Momentum for mahi has picked up another notch this week, as you tackle those tasks with an ‘end-of-year’ expiry date. Amongst the assessments, reports and school events, trying to keep staff levels stable, as the latest covid wave sweeps in, is a significant challenge.  

In recent conversations, both here and in Australia, there is urgent talk about raising the status of our profession.  To have status is to have value.  To have value, is to command respect. 

Every day, we add value to the lives of the students in our schools.  Right now, PPCB and NZEI are engaged in collective bargaining with the government.  We need the outcome of this round to acknowledge the signficant leadership principals have shown throughout the pandemic, the importance of the work we do and the ‘value’ that we continue to add to students’ lives, to our community’s wellbeing and our country’s future, every day. 

The beginning of raising the status of the profession in New Zealand needs to start with raising the pay of principals.  Please ensure your voice is heard and that you are making your vote count.

And should 16 and 17 year olds vote?

This week the New Zealand Supreme Court ruled that the country’s current voting age of 18 is discriminatory, meaning parliament must discuss whether it should be lowered.  The case was brought by campaign group Make It 16, which wants the voting age reduced to include 16- and 17-year-old young people.  It will now be debated in Parliament and if there is a 75% majority the proposed change would become law. 

This presents a great opportunity to introduce ‘Civics education’ and develop a culture of voting.  We have seen a growth in apathy in recent elections, where people choose not to engage in political debate, or to prioritize their right to vote. 

Civics education is a superb vehicle to develop critical thinking and to engage students in dialogue and debate about issues that matter to them.  To create space for student voice,  teachers need to share the locus of control.  For teachers to do this, it needs to be modelled by leaders. 

 

And of the issues that matter …

At the recent United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP27) there was despair as the influence of fossil fuel companies watered down global commitments to end the use of fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere.  Our students inherit the planet.  As kaitiaki we have work to do.  One of the most empowering programmes in New Zealand schools to help schools, teachers, students and communities to positively ‘make a difference’ is the Enviroschools Programme.

Run by the ‘Tomata Foundation’, the programme has five strands – Empowering students, Māori Perspectives, Cultural Diversity, Learning for Sustainability and Sustainable Communities.  Students conduct audits of their school environment and identify projects they want to do, to improve their environment.  With support from people within and beyond the school gates, there have been any number of exciting student-led enviro projects completed over the last 20+ years. 

If we want students to become active citizens who lead the change, there is no time like the present to plan for this.  To weave this within the local curriculum, we all become part of the solution. That would really lift our value as leaders, learners and kaitiaki of our planet.