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.

How might we overcome hurdles on the way

Happy New Year to you all.

If you've read some of my recent posts you may recall how I've used my big, hairy goal of running 100 miles at the Tarawera Ultra Marathon in February as a metaphor for school transformation. I have written about setting a truly aspirational goal, one that has some chance of not being able to be achieved and the importance of sharing it which gives some impetus to really trying to achieve it.

In settling on the aspirational goal it is vital to be very clear on your 'why' - a step that is often overlooked. This can be focused on by asking yourself, "Why might I [choose to run 100 miles]" - insert own big, hairy goal. In my case my 'why' is to test what I am truly capable of as I make the journey through my 60s.

I then had to ask myself, "How might I [run 100  miles]?" I had to think about all of the aspects of training for such an event, seek out expert advice, consider how I've responded to similar challenges and adopt an open-to-learning, optimistic and responsive mindset. By combining those guidelines for action I developed a plan which became the answer to "What might I do [to successfully complete a 100 mile race]?

And, of course, as for all major enterprises things go wrong. Life commitments impact on the plan and injuries come along. In my case, I experienced a niggling and potentially major overuse injury to my foot. At first, I tried to press on through the discomfort, then I "did some research" and tried to manage it myself, and I finally sought expert help. To make sure I could heal I was forced, at the very time in my programme that I should have been at peak mileage, to radically adjust my plan (which involved 2 weeks of walking rather than running).

Now 6 weeks out from the even I am free of pain and I can feel myself building strength (physical and mental) to give me the best chance of being successful. However, as I get closer to the event, the realisation of what I have set out to achieve often overwhelms me and I am still feeling that completing the event in the required time is still only 50/50.

I do know, though, that whatever the outcome the journey, the exploring my 'why', determining my guidelines for action, developing a plan and then adapting it as the hurdles appear in front of me will all contribute to my learning for a future "How might I ....?" 

It is a bit similar to a school transformation journey. It involves a big, hairy goal which is shared in the public space. It also involves a deep exploration of the 'why', the 'how' and the 'what' and requires responsiveness, resilience and adaptability when you fall into the Learning Pit as the inevitable hurdles present themselves. There is also a sense of comfort in knowing that if things don't pan out how you expect then there will be still some cool experiences and learning on the way.

An unexpected cool experience for me is that my daughter has jumped at the chance to be my companion/pacer over the last 50k. This is including training together on the trails (lots of neat bonding and talk) and preparing, together, the equipment and resources we will need. This in itself will be valued by me irrespective of the outcome.

If you are wanting to set out on a school transformation journey or are on one but have become a bit stuck you should check out this exciting 20 week programme Derek Wenmouth and I will be facilitating. It starts in March with a 2 day retreat in Hanmer Springs then includes 20 weeks of remote mentoring and a final 1 day of celebration. We'll help you explore your 'why', settle on your 'how' and support you in your 'what'. And you'll do this while being part of a network of other like-minded leaders.

There are a small number of places left with final sign update being 4th February. Check it out.

And if you are a DP or HOF with school leadership aspirations get in contact with us as we plan something similar but appropriate for those of you at that stage in your leadership journey.

How Might We Lead and FutureMakers: Sustainable support of principal wellbeing

 I love the How Might We Lead title of my little venture that is designed to support school leaders and their teams to look at how they might lead differently so they can bring their moral purpose to life in a way that allows teachers and students to thrive.

The 'How' puts the focus clearly on exploring possibilities and focusing on process. The 'Might' hints at the possibility of not finding the answer straight away but suggests giving some things a go. The 'We' centres on exploration and trying things out as a collective, networked activity.

I'm hugely excited by a recent and ongoing collaboration with Derek Wenmouth and his platform FutureMakers. His platform has a cool title, too, as it points to where our focus should be (Future), with the 'Makers' bit pointing to the agency that needs to be developed in leaders so that they can bring life to their vision for the future.

Our recent collaboration has resulted in the development of a powerful and sustainable approach to support principal wellbeing which focuses on leaders reconnecting with their personal 'why' and being equipped with tools to bring that to life in their schools, supported by a strong network of like-minded leaders who maintain a strong connection throughout the 20 week programme.

While there has been a recent and necessary focus on the wellbeing of students and of teachers, the wellbeing of school principals has often been overlooked. When thinking about how best to support/grow the wellbeing of school leaders it is important to concentrate on strategies that are long-lasting and sustainable. A luxury escape with some personal pampering, while attractive, does little more than ease the load/worry at that point in time and is, in itself, not enduring. We believe that leaders who have a clear sense of their ‘why’, are confident in articulating their ‘why’ in ways that rally others around them, who are excited by the future they see in front of them for themselves, their colleagues and their students and who have a set of tools they can use in concert with a community of similarly excited leaders have their wellbeing best supported.

Detailed information and the registration process can be found here. We're limiting this programme to 20 principals so we can ensure strong connections are sustained between all participants. Registrations are coming in quickly so you'll need to act quite quickly to take advantage of this innovative opportunity.

Our programme is structured as follows:

• 2 day retreat at the wonderful Hanmer Springs
• 20 weeks of remote coaching and mentoring (a mix of whole group and 1-on-1)
• 1 day face-to-face celebration and planning of next steps

The three elements of the programme are:

• Refresh - explore how to address your physical, mental and social wellbeing
• Refocus - explore your personal 'why' and be exposed to tools to plan from that point
• Reconnect - design a personal and collective view of a future-focused approach supported by a community of like-minded leaders

This programme well and truly aligns with FutureMakers' vision to:

• Inspire the next generation of leaders, thinkers and problem-solvers

and HMWLead's vision to:

• Empower educational leaders for transformative change

We'd love you to join us on this journey.

Plan For Opening School for Term 4

 Like a lot of people, I imagine, I've done some grieving about our Covid situation. However, since the movement from 4 to 3 and the further relaxing of the restrictions I've comforted myself with the view that even if we'd stayed in Level 4 or not relaxed the Level 3 conditions we'd still be in almost exactly the same position.

What I've been grieving about the most is the return to school. I felt we had done a good job on maintaining learning during lockdown. Our focus on wellbeing and connection first seemed to maintain a good enough level of engagement. I was truly feeling that with a return to school in Term 4, with exams delayed and Learning Recognition Credits, that we would be able to support our students to have qualification success.

Right now, I don't think schools should be fully opening up on October 18th because too many of our population, especially the most vulnerable, are not vaccinated. I fear schools will become super spreader environments.

So what can we do? We need a plan that supports graduating students to gain their qualification while maintaining a school environment that is safe for students and teachers.

I have a plan that I believe would work for our school, and with a little mindshift, it should work elsewhere. It requires a couple of starting points in the way we think about qualifications for 2021.

• we need to focus on only those students who are graduating this year
• we need to temporarily (if you must) suspend the acceptance of calendar year qualifications
• any student in Year 12 who is returning next year does not need to gain Level 2 in 2021. They will pick it up in 2022 as they begin their journey towards Level 3. If a school has NCEA Level 2 credits as a prerequisite for Level 3 they need to throw that out and have teacher judgement on a student's ability to cope with Level 3 as the only prerequisite.

School Opening Plan Term 4

Schools open on October 18th only for students who are graduating at the end of the year (all Year 13s and some Year 12s). We have already surveyed our students in Year 12 as to who will be or may be leaving (very small group).

Schools create a timetable for those students and the affected staff only.

• I suggest Monday Subject 1 all day, Tuesday Subject 2 all day etc. The advantages of such a timetable are:
• sustained time for students and teachers to identify where learners are at and to create next steps forward
• easier student/teacher bubble management to keep people safer. Teachers coming in for one or two full days, rather than chopping and changing blocks and periods throughout the week seems safer to me.

Classes for Years 9 -12 (we don't do NCEA Level 1) would continue on-line as they have been operating for most of Term 3.

Of course, all appropriate health and safety measures which are required for Alert Level 3 (apart from bubble size and composition) would be in place.

Keen to hear what you think.

2021: How to Thrive: Whanaungatanga and Wellbeing @ HPSS

 Like all kura we learned a great deal from the heavily COVID affected 2020, and like all kura we're determined to embed that learning as we prepare for a "who knows what 2021 will have in store for us" year.

While many staff and students struggled at different times during 2020 we are able to begin this year reflecting, with pride, on how well we did. We concentrated on maintaining strong connections and communicating, looking out for each other, and we focussed on wellbeing. We were, though, very fortunate that our Learning Hub Model which has been central to our school since we began is all about connections, communicating, whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and wellbeing.

In recognition of the tough and demanding year we had experienced, with the knowledge that there was little certainty as to how 'normal' the year ahead would be and aware that 14 staff were either joining us for the first time or returning from leave we decided to hold a 2 day noho for all staff (teaching and non-teaching) at a local marae,  Te Piringatanga o Te Maungaarongo, with a total focus on whanaungatanga. We experienced a very warm pōwhiri in Te Hau Moana followed by 85 staff standing to introduce themselves by way of pepeha as we sat in a circle. All staff were involved in preparing meals and serving their colleagues over the 2 days and all activities that explored aspects of our curriculum or pedagogy involved staff connecting with and sharing with others, adding to the experience of whanaungatanga. In the evening there was a poi-making workshop and others sat in front of Te Hau Moana singing waiata. One of the highlights was beginning the second day shortly after sunrise with a collaborative physical activity involving breathing and movement led by Jack Gray of Atamira.

In the short session I led exploring the whakapapa of our kura I finished with the 5 key beliefs that I believe staff needed to thrive in our school in these uncertain times which may be of interest to other educators.

Relationships: the belief that strong and positive relationships between all involved is essential. But it has to be a particular type of relationship: Russell Bishop describes it as teaching in the North-east (see an earlier post) and at HPSS we refer to it as warm and demanding:

Restorative: the belief that hurtful actions or words, or any wrongdoing, harms a relationship so whenever such harm occurs the focus must be on repairing the relationship. Teenagers (and adults) will do wrong and school has to be a safe place to get it wrong, admit harm and then put things right. Young people will need help with this time and time again (hopefully adults less often!):

Culturally Sustainable Practice and Pedagogy: the belief that we have a Tiriti obligation to make sure that we meet the aspirations of Maori in our school. We have to get past the mantra that what is good for Maori is good for everyone and deliver what is good for Maori even if it is not good for anyone else.

Growth Mindset: the belief that it is important to give things a go, try your best, learn from getting it wrong and shining the light on the success of others.

Open to Learning:  the belief that whatever we believe to be the case, whatever we believe are the motivations of others, whatever we believe to be the best course of action we might be wrong.

So how will we cope and, hopefully thrive, in 2021?

• being warm and demanding on self and others
• focusing on maintaining and being willing to repair relationships
• making it our mission to truly honour our Tiriti obligation
• learning from our mistakes and celebrating the success of others
• accepting we might be wrong; and above all
• looking out for each other

The Year @HPSS Starts With Focus on Manaakitanga and Whanaungatanga

We all know that effective teaching and learning (ako) is a relationship thing. In my last post I highlighted Russell Bishop's work in Teaching to the North East which steps you through the research that the only effective teaching is a combination of high teaching skills AND high relationships. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for those seeking a framework for a relationship-based pedagogy.

It is through our focus at HPSS on the concepts of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga, especially in those very important days at the start of the year, that we bring these concepts to life. While any of the one events I outline below would occur in most schools I'm proud of the complete, cohesive approach we follow.

It begins in August of the previous year when we hold individual 30 minute enrolment interviews with the whole family. I attempt to run the vast majority of these but my SLT support (especially over the first 3 days). The hui is centred entirely on getting to know each other and is guided by the following questions:

• What is the student looking forward to about coming to our school?
• What is the student most anxious about coming to our school?
• What are the parents most looking forward to about their child coming to our school?
• What are the parents most anxious about their child coming to our school?
• What does the child enjoy learning the most? What do they least enjoy/find the most challenging?
• What are the child's aspirations through  and beyond school?
• What are the parents' expectations of us as a school.

All of the answers are shared with the student's Learning Coach so that the Coach has some key information about the student and their family before they even meet.

It continues in November when we bring Year 8 students into our school for half a day to participate in our Big Project Exhibition where  they interact with our students and their projects to whet their own appetite for such learning.

Then in late November we have an Orientation Day for all of our students who have chosen to enrol with us for the following year. This day is entirely focused on manaakitanga and begins with a mihi whakatau (my highlight is cooking the barbecue and serving the Year 8 students for lunch - though my PA is moving in on my place behind the BBQ so feeling a bit threatened!), and on whanaungatanga. Unlike in other schools there is absolutely no testing. Students are allocated to their Learning Communities and participate in a range of interactive and physical activities that get them to know each other, get to know their teachers and to be introduced into our design thinking approach to learning.

In the week before school starts we hold a full day of induction with our new staff. Once again the focus is on manaakitanga and whanaungatanga rather than overloading with information. We cover the key foundation frameworks in our school covered in a previous post and captured in the following visual.

They then complete a group exploration of our neighbourhood capturing photographic evidence of the Hobsonville Habits in action and then join us for lunch at a local cafe.

New staff induction

The following day we have a full Staff Only Day which begins with a powhiri for our new staff. We then gather and cycle through the pre-prepared slide capturing each staff member's (including all ancillary and support staff) pepeha, including visuals of importance to them. With more and more staff (about 70 now) this takes a bit of time, but it is vital if we are serious about whanaungatanga.

In the following Week 1 of school students and families attend an Individual Education Meeting (IEM) to connect with the Learning Coach before classes get under way. As well, during that week we hold an International Student Induction Day (supported by senior and ex students), Peer Mediation training day, and a day for seniors who wish to participate in leadership roles (totally self-selected). On that day they devote time to the planning for the Friday when Year 9s attend their first day. That day begins with a mihi whakatau then the senior students take over for the day supporting the Year 9 students through more in-depth workshops on how learning and relating operate in our school. No testing though!

Senior students supporting International Student Induction

Week 2 and still no timetabled classes yet. All students are together on the Monday for the first time and they spend all day in their Learning Hub and Learning Communities creating connections between each other. On the Tuesday students participate for the full day, in their Learning Communities, on a range of  challenges, both physical and academic, to build on the connections formed the previous day and to develop the spirit of collaboration (one of our school Values) while experiencing the full set of Hobsonville Habits.

It's not until we reach Wednesday of Week 2 that students begin timetabled classes. It's a special feature of our school that we dedicate the time, resource and kaha to the concentration on manaakitanga and whanaungatanga. Still no testing!

Then we cap it off on the Wednesday evening with a Waitangi Whanau Picnic in conjunction with HP Primary School as we extend our focus on Manaakitanga and Whanaungatanga to our parent community across both schools. The combination of food trucks, student music performances and whānau gathering on picnic blankets is a great way to cap off this very important focus.

It's Saturday at the end of Week 2 and because of this great work on this most important stuff led by our outstanding staff I'm really looking forward to Monday and the first full week of timetabled classes. I think we're now ready.

Leadership and Legacy

It's continuing to be an exciting time at HPSS on our establishment journey. This is the beginning of our 5th year with students, so not only will it be the first year with all 5 Year Levels, it will also be the final year for those students who began as our true foundation students in Year 9 in 2014. 

  

The above visual shows our original thinking about our cohorts once we were complete. While some of the terminology has changed through that journey it still largely reflects our situation. As we develop personalisation and increase specialisation our students move through the Foundation Years, into the Qualification Years and then their Launchpad or Pathways Year. That first group has reached that final stage.

It takes many years to build a sustainable culture, certainly no less than 5, and we are now at year 5. Those initial foundation year students have 1 year left to leave their legacy. My message to them over the years has always been that I know what sort of school I want, but the school we’ll get is the school they create!

I’ve asked them to think about their legacy. Is it to be some sort of foundation art work or trophy or similar taonga to stand in our school or is it the taonga of a sustainable respectful culture.

So many of our Q3 (Year 13) students have taken up this challenge. Last week one of our students organised senior buddies for the Year 9 students in her Learning Community and got the Year 9 students to complete a 'Rose, Bud, Thorn' exercise about their initial experiences of our school. They did this with the support of their buddies. Out of this exercise she was able to identify students who were feeling a bit alone and connect them with others. She was also able to help some sort through some personal relationship issues that had emerged. Following on she has collated all of their responses ready for feedback.

This is an example of her Leadership.

The Legacy component has emerged from her Learning Community Leader working with her to have a Buddy/Year 9 session included in the weekly Learning Community programme. I expect this model to endure in this Learning Community and may well spread to the other Communities.

Our focus, as a school, for the year is on developing a sustainable respectful culture and our focus for the term is developing whanaungatanga. This student has embraced these areas of focus while displaying leadership and beginning to create her legacy.

I really want our Q3 students to be practised and ready for their lives in a very short 12 months when they’re out there! Í’d love to have then coming and going as they please determined by their learning needs! I know that would work for some of our learners but also not for all. This creates a tension. I’ve talked with them about starting the year with a tight hand on the rudder and my desire to have conversations with them as the term and year unfolds re loosening the hand on the rudder for individuals, groups, or the whole cohort.

If the majority of our Q3 students embrace the challenge of Leadership and Legacy in similar ways to that described above, the hand will become lighter on the rudder quite quickly, which, in turn, will be a great legacy that they leave for future Q3 cohorts.

Whanaungatanga: 3 cool things that happened at school today

Our first 2 weeks at school concentrate on forming and (re)building relationships. We all know teaching and learning is a relationship-based activity so it is important that each new year allows the time and space to do this meaningfully. In fact, our theme at Hobsonville Point Secondary School for our Learning Hub and Learning Community focus for the whole of Term One is Whanaungatanga.

Today 3 cool things were happening to bring this focus to life.

1. Staff koha to new staff.
At this morning's Tuesdays With Maurie (yay at last I got a Tuesday!) our 7 new staff had groups of existing staff randomly allocated to them. After being reminded of our strong and visible principles of personalising learning, powerful partnerships and deep challenge and inquiry group members were invited to share as their koha their strongest or most memorable example of when they had supported the personalising of learning, facilitated learning partnerships for their students from outside our school and witnessed students involved in deep challenge and inquiry.

HPSS Staff Offering Koha to New Staff

It was very cool to see and hear such great sharing. Just quietly, I  was pretty pleased to come up with this contingency plan when I walked in in the morning to find our servers etc were down and I couldn't go ahead with my carefully prepared presentation and had to quickly come up with this (and it was much better than I had planned anyway!)

2. Senior student koha to new students
Throughout the day senior students who had volunteered attended a workshop so that they could prepare to welcome and support our new students. They explored the notion of student leadership and planned in their Learning Communities so that they could run a relationship-building and getting-to-know-our-school programme for the rest of our students- especially those new to our school. They also focused on how they would take the lead at our Learning Community overnight camps which will be taking place next week.

Senior HPSS Students Preparing Their Koha for New Students

Our vision talks  about empowering young people to contribute confidently and responsibly. This group of  Q2 and Q3 (Years 12 and 13) students were bringing that to life in spades and creating a strong legacy for the school they have helped create.

3. Student/Parent/Coach Individual Education Meetings (IEMs)
As has  become traditional at our school, teaching and learning doesn't start until the important players in a young person's education (themselves, their whanau and their Learning Coach) (re)connect and start getting to know each other. This is  the most powerful of the powerful partnerships we espouse at our school and I'm very proud of the time and space we give to this.

Our Year 9 students have had us  visit them in their contributing school, have visited us with their school, enrolled with their parents at a meeting with myself or a member of the SLT, and attended a full day Orientation Day. The IEM  is the next step in that important transition to secondary school. By concentrating on the relationships and taking our time the transition is much more doable.


It was a very cool day! Whanaungatanga everywhere!

Urgency. Transformation. Optimism. The way for schools.

During my sabbatical visits all school leaders spoke of the 'parent push-back' they encountered. While many spoke of having the confidence of the large percentage of their parent community they had to spend a lot of time dealing with small groups who wished to move their schools back to more traditional models. This is despite all parents knowing what the schools were like before they applied for their child to attend.

I am of the view that expecting and dealing with this type of push-back is an essential part of the leadership of a school contributing to the transformation of education. I also believe that we at HPSS have the confidence of the majority of our parents. Most of them see their kids wanting to be at school, being engaged in their learning, and developing excellent dispositions to prepare them for their present and future.

The frustrations I experience are with groups who do not have a connection with the school forming a view of our model without investigating it. Some of our parents tell me that some of their friends tell them we are a school where kids can do what they like, where there is no testing etc. While we are doing things differently, both of these are far from the truth.

Over the last few days I attended a Minister of Education Cross Sector Forum at which the new Digital Technologies Curriculum was introduced and have read some articles on future schooling etc. All of this has strengthened my resolve for how we are approaching education at our school. But, more importantly, I am feeling for the first time a groundswell gaining momentum and a shared sense of urgency.

It started at the Cross Sector Forum where a group of Lynfield College students from their Robotics Club spoke of their experiences. Even though they ae national and world champions they spoke only a little about their robotics. They talked about how the type of learning they experienced through their interest in robotics "taught them how to lead and taught them how to teach"! They talked about how they were knees deep in breaking down gender stereotypes. They also noted that the fun and passion they experienced in their robotics learning was not replicated across the rest of their learning. That's the challenge for us. If students are motivated enough to spend hours of their spare time having fun, exploring their passion and learning deeply about not only technical skills but inter-personal and self-regulation skills as well, surely we as teachers and schools can be motivated to make this possible for all learning.

This was followed up by Education Minister Nikki Kay who spoke of digital fluency as an essential life skill and that we were now moving past the structure provision phase to the people moving phase. She acknowledged issues of teacher workload and stated that if assessment is a major cause of workload then that was "an easy fix". I love the sound of that. You can read a recent blog post from Claire Amos on an innovative approach which removes high stakes assessment from schools and teachers so we can concentrate on deep learning and supporting students to collate evidence of learning.

Frances Valintine, an Education Futurist (think MindLab), then painted a clear picture of the world not too far in the future that we need to be preparing students for (something which I firmly believe conventional schooling is not doing). She spoke about:

• moving from 'using digital' to 'being digital'
• now time to hack education
• the largest group in the world are Generation Z (currently in schools) and largely being taught by Baby Boomers and Generation X - are we holding them back?
• entrepreneurship is in the DNA of Gen Z
• they see the digital revolution as creating jobs (Baby boomers talk of it destroying jobs!)

While the Digital Technology curriculum is only a part of what a school delivers (though gaining increasing prominence) the messages from the Minister and Frances have filled me with hope. Have a listen to Claire's interview on Radio NZ which captures the excitement and optimism many of us feel.

I really enjoyed seeing one of Frances' slides which captured how schools could lead in this new environment.

 The last 2 points resonate as they ae central to the vision at our school:

1. Create a delightful education experience. Contextualise all learning in real-world scenarios.
2. Develop a student-led environment

This morning I came across this article in the Sydney Herald. It identifies the importance of literacy and numeracy as key skills, but it also identifies the need for the development of another range of skills conventional schools are not necessarily bringing to the fore:

• resilience
• growth mindset
• capacity to fail and try again
• empathy
• collaboration
• creativity

It also, quite correctly, acknowledges great teaching will never be obsolete and that "the relationships teachers form with students, to inspire them and lead them to greater things, will be more important than ever." It doesn't, however, hide the fact that teaching has to be different to be great in this new environment.

And picking up on the workload issue of assessment, we often frame this as a negative impact on teachers (which it is) but this morning I also read this article which describes the impact on a particular student.

So there are plenty of reasons to support the transformation of secondary schools. I am not comfortable with a model of learning and assessing having such a impact on the well-being of the young people we are supposed to be serving. Solutions to this issue will also have positive impacts on teachers. And we can't escape the digital revolution which is occurring right now.

There are certainly pitfalls ahead of us but if we invest in our young people, get out of their way a bit and concentrate on the development of dispositions and ethical behaviour I'm more optimistic than pessimistic.

We also need strong national leadership which partners with us to bring our communities with us. Right now I have confidence in our Minister to play her part and hope she maintains a strong partnership with thinkers like Frances Valintine and listens to the voice and questions from leaders such as Claire Amos (and the many others doing great stuff in our schools).

The future is in the hands of these Gen Z in our schools. I know none of the ones I work with would sell citizenship to the highest bidder or accept that it is OK for people to live on the street or factor in poverty as an inevitable outcome of how we do things in our country.

More optimistic than pessimistic!

Implications for HPSS - Part 2 - Challenges

My previous post concentrated on the aspects of my sabbatical which provided affirmations for what we are already doing at HPSS. This post attempts to capture what I see as the areas of challenge or further development.

Student Self-Regulation

I have been critical of conventional secondary schools which complain that their students are not independent, self-regulated learners but give them no opportunity to be so. In most schools, up until the age of 18 students are closely regulated by external factors: timetable, bells, rules, teachers. While such factors can make schools more ‘manageable’ and lead to great academic results, they do not promote self-regulation and, quite possibly, contribute to our high university drop-out rate.

I have always wanted our school to be one in which students were given daily opportunities to self-regulate. A simple representation of this is by having no bells. Another layer has been our Floor Time (originally MyTime) programme. It originally allowed students to opt into up to 3 workshops a week to “do whatever I need to do know, where I need  to do it and with whom I need to do it.” It has now become a more regulated time on our timetable with less self-regulation.

My visits have reinforced my view that we need to look for more ways for students to self regulate. I have reflected that too often we may not ‘loosen the leash’ and provide opportunities for self-regulation because not all students will cope so we end up tightening things to accommodate those students. I’d like to flip that and provide more self-regulation opportunities but have arrangements to accommodate those who are unable to manage.

Following are two examples I have been thinking about and want to explore with my staff:

• Learning Hub time be voluntary for Year 13s (and possibly Year 12s.)
• I think a large group would still attend and another large group would make excellent use of their time to continue their learning. A small group would waste the opportunity.
• With the Year 13s (and possibly Year 12s) this would give an opportunity for the senior Hub students (Year 11 or 12) to have a formalised leadership role in the Hub.
• This has the advantage of providing more time in a senior student’s timetable to determine how to use their time best to progress their learning.
• It would also give more opportunity for Learning Coaches to concentrate on developing our Foundation students and preparing them for self-regulation.
• I can’t think of a worst case scenario if this was implemented that would keep me awake at night.
• Non-staffed class time for Year 13 students.
• If a student had 3 blocks of time allocated in a week to a subject/module only 2 of these would be staffed. Direct teaching and support would occur in the staffed blocks and students would continue through the programme, independently, in the non-staffed block. Many programmes delivered at NYC iSchool were delivered in this ‘blended’ approach with access to resources and support made available on-line (as we do now).
• The added advantage would be that students could determine how they would use their 5 non-staffed blocks (assuming they were doing 5 subjects/modules) at any given time. Because of workload demands they might use 2 (or more) unstaffed blocks to work on one subject in one week.
• This provides further opportunity for self-regulation and moves closer to how they have to manage their time at university.

Students as Partners in Learning Design

There is no doubt that when I saw students engaged as true partners in the design of their learning, engagement levels were at their highest. This was sometimes at the level of choosing project topics but moved through the continuum to include planning a full project inquiry, with teacher support, determining the learning context and the product of or evidence of learning. I saw many examples of deeper than expected learning and all schools had excellent attainment levels in statewide assessment/testing.

At Hobsonville Point Secondary School we attempt to involve students in co-designing their learning. Before each semester’s module planning we get students to explore their understanding of the overarching concepts (Identity, Space and Place, Citizenship, Systems and How Things Work, Relationships, Cultural Diversity, Innovations and Transformations) and then to suggest contexts for learning (eg How Did The Universe Begin? How Serious is Climate Exchange? Why Are There Refugees?). Teachers then collaborate to plan modules to offer students. As well, within each module students have a part to play in designing their learning (see blog post comments included in previous post.)

I am finding myself asking how we could both embed and extend this concept further. What does a school look like when students are authentic partners in learning and schooling in general?

At this stage my plans are to:

• Carry out a stocktake of the current situation of “Students as Partners in Learning Design”.
• Explore the concept with the Learning Habitat and gather their views of the current situation
• Gather some staff voice via ‘Kitchen Table With Maurie’
• Explore further areas of opportunity to have students as authentic partners.
• Begin with Learning Habitat and then cast to wider student group.

Some opportunities I have been thinking about include:

• Ambassadors to host touring groups
• Involvement in staff appointments
• Formalise student involvement in feedback to staff re their teaching
• Involvement in restorative practice processes so that impact of behaviours and outcomes on wider student body is taken into account

Parents as Partners

A neat outcome of increasing the strength of partnership with students will be in supporting us to bring parents and the wider community on board. All schools I visited spoke of the challenge of ‘parental push-back’ in relation to their attempts to transform secondary education. This occurred in all schools, despite their vision and models of learning being well-known before families enrolled their children (in fact, most, if not all, of these schools were over-subscribed and had waiting lists).

In discussing this issue at each school the responses were similar. Julie Abraham, at Design Tech, captured the common message with “being unalterably clear on what we are about” and having the courage to stay true to the vision. I have often spoken of the need for a school leader to have a clear moral purpose and the courage to see that carried out. This was a common message from the schools I visited.

I am of the view that the most powerful and effective ambassadors of any school are its students. Because they are immersed in the daily life of a school and continually breathe the air of the culture of the place they know what a school is about and if it is the right place for them. Because I see our students interacting with our many visitors and I hear them talking about the school and their learning I know most of them are fully on board. More than one student has told me that their parents “now understand” and that while earlier on there was a risk that they would be removed by their parents they feel the relief of that increased understanding.

By increasing the opportunities for authentic partnership with our students, I believe they will be even more powerful and effective ambassadors for our school in their own families and the wider community.

Currently we have many practices in place to partner with parents. They include:

• Start the year with Individual Education Meetings (IEMs) and repeat throughout the year
• Waitangi Whanau Celebration in collaboration with Hobsonville Point Primary School
• Fortnightly Newsletter, Facebook updates and School App communications
• Hub Coach communication home
• Parent workshops/conference
• Morning Tea With Maurie

Later this year I plan to focus my collection of parent voice on the effectiveness of the current parent partnership opportunities and ask what else we could do to make it more effective.