National Standards

Whilst I have been working hard to not spend unnecessary time and energy around debating the pros and cons of our new national standards, it seems that it is a hard topic to escape from. I have been in 3 principals’ meetings this week where it was the only subject of discussion and visitors to our school today asked me outright for my opinion. So what do I think?
As always in debates such as this one, there is merit on both sides of the coin. While I join with many of my colleagues in my nervousness about the consequences of such a system, in my own personal experience as a school principal the concept of standards (or a more favourable word—expectations) has actually resulted in overall school improvement.
Yes it is true that the experiences in the UK and the US are not great and all of us should take heed of the lessons to be learned. Yes it is true that the standards will not be totally valid nor 100% reliable—this is exactly why they should not be called standards. However, having lived with our own school-based expectations for the past 10 years and having reported using a 5 point scale, based on these expectations, I would have to say that there have been some positives around this practice. While our own system was definitely not a “pure science”—it did trigger 2 positive consequences—the simple act of naming where each child was at, sharpened each teacher’s practice and the use of the generated data affected the manner in which school-wide decisions related to resourcing and funding were made.
If only a version of this experience could occur across the country, then all of our children would be better for it. However and this is a big however, this would need to occur within an overall positive learning community, not one where all of the participants are polarized around opposite points of view. What a shame all of the various stakeholders across our very small country could not have got together to work out a way forward. Let’s hope that there is still space for this to occur.

A Graduation Experience

Participated in my own capping ceremony yesterday and what a great time we all had. It is interesting to reflect upon the experience, especially the question of whether all that pomp and ceremony is relevant in this day and age. It would be easy to say no, there is no connection in today’s fast-paced, digital world to the historic rituals of trencher donning in gowns and hoods. However after participating in such an event, I would have to say that for a brief period of time to engage oneself in this world of academia was indeed a thrill. There seemed to be something really heart-warming about following the traditions of those who have gone before, engaging in a context that has survived many a year. It caused me to reflect on the importance of the rituals we follow in our school—such events as assemblies, welcomes, farewells and traditions that have become embedded into the fabric of school life. They do have their place; they form a sense of timelessness and security for students and adults alike. This is a good reminder to reflect upon the next time a school practice is terminated just because we’ve being doing it for a while. Traditions and rituals are about belonging, not to be under-rated in importance.

Adult Learning

What a fabulous example of effective adult learning I experienced on Fri/ Sat at the AppleITSC Conference here in Auckland. The 2 days sped by with my engagement on full steam for the whole time. One could not help but reflect on what it was that made it such a successful learning experience and how this could or should impact on future adult professional learning experiences that I organize here at school.
Firstly there was a well balanced combination of input from experts and thought-provokers, time to experiment and “get ones hands dirty” so to speak and also time to chat and network with others around you. Catering for different learning styles was well managed and balanced within the physical set up of the space provided. Large bean bags, circular tables and the like were mixed together with couches and singular seats to cater for all. Keyboards and i-phones clicked away as others spoke acknowledging the fact that engagement does not always mean silent eye contact.
Sessions where the learners could make their own choices as to what they wanted to focus on were the norm, allowing everyone to pick and choose their own learning needs. Most importantly experts were on hand to provide support and advice whenever required. This was done for even the ignoramus types like myself, who may have been too embarrassed to ask in other contexts.
Congrats to the organizers, it was time well spent! I will think hard on it, when planning our next PD.

Developing resilient students

Back to blogging finally! As I have been experiencing the merry-go-round ride of trying to sell ones house, I have also been reflecting on the importance of resiliency as a valuable human competency. That ability to pick your-self up when the going is not so good and keep on task or stay focused no matter what appears to me to be in high demand and of extreme importance in today’s world. When I think about those around me who seem to be making a success of life, I am in awe of the sense of resilience that they seem to have as an embedded characteristic—how is it developed? And why do some people seem to have more of it than others?
At our school, we are intentionally going about ensuring that our students learn how to be competent citizens of the future world—we focus them on what we have called the qualities of lifelong learning—questioning, making connections, persevering, sets goals and plans, reflects and takes risks. But what about the ability to be resilienct—some of us are wondering whether it is missing. Is it something that can be taught?
At our high decile school, we often observe the phenomena of “helicopter parents” those that hover so closely over their children protecting them from all that could do harm. Are these the same children who never get to participate in the experience of having to be resilient. I am interested in a book written by New Zealand authors, Tania Roxborough and Kim Stephenson, Raising Resilient Children, however before that I need to practise what I preach and be resilient and sell my house!!!

Change Management

Change management!!! Oh how I wish it was esy as it sounds. There are many models of change management e.g. Kurt Lewin’s unfreeze, change and refreeze version, John Kotter’s model and also the one well-known in education, action research. Kotter’s 2007 article on Why Transformational Efforts Fail really resonates with me. When I consider all of the various changes we have implemented at school, I see now why some were more successful than others. In fact on reflection I would say I have been lucky to get away with some efforts without mass mutiny!! Creating a sense of urgency is vital and I note that this is what we did quite well when we reviewed the students’ understanding of learning—what occurred was they had a very behavioural view of learning and this was a shock to most of the staff. It meant that some of our teaching practices had to change and had to change fast! A great sense of urgency. Other changes in the school that have been failed mostly to move from the “have to do” to the “want to do” I now realize haven’t had the same buy-in from the staff and the same sense of urgency over the proposed action.
Not having a powerful enough guiding coalition is another major problem in change management and it is here that we are indeed very fortunate—all of us at the leadership level are very united in our mission to bring about transformational change. A major tick for us. A strong vision is another plus area for Red Beach School, in fact the school’s vision which was built from the floor up is the key to the school’s current success. However under-communication can trip anyone up and my own personal dilemma with this is its relentless need—I almost get tired of trotting out the same old lines, however the audience—new students, new staff and new parents are forever changing and do need to be communicated to.
Removing obstacles to the vision is another area of potential stickiness and sometimes these are in places that are most undefined, such as inside your own head—good to watch out for this! Creating short-term wins is another vital element—got to keep up the celebrations and keep up the credit where credit is due. Declaring victory too soon is another potential cross—we have achieved much but also have much to achieve—good to watch out for the complacency that early success can encourage! And last but not least is not totally embedding the changes into the organization’s culture—interesting for our school—I wonder how others now interpret the school’s vision and what it actually means and what it requires of teachers. Interesting!
Great to be more knowledgeable about change processes—hopefully I won’t make so many blunders in the future!

Innovation or stability? or both?

Blue Ocean strategy!! Golly gosh, how interesting! This strategy used in the world of business has been the topic of my recent reading, aligned to certain New Zealand businesses and what makes them successful. The narrative of Kim Crawford wines is intriguing, especially when you consider where and how they started out. What is it that enables some businesses to flourish and succeed and others to become an “also ran”? A big message for myself from the KCW case is the importance of developing relationships, this is of course vital in the world of education. However interestingly in our world we tend to hide behind the need to be collegial and have positive working relationships and shy away from relationships that are based upon honesty. As per the work of Argyis and Schon, these are called model 2 or open to learning relationships.
I have thought a lot recently about why the world of education holds on so tightly to maintaining stability within its infrastructure. In my discussion with colleagues I believe the following 4 variables have a lot to do with this. Firstly, in schools the product is not a commodity and the business model is not about making money; whatever happens affects other peoples’ children and there is a subsequent hesitation to experiment with something so precious. Secondly, those who enter the teaching profession do seem to be cautious and risk-adverse by their very nature; perhaps this is an outcome of the nineties where accountability and measurable outcomes reigned. Thirdly, schools are responsive to the communities they serve and within those communities are literally hundreds of personnel who have all experienced over 15,000 hours of compulsory education themselves. The result of this is that there are many “experts” within the industry, and many who would prefer things to stay the same. The statement “my schooling never did any harm, so why would you want something different” is a shared value within many parent-led bodies. Finally schools have been around in their current form for quite a while and this concept of isomorphism that we have recently learned of is alive and well within education. Coercive isomorphism occurs when there is control from a central force, as there is from central government. Schools are expected to deliver that which the ministry deems to be important and the push becomes one of stability rather than innovation.
It is interesting to me, as the new world is reliant on the development of employees with the right sort of skills and dispositions, yet our education system is caught in a paradigm where traditional skills and qualifications are the mark of success. What a paradox!!

What makes a great organization!

I listened to Steve Newman previously from NZ iconic company NavMan recently. What an amazing story! And obviously a pretty awesome businessman, who together with Peter Maire turned their own innovative ideas into a very successful business. I was interested in his comments around having staff that are a balance between “ideas” people and those who were able to measure the risk—I would totally agree with him and have been thinking a lot about the make up of our own staff and how you do need a combination of both types—innovators and stabilizers! I love this quote given to us in class: “Without order nothing can exist, without chaos nothing can evolve.”
I also really liked his narrative around what they did to build a solid staff culture—monthly whole staff meetings, 1 cafeteria for all, employee of the month schemes. Ultimately I would say it was the clash of cultures that occurred after Brunswick bought out NavMan that caused the greatest problems. I must get a copy of the book by Daniel Fink “A Whole New Mind”. The youtube site http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhKLSTBSgwI
of Daniel speaking is great to listen to, especially around his concerns about the education system.