Leading to Learn

Key Learning from the workshop: Nothing new in a sense - except that accountability shared across organisation from Board to employees Accountability also shared between PCBUs (eg ADW, Courier firm, builders, EOTC providers etc) There are holes in the legislation as hasn't been tested properly yet - many grey areas When someone is doing work - becomes a workplace (including after hours) - plant and equipment needs to be up to spec so that a teacher working at school in the weekend does not fall through a floor, etc) Board of Trustees as a group acts as the PCBU (Person Conducting a Business of Undertaking) Individual trustees appointed or e lected under the Education Act are not accountable because they are volunteers Principal can be found individually liable for harm caused Individual employees can be liable for harm caused by failure of duty of care. If a teacher fails to deal with (by fixing /isolating/ reporting) a hazard, and a harm is caused - that teacher can be...

The Principal: three Keys to Maximizing Impact Michael Fullan Criticises over emphasis on Principals leading the learning Importance of building capacity, rather than micro-managing Refers to researchers who conclude that Principals as having an indirect, yet important influence on student learning: Viviane Robinson - BES (leading teacher learning and development), with principals learning alongside and from Helen Timperley - "Who is my class?" Ken Leithwood - focus on instruction and ensuring collaborative working conditions, such as time for collaboration Tony Bryke - professional capacity (individually and collectively), school climate (ensuring safety and orderliness in the aid of learning),parent and community ties  and instructional practices that engage students in relation to key learning goals. Hire teachers who have at least four core qualities; High moral commitment relative to the learning of ALL students - regardless of background strong inst...

Book recommended at the NZPF Conference in 2015, by Michael Fullan. Not written from an educational leadership perspective, but from a business leadership perspective. Scientific analysis of companies who, at some point in their history, made sudden and continued gains in income - with similar companies who did not grow, but carried on as is, or died. What did the successful companies do that made the difference? What can cross over to Educational Leadership? Level 5 leaders - Not out for personal gain, but what is best for the company. Fanatically driven, with an incurable desire for results. More plow-horse than show pony. Humility + will = Level 5. More often found within the company, than brought in from outside.  In education, leaders who are fanatically driven to focus on what is best for the children. Passionate about education, but disinterested in personal gain. or kudos.  First Who, then what - The importance of finding the right people, who are...

Finances Naomi Chantler – Team Leader: School Finance DDI 044638797 Naomi.chantler@minedu.govt.nz   ·          Financial management role with principal & BOT needs to keep track of decisions made ·          Key Documents = good practice for management: o    Commentary of variances (budget vs actual) o    Summary and detailed monthly accounts o    Banking staffing reports o    Payroll reports o    Cashflow forecasting o    Once 6 mths – updated forecast ·          Key Documents = good practice for governance: o    Commentary of variances (budget vs actual) o    Summary and detailed monthly accounts o    Cashflow forecasting o    Banking staffing and SUE reports ·        ...

Words of Warning form the U.S. Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) - about privatisation, not education Messages: schools are failing need to take steps public schools are no good charter schools, no unions, are the solution Testing industry profitable - Pearson Conferences about how to make money in education Strong push to profit from Education High Stakes testing (pearson test) 'Opt Out' Movement - parents refusing to allow their children to be tested, so that the scores cannot be used to evaluate schools and teachers

http://www.nzpf.ac.nz/sites/default/files/01_Professor_Alma_Harris.pdf Questioning 'High Performance' Context - Change - Connections Context High performance = success of every child in every setting? High Performance is relative - it depends Caution about attribution on any particular country Distortions in Policy making (PISA) Decontextualized policy borrowing = outcome of PISA Contradiction - Asians want to go to university elsewhere (including NZ) - why? Using one measure to rank a system is ludicrous Is a measure so important that we want to distort what we do? Is this what we want for our children? "The more we standardise education systems, the more they look the same" Do we want that? Look beyond the data and seek deeper explanations Change importance of Leadership quality + teaching quality True leaders don't create followers, they create leaders It is easy to improve schools, but difficult to sustain improvement Collective Re...

http://www.nzpf.ac.nz/sites/default/files/02_Professor_Meg_Maguire.pdf At the Centre of the Storm "have faith in yourself, have faith in your school, have faith in your professionalism and don't be budged from it" How not to do it - UK system Competitive behaviour has been incentivised (Peter Mortimore, 2013 p157) Reforms: baseline testing in schools introduced failure of tests = re-do again and again Fear and oppression = schools required to meet benchmarks or be taken over Business jargon = standards, benchmarks, performance