He waka eke noa. We are all in this together
The conference theme was: He Waka Eke Noa- we are in this together with an emphasis on
‘Together’:
● Let’s
learn
● Let’s
create a network of support with meaningful and lasting connections
● Let’s
challenge each other and have robust discussions as change leaders
The pair had built a conference site so all
information was transparent.
The Conference Focus was:
● Leading
in a space of disruption.
● Leading
and building a new way of being for education in our community.
● Sharing
and celebrating the success of Kāhui Ako journeys so far.
Opening
of the conference
The conference
opened with a mihi and a blessing for the day, the venue, people who organsied
the event, attended and people who have passed on.
Keynote speaker
Te Keynote
Speaker was Ann Milne @ann_milne who began the conference and focussed on
- ● Leading
in a space of disruption.
- ● Leading
and building a new way of being for education in your community.
Anne spoke in her usual ‘gritty’ way and
challenged us to identify, understand, and then dismantle all the ‘sharks’ that
eat up our children in the system that we know as education and yet many
identify as the school to prison pipeline.
She challenged us to question targeting ‘Maori
Boys Writing’ and Why not white boys writing. Ann steered us
towards eliminating white spaces in our practice by asking us to identify where
we sat on her Action Continuum. Ann emphasised that
collaboration needs to be brutally honest about our system and challenged us as
leaders to return to our spaces and find ways that our Maori learners can lean
as Maori. She pushed us to think with
culturally sustaining pedagogy and to move
● beyond
culturally responsive,
● beyond
critical thinking,
● beyond
initiatives,
● beyond
thinking just about better relationships.
We were directed to deliberately teach social
justice and to sustain & revitalise culture.
Jessica and Louse
created a ‘World Cafe’ where we were provided with the opportunity to ask
questions and have discussions and share with other Kāhui Ako Across School
Leads. Below is a list of Across School Leaders I managed to take a photo of
their details.
Thought Leaders
We were provided with an opportunity to hear
from thought leaders and I chose Rosalie Reiri @RReiri who
spoke about Culturally Responsive Leadership.
● How
culturally responsive is your leadership?
● How
culturally responsive is your community’s way of being?
● How
can you lead from the front and be part of forging this path for your Kāhui
Ako?
Rosalie asked us to draw a map of our schools
and then to colour in any spaces that had Maori artefacts or were dedicated to
Maori Learning. I identified that our new build was better than our old but we
still have a journey ahead of us.
My take away from Rosalie’s session was timely
because at my school we are designing next years learning and I have been
working with a group of student leaders to hear their voice about what they
want to be learning about. Our overarching theme can be hugely influenced by ‘Place
based learning.’
Sharing Stories
from Session One
Abstract
Our Kāhui Ako has been going
for two years. We would share how we are building relationships, developing
action plans and connecting communities in our community. Each Kāhui Ako is
unique to the region and the schools that make it up. However there are certain
universal truths and best practice that can be applied to most areas. We will
share, explore and expose why we made key decisions, and what the outcomes
were. We will unpack our journey, keeping sight on our focus: writing and
maths, and te reo Māori and Learning Support. Our session would be flexible,
with time for discussion, sharing and Q and A. The learning outcomes
would be to build on cooperative, collegial and collaborative learning amongst
Kāhui Ako leaders.
Takeaways:
● Emphasis
on Te Reo Maori
● Learning
Progression Framework used in all schools
● Importance
of across schools moderation
● RTLBs
are invited to all Cluster Across School Meetings
Sharing Stories
from Session Two
I supported our session shared by some of our
Across School Leaders from the Auckland Central Community of Schools.
Alaric, Catherine, Erin, Leigh, Lisa, Sue, Andy, Sonya
Abstract
The Auckland Central
Community of Schools has successfully worked together for over three years. The
initial purpose of our Across School work was to build collaboration within the
community to meet our shared achievement challenges. Our In School and Across
School Leaders drive the work of ACCoS through six focus
initiatives which schools
align themselves with according to their charter and strategic goals. Strong
professional relationships are at the heart of our work, with a continual focus
on learners, their families and whānau, colleagues, board members, other
professionals and various groups in our community. Each initiative has run in a
slightly different way; we will share the story of where we have come from and
of how we have moved forward in 2018 on the themes of Working with the Learner,
Teacher Agency, Learner Agency, Writing, Oral Language and Maths.
Guest Panel
After the
sharing sessions a guest panel of principals had been invited to share their
views around around the conference theme. They shared their tips, secrets and
wise words of wisdom for overcoming challenges when working in a space of
disruption.
Principal
|
Twitter Handle
|
School
|
Claire Amos
|
|
Albany Senior College
|
Maurie Abraham
|
|
Hobsonville Point Secondary School
|
Andy Kai Fong
|
|
Haeata Community Campus
|
Nicola Ngarewa
|
|
Patea Area School & Spotswood College
|
Natasha Hemara
|
|
Rototuna Senior High School
|
Steve Saville
|
|
Rolleston College
|
Takeaways
My learning from the conference was how
amazing to see so many Kāhui Ako leads in one place. This was a first for
Across School Leaders. How absolutely fabulous to meet another pair of
inspirational educators who had a dream and saw it through so a special thanks
and mention again of Jessica Stokes
@stokesjnz and Louise Geck
@LouiseGeck. The conference
site for information was really important for ongoing communication and they
just knew that. Both across schools leaders are from Albany Senior College. A
thanks must also go to their school, staff and board of trustees for supporting
them in ensuring today ran smoothly. Yes I noticed the behind people beavering
away too. A special mention too of their tech students who were on standby to
ensure that all systems were operating.
From our own ACCoS Team, I was super proud of
them agreeing to share our journey and they did a fabulous job.
Finally a call to everyone to continue to
connect, learn and share your journeys in a public way via a blog, sites or
youtube so that the rest can check it out who are not in the same Kāhui Ako.
Where to next:
Where to next, let us continue to develop
these cross groups so that we can continue to share from and with each other
for the benefit of our learners.
If you have not heard
about our ACCoS Google Hangout, then check it out.
Date: Tuesday Week 6 Tuesday 20th of
November
Virtual:via Youtube
Time: 3.30- 4.30pm
Focus:ASL Sharing
initiatives
Attendance:
for the session you will be
placed in a draw to win a paper copy of
