The Leadership Change: From What You Do to Who You Are

On Thursday, the 5th of September, many members of ACCoS met to engage in two presentations by John Peachey and Chris Bradbeer, respectively, who invited us to reflect on the way we perceive and apply leadership and collaboration in our roles. I believe it is fair to say on behalf of all who attended that we were left challenged to consider how we conduct ourselves as professionals and gained a deeper understanding of the sort of mentality we should strive for concerning these areas.

In the first lecture, titled “We Are Sherpa”, John Peachey took a narrative approach, describing the life and challenges faced by many climbers who have attempted Mount Everest (successfully and not). The ambitions and risk-taking mindsets of these people were inspiring in their own right, as they pushed their physical and psychological boundaries with the full understanding that there would be no help if the slightest mistake lead to their downfall. The success of NZ mountaineer, Edmund Hillary was also explored; not only was his work ethic discussed, but the effective way he used the platform his success placed him on. His leadership in the community parallels with the rules of climbing a mountain: just making it to the top doesn’t count as success. You make it as a team, and the climb doesn’t count unless you make it back down. 

         

Even with the schools he opened, the people he inspired, and other positive outcomes that form his legacy, the key point of Peachey’s message was none of these would have happened if not for his Sherpa, Tenzing. Sherpa are the spiritual keepers of the mountain. Their job is to put their lives on the line so that others can have a moment of glory on the summit. They know the mountains better than anyone else and use their knowledge and ability to lift others into places they can succeed without the spotlight that the hero gets. While there are different leadership styles, and there certainly isn’t anything wrong with having your moment on the summit, as leaders, John’s encouragement is that we seek to be like the Sherpa: humble. Asking ‘how can I help you get there rather than ‘let me show you how it’s done’. A trusted guide.     

 

In a similar vein, Chris Bradbeer discussed the meaning and application of collaboration in the context of education and its significance to leaders. When involving ourselves in projects and initiatives, there are many blockers to successful collaboration, from differing opinions as to what constitutes as progress to the risk of escalated tension. Collectively, we defined collaboration with ideas such as appreciation for others, sharing ownership of ideas, and taking part in discussions. In order for any of these descriptions to be successful in action, the driving component is building trust among those involved; among other ways of building this, they can be well summed up by ensuring there is consistent and effective communication from leaders. This promotes strengthened relationships, which leads to more honest feedback, which results in better decisions made. In order to carry out effective collaboration, it isn’t so much an imperative that everyone agrees; but by taking these measures, you progress in creating an environment where there is an active willingness to support the group’s direction.

While these two seminars were conducted in different styles and focused around different topics, there was a complimentary quality in the way Peachey and Bradbeer encouraged us to be the most effective kind of leader. People lead in different ways, but the tools they presented had a common emphasis on the importance of empowering those that you interact with. By doing so, leadership changes from what you do to who you are.  

By Tim Bartja, In-School Leader, ANI

Complex Times: More than just a leader with Tom Hoerr

Keynote 1: Tom Hoerr 

On August 20th, Learning Network NZ put on a conference for middle leaders entitled “Complex times: More than just a leader. Tom Hoerr was the first keynote speaker, and below is a summary of his presentation with 5 key take-away lessons. 

At the outset, Tom made it clear as to his “biases” as he called them. Tom believes that:

• Teachers make the school
• A leaders job is to facilitate and support everyone's growth in the school
• A leaders job is not to make teachers happy, but to make teachers grow
• Leaders are change agents

Tom then asked the audience: “What if staff meetings were voluntary”?

Who would attend? Why would they be there? Who wouldn't and why not? How can this type of thinking influence leadership within our schools?

Using French and Raven’s 5 forms of power framework as a basis, Tom added a 6th and very important source of power, relationship power (also referred to elsewhere as relational trust).

Social Power

People do our bidding in response to various forms of social power:|

• Reward power (diminishes over time)
• Coercive power (diminishes over time)
• Legitimate power (ie by position such as principal or DP)
• Referent power - (ie charisma)
• Expert power (ie expertise)
• Relationship power

Tom then systematically went through 5 key lessons: 

1. Focus on the positive (Rule of 5)

Based on the work of the Gottman Institute, there is evidence to suggest a “magic ratio” of positive to negative comments to build and maintain relationships. This ratio is 5 compliments to 1 criticism. That 1 criticism however also covers neutral comments and missed opportunities. For example, if a principal walks into a classroom where a teacher is leading an amazing lesson or trying something new or challenging and the principal fails to comment on it, that missed opportunity is effectively the same as a criticism. Maintaining a 5:1 ratio is essential for all positive relationships - whether they are personal or professional. 

2. Mistakes can be good

Making a mistake is not always a bad thing. In fact, some mistakes are to be encouraged! Imagine this for example: A moderately sized school where Senior Leadership observe every staff member teaching as part of their appraisal process, leaders already know they are going to see high quality teaching and learning when they walk into certain classrooms. Those top 20% of teachers however are the ones most at risk of stagnating. What if the senior leaders said to them in advance, “I want to come and see you make a mistake” - what message does that convey to those teachers? It has been said that if you are not making mistakes, you are not trying hard enough. Isn't that what we tell our kids? Growth without mistakes is somewhat limited. There are three types of mistakes we can make as teaching professionals - which ones are you making?

Kinds of mistakes	What they mean	What they are
OLD mistakes	Repeat errors. Lack of learning	Dumb
NO mistakes	Error free - but no learning	Not smart
NEW mistakes	Trying new ideas	Brave and wise

3. Decision Making

Think of a decision that “inflamed” staff at your school - that caused friction. How much of the upset was about the decision itself, and how much was about HOW that decision was handled and communicated? Often leaders put a lot of thought into WHAT is decided, whereas in actual fact it is often more important to consider the HOW of decision making. Decisions can empower or reduce people and it is human nature that we implement best that which we helped to frame. Good decision-making is done with intent and transparency. If school leaders have decisions to make, what sort of decisions are they? Are they your decisions, my decisions or our decisions? Ensuring clarity around who decides can avoid unnecessary conflict amongst staff.

4. Drop your Tools

This lesson centered around the true story group of “smoke jumpers” (highly trained parachuting firefighters) in Mann Gulch, USA, in 1949. A large forest fire broke out, and a newly assembled team of professionals were flown in to control the blaze. They jumped from a higher altitude than usual to avoid turbulent winds and high levels of smoke. The radio was damaged in the drop, so they lost communications from the outset. Additional to this, the fire separated the men. Each firefighter was carrying their usual equipment set, weighing in at just over 20kg worth. They initially thought the fire was relatively easily controllable, but later found it was anything but. 

High winds meant that the fire was advancing at a rate of 200 meters per minute and the flame front was over 10m tall. It soon became obvious that these men were in a race for their lives. The leader made the call “drop tools and run for your lives!” Sadly, the first part of that message was lost, and all bar 2 attempted to outrun the fire still carrying all their equipment. “Drop tools” was not a command or strategy they were familiar with - it was not an instruction they had trained for. All except 2 of those smoke jumpers perished in the fire as they were unable to move quickly enough through the long slippery grass while still carrying 20kg worth of kit. 

What lessons can we take from this?
Firstly, these highly trained professionals relied on their tools to perform their jobs and indeed to save lives. There was no shared understanding of the problem and the response that it required. As it turned out, most of the crew didn't even recognise the problem until it was too late, and they paid the ultimate price. Additional to the lack of shared understanding, there was also unclear communication. The firefighters became separated by the blaze, and this separation, the damaged radio equipment, and the noise and pressure of the situation meant that the “drop tools” message was not clearly and adequately communicated. Lastly, the “drop your tools” order was counter-intuitive. “Which tools? Why? Where do I drop them.” 

So to bring this back to a teaching and leading context:

1. What are the implications for leaders of schools?

2. What are our tools? (as middle leaders)

3. What are their tools? (as teachers

5. Excellence vs Perfection

The final lesson was entitled “excellence or perfection” and it centered around a school cafeteria. At this school, the principal was having problems getting the students to stack their food trays after lunch. Approximately 95% of students did do the right thing and tidy up after themselves, however the remaining 5% left a mess and additional work for the cafeteria staff. As annoying as this, the question becomes, what lengths do you need to go to in order to achieve perfection - the full 100%? Would getting total compliance mean that school leaders had to be punitive to the detriment of the 95% who were already compliant? So this begs the question - when is excellent enough. When can we forgo the ideal of perfection and settle for excellent? This is a question that applies to teachers and educational leaders alike, the world over.

Want to read more by Tom Hoerr? Try these two texts:

Alaric Nicholls
Across Schools Leader
September 2019

A Culture of Wellbeing

The existence of education, and its conduit: school, serve a variety of purposes. While these may differ around the world, the sentiments are often similar. In New Zealand, the Ministry of Education hopes that places of learning provide those who learn within them have the ability to: “seize the opportunities offered by new knowledge and technologies (in order) to secure a sustainable social, cultural, economic, and environmental future for our country”. Additionally, “students will continue to develop the values, knowledge, and competencies that will enable them to live full and satisfying lives” while being “confident, connected, actively involved, and lifelong learners.''

These goals sit alongside a growing body of ambitions that aim to positively impact the entirety of our young people. These ambitions may appear overzealous but their reality is achievable and in order to attain these goals, there’s a concerted effort required from those involved in the learning of our young people. One of the goals at the forefront of education is wellbeing which has seen a rise in positive psychology (dubbed positive education within our sector) initiatives and ideas. 

The current challenge with positive psychology lies within the complexity of educational settings and the factors that contribute to its complex nature. It is these factors which may appear to make it difficult to implement simple interventions. Despite the resonance of this movement with teachers and professional educators, a subtle misconception that these ideas will be easily replicated, effective and implemented neatly add unnecessary frustration to necessary work. It’s important to note that while change is “often messy and disorganised, with growth in unexpected areas, and numerous unintentional consequences”,  the change is not lessened in its impact or need, especially change which is attempting to improve the wellness of our tamariki. The importance and benefit of wellbeing juxtaposed with the complexity of implementation begs the question: “what contributes to this complexity?”

In their article ‘Positive Education: Learning and Teaching for Wellbeing and Academic Mastery’, Matthew White and Margaret L. Kern, suggest that “rhetoric can run ahead of the science” with numerous programs offering silver bullets which lead to confusion around which programs should be selected. White and Kern note that “activity is not the same as impact” so it’s important when identifying and selecting initiatives that they’re not only supported by evidence but their application, and the effort required by educators is considered so that they can be rolled out in the most efficient and practical way.

While empiricism and practicality are worthy of mentioning, one of the biggest determinants to success are which pathway the initiative falls within i.e. taught culture and caught culture. The taught culture is purposeful and planned and could involve clear goals outlined in their documentation or a dedicated team of teachers who respond and adapt to the needs of the school. The caught culture “reflects the overall ... feeling or tone of a school”, appearing in the “language used, how staff and students interact with one another, and implicit norms of the school.” 

Culture, though applicable to the nationality or the ethnicity of an individual can also be quantified as the way in which an individual makes sense of their experiences and situations. By this definition, schools have their own cultures and this is either intentionally created or arises naturally. This culture, whether purposefully crafted or innately found, can be foundational in the development of a student’s lens, empowering them to perceive themselves and their world positively, impacting on every facet of an individual.

In light of this, it’s easy to understand why schools are seen as one of the first lines of defence against languishing wellness and highlights the importance of schools selecting initiatives which align with their naturally caught culture or directly impact their intentionally taught culture. “Positive education has considerable potential, but must be studied, applied and managed in a responsible manner.” As you explore what wellness looks like for your young people and how you can contribute to this, and whether you should focus more on ideas that fit within your caught or taught culture, research suggests that both of these have their place, their role and identifiable pros and cons. However, the greatest path forward involves a combination of approaches that fit within both pathways. 

With this in mind, we see that wellness for each and every person is ambitious but not out of reach. In this world of wellbeing, I hope that your endeavours are both purposeful and successful.

Inspiring colleagues in Digital Technologies and Hangarau Matihiko

Link to Slideshow

On Wednesday, 4th September we were fortunate to have Clive Francis from Core Education host a Takatū ā-Matihiko Technologies meet-up at Newmarket School. Four members of our staff attended the meeting including our Digital Technology leader and one of our Across School leaders and one of our In School Leaders. It was a really valuable meeting and great to see all the other teachers from other schools in our Auckland Central Community of School Kāhui Ako as well as other schools in the Auckland area.

Digital Curriculum Implementation Team

First we discussed who would be needed for an effective digital curriculum team in the school - who to get on board. We did an activity where we needed to sort through a variety of different personality options and roles and decide who we would put on a team. We decided on a member of management, some teachers of different digital capabilities and possible a keen parent.

Setting the Scene for Staff

Next we went over how we would set the scene for staff. We needed to consider what has changed and what it means for them.

Some of the ideas and feedback were:

●      Look at individual feelings about DT - what are my worries, what are my questions, what do I know/use already. Use this information to develop further discussions and PD about DT.

●      Educating teachers about the Unplugged activities - run the activities with teachers. Eg fruit exchange circles/lines and ensuring they understand how digital curriculums can make teaching/learning more effective.

●      Digital ambassadors for each year group? They could include students in their understanding/meet with students to come up with more ideas and further understanding of where to next. Then share back to the Digital Curriculum team.

●      We could have a shared document sharing information about the curriculum, resources, ideas, what teams are doing, next steps etc. Kish reminded us that we have a document already but that staff may not be aware or using it. Link Here.

●      A “Techie Brekkie” was held at another school. Optional breakfast for staff where they could bring their concerns/questions to the table and have conversations with leaders who could help out in a less formal setting than a staff meeting.

Enablers & Blockers to implementing the Digital Curriculum

We were asked to consider what enablers and blockers we had at our school when it comes to implementing the new Digital Curriculum.

Enablers

●      Supportive Parent community

●      Many staff are keen to learn

●      Digital team - Kish & Sonya who have lots of knowledge and passion for the subject

●      Staff have completed digital passport

●      We have access to a number of resources both digital and physical

●      Good support for infrastructure - Newerait etc

●      DT is focussed in our strategic plan

Blockers

●      Time for staff to upskill

●      Time management - timetabling, assessment, reporting - fitting it in etc

●      Difficult to manage lack of buy-in/understanding of the curriculum area

●      What resources do we have? Are we all aware of what we have, where it is, how to use it, what is available? Where do we find time to discover all of this?

Digital Curriculum School Planning

As a Digital Curriculum team, we need to assess all planning strands and prioritise what is important for us to focus on. We assessed as a table group and then collated data from all schools and prioritized as a whole group to get an idea on what other schools were prioritising. The key aspect that most schools found challenging was Intentional Leadership, followed by Genuine Learning Partnerships (Across-school Communication) and Expanded Teacher Capacity (Professional Development). This could lead us as a school to understand what our priorities should be when moving forward in planning our next steps.

Some Suggested Resources

-       https://kiatakatu.ac.nz/members/profile

-       DITTA (digital technology teachers of Aotearoa) - free library with digital technology resources.

-       TENZ( Technology Educators of NZ)

-       Self review - core education. Staff members to complete.

-       https://getready.iqualify.com/login

-       https://getready.iqualify.com/home

-       The Orange Game

-       RoadMap

-       CS Unplugged activities

-       https://lightbot.com/flash.html

Overall, the Kia Takatū digital technologies meet-up was very helpful in assisting our digital leaders see a clear pathway on how to create and implement a plan for integrating the Digital Technologies curriculum. We now understand why we need an effective team to work on the plan and what steps we can take to implement it over the next few years in our school.

Advocacy activities:

-       CS Unplugged

WTN

Potential Goals and Action Template

Draft planning template

Strategic Thinking Roadmap.

Written by  
Fiesole Marks