Seeing the View from the ‘Top of the First Hill’: MOE Kahui Ako Leaders Day 29th May

Sonya caught Mary Chamberlain for a photo with some members of her fan club.

From Left: Clara Kim, Leigh Duncan, Mark Hassall, Alaric Nicholl, Sonya Van Schaijik, Mary Chamberlain, Lisa Murphy, Sue Spencer

The MOE Forum day for Kahui Ako Leaders, 29th May was inspiring and energising. Mary Chamberlain from Evaluation Associates was a highlight for the day. She covered so many ideas, but a stand out for me was her emphasis on the vision and purpose in a Kahui Ako. She emphasised the importance of a shared vision, one that is simply stated and sets up an inspirational challenge for all involved. After Mary’s keynote, the day was structured into six different sessions, each one involving discussion in changing group arrangements. This provided excellent opportunities for sharing experiences and swapping notes with other community leaders. As I shared our progress in Auckland Central, I was reminded that we have rich learning to share with other communities, based on the fact that we were an early adopter of Kahui Ako. Our experiences in the different phases of our development have provided authentic learning and understanding of why we are now in our ‘refreshed’ stage. Brian Annan’s presentations around collective advantage and organisational structures, clarified the fact that our six new initiatives are enabling us to drive change forward in 2018 in the ACCoS. New energy is being generated in our community as learning and practice is shared. Our leadership structures, purpose and roles continue to clarify. I felt that the quote that Mary included on her first slide represents where our community is at right now, “When you reach the top of your first hill your view changes and you see different paths, different possibilities”.  It is exciting to be involved, we are at the ‘frontier’ of change in education right now. ASLs finished the day discussing ideas for next steps in the community.