response to the Linkedin post as follows:

It doesn't matter whether it's the old or new NCEA it's the school/ teacher mindset that needs to change. We don't introduce learning episodes to students below NCEA by showing them the assessment, we should definitely describe the learning outcomes and then get on with the learning. We need a similar approach in qualification years. Clarify and share the learning outcomes, do the learning, and then collect evidence against the Learning Objectives. 

A couple of simple things I would do are:

1. Don't offer & assess L1 in Year 11. This only creates the culture of learning for credits a year too early for a qualification not 1 student needs. (see in post above). If your school is not open to this then:

2. Stop using formal reports to parents to report NCEA achievement. They can see the results in the LMS! This only reinforces that the most important outcome is the Achievement Standard when it should in fact be the learning. Report achievement against the Learning Objectives, preferably in relation to the NZC levels (as we do at every other year level).

3. Do not include a list of Achievement Standards on any course outline students get at the start of the course. Concentrate on what they will learn about and master in your course. You could include a generic statement that says students will be prepared to be successful in sufficient ASs to enable them to achieve their Qualification.

 I feel very strongly about the negative impact NCEA Level 1 has on most learners (despite most of them achieving it) and on most teachers (who end up being the most reluctant to look at removing it - until they actually experience it!). I also know I spend a lot of time pushing it uphill when it comes to this issue.

Anyway, if you want to explore how your school could explore this just reach out. It's simpler than you think.

Testing What Might Be Possible: Setting For the Tarawera Ultra Marathon 100 Miler

Back on 17 April 2023 I signed up for the Tarawera 100 miler and downloaded a training plan from the online coaching platform that had got me through two 102k trail races and a sub 4 hour marathon at the age of 63 At that time it just seemed like the next thing to step up to. I studied the downloaded plan and made amendments to fit around my life (remaining a school principal until July then moving into self-employment) and to include the Taupo 70k Trail Race in October as part of my build up.

I contacted Eugene Bingham, whom I knew as a parent of a kid at our school (the kid ended up being one of my head students!) and as a member of the running community, especially through his and Matt's Dirt Church Radio podcasts. Eugene also happened to be the 4 hour pacer at the Rotorua Marathon where, with his encouragement and goading, I crept under the 4 hour barrier. 

I texted him to say I was entering the Miler and asked what he thought (Eugene has run at least one Miler himself). His reply stopped me in my tracks: "But the question is .... do you want to? It's a race where you really need to have your why nailed down and be totally on board." This made me think.

I've raced more than 30 marathons, several multisport races, a dozen 24 hour Adventure Races and a few 50k, 70k, 100k trail races. They were all bloody hard! Why did I want to push this out to 100m miles (162k)?

I want to see what I'm truly capable of, to test myself with a venture that has a high probability of not being possible for me to achieve. I knew that many set out to complete such an event but fall along the wayside as they succumb to injuries, illness and the demands of making our way through our our lives. I also knew that many made it to the start line and got the dreaded DNF (Did Not Finish). This was either as a result of injury on the day, running out of physical energy, running out of mental energy or simply being too slow to make the 36 hour cut off.

I've spent my working life challenging myself to see what is truly possible in the schooling space and also challenging others to lift their belief in what is possible. I want to really test myself.

I'm writing this with 2 and 3/4 days to go before the Saturday 4am start so I'm fairly confident I'm going to make the start line. It's been huge getting to this point - sticking to the training plan, overcoming injuries, experimenting with nutrition, hydration and gear plans, acclimatising for the heat, and dealing with the demons in my head.

Highlights on the way have included my son pacing me through the last 20k of the Taupo 70k race, most probably getting me there 30 minutes faster than if by myself. My daughter immediately accepted the challenge of pacing me in this Saturday's event for the last 50k. The hours with her in the Riverhead Forest (both day and night) have been special times. I'm already feeling emotional about her joining me after 110k at Okataina.

End of Taupo 70k with Thomas

Lucy and I in Riverhead Forest Training for the Miler

I have a simple plan for the race:

• Stage one: from the start walk every uphill and jog every downhill and flat
• Stage two: walk every uphill and most flat bits and jog downhill
• Stage three: walk up, down and flat
• Stage four: whatever it takes

I've watched a few video clips about those who've attempted this type of race. While all were successful in some ways not all completed the event. These videos have filled me with both confidence and dread. I worry that I haven't done enough training, enough stretching, enough strength work, but on the Wednesday of race week it is what it is.

When the new course was announced a few weeks ago (because of lake levels and slips) I joined in with others fretting about the "To Hell and Back" section over the Western Okataina because it is the steepest, is largely single track, is the longest between Aid Stations and, for back-of-the-packers like me it'll be dark (I'll be addressing this bit from about 10pm until 6am the following morning).

I've decided to now look forward to this section, to acknowledge it as a challenge when I get there, to be present in every step through it, to thank Riverhead Forest for being brutal enough to have prepared me for it, to greet and wish well all other runners I meet (it's out and back), to congratulate myself as I eat the elephant one bite at a time and to be re-energised when my daughter joins me halfway through at the turnaround point. I'm going to look forward to it!

Those who know me know the inspiration my Dad has been for me. He infected me with the love of running, competing and socialising through sport. He's run many marathons and is a member of the Rotorua Marathon Survivors Club (15 Rotorua Marathons). A highlight was running the Auckland Marathon with him (the first over the bridge) when he was in his early 60s in 3hour 47!

He passed away in November 2019 but continues to be my inspiration and he'll be with me every step of the way.

Achieving Wellbeing Through Connection: Refresh, Reconnect, Refocus

 

Refresh, Reconnect, Refocus

Apart from reading/listening to Brene Brown et al (who hasn't?) I haven't done much in the way of research or study about the topic of Wellbeing. My thoughts are based entirely on my 30 years of school leadership, with several of those years dealing with quite demanding situations ranging from angry people, to unmotivated people, to systemic confusion, to pandemics to climate crisis impacts.

What do I know?

Firstly, we must take personal responsibility for our own wellbeing. For me this has included 2 important elements: opportunity for personal reflection and 'me' time AND opportunity for connection with others. 

I run. I often run for hours and for many miles, largely by myself. This gives me head space to reflect, process complex work and personal issues, solidify my thinking and make decisions. In these situations I often find myself exploring my 'why' in relation to any issue, thinking about what I'd 'die in the ditch' for, thinking about 'moral purpose'.

I connect and network with others. I do this through entering sporting events, socialising, attending and/or leading workshops, being part of various 'çritical friends' groups. Testing out my thinking, from my personal reflection time (running) within these networks brings a range of perspectives that will both support and challenge me.

This approach to wellbeing has contributed to the development of my personal leadership model shown below:

I have been doing a lot of thinking about how this impacts on wellbeing as principals throughout Aotearoa have access to $6000pa to support their wellbeing and I have seen many 'programmes' being offered to principals to spend this on.

Several I have seen offer time in a luxury resort, in some cases on a Pacific Island, with a combination of workshops on wellbeing and activities that are intended to contribute to wellbeing eg massage/spa, golf etc. There is no doubt that one's wellbeing, at that time, will be in a good space. The question has to be asked, though, is does such a programme have a longstanding beneficial impact on wellbeing, or will the luxury feeling soon be forgotten when once back in the trenches of leading a school?

My experience tells me that when I am certain of my 'why', when I can clearly enunciate it, when it drives my decision-making and my actions I feel better about myself and my contribution to the work of leading a school. This is the Moral Purpose from the model above.

I then find that I now have the confidence and the courage to act on my moral purpose and to bring it to life in my work. Displaying this courage makes me feel good.

But it is when I connect with others and share my moral purpose and plans for action with them as 'çritical friends' that some real gold lies. It is this connection that brings the richness to the work. For this to be effective I have to have an Open to Learning mindset and be prepared to discover that I might be wrong about some of my plans.

When these three come together I feel on top of the world in my work - my wellbeing is high. It becomes a way of working which brings a sustainability to my wellbeing development rather than me relying on the odd luxury escape or a few tools to manage my wellbeing.

Secondly, as leaders we need to be cognizant of our impacts on the wellbeing of others who are part of our work community but that we need to support them to find ways to develop their own wellbeing.

One of the most important things we can do to have a positive impact on the wellbeing of our people is to create an environment where our school's moral purpose is clear, where guidelines for action resulting from this purpose drive actions and decision-making, where we, everyday, walk the talk and support others to do so and where we show we welcome the voice of others as we might be wrong in some of our assumptions. People feel good, about themselves, their colleagues, their learners, their contribution and their work, when they are part of such an environment.

The Refresh, Reconnect, Refocus programme Derek Wenmoth and myself have designed and which kicks off with a 2 day retreat at Hanmer Springs (nothing wrong with a bit of luxury!) on the evening of 20 March is driven by the principles described above. At the Retreat leaders will refresh their thinking about what is possible and what their 'moral purpose' is, reconnect with this purpose and with other like-minded leaders, and refocus their work on bringing it to life in their schools.

Because it must be sustainable to have an impact the retreat is followed by a 20 week programme of online connecting with the whole group, with a critical friend and with Derek and myself as we support participants in their work. We will then conclude with a 24 hour celebration time together where we share our progress and discuss our next steps.

We have a mix of primary and secondary leaders signed up but there are 2 spaces left. If you think this is the programme for you to support your wellbeing and leadership growth or think it would be great for a colleague there is a brief window to sign up. Information and registration processes are in this link.

Best wishes for 2024.