A sprinkle of curiosity

Over the course of the last few months I have had to reflect upon our journey here at CAS throughout the last three years.  So much has changed.  This has been change that needed to occur and also change that was believed to be in the best interests of the students at this kura, and the community. Funny how when you look back you forget the good things that have occured and more easily focus on some of the harder times.  Taking these hard times personally is something that I am learning to let go of.  Refocusing my internal reflection to sound more like 'okay, thats happened, so what now, where are we at now'.   Last night we had a great staff meeting.  Firstly, each SLT member took an aspect of it.  All five of us had a role to play and the best thing was that we all had a very different way of presenting and leading discussion.   Starting with ABL was a great idea, and we often forget to add this sort of thing into meetings when we are...

Leading Deep Conversations in Collaborative Inquiry Groups Key points: Need to probe deeply into teaching and learning through collegial dialogue (not just sharing stories of practice). Don't allow detouring away from the issues at hand. Avoid just skimming the surface of a problem & polite conversation. Make the time for this professional dialogue to occur. Start with a shared vision for what you would like to see happening eg. shared vision of student learning, or positive behaviour.  Use this vision to identify gaps. Identify a specific inquiry focus to work on and collect & analyse data on. Ask and pursue questions about learning goals, instructional practice and outcomes for students. 'Deep Talk' (Himley 1991): reflective or descriptive process (see and re-see). For impact to occur the conversational shift must go from sharing to inquiring. Need to lift teachers ability to have evidence-based dialogue.  If you have 'congenial school cultures' (Lieberman...

Purpose - improve student outcomes through identifying and addressing areas for improvement and create knowledge about what works, for which students and why. Motivation to improve outcomes for ALL learners must be the driver for internal evaluation to be effective. Strategic Evaluation - Related to vision/values/goals/targets.  Are we realising these, is progress being made? Schoolwide, involve community, in-depth, take time. Example Q:  'To what extent are ALL our learners experiencing success?'   Regular Evaluation - Everday business as usual evaluations/inquiries to asses effectiveness of programmes or interventions. Vary in scope & depth and feedback into strategic/annual plans. Example Q: 'How effective are our strategies for accelearating the progress of target learner?'. Emergent Evaluation - response to unforeseen issues/events. Arise due to noticings, being aware, routine scanning or monitoring. Example Q: 'What is happening here and is this okay?...

Yesterday was the start of the journey for me.  Creating and leading a well functioning and trusting team.  I'm not using the words 'creating and leading' in a sense that it is all about me, and all about what I think this team should look like.  But in the end, as much as I am a part of this team, I am also at the end of the day responsible for how this team operates and am accountable to the BoT (and other staff) to ensure we are a TEAM.  Last week I shared with the team both the current ERO review report and a reading given to me, ' Cultural relationships for Relational Pedagogy '.  We met with our ERO facilitator online yesterday and the ERO report was broken down for us. Each aspect was clarified and further meaning and insight added.  We were then given time to give our perspective on the findings.   Everyone in the team spoke, and it felt like the answers were real and truthful.  There were no big question marks from anyone, and there ...

  Building individual and collective capacity amongst staff through collaboration and coaching.  This is one of the main things that improves teaching and learning.  Don't be the expert with the answers.  Engage in an inquiry process.  Here's the funny thing about that.  I don't ever feel like the expert, in fact I think I try to come up with answers so that I feel like I have some expertise.  Isn't that what Principal's should have?  Now I need to deliberately not do this, and therefore feel more like an emposter than ever?  This is where it gets hard.  This is I am going to have to 'believe in the coaching process' if I am to succeed.   What does good coaching look like? Build independence not dependence (don't be the expert). Build collaborative norms together: understanding roles & responsiblilities Trust & respect must be present through building strong relationships Negotiate the ethics of the process eg. confiden...

  I've been trying to do some reading on being a good 'coach'.  Not a sports coach, but a learning coach.  Although, now that I've started to learn about it, the two are quite similar, well at the higher end of sport coaching anyway, when players have the skill sets and conditioning as top athletes, and need someone to work with them to unlock their power!  I hate sport coaching.  Ive coached netball for years, and I'm no good.  I know netball!  I know top level netball!  I know how to be a team player! But I don't know how to get the best out of my own team, apart from try to ' tell them ' what to do and show them how to do it.  Is that my first problem.......trying to get them to play through my eyes, through my strategies, through my game-plan?  I mean, I played many seasons of top level netball, so I must know it all........ right? And there lies my first real understanding of why my current SLT is not as successful, high functionin...

The following reading was given to me to share with my SLT and use as a starting point for unpacking what an Epic Leader and and Epic Leadership Team look like/sound like/feel like/act like.  Cultural Relationshipos for Responsive Pedagogy - A bicultural mana orite perspective.  Mere Berryman, Dawn Lawrence, and Robbie Lamont It can be found at NZCER. This article reframe the discussions around cultural responsive and relational pedagogy.  The authors do this by renaming this space cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy. They bring relational and responsive pedagogy together. This is meant to be an and/and model with both componesnt being interdependent . It discusses learning relationships from a bicultural, mana orite perspective .   Something which I am still getting my head around understanding, so that the words 'lip-service' and 'tokenism' don't get associated with our kura. Below are the key points and that I took out of the article in relation to wo...

Cultural Responsiveness and Relational Pedagogy  has been one of the key areas of development for our staff over the last 2 1/2 years in particular.  I have been part of our CR&RP team, engaged in all of the professional development offered through our external facilitator, supported staff release to build collective capability, and integrated this pedagogy into our staff appraisal system.   But.  Have I modeled CR&RP as a leader?   Has our SLT team modeled this to our staff?  No. Believe me, it is very hard to state that word.  Its been nearly four years of trying to build an SLT that is trusting of each other, willing to drive initiatives together, and excited to grow both our kura and our collective capability as a team. So why hasn't this happened?  I don't think it has been due to a lack of comittment by any team member to doing their individual best for this school, nor to a dislike or lack of respect for one another. ...

Lockdown 2021 has been rather timely.  After just having completed an ERO Review and receiving the ERO Report last week, it has given me a chance to do a lot of reflecting.  Not easy when what you're reflecting upon is a combination of what you think you achieved over the last three years, versus where you realistically are.  No news to anyone who is in a leadership position that the ability to reflect is one of the fundamental skills that all leaders must possess.  Interesting when you actually research what good reflection looks like, you actually need to reflect upon what you have read about reflection.  It's not just looking at the past, recognising mistakes and hopefully not repeating them. If used well it can be used to reflect upon all actions and outcomes, positive or negative, so that we are more self-aware and it becomes a powerful tool for learning.   I guess its not much use though if the structure or process in which reflection occurs is ...