Chatter About Charter School: Maurie's Musings

 If Charter Schools are the answer, what’s the question? 

I’ve been out and about amongst school leaders a lot and we often spend time talking about the wider issues the sector is facing, as well as what’s going on in their schools and what is dominating their thoughts.

Recently there have been a lot of wonderings about what the impact of Charter Schools might be on the wider education sector and what it might mean for them, their school and their colleagues and their schools. 

There’s not a lot of detail around yet, but the plan seems to be to move quite quickly.

This post attempts to capture my own musings on the topic influenced by what I have heard.

What is the problem that charter schools are seeking to address? 

In a recent press release, Associate Minister of Education David Seymour stated, “Charter schools provide educators with greater autonomy, create diversity in New Zealand’s education system, free educators from state and union interference, and raise overall educational achievement, especially for students who are underachieving or disengaged from the current system.” Based on this statement it would appear that Seymour believes that the state (government and Ministry of Education) and unions who look after the conditions of those who work for schools are getting in the way of improving the academic outcomes and the level of engagement of students. 

The Minister of Education, Erica Stanford has set out on a path of mandated common approaches to the delivery of education within the state school system. She has, among other things, mandated an hour a day each for reading, writing and mathematics, mandated structured literacy and banned cell phones in all schools. She seems to be pushing a one-size-fits-all approach and claims to be guided by the ‘Science of Learning’ in making these decisions. She obviously believes these, singular solutions, are the best approaches for all of our learners.

On the other hand, the Associate Minister of Education, David Seymour is rolling out his Charter School model which totally goes in the opposite direction, where it is all about innovation and choice. These schools, who will receive serious funding, will be able to choose their curriculum and their approach - they can make their own decisions about cell phones, about structured literacy, about how they allocate time. Presumably, he is basing his approach on a body of evidence.

They both can’t be right

One of the main concerns seems to be the environment of mixed messages that the sector is receiving from the Minister and Associate Minister

This poses the question - who is right? If more flexibility and choice is the answer, as Seymour is proposing, then why are state schools having that flexibility and choice restricted? Wouldn’t it make more sense to leverage the flexibility currently within the state system which includes Kura Kaupapa, Kura-a-Iwi, Special Character and other innovative approaches that exist?

If a more uniform, mandated approach is the answer, as Stanford is proposing, then why are we channelling millions of dollars into another model that is free to operate outside this approach?

How will Charter Schools operate within the education ecosystem

Up to 35 existing schools will be able to move to the Charter School model. Currently these schools can access support through the Ministry of Education for a wide range of reasons, including Trauma and Response, financial management, serious behaviour support and RTLBs, Iwi relationships and advice around leadership, school and community relationship issues.

Those schools that move to the fully-funded Charter School model will, presumably, have no free access to these services. This raises the potential concern that school leaders in the Charter School model may find themselves floundering and exposed without such support.

Some of us are wondering if more funding that state schools could be accessing, when schools are financially stretched,  may be diverted to similar supports being funded to be available for those in the Charter Schools.

As well, some are wondering what the impact might be on existing Professional Growth Cycle Networks. The assumption is that Charter School principals will not be required to participate in this valuable networking that supports their professional growth. If this is the case they will be missing a development opportunity. And what happens if they wish to participate but colleagues are not wanting to engage in such ways with school leaders who may be seen as undermining the State system?

How will existing staff be impacted

Concern is growing about the impact of radically changed employment conditions on staff employed in schools that shift to the Charter School Model. Those staff are currently employed according to a set of conditions in their current Employment Agreement. It remains unclear as to how these contracts and conditions will be affected if a school chooses to become a Charter School.

Many of those staff will not be in favour of the change and may, therefore, be restructured out of their position. There is a range of compensations available to them when this occurs which may result in a huge financial burden on the State and on boards.

There will also be some staff who may be happy with the move to being a Charter School but will need to maintain, at a minimum, their current conditions of employment.

Talk that the inability to transfer conditions or to be able to access redundancy rights that are within their current Agreements may be included in the legislation is a huge concern as this would signal a trampling of their current employment rights which are enjoyed by employees in most sectors.

These are just my musings which I believe others will also be thinking about. What are your thoughts?

Refresh, Reconnect and Refocus on Road Trip

I'm 4 weeks into a cool 8 week South Island road trip that is combining a bit of work (HMWLead) and holidaying with my wife. We've concentrated on the east coast and deep south. I've found it to be a great opportunity for my own refresh, reconnect and refocus.

After a few relaxing days in Kaikoura I co-facilitated with Derek Wenmoth a school principals' retreat at Hanmer Springs, and the following week, after brief stop overs in Timaru and Oamaru, I spent a week based in Invercargill, where my son lives, and worked for 3 days at St Peter's in Gore assisting them with their deep learning Year 11 programme (no NCEA L1 - yeehah!) and their Years 7 to 9 programme. There's some courageous leadership going on there!

I also spent a day working with the SLT and curriculum leads from Māruawai in Gore supporting their wonderful connected learning programme they are designing for their junior school. There's some courageous leadership going on there.

I'm really looking forward to a continuing partnership with both of those schools.

The following week we slowly explored the Catlins (bucket list) before heading to Te Anau for 3 days which included a wonderful coach and boat trip to and through Milford Sound.

We've now made our way to Queenstown and after a day sightseeing there and in Arrowtown I start 2 days work at Liger Leadership Academy where I am supporting them in their Year 12 programme design and project based learning model design. They are doing great stuff, which you can check out on the latest Disrupted podcast where Claire Amos hosts the Liger principal, Daniel Cooper, so they won't need my input too much longer.

I'm very much looking forward to catching up with the team there after having spent a couple of days there last November.

I'm also looking forward to catching up with my ex DP from HPSS, Sally Hart, who is now DP at Mt Aspiring College. She has the wonderful privilege of hosting us at her whare for a couple of nights!

Most of the remaining 3 weeks will be a bit of a break but will be doing remote catch ups with the Hanmer participants to support their momentum.

The work at Hanmer has had Derek Wenmoth and myself being contacted to run something similar not only for another group of principals, but also Deputy Principals. Fill out the registration of interest link if you are keen to participate or send it to another leader who you think would benefit.
https://lnkd.in/gYJwZkkr

Thanks for reading about my road trip.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

End of Taupo 70k with Thomas

Lucy and I in Riverhead Forest Training for the Miler

I have a simple plan for the race:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

What will replace secondary schools?

Ka pū te ruha ka hao te rangatahi

What will replace secondary schools?

We've long past the time when we can still be asking if secondary schools need to change.

"There's no longer a good fit between the education we are currently providing and the education we need" MOE 2012! As well, we need only to look at the transformational change that is sweeping through every industry and profession at an accelerating rate (music production, newspaper and the media, health care, public transport, private transport, retail, finance and banking, service provision etc). Why would we think secondary schooling will be bypassed?

As well, we have no excuse to be unaware of what skills seem increasingly necessary for people to thrive in not only the working world, but the world itself.

This graphic shows the top 10 skills important in the workforce. While the two groupings are quite similar, which you would expect as they are only 5 years apart, it’s interesting to note that Complex Problem Solving remains at the top but big movers are Critical Thinking from 4th to 2nd and Creativity from 10th to 3rd. And new entrants on the list are Emotional Intelligence racing into 6th and Cognitive Flexibility moving onto the list at 10th.

Are our schools consciously developing these skills within our learners or are we still putting all of our eggs in one basket - academic qualifications?

I've been hugely motivated by Valerie Hanon's book, Thrive, which sets out a blueprint for how secondary schools could adapt and respond to the pressures for change. Her vision for schools is to have a vision which focuses on students learning to thrive in a transforming world.

Students need to be able to thrive at 4 levels:

Thrive as a planet

Our young people need to know how to live sustainably, how to protect earth's biodiversity and to develop respect for and empathy of other cultures. This needs to be at the centre of our curriculum.

Thrive at societal level

She notes that in the most equitable countries of the world there is a higher level of thriving. Our young people need to be equipped to navigate in a fast changing job landscape, to learn and unlearn, and they must love learning. How can democratic values and values of equity be explored in our schools

Thrive at interpersonal level

Schools need to be places where young people can explore how to have and create great relationships. Schools must create learning environments where young people can develop respectful and caring relationships.

Thrive at intrapersonal level

Schools need to create environments where young people can discover who they are. Students must be able to explore their identity, find personal meaning and be valued for whom they are.

What will replace secondary schools?

Right now I'm thinking we could start with a vision similar to:

Learn to thrive in a transforming world

and then develop a curriculum focusing on the 4 levels of Thrive outlined above.

My view of what secondary schools of the future need to concentrate on is as follows:

• Secondary schools must place student well-being at front and centre of every thing they do
• This means the end of billboards skiting about achievement and attendance rates (imagine how this feels for those students who, despite their best efforts, can't achieve or attend at that level who see that reminder every day)
• This means the end to archaic rules and punishments, including those in relation to personal appearance
• This means an end to assessment and homework practices that detract from deep learning and lead to distress
• Secondary schools of the future must reject being institutions of measurement and embrace being institutions of engagement and deep learning
• Secondary schools of the future must embrace new definitions of success for them as an institution, for their staff and for their students.
• Ask parents to describe the graduate they want from your school! Their answers won’t surprise you. Does your school really focus on these things? How much does the front half of the NZC feature in how your school goes about its business and considers its effectiveness?
• Secondary schools of the future will invite students to be partners in the learning design process.
• Own the important bits of content, knowledge, concepts and skills of your specialist subject but relinquish control over the context for the learning to occur in and even how students might evidence their understanding.

At Hobsonville Point Secondary School we're trying to explore these ideas. Our foundation principles of:

• personalised learning
• powerful partnerships
• deep challenge and inquiry

are driving our practices in these areas.

Our focus at the moment is on exploring different definitions of success which has resulted in the work we are doing on developing a graduate profile. The current prototype has our school values of innovation, inquiry, collaboration and connectedness as the key elements of this graduate profile. Sally gives a full description of this work in the last section of her latest post

We're looking forward to discussing this work with ERO in Week 8.

A Step Forward: Knowledge and Skills, Capabilities and Competencies: the Chicken and the Egg

I'm loving the kōrero flying around about the hierarchy of skills, knowledge, competencies and capabilities. Much cleverer people than me are making strong contributions to the kōrero but I'm doing my best to make sense of it for me. I got a bit confused observing the kōrero between @briarlipson and @ThomasHaig (and the others who contributed) because I couldn't quite understand the equation knowledge = skills, or was it the other way around, or if you couldn't have knowledge without skills, or skills without knowledge, or if you were allowed to have both, or if one was more important than the other.

This morning I listened to Valerie Hannon on RNZ and I must admit it created some clarity for me, though I do suspect her views are those that are quite prevalent in my echo chamber so I have to watch out I don't get caught up in an "unstable consensus of experts." I loved the three emphases for schooling and learning that have emerged from the Innovation Unit and are most probably evident in Hannon's book Thrive which I'm about to purchase:

1. Well-being at the centre
2. Competencies not content
3. Learner Agency

And I like the 4 levels of Thriving she touches on in the broadcast (she doesn't get to finish them because the interviewer talked too much):

1. Thriving at the Global level
2. Thriving at the Societal level
3. Thriving at the Intrapersonal level
4. Thriving at the Interpersonal level

Most of all I loved how she argued for the place of knowledge and skills. She claims what are most important are Competencies and that to be strong in them you need to build knowledge, learn and develop skills and explore attitudes and values. This makes more sense to me and is helping me grapple with the kōrero that is circulating.

I think Valerie Hannon and Elizabeth Rata might disagree on the actual 'what' of knowledge in the type of learning we need to create the world we want. In The Basic Flaw in our Education System  she argues for the English Curriculum to be standardised. I wasn't sure what to make of it as I am not an English teacher but I did enjoy Gillian Hubbard's response in her article English teaching not perfect, but it works. Her observations are certainly what match my experience of working with and observing English teachers and learners in English classrooms over many years.

And amongst all this I have personally been grappling with my dissatisfaction and frustration with how we measure achievement. This long-simmering frustration was spurred along by some recent input from Dr Ann Milne who has focused the light quite clearly on the total cultural inappropriateness of how we traditionally measure achievement.

I desperately want to find another way of measuring a different, but more appropriate, both culturally and for-the-sake-of-our-planet-and-future-for-our-kids, type of success. I made the mistake of mentioning this at our last BOT meeting so this challenge has now been formalised into my appraisal!

A couple of days ago I sent out the following tweet:

I have been inundated with suggestions and support with many wanting to be part of the conversation. I'm collecting all of the responses with the hashtag #gradprofile  and would welcome more contributors.

Then amongst all this excitement I wake to read in the NZ Herald a story under the headline Wellington School to completely drop NCEA in favour of Cambridge exams. The principal's comment that her school would be "the first in Wellington to drop NCEA" reminded me of the Monty Python 100m dash for people with no sense of direction when one of the competitors headed off in the opposite direction. (Go on! Watch it!). She was also quoted as saying that amongst her students she "saw lethargic practice" and that her learners were often saying "achieved is enough." I respectfully suggest that it is not the qualification that determines practice or learning motivation, it is the culture of a school and it's approach to the design of learning. At the conclusion of the article she states she is "pretty confident they will do really, really well." I'm sure they'll do really, really well in Cambridge. I hope they'll do really, really well in the world described so well by Valerie Hannon.

At least the principal claims she's "not afraid to take a step forward"! I suppose it's all about what you are moving forward to.

Great conversations!