About Us » Principal’s Sabbatical Report
2009 Sabbatical Report
Teaching Leadership Programme
One of my goals was to complete a Teacher leadership programme to be run in the college for those teachers who are interested.
Improve learning by building our teaching leadership
The outline and plan for 7 workshops on leadership:
- Pono. Educational Leadership- What is it?
- Emotional/Relationship Leadership
- Ako. Knowledge and Management planning
- Leadership Criteria/Skills
- Awhinatanga. Cultural leadership
- Manaakitanga. Moral and ethical leadership
- Leading a Learning Community - common practices of good leaders.
These workshops have been completed and have been delivered to the staff. The resources are available by e-mailing me at school.
Auckland University Educational Leadership Centre
The second goal was to work with David Eddy at the centre and improve my knowledge of pedagogy.
| Strategic Objective | Actions | Outcomes Expected |
|---|---|---|
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Read and clarify information on effective teaching and teachers: Implementing and Sustaining best practice for teaching and teachers by researching: |
Prepare a report for the Board and SLT that outlines the Knowledge and Skills and actions required to implement and sustain quality teaching and teachers (still in process, it will be a Christmas 2009 holiday activity) |
I enjoyed this aspect of the sabbatical and I was fortunate enough to facilitate workshops for Aitken and Sinnema at Christchurch and Auckland. I have that resource material available.
The readings and resources from Hattie, Timperley, and Robinson were excellent and I have used these to develop professional learning programmes for 2010 hopefully using staff to facilitate these activities. The Auckland University Leadership Centre has a workshop on Hattie’s book later this year. I would think that it be vital for educational leaders to attend this session. I found Mazano has similar books out which are easy to read and use in pedagogical understanding and workshop activities. David Eddy’s knowledge and support through the Auckland University Leadership Centre was fantastic.
The third goal was to improve my leadership skills and knowledge of educational pedagogy by attending a course at Harvard.
Leadership: An Evolving Vision- Harvard 2009
www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe
There was a wide variety of topics:
- Christopher Dede “Emerging Technologies and Transformative Education”
- Irma Tyler-Wood “Adaptive Leadership”
- Richard Elmore “Improving the Technical Core: Whats a Leader to do?”
- James Horan “ Aligning Resources to Improve Student Achievement. San Diego Schools”
- Kim Marshall “Effective Use of During-the -Year Assessments”
- Kasturi Rangan. Developing a business model using a eye clinic in India as a case study.
- Robert Kegan. “Including Ourselves in the Improvement Equation: engaging our own immunity to change”
- Kurt Fisher “Brain Scams: Myths and Knowledge about the Brain and Learning”
- Norman Kunc and Emma Van der Klift “Beyond Benevolence: A new Take on Inclusive Education”
- Karen Mapp “The Why, What and How of School, Family and Community Partnerships”
- Jerome Murphy “Going Home and Taking Charge”.
Boston is an older area of the USA with 4.5 million people and at least 4 universities. Harvard is in the suburb of Cambridge and there is a strong sense of tradition where the academic expectations are high. The course participants were from many parts of the world but most (two thirds) were from the USA. The content and readings were generally of a high standard but the presentations were sometimes centred on the lecturer and their dictatorial approach to transmitting information.
I have all the powerpoints and notes and if anything interrests you then I am happy to share them. The educational concepts covered were appropriate (except the financial case study) and the conversations in the professional learning groups were very enlightening. USA has a high stakes testing process and this did dominate some discussions but clearly the Education system in the US rates very low in the PISA study which may be a result of a teaching pedagogy designed towards passing tests rather than a curriculum that expands intellect, problem solving skills, critical thinking and co-operative learning (21st century skills). Following is a written summary of each presentation and I have given an opinion as to the value of the material pertinent to my role as a principal.
Christopher Dede “Emerging Technologies and Transformative Education”
Advanced Information and Communications Technologies are creating an educational system in which students can access and create new ideas and knowledge. In particular students can learn through immerse interactive development strategies such as multi-user virtual environments and augmented realities (based on wireless mobile devices) as these have the potential to aid in sophisticated problem-finding and inquiry skills and these can help students transfer their insights from classroom settings to real world contexts. This session was helpful in understanding how immersive media can aid students’ engagement as well as fostering 21st century skills and transforming learning. Dede’s work challenges modern school leaders to help teachers visualise the technological changes that support learners in a context which will transform the workplace and economy. Emerging interactive media not only empowers countries and companies but also individuals, to collaborate, to accomplish and to learn in new and powerful ways. Web 2.0 is a generation of web based communities and hosted services (blogs, wikis, podcasts, social book marking etc) that allow for creativity, collaboration and sharing.
This session was interesting and gives rise to thoughts about how to manage the realities of teaching in an environment where students’ technological knowledge and expertise should be understood as part of the learning and teaching process. As a school we are going to develop workshops and run our own in-school conference: Strategies for the 21st Century Teacher (Collaborate, Communicate, Innovate).
Irma Tyler-Wood “Adaptive Leadership.”
“You can’t lead where you won’t go……leaders must be perpetual learners to bring about change in others.” A shift in paradigms from the scientific age to the relationship age has meant that leaders need to expand their skill set.
| Scientific Age | Relationship Age |
|---|---|
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Tyler-Wood introduced a leadership model that showed four components
Technical Skills:These are the skills necessary when a problem is clear and the solution can be easily deduced. They are the knowledge and information processes that can be applied to such problems.
Adaptive Skills:These skills are those that are necessary when the problem isn’t clear and the solution is not obvious. In order to solve the problem, the leader must engage those who have the problem in the problem solving.
Inner Work:The capacity to engage in deep inner exploration and reflection that leads to increased self-awareness, empathy, insight and self-mastery.
Outer Work:The capacity to act competently in achieving results; the effective application of inner work, technical and adaptive skills to the external world.
Tyler-Wood brought together an understanding of emotional intelligence (the ability to manage ourselves and our relationships effectively) with leadership style assessment (commanding, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, coaching) and the way these effect climate and performance. Any change that happens should be negotiated not imposed.
www.kithoughtbridge.com
Richard Elmore “Improving the Technical Core: What’s a Leader to do?”
Elmore puts instruction improvements at the centre of any school improvement. School leaders should go beyond structural change to actually influencing what happens in the classroom. Increases in student learning will occur as a consequence of improvement in the level of content, teacher’s knowledge and student engagement. If you change one element then you must make changes to the other two if improved student outcomes are to be sustainable. The tasks we set predict performance. The real accountability systems are in the tasks we ask students to do. Students learn to do the work by doing the work. Each lesson should have a high level of cognitive demand and each student should have excellent cognitive strategies to help them learn.
Teacher instruction or quality teacher practice empowers others to improve. It has been shown that it matters five times more which teacher a student has as to the school they go to. Education is a profession without a practice (the way teaching instruction works best), every teacher is given the social authority to do what they like. Schools can build a practice that everyone knows and shares and this culture can improve what actually happens in the classroom. Professionalism does not mean autonomy it means collective and collaborative mechanisms give better outcomes. Leaders and teachers should distribute the control and accept that a group’s ability to solve problems is superior to any individual. What does effective group work look like? Diversity in a group is difficult but important. Top performing groups value difference and evidence over experience.
Schools can improve by having the philosophy of being a learning organisation where culture (shared beliefs about student learning, excellent pedagogical knowledge, norms for group work, discourse about practice, mutual accountability and distributed leadership) drives the work.
Richard Elmore is contracted by the Victorian State Education Department and runs a school improvement project for the 2000 schools. His book “When Accountability Knocks Will anyone Answer?” in School Reform From the Inside Out: Policy, Practice and Performance, is essential reading for all interested in school support. Another article that summarises his work is by City, Elmore, Fiarman and Lee: “The Instructional Core, in Instructional Rounds” (Harvard Educational Press, April 2009.)
James Horan: Aligning Resources to Improve Student Outcomes.
This session used a case study to focus on the challenge of linking financial resources and student achievement.
Resources -Activities-Outputs-Outcomes-Impact
Key considerations
This session used a case study to focus on the challenge of linking financial resources and student achievement.
Resources -Activities-Outputs-Outcomes-Impact
Key considerations
- How do the financial resources work?
- Can we use the resources differently?
- How do we deal with declining resources?
- How do you link the resources to the Plan?
- What is the connection between resources and results?
The USA model is different from New Zealand schools (we have more autonomy) as the American system has an extra layer of bureaucracy so schools have their resources allocated from people who have very little understanding of the culture of the learning establishment. These schools are restricted by one shoe fits all scenario.
The model was ok but much of this presentation did not relate to New Zealand schools. Some of the outcomes (which are really reflective questions:
- Why are we continuing to manage our resources this way?
- Do these decisions fit with our long-term vision for our students?
- Complex and tough decisions need to be made in different economic conditions.
- Your decisions will impact longer than your tenure, so ensure your decisions reflect the philosophy of a learning organisation.
- Have you fully understood the needs of your community?
- How do you figure out what works and doesn’t work and do you measure the outcomes?
- How diligent are you? (Attending to things in sufficient detail and this is fiendishly hard.)
- Are you using ingenuity, that is recognising failure, examine it and make change?
- How do you know you have done right?
The case study extended to explaining 3 key reform elements: Professional development, curriculum framework and extra resources to low performing schools and students. The project looked at savings from human resources, centralising and reallocating restricted funds, external fund raising and making savings in the central administration. These decisions caused a number of thorny debates and tensions as those involved looked at their security as opposed to student outcomes. The decision making process was outlined and justified.
Kim Marshall-Effective use of During-the-year Assessments
Teacher teams analysing and following up on student learning results during the year is one of the most powerful ways to improve teaching and learning. Very few schools use this strategy effectively. The most important factor in student achievement is effective teaching and the low achieving students need to have the best teachers. Effective teaching is the key to closing the achievement gap.
How do we do that? Shift the conversations to results but keep it low stakes so that adult learning will take place. Skilfully using on the spot and interim assessments will constantly ensure students are learning.
If a teacher moves on with their teaching before all the students have learnt then those students who have not mastered the curriculum fall further and further behind. This scenario is one in which some pupils who got low marks this time, got low marks last time and come to expect to get low marks next time. This cycle of repeated failure becomes part of a shared belief between such students and the teacher.
Today there is overwhelming statistical evidence that rather than levelling the playing field, schools actually accentuate the inequalities and injustices in society. There isn’t one right way to teach or for students to learn. What works for some does not work for others as there are many differences in prior knowledge, attention and motivation and achievement gaps that compound every day. The more one teaches without finding out who understands the information and who doesn’t, the greater the likelihood that only the already proficient students will succeed.
There have always been exceptions to this, the outliers in education. Highly effective teachers are constantly checking for understanding and then fixing learning problems. Sophisticated on the spot assessments keep the teacher and students on the learning curve at all times. Without continuous assessment student learning is limited to a one shot, hit or miss event- maybe they get it or maybe they don’t. On the spot assessments give immediate data on misunderstandings and problems. The teacher who listens can fix these immediately. These insights make the teacher a better teacher next time. It keeps students on their toes, everyone is accountable all the time.
Interim assessments are formal and rigorous. They challenge students to remember and apply and analysis allows teachers to be proactive in remedial activities. This teaching provides excellent understanding and trust with clear learning outcomes and long term SMART goals. This is a hands on role for the teacher with good data (data without blame) and information being transferred into immediate action planning that has involved the student.
In education we have a developed “intended curriculum” which is often different to the “taught curriculum” and almost certainly different fro the “learnt curriculum.” This highlights the importance of clearly understood learning outcomes with continual formative assessment to ensure understanding. Displaying achievement data leads to improved student motivation and teachers can immediately plan to ensure every student gets the knowledge. It is certainly okay to have a classroom or a school where students and teachers can admit mistakes and make change. When colleagues work together using data they have a continuous improvement model.
Students should know where they are going, how they are doing and where to next with effective feedback at every stage. Students who can refer to learning rubrics and edit their peers’ work will be self correcting and more motivated, determined and invest more personal time into learning.
The principal is the cross pollinator of best practice. They should be frequently involved in observations of teachers with face to face feedback, involved with planning especially when data is being used and have discussions with students about their learning. Are students learning what’s being taught and if not then analysing why not. Teams invest in continuous improvement through professional conversations on how to fix the learning and this should be followed up relentlessly. We need agile teaching that is responsive to student learning every minute of every day.
This was the best session for me as it gives me a way forward to ensure all students are learning and reminds me of the positive impact I can make by being in classrooms, understanding curriculum and effective assessment practice.
www.marshallmemo.com
Kasturi Rangan Case Discussion “The Aravind Eye Hospital”
This session was a discussion about a successful non profit organisation that is a hospital in India. He attempted to analyse elements of leadership and management that had a strong links to organisational mission, vision and operational strategy. The session explored how these principles can be transferred to educational institutes and identified modifications that would need to be made.
The development of a framework for strategic formulation that produced a strategic plan and understanding the role of the leader in this process should have made this a valuable learning opportunity. Unfortunately too long was spent on the Hospital and how great it was and not enough time on the links to educational learning organisations. This should have been a great session but in the end was a waste of time.
Robert Kegan “ Including Ourselves in the Improvement Equation: Engaging our Own Immunity to change”
www.mindsatwork.com
The greatest barriers to change come from within but so do our greatest opportunities. This session was about adult learning and gave us the chance to explore new concepts and practices directed at understanding the barriers to change even when people are genuinely committed to it and how we can do a better job closing the gap between what we intend and what we are actually able to bring about.
If you want powerful ongoing changes in teaching or leadership, you have to get at the underlying beliefs and conceptions that give rise to behaviours. Leaders are continually faced with problems many of which have to be quickly solved and that’s the managerial side of leadership. But those leaders can select a few good problems from which they can learn and therefore transform their curriculum to improve outcomes for students.
How can we keep growing and developing and be informed enough to make the transformation that will make a difference to our potential?
Kegan has a change model that helps individuals:
1. Pick 5 people who know your work well and explain that you are embarking on a personal growth activity then ask them to write down (you complete the activity as well) “What is the single thing I could get significantly better at that would make the biggest difference to my effectiveness at work?”
2. From the list of actions make a goal and ask the participants to confirm that the goal matches the criteria listed.
3. Make a list of your behaviours that stand in the way of achieving this goal. Discuss this with the participants.
4. Write down the hidden commitments. That is the biggest worry you have if you did the opposite of the behaviour list in 2. You will have identified these worries and make them into a commitment to change.
5. Analyse your “Big Assumptions.” Your worries are easily overcome when you note them.
If we really want to change then we need to transform the way we think and experience the world around us. We as adults can engage in transformative actions by identifying the hidden commitments (obstructions and barriers) we have (we all have an immune system that protects us). Once we acknowledge the assumptions that have been barriers we can challenge them and alter our mindset so we can grow.
This was an interesting session that provided a an explanation as why we or our staff do not actually sustain change. There are two books that should provide more information on this or visit the web site.
www.mindsatwork.com
R. Kegan and L.L. Lahey “How the Way we talk can Change the Way we Work” (2001)
R. Kegan and L.L. Lahey “Immunity to Change.” (2009) (both books are from Harvard Press)
Kurt Fisher “Brain Scams: Myths and Knowledge about the Brain and Learning”
In the current age of biology, society is looking to brain science, genetics and cognitive science to inform and improve education. There is much to be learned from this research about learning and teaching, but there are also many myths and scams that use brain science inappropriately. There is a movement called Mind, Brain and Education that connects practice with research that helps people discriminate brain scams from legitimate knowledge. Humans have created schools and universities as the main institution for promoting learning beyond the family and this has been effective for educating some students. But the 21st century demands effective education of everyone. Research on the brain and cognitive functioning as well as genetics illuminates how learning occurs and establishes important principles for education in the classroom, including analysis of similarities and differences in learning pathways for students. Two powerful findings are:
1. The remarkable diversity and plasticity of learning
2. A general scale that describes the common processes of learning in these diverse learning pathways and simultaneously connects them to teaching and the curriculum all within a single framework.
Students learn by building knowledge along specific, diverse skill pathways, mastering the tools of literacy, mathematics, science, the arts and other human inventions. The innovation required in 21st century education is understanding the diversity of learning pathways so that schools can help all students learn to be effective citizens in a rapidly changing world.
The relationship between emotion and cognition is as simple as saying that a student’s learning and engagement is an active process dependant on their emotional state. The session expanded on this and provided a large number of examples showing how the brain is a complex organ and it is interconnected with learning process.
I would thoroughly recommend that every school subscribe to the Harvard Journal “Mind, Brain and Education.” And view the website www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu
Norman Kunc and Emma Van der Klift “Beyond Benevolence: A New take on Inclusive Education”
Norman Kunc maintains that inclusive education is not something we “do” to students with disabilities but involves a school making an intentional commitment to build and maintain a sense of belonging for all students and adults in the school. A central tenant of inclusive education is that belonging is an inherent need of all people and not reserved for an elite few. Learning to value and work with a diversity of people is the first step in building an education system which fosters a sense of belonging amongst students and staff.
This discussion, although using students with a disability as a focus, was really about the culture of a school. If students and staff have a belief that they are safe and that they are respected and therefore belong then trust develops which will ultimately lead to greater learning for students and increased outputs from staff. A school committed to these values prioritises the needs of the people in the organisation and builds their culture in an environment that includes all.
Education systems have many barriers to this inclusive policy. The funding process alone makes identifying disabilities and failure as a prerequisite for gaining more income and staffing. This process of testing and identification is often done to students in a way that alienates the affected students. Resources and staff approaches to students with disabilities often singles out these students in ways that perpetuates failure. Schools committed to inclusive education and a belonging culture must find ways to reduce the barriers and improve the policies that continue to inhibit the development of relationships that improve the sense of belonging.
Van der Klift added to the presentation by being more explicit about “What it takes to build belonging and what gets in the way.” In education we often confront students in ways that escalate situations rather than use key strategies that can build relationships and overcome problems.
New Zealand has been at the forefront off using restorative practices and key aspects of those strategies are: listening deeply and intently; slow things down; ask open ended questions; promote self image and expectations; help them save face and try to understand. She provided some don’ts : give ultimatums, threaten, give advice, judge, patronise, challenge or confront, apply consequences, embarrass or humiliate and don’t use the words but or why. For negotiations to happen there needs to be some development of relations that are authentic.
This session was a timely reminder of the importance of a school culture where people feel wanted, trusted and respected for who they are. There is always the need to build relationships.
www.normemma.comorwww.normemma.com/armaslow.htmorwww.broadreachtraining.com
Klunc, Norman “The Need to Belong: Rediscovering Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.”
Karen Mapp “The Why and How of School, Family and Community Partnerships.”
www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/fine.html
The purpose of this session was to provide participants with information and strategies to create and sustain effective family-school partnerships that support student learning. It was a researched based
presentation that provided strategies and resources about creating trust and respectful partnerships among various stakeholders.
If there is a positive and convincing relationship between family involvements and schools then this shows many benefits for students. This relationship holds true for all families regardless of economic, ethnic and educational backgrounds and for students of all ages. When parents and staff work together to support learning, students: earn higher grades, enrol in higher level programmes, adapt better at school and attend more regularly, have better social skills and behaviour and go on to higher education.
- All parents have dreams for their children and want the best for them.
- All parents have the capacity to support their children’s learning.
- Parents and school staff should be equal partners.
- The responsibility for building partnerships between school and the home rest primarily with school staff especially school leaders.
When schools develop programmes and initiatives that focus on trust and respect among school staff, families and community members then the relationships will be sustainable and meaningful. The first ideas should be about welcoming, honouring and connecting. This means that families are made to feel at home, comfortable and an essential part of the school community. Family members are respected, validated and affirmed for any type of involvement and contribution they make. School staff and families put children at the centre and therefore connection is on educational issues of common interest designed to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for the students.
A school, family and community partnership are essential ingredients in developing an excellent school. These partnerships have to be built by people; they won’t happen through sending paper home.
Henderson, Mapp, Johnson and Davies, “Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships.”
Jerome Murphy “Going Home and Taking Charge”
Murphy at al., (2007) “Embracing the Enemy: Moving Beyond the pain of Leadership.” In Out-of-the box leadership. Essential reading for any leader.
Murphy used a case study to highlight the personal feelings that embraces leaders as they come across different scenarios in their work and then gives strategies to help deal with the issues. Many decisions involve our feelings and we often let these impact our ability to solve problems.
The readings were excellent reference documents that enabled one to reflect and analyse the way we deal with issues when things go wrong. It is not a bad thing for things to go wrong as we should all be pushing the envelope to try different things to improve outcomes for students. What gets in the way is our feelings and what we need to get past is the personal aspect this brings to our decision making abilities.
Leadership is the most observed and least understood aspect in schools. When making decisions or change it is important to have in the back of your mind the institution’s purpose and the direction that needs to be facilitated. Thus as we build organisational capabilities we tackle the adaptive challenges through the strengths and capabilities of our staff. Schools need to have political support and this can often be a stumbling block as key decision makers understand little about individual school cultures. These processes should work in a school that has efficient daily operations (things run smoothly and the college personnel handle problems efficiently).
Murphy gives a simple flow chart to help solve complex problems that often arrive at your door. Firstly diagnose all the information and reflect on the goals of the organisation. Then develop strategies and actions using open communication with your staff. The results of the actions should be reviewed and analysed. At all times remember to really listen to others.
Some reminders:
- If you need appreciation get a dog as most do not appreciate what you do.
- Put yourself in the shoes of others.
- Resistance is often a sign of integrity.
- When you feel the urge to explain, listen.
- If you don’t listen others won’t listen.
- Determine the purpose of a meeting: learn, feedback, problem solve and celebrate.
I enjoyed this session and found the readings excellent. It is good to be reminded of the complexities of decision making and change management and also understanding the needs of others in any organisational change processes.
If you have any questions or want to access some of the resources mentioned please e-mail me
M R Leach
PRINCIPAL
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