Educational quotes 3 :Vision and Values

We need to, after a decades of individualism and greed, return to values and behaviors that are respectful of each other, other cultures and our environment. School have to escape from an over emphasis on individualism and efficiency and return to valuing the democratic virtues that contribute to the common good of all people and cultures.

A vision without a task is a dream - a task without a vision is drudgery- but a task with vision can change the world'. Black Elk
 
'It is today that we create the world of the future'. Eleanor Roosevelt
 
'If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed.' Chinese Proverb
 
'We can never discover new continents until we have the courage to lose sight of all coasts' Andre Gide
 
'The challenge of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes but having new eyes'. Marcel Proust
 
'You cannot have a learning organisation without a shared vision...A shared vision provides a compass to keep learning on course when stress develops.' Peter Senge
 
'The gap between vision and current reality is also a source of energy. If there were no gap, there would be no need for any action to move towards the vision. We call this gap creative tension.' Peter Senge
 
'The best principals are not heroes; they are hero makers'. Roland Barth
 
'Following the sun we left the Old World.' Christopher Columbus
 
 'Many school are like a collection of sole charges with a shared car park!' Anon
 
'A school isn't good enough until it is good enough for our own children. In fact it's not only that it must be good enough for our own children but it must be the dream school we want for our children.'   H Levin Stanford Prof of Economics
 
In the absence of a great dream pettiness prevails. Shred visions foster risk taking, courage and innovation. Keeping the end in mind creates the confidence to make decisions even in moments of crisis.' Peter Senge
 
'In some ways clarifying a vision is easy. A more difficult challenge comes in facing current reality' Peter Senge
 
' There is no paint by numbers way to the future'. Anon
 
'Prediction is difficult- particularly when it involves the future.' Mark Twain
 
'The best way to predict the future is to invent it now.' Art Costa
 
Linus, 'I guess it wrong to be worried about tomorrow, maybe we should only worry about today?'
Charlie Brown, 'No, that's giving up: I'm hoping that yesterday will get better!' Shutlz

'We can easily forgive a child whom is frightened of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.' Plato
 
'The moral sense, or conscience, is as much part of a man as his leg or arm. It is given to all in a stronger or weaker degree.. It may be strengthened by exercise. Thomas Jefferson
 
' I am entirely certain that twenty years from now we will look back at education as it is practiced in most schools today and wonder how we could tolerated anything so primitive.' John W Gardner
 
'It is not who you attend school with but who controls the school you attend.' Nick Giovanni US Poet
 
'Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land amongst the stars.' Les Brown
 
'You see things and say 'Why'? But I see things and say 'Why not?' G.B Shaw
 
'Ones vision is not a road map but a compass'. Peter Block Business Philosopher
 
'The pathway to educational excellence lies within each school.' Terrance Deal
 
'One of the saddest things about US education is that the wisdom of our most successful teachers is lost to the profession when they retire.' John Dewey
 
'If people who have to work together in an enterprise trust one another it is because they are all operating to a common set of ethical norms....such a society will be better able to innovate...since the high degree of trust will permit a wide variety of social relationships to emerge...' Fukuyama 95 Trust
 
'We imagine a school in which students and teachers excitedly and joyfully stretch themselves to their limits in pursuit of projects built on their vision...not one that succeeds in making apathetic students satisfying minimal standards.' S Papert
 
'It is our dream that students will ...experience their classrooms as invigorating, even inspiring environments - places they look forward to going to and places they hate to leave. It is our dream that they will come to know themselves as masters of various crafts...It is our dreams that ...they will come to love the process of learning itself... by making it their own.' Paideia Schools
 
'Too many young people are being taught to give up their dreams before they have any experience attempting to pursue them'. Robert Fritz 'The Path of Least Resistance'
 
'It takes courage and skill to be unambiguous and clear.' Peter Senge
 
'A shared vision is not an idea...it is rather, a force in people's hearts...at its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question 'What do we want to create?' Peter Senge
 
'We need a multiplicity of visions, dreams and prophecies - images of potential tomorrows.' Alvin Tofler
 
'I believe we are afraid of recognizing how fundamental our lives would have to be changed if we should choose to work out of a shared vision.' Ralph Theobald
 
We need to value the importance of simplicity, focus and living according to our values.' Phillip Humbert http://www.philliphumbet.com/
 
'It is not so much about to see what no one has seen before but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody sees.' Schopenhauer
 
'Thinking School; Thinking Nation' Singapore Educational Vision
 
'Love is saying yes to belonging' David Steindle -Rast ( Theologist)
 
'We can no longer stand at the end of something we visualized in detail and plan backwards from that future. Instead we must stand at the beginning, clear in our mind, with a willingness to be involved in discovery... it asks that we participate rather than plan.' Margaret Wheatley and Kellner -Rogers.
 
'New frameworks are like climbing a mountain - the larger view encompasses rather than rejects the more restricted view.' Einstein
 
'the void in our society has been produced by the absence of values... we have no widespread belief in the value of participation. The rational system has made us fear standing out in any serious way.' John Ralston Saul 'Voltaire's Bastards'.
 
'Principles are deep fundamental truths... lightly interwoven threads running with exactness, consistency, beauty and strength through the fabric of life.' Steven Covey 92
 
'Education without values, as useful as it is, seems to make a man more clever devil.' C S Lewis
 
'A clever arrangement of bad eggs will never make a good omelet.' C S Lewis
 
'The heart and soul of school culture is what people believe, the assumptions they make about how school works.' Thomas Sergiovanni
 
'It is what teachers think, what teachers do, and what teachers are at the level of the classroom that ultimately shapes the kind of learning that young people get.' Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan
 
'Positive images of the future are a powerful and magnetic force... They draw us on and energize us, give us courage and will to take on important initiatives. Negative images of the future also have a magnetism. They pull the spirit downward in the path of despair..' William James
 
'A belief is not a belief until you can visualize it, unless you can create a picture of it in your minds eye, especially if you have no doubts that reality can be - or is - possible.' Hedley Beare Aust Educationalist
 
'Something magical happens when you bring together a group of people from different disciplines with a common purpose.' Mark Stefik Palo Alto Research Centre Fellow
 
'If we believe something does not exist unless we measure it, then we put aside: love, feeling, intuition, art and philosophy.' Peter Block 'The Answer to How is Yes.'
 
Every person in the organization must change inside their hearts and minds, so that they themselves become principle centred.' Stephen Covey Business Philosopher
 
'We may never fully appreciate the role that not pursuing a dream plays in limiting people to disappointing careers and regret filled lives... 'I used to be so gutsy'... 'What happened?.' Anon
 
'I think I don't regret a single excess of my responsive youth, I only regret, in my chilled age, certain occasions and possibilities I didn't embrace.' Henry James

Read more »

Posted in: Educational Quotes,School Vision

Let's not lose the point of school now we have 'the standards'!

Just as we need creativity the government imposes standardisation. Not that schools haven't been there before.

I have just discovered, in my tidy up, a copy of Guy Claxton's ' Whats the Point of School - Rediscovering the Heart of Education'. Claxton's book provides inspiration for a real 'step change' in education to cope with the demands of a dynamic new century that is already a decade old.

Our current system fails too many children but the answer is not to go back to the failed standardisation of the past.

The trouble with the standards is that the cure may be worse than the problem as school are pressurised to focus more on more on ensuring students succeed they will neglect more important things such as attitudes and individual students' talents and gifts. It is these qualities that are the heart of a future orientated education. I am reminded of the old saying:  ' when you are up to your backside in alligators it is hard to remember you came to drain the swamp'! It is not that I am against literacy and numeracy it is just that these need to be seen as very important 'foundation skills'  - skills best learnt when students see the point of them.

There is no doubt that Claxton is one of the most important writers of our time. Claxton is one of the UK's foremost thinkers on creativity, learning, and the brain.  All schools should have a copy and make efforts to implement his ideas - somehow, in the present environment in New Zealand, I can't see this happening - quite the opposite.

Claxton begins his book by writing: 'The purpose of education is to prepare young people for the future. Schools should be helping young people develop the capacities they will need to thrive. What they need, and want, is the confidence to talk to strangers, to try things out, to handle tricky situations, to stand up for themselves, to ask for help, to think new thoughts.'

'But, he says, 'they are not getting it'.

'Education' he continues, 'has lost the plot and it urgently needs to recover its core purpose'. Politicians claim to put education at the heart of their concerns but they are wrong if they think imposing regressive standards will do it they are mistaken - they will only act as  intellectual straight jackets. Politicians need, Claxton says, 'the courage to go deeper'.

Albert Einstein wrote that 'education is what remains after one has forgotten everything one has learnt at school' - and Claxton reminds us that Einstein was referring to those lifelong skills and attitudes that mark out a true learner.

The key to develop such qualities are gained by students working in groups researching engaging projects involving skills of collaboration, discussion and attitudes of self organisation. This of course involves in depth content and quality outcomes but it is , Claxton says, 'not the immediate performance so much as the cumulative development that is going on behind the specific tasks' that is more important. It is these attitudes and skills that matter in the long run.They are the core confidences young people need,Claxton calls them 'learning muscles.These are curiosity, courage, investigation, imagination, reasoning, sociability and reflection' .'These , Claxton calls ' qualities of mind'. And all these are are 'perfectly capable of being strengthened and cultivated by education' - but the 'pressure to push up literacy rates' subverts their development. The quest for results undermines student's confidence and contributes to their 'losing their capacity for wonder and critical thinking'.

Claxton quotes John Dewey who wrote: 'How many students for example, were rendered callous to ideas and how many have lost the impetus to learn by the way in which learning was experienced by them?' The new standards come to mind!

In this desire to focus on literacy and numeracy, Claxton writes, 'we  have forgotten the deeper purpose of education.'

'To effect a thorough change' he says, 'we have to start by seeing how bad things are.We have to understand what it is young people really need, what schools are actually providing, and acknowledging the gulf between the two. And then we have to establish, beyond all possible doubt, that the kind of educational reform for more than a hundred years is not going to work'.

Only when this is understood that a different kind of change is both necessary and possible. 'With a little bit of imagination, and a modicum of courage, education can rediscover its heart and soul.'

Claxton wants to inspire teachers to see  students as 'brave and confident explorers, tough enough in spirit,and flexible enough in mind, to pursue their dreams and ambitions.'

So did the New Zealand Curriculum until the government sidetracked it!

'We need a new narrative for education that can engage and inspire chidren'. Lets fire kids up with the deep satisfaction of discovery and exploration. They are born with learning zeal; lets recognise, celebrate and protect it, but also stretch, strengthen and diversify it.'

Schools have , as Claxton says,   'lost the plot'!

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,change,Creative teaching,Creative teaching Educationalists,Leadership,Ministry NZCurric,national standards,Personalized Learning,School Vision,teaching and learning

Educational change and leadership - bottom up!

All too often in recent decades schools are dictated to by the political whim of politicians with their eyes firmly fixed on popular approval - this is certainly the case with the imposition of National Standards which have gained little education support or international success. What is required is for schools to begin to share their beliefs about teaching and learning by building on the innate strengths of their students, their teachers, the school principal and finally groups of schools to develop a vision that all can work with in diverse ways.

Recently at a local school the Education Review team asked the principal how he was ‘growing’ his teachers –I think the inference was that the teachers were not being given enough ‘voice’ in the school. All pretty ironic as it is the ERO office and Ministry compliance requirements that limit the ‘voice’ of all involved in schools. Compliance and conformity to imposed expectations, not creativity, is the order of the day. One only has to think of the imposition of the populist and politically inspired National Standards.

It is the Ministry (and their thought police ERO) that are not providing the conditions to grow principal leadership in our schools.

It may be better to start in creative classrooms and work up?

A visit to any classroom will soon illustrate that in every class there are students who bring with them the leadership qualities as expressed in the vision of the New Zealand Curriculum , students who are ‘confident , connected, active life-long learners’. The introduction of this curriculum was the last real leadership shown by the Ministry but with the change of government it has unfortunately been sidelined as school are now distracted by the ambiguous challenges the National Standards.

The teachers’ role is to develop the leadership qualities in all his, or her, students through a focus on developing every learner’s unique passions, gifts and talents. By this means teachers develop their classroom as learning communities.

Similarly in every school there are teachers who equally exhibit their own special leadership talents. Like the class teacher the principal’s role is to ensure such gifts are affirmed and shared with other teachers. The principal’s role is to create the conditions for the expertise of teachers to be shared and to develop an overarching vision and agreed teaching beliefs for all to hold themselves accountable. A with a creative class teacher the principal’s job is to ensure all teachers do not move away from what they have agreed to – that is unless new ideas are developed that need to be included. A vision, or the implementation of it, ought to be a living thing.

Principals who follow this organic approach do not have to be hero like leaders – they just have to listen and help all involved develop a shared sense of purpose. This is far preferable to principals always responding to curriculum initiatives from distant ‘experts’.

At the centre of such creative leadership are relationships. Principals have a vital role to provide continuity of experience for the school and to ensure all staff gets all the help they need to appreciate the actions required to achieve the school vision or purpose; that all staff are able to contribute to the community of teachers. Where there is a genuine community based on an agreed vision, values and teaching beliefs all teachers become fully involved in the affairs of the school – shared leadership.

Creative principals are concerned with influencing positive changes within the school. Once again personal mutual relationship and trust between all are vital. To be able to influence others the staff must see the principal as part of the working community not isolated worrying about achievement data. In this respect a successful principal is not unlike a sensitive class teacher.

Ensuring a positive learning community is the ultimate role of the principal-a community where all take responsibility for helping those in need. This is the essence of democracy – a concept that seems foreign to Ministry technocrats.

To achieve this shared sense of direction, and the freedom to try out new ideas, requires the need for personal group discussions where all can share their concerns and ideas openly. Through such dialogue develops a shared language and sense of community – a true professional learning culture. Such discussions allow every member to examine feelings and share insights.

It is only through such a process that the principal is able to evolve, or crystallize, an overall vision, teaching beliefs, and leadership, that all buy into.

The beliefs of each principal will determine how successful this process is. Successful principals will appreciate that the importance to value, as with each teacher and their students, the uniqueness and individuality of each teacher. This is the opposite of the current press for uniformity and consistency. A degree of consistency is obviously important (as in a class) but so is valuing individual teacher creativity. Both teachers and principals should be focusing on ‘growth points’ to develop learning capacity.

The final stage of leadership growth is for groups of school principals to work together to provide inters school affirmation and assistance - and mutual protection. Such inter-school collaboration is a weak but growing area. There clusters of school (some using the Internet) already developing such supportive groups.

All schools need to belong to their own supportive learning communities. Such groups, if geographically close, can find means (a website) to share their gifts and needs. In this way schools can take advantage of teacher leadership in a range of fields making creative teachers the most important source of ideas rather that the end of the line for top down initiatives.

This approach to leadership at all levels develops, what Carol Dweck calls, a ‘growth mindset’ –a mindset always open to new learning. A mindset based on trust and teacher professionalism. This mindset is the opposite of the ‘command and control’ compliance mentality culture that reaches down from the Ministry to every classroom teacher destroying creativity in the process.

If this process were developed we would develop a creative leadership culture rather than the current surveillance culture which forces principals and teachers to be managers and not leaders.

PS In the time before Tomorrows Schools stand alone and competitive approach there was almost such a sharing system in place.

Local Education Department School Inspectors identified potential school leaders and brought principals together to share the ideas of school leaders with other schools. Inspectors also were also available to identify certain teachers worth visiting by teachers from other schools.

The Education Department and Education Boards were dismantled along with a range of subject advisers and schools were 'returned to their communities'. Some cynic, at the time, wrote that the big Wellington Dragon has been killed and in its place will arise thousands of small dragons all dedicated to looking after themselves. This has come to pass. And unfortunately many of these little dragons are ineffectual , timid, overly compliant and easily slayed by the ERO Jesuits. And the Ministry and Ero ironically now determine far more of what goes in schools than in the early days.

A lot has been lost.

Just before the demise of the old system our local Senior Inspector set up a system where all schools contributed their areas of strengths and needs ( on one A4 page)and this collated and sent to all schools to help with the sharing process.

All too late.

With the power of the Internet, and the development of a local website, this could easily be replicated. There might be no need to even develop a system of collaboration as outlined in the blog - all schools could take it upon themselves to put their energy into implementing the vision of the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. All sorts of links and , more importantly, local resources ( mainly teachers with expertise) could be included on such a website. Such a site could also express collaborative position papers on such things as National Standards and also link with similar sites.

Such an idea would depend on some individuals with real leadership to see beyond their own schools to start the ball rolling.

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,change,Creative Schools,Leadership,School Vision

Guest Post by Allan Alach - a 'must read' and share with others blog

My principal friend Allan sent me an e-mail that was so on the mark that I asked him to extend it into a blog. To my mind it is a piece of writing all teachers and schools should read -and then pass it on to as many other people as is possible.

Schools have two choices. To go along with the populist anti educational agenda of the current government, or to decide what is worth fighting for. A good decision to make on Anzac Day or Easter

So many schools seem to have given in just to get along - swallowing unthinkingly the superficiality of 'educational Easter Eggs'. Worse still many have become 'poster schools' for the Minister - and, in line with Easter, 'educational Judas Sheep'.

Loved your latest blog post, Bruce "Authentic Inquiry Learning - the focus for all classwork."

I wish there was a magic wand to get this message into all schools and into all teachers' heads around the country, and beyond them, our politicians. Sadly I fear we are losing the battle, bit by bit. The rot set in during the 1990s and seems to be spreading, in spite of the best intentions of the New Zealand Curriculum. I guess it hasn't helped having 'standards' imposed upon schools to meet yet to be announced political agendas. I used the quote marks, deliberately as labelling these vague statements as 'standards' is an oxymoron of the highest degree. Setting 'standards' aside, why are schools and teachers not taking advantage of the NZC?

It appears that there is a pervasive need for control of children's work in the classrooms. I was going to use the words pedagogy and learning, but to my mind, what we are seeing, and having imposed upon us, is not pedagogy, and has little to do with learning either.

Like you, I am at a loss why WALT is so predominant in classrooms, along with learning intentions and success criteria. This concept of telling children what they are going to learn, before even starting the learning experience, is illogical as well as pedagogically unsound. Trying to blend WALTs and LOs, into an authentic inquiry learning classroom, sounds to me like a definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. How can children genuinely be able to inquire and manage their own learning, when the use of WALTs and the like predetermine what they will learn and do?

I believe that politicians' and schools' and teachers' need to feel in control of the learning programme is an underlying factor. Taking hands off the learning reins is somewhat daunting as it flirts with the potential loss of control of what children are learning and doing. This begs the question though, of whose learning are we talking about? The technocrats would have us believe that the teacher is responsible for learning, hence the need to structural teaching sequences, which leads inevitably back to testing and 'standards'.

This logic of this approach goes down a one way street, which is that a child's failure to learn must be the fault of the teacher in the first instance, and underpinning that, of the school. Going further down this street, this then leads to mechanisms that target teachers, and schools as it must their fault that a child fails to learn. Name and shame these schools? Let's set up league tables. That will make them lift their game. Maybe teachers of children who fail to learn are bad teachers and should be dismissed? What about their principals? Maybe its the school's fault so let's close it. USA here we come.

Less pessimistically, I believe that the great majority of teachers do hear your message about establishing authentic inquiry learning classrooms, but as to putting it into action, that's another story. There are many factors that I think make it difficult for these teachers, who have to juggle national and school requirements as well as providing a great learning environment. Schools and teachers are overwhelmed by never ending demands to change/implement new curricula, assessment routines, reporting systems and so on. These pressures tend to make teachers inherently conservative and reluctant to take risks, and who can blame them? Unfortunately, this can lead to teachers moaning and grumbling about work load, and resistant to change: "Please don't rock the boat because we're too busy".

Busy doing what, I wonder?

For a while now, I've been wondering why teachers are required ( or choose) to do running records on all children, especially older children. Most of these children are competent readers anyway, so why use a diagnostic, time consuming reading assessment on them? Fine for children whose reading is causing concern, although running records are primarily a test of oral reading, and as such are only indicative of what might be happening. As for using them as summative tools, why?

Where did this come from? Is this the best use of a teacher's valuable time? Wouldn't spending that time and energy on children's learning be far more productive? A similar argument can be made for the amount of teacher time and effort swallowed up by numeracy assessment.

The present 'standards' focus, which is merely a repacking of the 'back to basics' movement of twenty or so years ago, and which in itself was a repackaging of the 3Rs, inevitably leads to more and more teacher time being spent on 'assessing' and categorising learners, and correspondingly less time on fostering learning.

I've deliberately avoided using 'teaching' here. We teachers have been indoctrinated that kids need to be taught. That's not new, obviously, but it does fly in the face of educationalists going all the way back to John Dewey in the early years of the 20th century. Here we are, a century later, and Dewey's message is still overlooked. Why? There's a substantial amount of direct and indirect evidence that the bulk of children's learning isn't the result of 'teaching', or 'schooling' for that matter. Ivan Illich made this clear in the 1970s. Closer to home, Elwyn Richardson, nearly sixty years ago, provided very rich examples of children learning through environmental experiences

Richardson's pupils wrote very imaginative and expressive prose and poetry, without any need to be taught the formulaic processes and rules that are current, such how to write in different 'genres' such as procedures, narrative, reports and so on. Why 'teach' children how to write in such a formal way? Do children need to know how to write 'procedures' anyway? I'd rather they master the art of expressive and imaginative writing.

If learning how to write 'procedures' is desirable, why not pick the right time/place and incorporate this as part of a study, e.g. after developing, planting and maintaining a little garden, write that up as a set of procedures. That would then make this a useful tool, used in context, not something to be taught and ticked off. The same goes for all the other so-called 'genres' of writing.

I maintain that children who've mastered the art of writing will have little difficulty adapting this art to all kinds of requirements, with the bonus that their writing will be interesting to read as well as practical. Teaching writing like this equates, in my mind, to paint by numbers paintings. Well done, the results may look like art, but will never be art.It also can be likened to the traditional teaching of mathematics, where children learned the tools but rarely learned how to use these in 'real' life.

Reflecting on this, it seems to me that the educational world (here and overseas) is being split between those who focus on pedagogy, the whole child, and their educational needs for the 21st century, and the technocrats who try to break learning down into measurable bites. It doesn't take much more reflection to see which academics in New Zealand are pushing the measurable bites barrow, and how governments are using this for their own ends. Recently I read, and took exception to, the phrase 'value added' on a political blog. What exactly does 'value' mean when used in this context? What does 'value' mean in any context?

Underpinning this is the debate over the purpose of education. Is education a public good, in which case all citizens should be provided with the opportunities to develop all their potential abilities? Or is education a means to training people for the workforce, in which case citizens need skills based learning programmes?

Like you, I see dark clouds of doom gathering on the horizon, and we may be heading for a 'ragnarok' of our own, the last battle to protect what is so precious about New Zealand's primary school education. The introduction of 'Academy Schools' in England, and "Charter Schools' in USA, provides us with an insight into what we could be facing.

We have one very powerful weapon in our armoury. All schools must demonstrate the full wonder and excitement of 'authentic inquiry learning' programmes, to really establish the contrast between what is and what could be.

It's up to us

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,Creative teaching,inquiry learning,Integrated Learning,Leadership,Ministry NZCurric,national standards,Personalized Learning,Rants and Raves,School Vision,teaching and learning

Dysfunctional Schools

Kirsten Olsen author of the book 'Wounded by School-recapturing the Joy in Learning and Standing up to the Old School Culture'. Kirsten's book brings to light the devastating consequences of an educational approach that values conformity over creativity, flattens student's' interests,and dampens down differences among learners. Olsen's book shows that current schooling does not favour all students and tends to shame, disable and bore many learners. Powerful stuff.

I don't think teachers like to face up to the fact that schooling actually harms many of their students but it is clear , reading Kirsten's Olsen book, it does. Obviously this harming is not done intentionally but it is all too easy to blame failure on dysfunctional students.

Certainly too few students leave school with their joy of learning alive and their unique gifts and talents strengthened - not even the so called successful students.

Futurist Alvin Toffler wrote in 1970, 'Mass education was the ingenious machine constructed by industrialism to produce the kind of adults it needed....the regimentation, lack of individualism, the rigid systems of seating, grouping, grading and marking,the authoritarian style of the teacher'.

For many students the dream of mass education has morphed into a nightmare. As Olsen quotes, 'If Rip Van Winkle were to come back today after a hundred years, the only institutions he would recognise would be prisons and schools'.

Schools are fundamentally old fashioned institutions developed for a different era. As one educational architect writes 'Today's 21st schools model 1950 architecture, use 1990s technology,and delver 1960s curriculum'.

Unfortunately many parents and politicians still see educational conformity as appropriate with students divided into age groups who then 'progress' through classes, in fixed ability grouping, with prescribed subject matter, until they leave. Students graded into degrees of finished products through endless testing. Students in this model are seen as raw material to be processed.

Unfortunately what students need to thrive in the future are self confidence, persistence , creativity, the capacity to change and adapt to new circumstances ,with the ability to make decisions with out full information, and the capacity to work with others. This is the premise behind the revised New Zealand Curriculum now sidelined by politicians who want to return to the standardisation and testing of the industrial era. The imagination , creativity and courage of both teachers and students are being neglected.

And all this while we have undergone a revolution in our understanding of how students learn. Personally I am in the same position as 60s educational reformer John Holt ( one of my all time favourites) who finally gave up on schools ever changing into organisations able to develop the love of learning and talents of all students. They seem more equipped, as Olsen writes, to 'wound' children; more about conformity and obedience. And I agree.

The whole system needs a fundamental revaluation. Their are alternative purposes to consider. Other visions do exist. Students need a more customised or personalised education based on recognising and developing their talents,abilities and passions based around relevant learning projects. Projects that call on the appropriate learning disciplines to solve.

And such a philosophy is not new.It is just that schools have been impervious to such ideas. It is ironic that schools are not 'learning organisations' themselves.

Rather than failing students it is failing traditional schools we need to worry about. Too many students, Olsen writes, leave feeling disconnected, uncared for, stressed, confused and angry - for such students school is irrelevant. They are seen as problems and, as they remain un-helped, they lash out and end up in even more trouble. It is a cycle seen in too many schools. The blame, however, is always placed on the learner. There are hundreds of such unengaged, under performing students in any city.

Such students are like canaries in a coal mine -when the canaries die no one should be in the mines.

If schools were to focus on ensuring all students were to be engaged then all students would benefit. To achieve such a vision would mean re-imaging schools as we currently know them. The future needs the diverse intelligence of all students.To achieve such a vision schools need to celebrate diversity rather than current conformity and standardisation.

Toffler recommended 'shutting down the whole education system' and suggested we should be 'thinking from the ground up'. This was Ivan Illich's ( of the de-schooling movement) and John Holt's position in the late 70s and one I have come to myself.

No change can occur until we first imagine it.
We need to consider how schools need to be changed based on new conceptions of learning and ability assisted by the potential of new technology. Schools ought to models of learning organisations not monuments to past thinking.

"Listen" said the the White Spirit. 'Once you were a child. Once you knew what inquiry was was for.There was a time when you asked questions because you wanted answers,and were glad when you had found them. Become that child again; even now".

C.S.Lewis. the Great Divorce 1945

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,change,Creative Schools,Ministry NZCurric,Personalized Learning,Rants and Raves,School Vision,teaching and learning

It is about the right kind of leadership.Some questions to ask yourself.

Are YOU a Committed “Learning Leader”?
Prove it! In The Paradigm Debate.

This has been adapted from the article to be found on Tony Gurr's All things learning blog. It was written for CEOs but Tony also wrote that it applies equally to principals or teachers. With this in mind I have replaced CEO with school principal.

Two Principals walk into a bar and…

Sounds like the start of a very bad joke…but let’s run with it for a minute.

They sit down and, being worried about how their schools are doing, they each have a question and decide to pick the brains of the other:

Principal #1: What should I do to dramatically increase the performance levels of my staff?
Principal #2: How can I dramatically increase my school’s ability to learn?

Both questions are quite straightforward but fundamentally different.

Both say a lot about the “mindset” and “values” of the respective principals – and also the type of “culture” they are likely to create. The two principals also clearly have a very different “worldview” – and probably differ quite significantly on “what matters” in their schools. They might also see their “purpose” and the purpose of the school in very different ways, as well.

Don’t get me wrong – the questions both Principals are asking are “good”:

Principal #1 – is interested in “results”. No organisation can survive without these! In education, the results that relate to student learning are our “bottom line”.

Principal #2 – is also interested in results. However, she (bet you thought I would say “he”) also has a focus on learning – she has a focus on the learning of her people and sees this as the key to bigger and better results!

The problem is that many leaders have built up their stockpiles of values (and their mindset) in a largely “unconscious” way – and remain “blind” to what many of these values are and the impact they have on organisational culture.

Most of us appreciate the importance of leadership and “leaders” – in terms of how they can determine the level of success and effectiveness of an organisation.

However, it’s important to remember that “leaders” do not directly influence that success or effectiveness. Instead, they exhibit behaviours and make decisions that indirectly “shape” how an organisation develops and its culture evolves – and, more importantly, whether “good people” stay or move onto greener pastures!

It is the people who “live” and “work” in the culture that have the biggest say on results.

If the values of most leaders are hidden away – or remain “invisible”, we are going to have a pretty hard time trying to figure out someone’s mindset.

Worse than that – how the hell are we going to try and improve something that we cannot even “see”!

There is a way!

Bob Haas, Chairman of Levi Strauss, has said that there are two essentials required of organisations that wish to be true to their purpose: “The first is the value of people; the second is the importance of values”.

One minute, one minute…let’s think about that for a minute (or two) and dig a little deeper.

People are “engineered” for learning – it’s what we “do” best. If organisations and principals believe that people are their most valuable “resource” – then, these principals and their organisations should also value the value of learning!

But…yes, you knew it was coming!

Experience has showed us that it is not enough for an organisation or a principal to “pay lip-service” to the idea that its people are its most important asset or resource; it has to “walk its talk”. This has been evidenced by research into the most effective and elite organisations in the world: research that demonstrates a clear relationship between a culture that values people and how they learn and specific actions and reward systems that build both “community” and “capacity”.

Many principals do not see this.

The Solution – Principals need to GET CONSCIOUS and GET REAL!

The starting point is for principals to (really) have a good ‘ole think about “culture”. This is because (in a very basic sense) organisational culture is the “shadow of the leader”.

They could ask themselves a few questions:

What is the exact nature of my shadow?
How far does it reach?
Who does it touch – directly and indirectly?
What type of consequences does it lead to?
How do others “see” my shadow?
How do I know these things?

If the same principal is “serious” about learning, a few other questions should be asked – and answered honestly:

What type of broader culture do I want to drive my school?
Does learning figure strongly in the vision I have for the culture of my school? Why/why not?
Do I really believe in the power of learning? Why/Why not?
Do I really believe that all people can learn? Why/Why not?
Am I clear how much I value learning?
What have I learned in the past 7 days?
What new concepts and ideas am I using today that I wasn’t using last month?
How do I improve and expand my own capacity for learning each and every day?
How well do my people currently learn? How do I know?
Do my people really understand what we mean when we talk about a “learning culture”?
What things are inhibiting the learning of my people?
What needs to change for me to create the conditions for improved and expanded learning in my people?


How do I know all these? If the principal really wanted to push the envelope – she’d also ask herself:

What is the “glue” that holds my organisation together?
What sort of relationships and social networks characterise a meaningful, productive organisational culture?
What shared meanings, values or habits “drive” my people?
What can I do to enhance the relationships and social networks my people use to “do business”?
How do I know? How do they know?

End note from Tony[It’s quite difficult for me to thank everyone who contributed to this list of questions – I have “gathered” them over many years, from many people and even more books or articles. To mention a few – Terry O’Banion, Peter Koestenbaum, Edgar Schein, Steven Bowman, Peter Block, Marcia Connor, and Ziya Selçuk. My special thanks also to John O'Dwyer - for reminding me to "get real" recently!]

And my thanks to Tony for sending me the article.

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,change,Creative Schools,Leadership,Rants and Raves,School Vision

Will the real leaders stand up so others can join you! Real leaders know what is worth fighting for!

Churchill spent a lot of his energy pointing out the dangers facing the United Kingdom to people who didn't want to know before World War 2. A true leader he stuck to his guns until the time was right. His leadership and oratory provided the necessary hope in dire times: 'we will never surrender'. Such leaders are rare -very few principals fit the description but it is such leaders we need now. It is time to stand up and fight for what is important. At least identify potential leaders and get behind them.

Excellent article about leadership


Leadership is about change and transformation and this is at best a risky business involving what scientists call ‘enlightened trial and error’; there are no road maps for the future.

The leaders of change have presence and are often seen as unconventional ‘mavericks, or ‘canny outlaws’, happy to cut through the red tape, but they are trusted by those who work with them for their intuitive intelligence and judgement.

Such leaders are well respected. Seen as by followers as ‘admire-able’; well worth the risk of following.

The vision behind the ‘new’ New Zealand Curriculum asks for true leadership from school principals, and better still from groups of principals working together. This is all the more important as the Ministry is distracting implementing the philosophy behind the revised curriculum with their politically orientated National Standards.

Intuitive ‘canny’ leaders are required who see through eyes not blinded by the status quo has always been a scarce commodity: one all too often seen as a threat by those who currently hold power.

Someone has to start the ball rolling. Unfortunately recognising creativity in others is not a trait I would associate with principals. This hasn’t been helped by the competitive ideology of the last decades but, thankfully times are a changing.

The dream, for educational leaders in the 21stC, is to create a personalised education system where all students, talents, interests and passions can be developed.

Such a dream involves transforming both the culture and structures of current schooling. And as there can no longer be a ‘one size fits all’ system, a range of experimental approaches needs to be encouraged with successful ideas being shared and amplified. ‘Attractive ideas will ‘converge’ that will in turn ‘seed’ further experimentation.

This organic approach is the opposite of the past top down technocratic approaches and will require action by leaders at all levels. Creating an environment for such diversity, and developing a system to tap into and share ideas, will be a vital role of the ministry.

Principals and teachers, as well as students, will need to be seen as active energetic, ‘users, seekers and creators of their own learning’, to slightly adapt a phrase from the New Zealand Curriculum. Leaders create powerful inspirational stories that give others permission, or courage to act.

Key roles of such creative leadership will be:

1. To see leadership as one of providing direction-an enlightened view of the future. Leadership is an issue of purpose not personality.

2. With this in mind, once the direction has been clarified, the three most important requirements of leadership are: communication, communication. Communication.

3. Leaders have to have a recognizable point of view if they are to challenge current expectations. ‘It is what we know already that often prevents us from learning’. - Claude Bernard. Leaders never adopt they adapt- everything is judged according to the schools vision, values and shared beliefs. Such leaders know when to say no - they control their change agenda.

4. Leadership is all about purpose. It is purpose that creates consensus, commitment and collegiality

5. Leaders focus on making explicit to the wider team what is important. To do this they limit and focus innovations, valuing clarity and doing fewer things well; quality not quantity. Such clarity reduces overload, complexity and provides a sense of security and hope which, in turn, develops empowerment and improvement of decision making.

6. Leaders manage the heart; they say thanks to those who have made the effort, they model the way.

7. Leaders always expect the best and expect everyone to continually improve; they do this by clarifying expectation and by building an environment of trust.

8. Leaders treat others with empathy and apply the ‘golden rule’ in all their interactions. They must be seen as trustworthy and must practice what they preach.

9. Leaders ensure all understand what criteria staff members have to live up to and how success will be judged.

10. Leaders hold people accountable to agreed commitments even when it would be easier to ignore. Leaders show moral toughness, seeing any conflict as an opportunity to focus on what is important.


11. Leaders give recognition to those who show initiative or appropriate behaviour, building on strengths members may have by continually providing feedback and encouraging sharing.

12. They support those who need help the most – providing whatever help is required.

13. And they encourage leadership by all to achieve the school’s vision.

It is time for real leaders to stand up, or out, to take the risks needed to make a real difference.

Creating a true personalised education environment able to develop the creative talents of all students is a dream worth pursuing.

'If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader'.John Quincy Adams

'If you want to build a ship, then don’t drum up men to gather wood, give orders and divide the work.Rather teach them to yearn for the far and endless sea'. Antoine de Saint Exupery

'In times of change,
learners inherit the earth,
while the learned find
themselves beautifully
equipped to deal with a
world that no longer exists'. Eric Hoffer

'Leadership and
learning are
Indispensable
to each other'.
John F Kennedy

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,change,Leadership,Rants and Raves,School Vision

Schools can only change from within -and by networking with others.

A photo from the beginning of an exciting class study developed with the class by Deborah, a creative teacher. It is to such teachers we should look towards for inspiration not 'experts' from outside the school. Principals need to value such individuals and link them with other such teachers in other schools. Real change emerges from the 'inside out' not top down as is the current model.

For almost three decades schools have been bombarded by change initiatives from outside the school 'led' by 'experts' who have no experience of what they are talking about.

It is time school leaders worked out it is over to them ( if they are leaders!) to develop their own change model - led from the 'inside out'.

Current change model have made little difference to the quality of teaching and learning - if anything they have made things worse by undermining the professionalism of teachers.

Time for a change of approach - a more positive conception of change.

The world as changed dramatically the past decades but school structures and systems have changed little. If anything school systems cling to approaches that are well past there 'use by date'. Current 'standardized' approaches just eat up valuable energy and time to little effect.

Schools reflect a past age. Timetables.Bells. Fragmentation. Sorting. School features remain largely embedded with ideas and practices from the industrial revolution - of 19th and early 20th century factories.

Schools need to embrace a new model of change, one that resists current top down standardisation. In our schools students still look to the teacher for their learning and students are seen as raw materials by teachers to teach and assess. Students do what others ask of them and, more often than not, see little relevance in what they are asked to learn and be assessed on.

It is time for schools to move beyond such idea and to ensure all their students become 'seekers, users and creators of their own knowledge' as it states in the revised New Zealand Curriculum. Learning constructed from the 'inside out'. This is how students now learn in the real world using modern information technology.

A new future change model is required for education.

We now appreciate students exhibit a great variety of emotions, interests, abilities and ways of learning even if schools don't. Such variety makes nonsense of our age graded classrooms. Streaming and ability grouping to solve such diversity are techniques of a past age. Personalisation of learning is now a necessity. Mass education , the dream of the past, is now a nightmare for too many students. Learning is more a moving target than a teacher planned event. The transmission model is not up to such diversity. Students learn best around real problems using appropriate disciplines as required.

Teachers need to spend time listening to their students to find out what students bring with them to any learning situation. All too often current teachers are unaware of what is going on in their students minds and do not encourage them to express what they already know and what they might like to learn about.

In the real world student will have to know how to learn, where to find what they want to know, and how to use their innate talents to their advantage - students who are adaptable and who see learning as a continual life long process. As writer Daniel Pink says 'they will need brand new minds' for this new creative age. The future will belong to the very opposite of the students traditional schools now produce.

And this gets back to seeing schools as centres of their own self renewal or growth and not simply complying to outside advice. Schools that 'grow' and not stuck in improving the past or complying to outside impositions.

In the past people looked to others to help them and now today there is an industry of such people - people who ironically are making things worse by trying to replicate and transfer ideas from outside sources as if schools can simply adopt them irrespective of the individual settings of each school. Another failing 'one size fits all' transmission approach. Ideas cannot be simply transferred or replicated; they must come from within; they must grow and develop in their own ways.

It is inside energy not outside expertise that needs to be tapped. Inside energy needs to begin the transmission process.

Creative teachers and schools are the key to future change. And networking. Good idea will spread and change like a benign virus. Energy comes from the inventiveness from within, from belief in their own abilities, and to do this schools need to be free to create and and invent and to share and collaborate.

So far schools have not taken such initiatives.

Leadership is lacking. Inside energy and knowledge is not being tapped. The people closest to the problem of renewal are being ignored while simplistic linear one dimensional approaches are ( such as National Standards) still being pushed on schools.

Conditions for school renewal are:

Those who work in the schools ought to be responsible for creative reinvention of education. Change must be site based and it must emerge from innovative classroom ideas.

Teachers at each school need to come together and think about how they could ensure all students learn to be 'seekers, users and creators' and to discuss ideas that work, what might work and what needs to be changed. Who are the idea generators in the school? Staff meeting ought to developed as a means for dialogue and sharing practices. Teachers beliefs need to be made transparent and where necessary challenged. Through such dialogue a shred reality is developed and a common understandings developed.

It is useful to make use of an 'outsider' to works with teachers to help them make inside knowledge clearer and to help them share their ideas - not to solve problems or provide 'expert advice'. Such people ask questions, seek understanding and ideas behind teachers actions. They encourage reflection, new ways of thinking and assist with mutual participation.They act as a 'modern' teacher helping students 'seek, use and create their own knowledge'. They work alongside teachers and build mutual trust.

This is a approach that relies on trusting teachers and requires teachers to make their own choices. All teachers must agree to participate - this is not just another idea being imposed on schools. All assistance must be seen as a partnerships.

It is a democratic approach that embraces the power of individuals to act collectively in their own setting.

It is an approach that challenges long standing practices and structures of schools that have their genesis in past industrial age 'factory' schools.

It is not more of the same. It is a model that is congruent with the world students will enter.

It is a model that values creativity, imagination and self realisation; a model that is based on tackling novel challenges instead of solving problems of a failing system.

It is a model that hold the greatest promise for creating schools that reflect modern ideas about how individuals and organisations learn. School by school, as ideas spread , the education system will evolve into an organisations suited for changing times - schools able to develop new minds for a new millennium.

Now all we need is leadership.

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,change,Creative Schools,Leadership,Personalized Learning,Rants and Raves,School Vision,teaching and learning

An idea whose time has come; schools and teachers working together

'Developing Teacher Leaders' by Frank Crowther, Stephen Kaagan , Margaret Fergusson and Leone Hann, with a forward by Andy Hargreaves. The book provides evidence of the importance of redefining leadership so as to work in parallel with classroom teachers.

The book calls for acknowledging teachers as the key to lasting change and asks for a renaissance of the teaching profession. Hargreaves's preface states that 'educational leadership is at a crossroads'.

As the focus is increasingly on student learning then developing the capacity of teachers as leaders is an imperative. Teacher creativity, not imposed standardisation, is central. Teacher creativity needs to be celebrated, recognised and shared.

Principals who can share leadership with their teachers and then with other schools will be seen as the real future leaders. Crowther calls this 'parallel leadership' - connecting principals and teachers through mutual respect. Up until now, Hargreaves states, teachers have been marginalised but we all know a school is only as good as its teachers.


This teachers and principals as leaders is an idea for principals associations working in smaller cities and rural towns to consider. There is no doubt that teacher isolation all too often makes becoming aware of new ideas difficult and this applies even more so to isolated schools. Crowther's (and others ) book 'Developing Teacher Leaders' provides an exciting means to break down this teacher and school isolation and to place the centre of new ideas firmly back in schools. Nothing of lasting note has ever been imposed on schools. All the recent Ministry contracts have proved difficult to sustain.Many have disappeared without trace - thankfully!


Three things have motivated me to share ideas of teacher , principal and school collaboration.

One is a National Radio talk I heard recently about the importance of developing collaborative networks between scientific research organizations in New Zealand for their mutual advantage. The theme of the radio discussion was: there are a lot of ideas out there; no one knows everything; and if we collaborated this would result in exponential growth of shared knowledge to advantage of all.

The other is the writings of Frank Crowther, author of ‘Developing Teacher Leaders’, about school leaders tapping into the often ignored strengths of creative classroom teachers as leaders. Obviously a school aligned behind shared beliefs (often inspired by the actions of a few teachers in the school) is ideal but the next step would be to tap into teachers in other schools and to share teacher skills from your own.

Crowther calls the combination of principal and teacher leadership parallel leadership. Crowther thinks it is important to see teachers as leaders and not just as ‘delivers’. He writes that teachers have been pushed out of the limelight the past few decades.

The third motivation goes back to the months before Tomorrows Schools .

The last District Senior Inspector in our area Taranaki, Julian Hoffman, asked all schools in Taranaki to, on a single piece of paper, write out their school beliefs and what strengths the school could offer other schools. Unfortunately the idea was lost in the competitive environment established by Tomorrows Schools. Ironically school clustering and sharing is now being encouraged by the Ministry.


Would it not be valuable for local principals associations to establish a website building on the ideas introduced by Hoffman?

Such a website could have links to individual school ‘offerings’ and these could be then used by principals to search out suitable schools for their teachers to visit (examples: a school with an excellent year one teacher; teachers with ICT expertise; environmental education; inquiry learning etc.). Teachers from other schools could be asked to visit to assist in another school. Currently no one really knows the strengths of other schools.

Possibly associations would need someone to liaise between schools and to help gathering information to post on the website; and to keep the website up to date. Most areas have a retired principal who could do the groundwork.

This process would see teachers being seen as their own experts and would provide recognition to teachers and contribute to them developing a greater sense of their own worth.

A future possibility is for teamS of teachers from different school, working on action plans, to develop ideas for use of all ('teaching as inquiry' as in the New Zealand Curriculum).This would be an excellent opportunity to develop teacher leaders.

If such a collaborative association were to be established then it could lead to developing focused shared school professional development. Bigger Conferences could share expenses in attracting top guest speakers and make use of identified local teachers for workshops.

I know of only one are which has tentatively moved along these lines (but with no website) and that are the schools in Blenheim.

As such an arrangement is informal, and not linked to any Ministry initiative, there would be no pressure for schools to comply with anything. It is just a means to take advantage of each others expertise.

The idea aligns well with the NZC intent of every student becoming ‘their own seeker, user, and creators of their own knowledge’ as it applies the philosophy behind such statement to teachers and schools.

And as we all know real innovation comes from the edge!

Time for school and teachers to reclaim their rightful positions?

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,Creative Schools,Leadership,Rants and Raves,School Vision

Teachers learning through dialogue -the power of learning conversations.

A jazz group is an ideal metaphor for an innovative school - all playing the same tune but each contributing as required to make a distinctive sound. Each player is expert in the chosen instrument and is trusted to contribute as the situation takes them . Improvisation is an important skill. A good school, or individual classroom, shares many things in common with a jazz group. Fluid, creative but all working within agreed beliefs: consistent creativity.

Learning through dialogue or learning conversations.

‘We know more than we know we know’ Michael Polyani

‘An ability to take a fresh look at the taken for granted seems equally important: without this ability most of us remain submerged in the habitual.’ Maxine Greene

‘The problem is never to get new innovative ideas into your mind, but to get the old ones out.’ Dee Hock (founder of Visa)

The 'new' New Zealand Curriculum provides the motivation to 're-frame' our programmes to ensure all students become 'confident, connected, life long learners' able to, 'seek, use and create their own knowledge'. Ironically the imposition ( and associated confusion) of National Standards will distract and distort schools from such an exiting challenges.


1. What are the problems with teaching and learning as you see them? In small groups ‘brainstorm’ issues. Then list them with no judgemental comments from others. Combine similar ones but only if people who suggested similar ones agree. Then use a 10:4 voting system to gather the ‘Wisdom of Crowds’. With this system members in turn placing their 10 points over three rounds – placing up to four points any round. From this we might establish an agenda for the day or for future inter school research teams.

2. Consider your own interests and abilities – the things that make you special (your ‘identity’). List things you like doing that you feel are above average – don’t be modest. Think about Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences. Select one and consider how you developed your ability. Share with others in your group. You might think how come you were ‘turned off’ some areas of learning.

Possible group dialogue / learning conversation topics.

3. Considering the changing and unpredictable world our students will enter what future skills, competencies, or disposition will our students need to thrive? What metaphors for a learner can you think of? ‘Brainstorm’ individually and then make up a composite list. From this develop an image of a successful student – what you want your students to leave your school with. You might refer to the vision pages of the NZC.

4. Think about what would make up a ‘dream school’ for teachers, students and parents. Combine individual ideas and write a descriptive paragraph to present to the whole group. Ignore your present school situation – see if you can ‘sell’ your dream school to other groups...

5. Challenge: we have decided to personalize learning so as to ensure all students develop a positive learning identity. Such a personalized learning approach values each student’s feelings, ‘voice’, talents. interests, culture, ideas, questions and theories with the idea of leaving students feeling it is their learning the school is interested in pursuing. Make a list of teaching strategies to achieve this.

6. In our transformed ‘dream school’ all learning is based on an inquiry model. There are ideas to consider in each of the Learning Areas in the NZC. Outline for your group an agreed process of inquiry – the stages most learners will have to go through.

7. In our transformed school we need to ‘re frame’ literacy and numeracy to contribute to the inquiry programme – the inquiry programme is to be the most important aspect of the day. The NZC requires school to ensure all students are able to ‘seek, use and create their own knowledge’. How can we integrate literacy and numeracy programmes so they contribute to in depth afternoon inquiry? List ideas. Think about how we can develop a positive ‘feeling for’ or attitudes towards maths and reading.

8. In our transformed school, where we value students’ creativity and empowerment, what is the role of the teacher? What metaphors, or images, come to mind? How do we help students ‘turned off ‘, or disengaged from areas of learning?

9. In transformed schools/room environments, where student inquiry and in-depth understanding and personal expression are central, what would you expect to see? In such schools the message is to ‘do fewer things well’ in depth is understood by all. List criteria to assess rooms.

10. In groups develop five beliefs to base your transformed schools teaching on and list a few ‘we will do’ ideas for each. These beliefs will form the basis of ongoing School Self Review, Teacher Appraisal and Professional Development.

The agreed beliefs provide consistency between teachers but also encourage creativity of each teacher; an environment of ‘no excuses’.

(1) A phrase to sum up the role of literacy and numeracy – a metaphor?
(2) A phrase for the kind of learners – another metaphor?
(3) A phrase to sum up the role of the teacher – another metaphor?
(4) A phrase to sum the school approach to the curriculum
(5) A phrase to sum up management and room environments.


11 In the last 30 minutes we will list ideas from today’s dialogue to follow up the remainder of the year (maybe another 10:4 voting?) and develop some inter school Action Inquiry Teams to research and later to share with all schools at a later date? See teaching as inquiry in the NZC.

12 Assessing children’s attitudes. Back at school list all the activities and Learning Areas and the ask each students to assess how they feel about each – using a 1 to 5 scale maybe using sad to smiley faces? Run through the list with the class to show that when you were their age you had different feelings about various areas. Repeat later in the year to see growth in attitudes.

Read more »

Posted in: Action Plans and Lessons,change,Creative Schools,inquiry learning,Leadership,Ministry NZCurric,project based learning,School Vision,teaching and learning

Two Agendas for School Review

This blog has been written as an introduction to a group of schools who are getting together this week to consider the implication of school self review.

Learning through ‘dialogue’ or ‘learning conversations’

‘The task of the teacher is not to impart knowledge where it does not exist, but rather to lead the minds eye that it might see for itself’ Plato

1. There are two agendas for school change

(1) To improve current programmes with predetermined ‘best practices’

(2) To transform current programmes for the 21stC - best practices continually 'emerge'.

The first is a conservative approach – the second a creative one.

2. For a school to ‘self view’ itself it needs to clarify its teaching beliefs; what it is stands for. Only then can it become a ‘learning community’ able to evaluate progress and continually grow. To do this schools need to uncover hidden assumptions or taken for granted ways of doing things. They need to look hard at how they timetable their day.

'Creativity ...consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know.....we must think to look a fresh at what we normally take for granted.' George Koeller.

3. To develop ‘confident life long learner’ schools to be transformed so all children leave with their innate spirit of learning alive. The desire to learn, to explore, to create, is the ‘default mode’ of all learners but for too many this has been ‘flipped’ by school experiences.

4. In current programmes the teachers determine and assess the learning often within a narrow range of achievement. Some children learn to fail by having their talents neglected. The major emphasis is a narrow focus on literacy and numeracy (which takes up all the ‘prime time’) with other areas of the curriculum receiving lesser attention.

5. In a transformed or creative programme, student inquiry is placed at the centre with an emphasis on students ‘voice’, questions, culture. Learning how to learn (process or key competencies)) as important as what is learnt or content. Literacy and numeracy can be still in ‘prime time’ but need to be ‘reframed’ and integrated in the service of inquiry and seen as ‘foundation skills’. Literacy is vital to ensure children develop the skills to ‘seek, use and create their own knowledge’ NZC.

6. A transformed agenda leads away from a past orientated standardized mindset towards a personalized or creative future.

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,change,Leadership,project based learning,School Vision,teaching and learning

Schools as Communties of Practice: Learning Communities

This rural innovative school spent considerable time in dialogue to work out a set of agreed teaching beliefs to implement it's vision of being a creative school. Such beliefs are of little use unless all teachers hold themselves accountable to what they have agreed to and are prepared reflect on their individual and collective achievements and then to acquire new skills as required.This is the essence of a learning community. Mind you the 'office' signpost could be replaced with the schools vision!

In this fast changing age schooling can no longer be seen as preparation for a future job - the ability to learn is the job! Something John Dewey wrote about early last century- the best preparation for the future is to live well today.

With this in mind the obsession with the current government to insist on all students being assessed and graded against doubtful standards is completely wrong as it diverts teachers from focusing on negotiating authentic learning challenges for their students.

If students are to to be able to develop their gifts and talents and become active 'seekers, users and creators of their own knowledge' then this ought to be the focus for schools not the standards. Student need to be equipped with positive attitudes and key competencies ( 'habits of mind' or 'learning power') so as to become their own navigators able to seek information, evaluate it, make sense of it, and to be able to collaborate with their peers.

The question is what would this mean for teachers? As with their teachers students need to be learning from skilled colleagues and experts in the field, modeling for their students the very qualities they would want their students to acquire. Teachers and students together make up a 'learning community' - or a 'community of shared practice'.

To achieve such a 'community of practice' teachers need to share explicit habits of learning and teaching. All too often though basic teaching belief are taken for granted and all too often teachers, once they enter their classrooms work as individuals - often disconnected from their fellow teachers. Innovative schools have worked hard developing shared beliefs as one way to ensure this isolationism is broken down.

Fragmentation seems an innate feature of our schooling system making it hard to develop a coherent body of shared knowledge of teaching within the school. All too often practices ( e.g time allowances for subjects) are implemented as the way they have aways been done - an often unquestioned 'default mode'

It is time to change this situation and to focus on the kind of teaching that will equip students for future challenges; the kind of teaching implicit in the new New Zealand Curriculum but not in the backward looking standards.

What is required by an innovative government is to develop the collaborative capacity of schools and teachers - one that links the demands of future work with the fabric of the schools. A collaborative system that is premised own continual evolution as required.

Six ideas to assist such a development are:

1 For schools to spent time developing a common vision of how students learn and how their collective capabilities can be aligned to meet their needs. These needs should not be determined by politicians imposing simplistic solutions.

2 Team members should hold themselves collectively responsible for each others mutual success.

3 Success for students should be based on authentic assessment of what students can do, demonstrate or exhibit .Teachers need to be skilled at providing real time feedback to their students.

4 Teachers need to be open for feedback on their own teaching effectiveness. If teaching beliefs have been defined then self reference and appraisals against such beliefs ought to be part and parcel of being a teacher at the school.

5 Successful learning teams need to function in stable settings.Successful teams need space and time to work.

6 Successful teamwork must be supported by a school leadership style that supports, trusts and empowers members to make decisions with the agreed school beliefs. Support given to teams must be balanced with appropriate positive pressure and expectations all focused on assisting the specific learning needs of the students.

Developing the learning capacity of schools by developing networks of communities of practice is a better concept than pushing conservative educational standards on schools.

In community of shared practice members pursue common interests and help each other do so. And as they work they solve problem together so their learning habits and attitudes rub off on each other. New members watch carefully to how the more established members talk, respond and deal with challenges just as children do when they want to join someones 'gang'.

The context one teaches in really matters. It is how we all learn. Creating such a positive community is the number one role of the leader.

To ensure students feel part of this community means schools have to develop programmes that build on students interests in a collaborative way. Teachers need to develop this sense of community in their classrooms by placing an emphasis on learning rather than teaching. All involved must feel they are able to 'seek, use and create their own knowledge'. Learners must be encouraged, through a collaborative inquiry approach, to be responsible for their own learning.

Learning communities, or communities of practice, are constantly evolving to solve whatever problem emerge.

This is the kind of world our students are entering.

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,Creative Schools,Leadership,School Vision,teaching and learning

Big ideas about school leadership

At a early New Zealand Principal's Conference I heard Australian educator Hedley Beare say the an ideal 'leader' principal would be a customised Indiana Jones - ready and able to take risks and happily cut through red tape but aways on the side of righteousness.

Such 'leadership' is not part of the DNA of many principals who prefer to play it safe and comply with imposed regulations. I see schools going along , to get along, with National Standards.

Recently I read on the Internet list of ten big ideas of school leadership written by a Middle School Principal of the Year.They seemed to make sense to me So I have picked them over to share with whoever reads this.

1 The focus of 'your' school must be on the success of kids 100% of the time. All too often, it seems, we try to fit kids into our expectations and in the process ignore the ideas, questions, points of view, and talents the students bring with them. And we see any conflict with students as a problem rather then as a means to work out a mutual better solutions.

2 Leaders need to create a vision,write it down,and start implementing it. It is important not to put your vision in drawer and forget about it and hope for the best. Every decision must be aligned against the vision and beliefs that underpin it. The whole school community is watching when you make a decision so consistency, by referencing decisions against the vision, is important.

3 It's the people stupid. The secret of managing is to keep the people who hate you away from those who are undecided. Hire people who support your vision, who are prepared to learn and who like kids.

4 Keep the paddles in the water. When navigating dangerous rapids in raft the only way to succeed is for everyone in the boat to sit on the edge and paddle really hard even though everyone would rather sit in the centre where it is safer. In times of school crisis everybody must be involved.

5 Find time to think and worry during the day. You are never always going to have a good days so it is OK to stare at the wall, reflect on the vision, and think about how to make necessary changes. Value input from other but ask those who provide it to provide possible solutions as well.

6 Take responsibility for the good and bad. The solutions to problems are almost always right in front of you; the genius of the school lies within the school. Imposed solutions have their consequences. Don't give away your responsibility.

7 You have ultimate responsibility. Have very clear expectations derived from the school vision and beliefs and then make sure people have the knowledge, resources, and time to accomplish expectations. Autonomy is the goal but actions need to be within the bounds of the vision.

8 Have bias for yes. The only progress you ever make in life involves risk.Ideas that teachers and others may suggest may seem a little crazy but try to makes such requests into a yes. Use the vision as a self reference and encourage others to do so.

9 Consensus is over rated. Twenty percent of the people will be against anything. When you realize this you avoid compromising what really should be done because you stop watering things down.If you always reach consensus you are being led by the 20%

10 Large changes need to be done quickly. If you wait too long to make changes to a school culture you have already sanctioned mediocre behaviour because you are allowing it.That is when change is hard. Define with the staff the behaviours required by the vision and belief and hold people accountable to them.

Seems like good advice if principals want to be real leaders!

Read more »

Posted in: Big Picture,change,Leadership,Rants and Raves,School Vision

Perry Rush -educator

It was great to listen to Perry Rush present to the Westcoast Principals' Conference earlier this month. Perry is not just implementing the New Zealand Curriculum he is well ahead leading teachers into true learning centred education.


The vision for Island Bay school is 'Our Way, Island Bay'.

Perry has a great story to tell and is an inspiration to others who might wish to emulate the spirit of learning that he represents. It is clear that Perry leads by example and that those that work with him have trust in him to take them into an exciting future.

He comes to Island bay following time at Discovery One a innovative independent Christchurch School. A brief conversation with him indicated that Perry has had to work hard to get to where he is now. I first heard of him years ago when he was the teacher of a year 7 and 8 Tawa school based in downtown Wellington.

Perry has taken advantage of the opportunity to develop a local curriculum offered by the New Zealand Curriculum. During his presentation he encouraged principals to follow his example and feel free to develop ideas that suit their community.

He see the New Zealand Curriculum as a visionary document and one that demands real changes from schools. He asked do schools really want be involved in such transformational change?

Island Bay has taken a 'learner centred' approach: 'Our Way, Island Bay,Integrated learning'.

He asked his audience to consider what things tend to be 'fixed' in their school? Often things they assume to be 'fixed' are only 'fixed' because no body has really questioned the assumptions behind how their school is organised. We all too often just assume current ways of working to be appropriate. These, he said, 'are the cultural traditions and mores of a school'. To move into the future we need to uncover and challenge such assumptions so as to consider what it is that can be changed?

The key is to find the time and space to focus on the needs of the learner.

Three issues to consider:

1 What are our beliefs as these determine our actions? And what is the basis of our beliefs and can we articulate them?

2 What is our culture - our educational environment? Culture is critical. The key competencies of the curriculum indicate the kind of behaviours we wish to encourage; how we wish to live and learn together.

3 What is our pedagogy? What are the strategies, approaches and techniques we agree to use?

A school that wishes to change needs to bring in new ideas and also needs to get rid of unnecessary things. But most important of all the teaching team needs to be able to articulate their beliefs.

At Island Bay the staff work to see learning from child's perspective, to appreciate that the students role is to make meaning, and that the teachers role is to support and challenge the learners to deepen their understanding.

Also as part of developing appropriate pedagogy the staff have studied all the available research.

The Best Evidence Synthesis (BES) has reinforced the valuing of diversity, of being responsive to differences, and the need for quality teachers to pose real problems - problems that result in active research. For students, as the NZC states, to be their own active 'seekers, users and creators'.

Graham Nuttal's book pointed out the power of the hidden curriculum; that we all construct our own meaning according to our prior experience; the power of peers on influencing learning and the need for kids to talk to each other about the right stuff. Nuttal's research pointed out to the staff the need for each child to be helped to make their own 'unique pathways'.

From Jane Gilbert ( author of 'The Knowledge Wave') a researcher at the NZCER the idea of the changing shape of knowledge. That knowledge is not seen as a noun ( to store) but as a verb (a doing word). Learning is about 'performativity' - the ability to do something with what you know. The deeper children learn the more they can apply what they know. As well there is the idea that knowledge is 'owned ' by the group - the idea of 'collective intelligence'.

And of course John Hattie's idea of 'expert teachers'.

Back to Island Bay's Culture.

A quote about culture Perry shared was , 'what we care about, what we are willing to spend time on doing, what we celebrate, and what we talk about.'

The practices that underpin Island Bay School are:

The learning is to be integrated
learning is to be conceptual and based around big ideas.
The NZC's Key Competencies are to be connected with Art Costa's habits of mind'.
Based on inquiry learning.

Perry outlined how Island Bay had 'grown' their curriculum.

The first challenge is to figure out the intent of the NZC;what does it mean?

Student learning and not about coverage.
An emphasis on local meaning.
A participatory view of learning.
Excellent 'essence' statements for each Learning Area.

The NZC provides both an opportunity and a challenge as it requires what Perry called a 'seismic shift' and not merely 'tinkering'.

Perry shared Five Change ideas:

1 Engage powerful speakers. Island Bay have used John Edwards, Mary Chamberlain, Jane Gilbert, Kath Murdock and Lane Clark.

2 Link theory to practice. 'Improvisation is the hallmark of a creative teacher'

3 Consult widely with the local community.Island Bay only selected 3 or 4 questions from those suggested by the Ministry.What problems/issues are worth engaging students in? What would make an ideal graduate profile for our learners? What ought to be our core beliefs? And what do the Key Competencies actually mean? Reduce them to five points.

The school felt it needed to 'unsettle' what parents and teachers think and sent out a 'provocative' newsletter based on ideas from Jane Gilbert. Focus groups were held with parents selected randomly ( about 15 in each group?). Each group was asked a key question e.g what do students need to thrive in the 21stC?

4 'Explode' teacher thinking. Teachers visited a range of 'best practices' schools and inquired into 'best practice' in areas of literacy, ICT, pedagogy and developed action plans to undertake inquiry. Action times had to research 'best practices'; attend appropriate professional development of their own choice; be mentored by a recognised expert and finally to provide the school with recommendations.

By this means the staff made their own shift and out of all the thinking emerged the new vision for the school.

5 The school kept 'wall stories' about staff inquiries.These displays made explicit the idea being explored and were a way of deprivatising teacher practice and contributed to the development of a shared pedagogy. This was 'low tech' approach that was achievable by all.

Drawing his presentation together Perry explained the Island Bay School Inquiry approach, a model largely based on the writings of Kath Murdock.

(1)When inquiry topics are decided upon they are linked to a 'host' learning area.
(2) Finding out. For each inquiry the main area are identified from the host Learning Area - the main strands and selected learning objectives are identified.
(3) Sorting Out. Learning tasks are mediated and appropriate key competences are identified but most units incorporate most, if not all, of these competencies.
(4) Going Further. Learning is expressed through a range of Learning Areas as appropriate
(5) Refection. Making connections, and 'now what so what'?


It all comes down , Perry concluded, to developing a curriculum that is living and breathing.

All in all an inspiring and practical presentation.

Thank you Perry.

PS Apologies for any misinterpretations but I think I captured the 'essence' of what Perry said.

Read more »

Posted in: Creative Schools,Creative teaching Educationalists,Leadership,Ministry NZCurric,national standards,School Vision,teaching and learning