As leaders, much of our work is not visible, yet it impacts at every level within our schools.  Balancing task completion and the relationships is always testing and no less of a challenge at this time of year.

Learning from leaders:

Last week, I represented you at the  ‘International Confederation of Principals’ (ICP) meeting in Singapore.  Attended by leaders from five continents and 29 countries, it was an opportunity to learn with and through others as a global network.  Information on current leadership challenges had already been gathered from ICP member organizations.  Across the ICP world, staffing schools came out as the number one pressing issue. There were a few exceptions including Singapore and Finland. The obvious question is why are those countries different?  The answer lies in the following three points:

1. Teaching has status as a profession
2. Teachers are paid well and have good working conditions
3. Teachers have time for planning, collaboration and professional development

There are messages in there for Ministers, the Ministry and the unions.

How do we serve our students better?

In European countries leaders described a shift in education perspective from viewing education as a system to produce a future workforce, to supporting students to become lifelong learners.  Professor Anna Pons, from the OECD, shared her research findings from 2020 and 2021.  She asked the question -

How are we supporting students for whom our current education models are not working?

Findings showed:

1.  We need to shift from directing students to giving students a compass, so they can adjust
      and change within a fast-changing world.
2.  ALL Students need to succeed.
3.  Students need to develop complex ways of thinking, doing and building collective capacity.
4.  We need a workforce with a high-level of professional knowledge.
5.  We need distributed leadership models.
6.  We need to be highly accountable to peers and stakeholders, and less to authorities.

The question resonated because in Aotearoa, Māori have been asking the same question at all levels, for a long time.  New Zealand’s indigenous researchers, such as Professor Russell Bishop and Dr Hana O’Regan are clear that when teachers are coached to strengthen inclusive teaching pedagogy and use formative assessment practices, all students achieve, including Māori.  Learning from our Māori Medium schools, we also know when students have strong knowledge of their whakapapa and where parents are engaged and active as ‘first teachers’ they become the ‘added value’ that is part of the recipe of success as lifelong learners.

It is a good list to use as a ‘self-review’ tool.  How would you rate your school on each of these dimensions and on developing students’ cultural self-identity and knowledge of themselves as learners?

Learning from students:

Within the same ICP forum, leaders heard from students globally who had been asked what they had learned from the pandemic, what they thought education should be like in the future and what key messages they had for school leaders.

OECD (2022) research shows that developing student agency should be a global focus, post-COVID.  Many students are not in systems that value student voice.  The 2022 OCED PISA data shows, in some jurisdictions, that students feel powerless to make a difference in the world.   The good news is that New Zealand students were amongst the most positive in the world. 

Key messages from students across the world include:

• They need space, to learn and to heal.
  They need different pathways because they all learn differently and have different needs.
  They need to feel hopeful for the future.
  They need education to be delivered in different ways – through different digital platforms – to
  support their learning.
• Don’t under-estimate the impact students have on students
• Make building relationships with students a priority
• Value students’ thinking and skills and provide space and time for skill development.
  Learning is more than succeeding academically.
• Students cannot thrive without basic human skills – financial skills, communication skills, EQ and integrity.
• Students want leaders to listen and act on what they hear
• Talk to students about their needs and wants.
• Let students learn inside and outside the classroom
• Provide leadership opportunities for students so they develop knowledge, as they serve their community, by applying their learning in authentic contexts.
  
  

Students were quite clear about what worked for them as learners, what didn’t and what they wanted to change.  Leaders and teachers have opportunities every day to learn with and through their students, if that is what we do as leaders.  So, is it ‘what you do?’