How Might We Refresh Reconnect and Refocus our Leadership?

 

I was rapt when the Secondary Principals Council won 2 annual payments of $6000 for Principal Wellbeing in the latest Collective Agreement. Steering our schools through the pandemic in a way that kept students connected to their school and learning, balancing the wellbeing needs of students and staff and supporting the range of and rapidly developing protection measures put in place by the government was demanding work for principals. We had been asking for programmes such as professional supervision for many years and now principals could use this new resource to best support their wellbeing.

I was a little disturbed by the speed at which a range of wellbeing retreats in a number of Pacific Islands emerged which included a few half days focussing on personal wellbeing (with, I suspect, some tools to support wellbeing) and time for rest and relaxation. I was worried a bit about these because it was my view that yes, a few days relaxing on a Pacific Island might help you overcome some stress in the short-term, but it may not actually address the long-term stress that was impacting on the wellbeing of principals. The demands of leading our schools in these rapidly changing times would still exist after returning from such a break.

During a visit to Wellington last November I caught up with Derek Wenmoth for a coffee to discuss how we could work together to support principal wellbeing. It soon became clear that we shared the view that a principal’s wellbeing was best served when they clearly understood their ‘why’, their moral purpose, and were equipped with tools that allowed them to lead their school on a journey of transformation that was driven by this moral purpose. I certainly knew in my own principalship that being clear about what I was prepared to ’die in the ditch’ for meant I had the confidence to be courageous and to take action. I was able to reflect that my wellbeing was best served when my leadership was guided by my personal Leadership Model shown in the diagram below:

This conversation was the beginning of the work that resulted in Derek and I rolling out Refresh, Reconnect, Refocus – a programme that began with a 2 day retreat for 14 primary and secondary principals in Hanmer almost 2 weeks ago.

Over 2 days each participant was supported to re-engage with and explore their own moral purpose around their leadership, imagine a range of possibilities, identify an area of focus for their leadership, explore tools and frameworks for guiding their next steps and connecting with a buddy from the group to support each other over the next 20 weeks.

At the conclusion of the hui we agreed on 20 weeks of buddy connection, 1-on-1 connection with Derek or myself, webinars from experts and whole-group check-ins. We also committed to meeting face-to-face at the end of the 20 weeks to celebrate our progress.

The feedback, at this early stage, from the participants has been hugely positive. One participant posted on Facebook, “Best PLD ever!”

Other participant feedback included the following:

I loved the mix of Secondary and Primary Principals, quite unique. Sincere collaboration felt between all participants.

A good investment in my professional learning because it was organised and planned by experts who have a deep, authentic and proven understanding of what is important in schools ie what to focus on for the maximum benefit to schools and learners.

Two days of taking a breath and focussing on what really matters with passionate, engaged educational facilitators in a peaceful alpine setting. Listening and connecting with other principals who came to refresh, reconnect and refocus. This hui delivered all this and more.

Engaged, passionate, well informed facilitators who seamlessly worked together to deliver an outstanding programme of thought provoking leadership learning.

Refresh, Reconnect, Refocus is the perfect title for this professional development. It does just that. A fantastic retreat, space to think, relax and start to reconnect.

While the 2 day Retreat component is over the mahi now will be about remaining connected and focused over the next 20 weeks to build on the momentum that got underway at Hanmer.

As a facilitator I came away refreshed, reconnected and refocused!

What Next?

Derek challenged all participants to think of themselves as Systems Leaders, not just as leaders of their own school (see his post here). Tomorrow's Schools has us as leaders of our own entities, each doing our best to navigate the rapidly changing environment. There has never been, in my view, a rallying vision for us all to unite behind despite the best intentions of the Ministry, different Ministers and programmes like Kāhui Āko. It is time for a movement of like-minded leaders to connect and focus in meaningful and sustainable ways to support each other on this important journey of transformation. This felt like the beginnings of such a movement.

We've started with 14!

We’ve had a number of inquiries already about whether we’re planning to run this sort of programme into the future, including questions about running it for APs and DPs. If this is something you’d like to be a part of, or know of someone who might be interested, I encourage you to add your name to our registration of interest so that we can keep you informed of our plans moving forward into the second half of 2024 and 2025.

Think about joining a movement of like-minded leaders!

Register Your Interest Here

An opportunity for emerging leaders

We are both really motivated to work with newly appointed APs and DPs as they are our future principals. I can’t help but think how I would have benefitted, early in my leadership, from being supported to explore my moral purpose in relation to leadership, to explore different ways of leading and to become familiar with a range of tools and frameworks to support my leadership.

The drivers for change in schooling are not going to go away and it is vital, in my view, that leaders do not become part of the roadblocks.

If you want to be on this waka or know someone who should be on it, please register through this link or share it with that someone.

Register Your Interest Here

 

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.

From Principal Possum to How Might We Lead 2023: A summary and look forward

 2023 was a year of uncertainty for me. But sitting here right now 2024 is one of excitement. The thing I'm most excited about is to work with Derek Wenmouth. Early next year we are running a a 20-week professional development programme for principals, focusing on wellbeing, innovation and change. I really love the model we have come up with as we support principals to Refresh Reconnect and Refocus through two retreats (kicking off at Hanmer Springs in late March) bookending 20 weeks of remote mentoring and connecting. We still have some places left but confirmations must be received by 4 February to secure a place in the programme. Please help us spread the word to let others know about this exciting opportunity. 

Find out more here.

I finished up as Foundation Principal of Hobsonville Point Secondary School in July this year. It took 2 years, initially keeping it to myself, to come to the conclusion that that was the right time to leave. Of the many decisions I've had to make in my career this was one of the hardest. I loved my work, I loved the people I was working with, I loved the students and I felt I was still making a difference. But I'm convinced it was time for someone else to lead and take the school further into the future.

In this post I wrote about the moving haka I experienced on my final day and also on what my plans were in the future, considering I believed that I could still make a contribution in the education field.

My plans centred around forming HMWLead (How Might We Lead) and offering opportunities to partner with schools and their leadership teams to explore ways of leading in such a dynamic environment.

In one of my first posts with HMWLead I wrote of the importance of having a clear understanding of and strong commitment to your personal 'why' as a leader. Having a clear understanding of your 'why' or moral purpose, in my view, gives a leader the courage to lead. My personal model of leadership captured in this visual shows not only the importance of Moral Purpose and Courage but also accepting the sometimes quite challenging position that you might be wrong (Open to Learning).

In a September post I launched the HMWLead website.

In my October post I used the analogy of my entry into the Tarawera Ultra 100 mile trail run to  encourage thinking around what might be possible when we set out to test what we are truly capable of achieving. I wrote about my experience at Opotiki College going from 40-50 suspensions a year to zero as an example of exploring different approaches to age-old problems.

My next post explored how we might go about the seemingly daunting task of transforming how we do 'schooling'. I am more and more convinced that how we do this work is to really focus on what it is that we know that creates the conditions for the best teaching and learning that is required today. We need to start with understanding and agreeing on how students learn best. From there we need to develop a set of core beliefs for which we are ready to "die in the ditch" and design our schools based on those core beliefs.

In a further post I focused on the view that the number one principle for effective schools seems to be that they have clearly articulated and shared beliefs about learning that are lived in every classroom.

I then proposed that the clearly articulated and shared beliefs about learning that are lived in every classroom need to be driven by a vision and mission which are deeply informed by new contexts for learning. In the previous post I stated that, in the end, it doesn't matter what the core beliefs about learning are but that it was vital that they were lived in every classroom. But, of course, it does matter.

If we start, as we should, with the question:

• "How do children and adults learn most powerfully and deeply in their lives?" (Modern Learners).

and we add:

• "When they leave us, what will our students need to be able to do, and what kind of people will they be?" (Modern Learners)

and we take into account the rapidly changing and threatened world in store for our current learners (climate crisis, pandemics, increasing inequity, war, biodiversity threat, AI, world of work), we must explore, embrace and fully incorporate in our design of schools and of learning new ways in which we can learn and become educated.

As 2023 ends I am able to reflect on being satisfied at the timing of my stepping down from principalship and the challenge and excitement I am feeling as a result of my work in schools, most of whom are embracing an ongoing partnership to support them on their journey. Their journeys are all very different, but they are all benefiting from exploring their 'why' - the things they are prepared to die in the ditch for.

I'm still excited by my upcoming challenge to complete the 100 miler in February despite the setbacks and challenges that have occurred.

I'm extremely excited by the collaboration with Derek Wenmouth. Our Refrresh, Reconnect, Refocus programme for school leaders is innovative and we are already planning similar for the different levels of leadership within schools.

In the meantime, if you're a school leader (primary or secondary) wanting to experience what this programme offers get amongst it here. If you're a DP or middle leader with aspirations to lead with Moral Purpose and Courage then watch this space.

Sing out if you have any questions.

Have a happy and safe summer.

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.

How Might We Lead: Trying To Form New Habits

 

You might not connect with the following metaphor but it works for me.

I've been running 'competitively' for 50+ years. I don't think a lot about the 'how' of running; I reckon I know how to do it and I just get out and run. If someone asked me to describe how to run I'd have to stop and think because, for me, I just put one foot in front of the other and lean forward. The way I run is habitual and just happens.

I've recently discovered, though, that how I run has become not fit-for-purpose. As I've aged, my non-running muscles have weakened and I've discovered I've developed, unconsciously, a bent over shuffle type gait. Up until now it hasn't been too much of a problem as I shuffle along the roads and trails and accept the increasing and more-early-arriving pain is just part of the game.

However, I now want to run a 100 miler which brings a whole different purpose to why I'm running. This means I need to adopt a different 'how' as I won't make the 100 miles doing what I'm currently doing. The pain will be too much.

So, I've done some research and have adopted a different gait - one that has me running taller and making use of my glutes rather than focusing on my quads and hamstrings. Because this style has not yet become habitual I have to concentrate on my gait almost every single step to prevent myself falling back to old habits.

The new gait brings different issues. Pain and discomfort is emerging in new areas as I transition to a new way of running. I fully expect that things will get better with this. Also, to maintain the gait and the efficiency I expect, I need to do strength and flexibility exercises, especially to my core and in my hip area. I don't have a high level of motivation for this so it is something I need to really commit to and hold myself accountable.

While I'm confident that if I stick to my plans I will gain huge benefit I fully expect there to be problems on the way. I'll develop new niggles and new pains and I'll fall back into bad or previous habits. I have developed strategies to support me to stick to the new path.

I've realised the body was getting a bit creaky. This, along with my new 'why' (100  miler) has meant I need to develop a new 'how' with a new set of principles/guidelines (include strength and flexibility work in my training, be open to changing life-long habits etc), which will result in a different set of practices (the 'what') which I need to work on to become habitual (yoga at home, attend a gym, adopt a particular running technique).

I think sometimes schools are a bit like that. The institution has become a bit creaky while we persist with our habitual practices. This can lead to pain and niggles in the system. In my view, the 'why' of schooling has also changed as our world is changing dramatically with a range of global existential crises such as climate, pandemics, biodiversity reduction, increasing inequity, mis- and dis-information and conflict and issues in relation to AI etc.

We need to engage with these issues and understand our new 'why' and think about how we are going to respond and reposition schools and from there adopt new ways of doing 'schooling'.

The work to reposition schools can seem so daunting that we are tempted to stay with our habitual practices. While it is tough and demanding work it is certainly doable.

I am more and more convinced that how we do this work is to really focus on what it is that we know that creates the conditions for the best teaching and learning that is required today. We need to start with understanding and agreeing on how students learn best. From there we need to develop a set of core beliefs for which we are ready to "die in the ditch" and design our schools based on those core beliefs.

As part of my own professional learning I'm drilling into the work carried out by organisations such as Modern Learners, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (OECD), Michael Fullan and Chris Leadbetter and their work with the Centre for Strategic Education, Valerie Hannon and her work with the Innovation Unit and Russell Bishop's Teaching/Leading to the North-east.

For the sake of my own country-boy mind I want to hone in on what they are all saying and see if I can make sense of the essence of it all. The aim is to settle on a set of core beliefs that could determine some guiding principles that could drive some different and more appropriate practices which we could try to make habitual.

I hope the outcome could support us when we ponder the questions about how might we lead in our schools. I'll most probably post what I come across.

How Might We Lead: What Might Be Possible

 

2 posts ago I wrote about the importance of making sure your big hairy goals are put out there for others to see. I think this gives some accountability and impetus when things start to drag or halt. I used the example of my goal to run 100 miles (160k) at the Tarawera Ultramarathon in February. I noted that I had been given advice to really establish my 'why' for doing such a crazy thing.

I've run more than 30 marathons, entered countless multi-sport races and full-day adventure races, run a 50k ultra, a 70k ultra and two 100k ultras. Every one was tough and after every one I swore, usually briefly, that that would be my last!

So why 100 miles? I have thought a lot about this and I think it's because I want to really test my limits, to test what I might be truly capable of. The risk of failure is very high (more than 50/50 I'd say): I might get injured by the intensity of the training, I might arrive at the start line carrying some niggles and not be able to finish, I might arrive at the start line feeling 100% and might not be able to finish OR I might arrive at the start line and complete it. All of those are possibilities. 

One thing is certain, between now and then and during the event, I'll be called upon to solve problems that emerge, many expected, some unexpected. And, of course, when you set out to really test what might be possible, it takes time. This will end up being a year-long project. It began with research and planning, some implementation, then some revisiting of the plan as problems emerged, and this will continue. All the time, there will be no guarantee of success. Even failure, though, will have me in a better place than I am today. I would have learned so much about myself which will be useful as I live out my life.

This is always the case when we think about what might be possible and we set out to find out.

I think this is how I have approached school leadership.

At Opotiki College after 10 years of being DP in charge of discipline in which I oversaw 50 suspensions a year (that's 500 over those ten years) and up to 10 exclusions per year (that's 100) I began to wonder what else might be possible. On appointment as principal I stopped all suspensions as we set out on a journey to explore if the principles of restorative practice might offer us a different way.

Like with the 100 miler, it involved research, planning, implementation and revisiting, overcoming hurdles and solving problems. As it was we were hugely successful with only 1 suspension in the next 10 years. The best outcomes were a creation of a culture of mutual respect, a change in pedagogy to one based on relationships and a massive lift in student achievement (Decile 1 school with achievement levels at NCEA Levels 1 -3 equal to the average of Decile 8-10 schools).

Instead of being curious about what might be possible we could have not taken the risks and stayed with the status quo. Instead in the following 10 years 500 kids weren't suspended and 100 kids weren't excluded, teaching improved and student engagement and achievement went through the roof. It was worth it.

At Hobsonville Point Secondary School we wondered what might be possible if we set out to design a schooling experience based on what evidence stated was more appropriate for what young people needed to thrive in an ever-changing world. Like with the 100 miler and the work at Opotiki, it involved research, planning, implementation and revisiting, overcoming hurdles and solving problems. All of these also required courage.

All of this work has led me to this model of leadership based on having a moral purpose that requires you to wonder about what might be possible, to have the courage to set out to explore and implement what might be possible, while always being open to the idea that you might be wrong and will need to amend.

This has formed the basis of all of the work I am now doing with HMWLead. Whether it has been working with governance facilitators, boards to support principal development, SLTs to investigate curriculum and pedagogy review or to think about new ways of schooling, or with individual principals to consider what might be possible in relation to how they lead it has always focused on clarifying core beliefs and values that drive us, which in turn gives us the courage to take action and lead.

When schools start thinking about what might be possible, rather than focusing on what they are doing now, that's when we see the beginnings of transformation.

In the wake of the election result all school leaders are going to have to be very clear about their moral purpose and what they are going to die in the ditch for so that they lead in the ways best for their school community.

What might be possible? Sing out if you think I can help in this space.

"We got this" Preparing for Off-site Learning

We had a Staff Only Day yesterday to ensure we were prepared for off-site learning with a shared common understanding of what we meant by off-site learning. Last week we had scheduled it for Wednesday, but on Sunday night we made the decision to move it to Tuesday. In the middle of planning for it on Monday we stopped to listen to the PM's announcement about school closure. In a few short days we had moved from some planning around a possibility to suddenly a certainty.

We had held several Pop Up Hui with interested staff over the preceding 10 days and spent a lot of time agreeing on principles and then expectations based on them, before we started looking at tools and how. Our principles could be best summed up as:

• Getting the balance between supporting students to continue learning while off-site and the expectations on staff coping with school closure and the particular demands that that places on their own whanau.

All of the planning work has been done by our colleagues who have brought the full range of perspectives and curriculum foci along with a diverse set of personal circumstances to guide us to this stage. I thank them for that - it was a privilege to be part of that thinking and decision-making.

This was our plan for the day:

To support students and parents to have some sort of structure to their day we are having an outward facing ‘timetable’ as follows:

• 9 30am Hub Check-in
• 10 00 - 10 45 Block 1
• 11 00 - 11 45 Block 2
• 12 45 - 1 30 Block 3
• 1 45 - 2 30 Block 4

We fully understand that some schools reject the idea of any formal structure but I was motivated by Karen Spencer's Blog and the need to be thinking at this point in time of those less confident in managing themselves through this. I made it clear to staff that it was an outward facing structure in which we, and many of our students, would operate flexibly according to our own circumstances.

Key points I made to the staff at the start of the day were

• While your status will be “working from home” there is no expectation that you will be engaging with learners and ‘delivering’ for the 45 minutes of each of your timetabled blocks
• What we are proposing now will need adjusting as the plane-that-we-are-flying-while-building travels a bit further and we learn from our experience
• We have agreed on what tools we will use (very few) so that it is not too complicated from the student/parent facing end and how and who will communicate with students and parents
• Staff communication with students/whanau via GC, email only. No sharing of staff personal phone numbers or use of personal social media accounts. Safe and professional cyber practices are even more important when we are remote from each other and our students.
• Concerns around student engagement, ‘presence’ and progress will be channelled through Coaches using a uniform process
• We have kept a strong focus on the well-being of all. Now that we are faced with a school closure, it is vital that we maintain the strong connections and sense of whanau that exist among us. One of the things we will do is explore the best way to run an as full staff as possible meet up once a week. This will be important if any school closure goes on for a long period.
• One of the things we have set up that will operate from the start of any closure is a process for a staff hauora check once a week with their SLT member.

The following visual captures our expectations of staff:

This ABC for staff aligns with our current learning design practice and has connections and whanaungatanga at its core. There's a daily Hub Check-in at 9 30 (via the completion of a Offsite Planner for the day and a weekly Google Meet with the whole Hub.

We completed a set of expectations for students

The ABC for students aligns with our normal school expectations and is built around our 10 Hobsonville Habits.

The large part of the rest of the day was developing staff expertise on the tools we would all be using. The day before we had worked with our Kaiārahi (Head Students) as part of our SOD Planning Team and we tested our set of expectations for staff and students with them and they created the following to make very clear the tools we would be using and why.

We created 2 key documents/processes to ensure a focus on Hauora. The first was to help us focus on student hauora and support them in their daily planning. Our expectation is that when off-site learning kicks off next term on 15 April students will do a daily check in to Hub and complete this plan.

As well, to ensure we were also having a regular focus on staff hauora we created a document/process for staff. Once a week they complete the document and is shared with their relevant SLT member.

There's no doubt that we'll end up changing the way we will operate, especially if the closures go on for a while, but we reckon we've got a strong foundation.

It was an absolute privilege having our awesome Kaiārahi working with us in the lead up and during the day. I'm excited about their plans to keep leading the student body during this closure period.

See you on the other side of this bit of time.

From Founding Documents to Guiding Frameworks: Innovation at HPSS (Part 2)

In last week's post I described 2 of the main frameworks, supported by our 'founding documents', that have driven innovation at Hobsonville Point Secondary School. Those frameworks were the Te Kotahitanga change model of GPILSEO and Carol Dweck's concept of Growth Mindset.

In this post I will discuss a series of matrices that supports teacher mindset and drives relationship management and pedagogy at our school.

RESTORATIVE PRACTICE
The first matrix is from the work I have been exposed to by Margaret Thorsborne in exploring the principles of restorative practice as the foundations of how we deal with behaviour issues in our school.

We have used this matrix to guide our development of processes and procedures when dealing with the inevitable 'bad behaviour' that young people will get up to from time to time. Our aspiration is to be always operating in the green quadrant in the top right. When you are operating there you are displaying a strong sense of care for the learner (warm) while maintaining high expectations for the learner in both learning and behaviour (demanding). This concept of warm and demanding is pervasive throughout our school.

In my experience in working in the restorative practice area many teachers believe they are being called upon to operate in the bottom right. They become very successful at being warm, but don't combine that with high expectations of the learner and of themselves. A teacher who operates in the Permissive quadrant is just as ineffective in managing classroom relationships and promoting learning as is a teacher in the Punitive or Neglectful quadrants. It is the combination of both warm AND demanding which brings about successful behaviour management and engaged learners.

TEACHING TO THE NORTH EAST

I have just finished reading Russell Bishop's (of Te Kotahitanga fame) book, Teaching to the North East and I had the privilege of hearing him talk about the concepts covered in the book at the start of 2019.

Russell's matrix has really resonated with me. In the above version of the matrix I have overlayed the concepts of warm and demanding as I believe they are a strong fit. This matrix captures the essence of the Thorsborne one above (which has a focus on relationship management) with the elements of High/Low Relationships and incorporates the pedagogical elements of High/Low Teaching Skills. Once again we are aspiring to the top right or the North East. It is here that we are the most effective as a teacher. As in the previous matrix it is only here in the North East that we have a true impact on student engagement and achievement. Once again, if we remain in the bottom right quadrant (South East) with High Relationships and Low Teaching Skills we are as ineffective as if we are operating in the North West/South West.

I love his summary of create a family-like context (warm/relationships), interact within the family-like context in ways we know promote learning (demanding/pedagogy) and monitor progress and the process of learning (demanding/pedagogy).

This year we will continue to spend some of our professional learning time on building strong, positive relationships (warm) but will unpack and explore what is meant by High Teaching Skills (demanding) in our context.

We have already done some work on exploring what it means to be a warm and demanding teacher:

what it means to be a warm and demanding colleague:

and a warm and demanding leader:

SUMMARY
It is the combination of a suite of a strong, visible and shared vision, set of values, principles, dispositions and twin pathways of excellence (founding documents) and frameworks that drive our teaching practice which is driving innovation at Hobsonville Point Secondary School.

From Founding Documents to Guiding Frameworks: Innovation at HPSS (Part 1)

In my last post I talked about the 'Founding Documents' (Vision, Pathways to Excellence, Mission, Principles, Values and Dispositions) which drive innovation at our school. These are the 'Big Rocks' of our organisation's foundations upon which we build our practices and processes. To ensure these elements are alive and strongly present in our school we have adopted, adapted and/or created a number of frameworks to operate within.

GPILSEO

The GPILSEO Model, which has emerged from Russell Bishop and his team's work with Te Kotahitanga, has become my go-to Change Leadership model. This particular visual captures the importance of the flow of ripples from the original goal to ensure spread and ownership.

Goal setting means that you are aspiring for things to be different and, hopefully, improved. What this model says to me is that if you have a goal about improving teaching and learning (can't think of any other focus for a school) then you need to investigate and plan for changes in the P, I and L ripples. When you set a goal for improving learning one of the first things you need to establish is what changes to pedagogy are going to be required. Too many goals have floundered because there hasn't been a realisation by leaders and teachers that this requires a change in the way we teach.

The next ripple requires us to look at the Institutions we have in our school (the way we do things around here) and see what changes have to be made to them to achieve the goal. There is little point in declaring a particular goal to improve teaching and learning without checking whether the way we do things around here (timetable, class composition, time allocation, meeting structures and timetables, responsibility allocation, communication methods etc) are suitable for the changed state we wish to be in. If I had a $ for every time I've heard over the last 4 decades, "We'd love to do that but our timetable won't allow it."........

As well we need to investigate whether the ways we lead, who leads and the structures we have in our school that drive leadership are the most appropriate to achieve our goal. If they're not, then if we don't change them then we will not be able to achieve our goal.

Then the resourcing and the professional learning needs to be planned for and delivered so that the support for and the implementation of the new pedagogies, new institutions and new leadership structures can spread thoughout the school.

All of these ripples, along with the collection of evidence to show progress towards achieving the goal, then move us to the state of full ownership of the goal and commitment to its achievement.

A recent example for us has been our goal to support the achievement of Maori as Maori. This required us to investigate and research culturally sustainable practices to incorporate within our pedagogy (this is an on-going journey over many months and years and certainly not the result of one or two professional learning sessions), modifying our spirals of inquiry processes (institutions) to focus on culturally sustainable practices, amending our programme planning practices (institutions) to include aspects of Te Ao Maori, embedding the promotion of culturally sustainable practices as an SLT leadership responsibility, forming a staff leadership group

GROWTH MINDSET

Carol Dweck's work on Growth Mindset has been an important framework for us in recruiting and developing staff. As well, we use the simple continuum's below for staff to self-assess and then know which element to focus on. We'll often ask staff to share their lowest score to see if there is a common element. This year the favourite is "ignores useful negative feedback/learns from criticism"!

Next post I will focus on some frameworks that build on Restorative Practice/Warm and Demanding/Teaching to the North East.

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!