New Zealand Principals Federation Conference 2015, Wellington

Every way of seeing is a way of not seeing. Looking at education through a variety of lenses.
Conference Report to Mt Somers Springburn School Board of Trustees
Brent Gray - Prinicpal
08:45 to 09:00

Welcome by MC
Jehan Cassinader was the MC for Conference (TVNZ News and Current Events Reporter). Jehan was an excellent MC who kept the flow of
the conference going and related well anecdotally, his work to his experiences in education.
09:00 to 09:10

Opening Statement Denise Torrey, President NZPF

Denise talked of the continual reform in education over the last two decades and looked at how well we were preparing our learners for the
workforce. One of her key messages was around what is the purpose of education now? Looking at the technological advances she looked at
three factors: skill acquisition, socialisation and that if this was the case, we wouldnt be we would not be adopting education policies that led to
predictable, risk free measures for education. Denise then asked: So what if we asked employers what they think is the purpose of education?
A recent survey of employers published in 'The Economist' ranked problem solving, team work, communication, critical thinking and creativity
as the top five skills they are looking for in an employee today and ranked literacy seventh and numeracy tenth. Denise spoke of the positive
work the Community of Schools could do if it were a model developed by those within it and not a top-down model and that we then mights
have education for our learners that is fit for purpose.
09:10 to 10:00

Professor Angus Hikairo MacFarlane: Vision for education in NZ? Highlighting strengths and challenges (Angus: Professor of Maori Research,
University of Canterbury)
Angus talked of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Maori enjoying success as Maori. Angus looked at eurocentric hegemony(dominance
ofone group over another) and the impact on maori learners.
Two key points made were:
-The lack of attention to alternatives to mainstream knowledge (which is not only Eurocentric but typically focused on middle-class beliefs and
practices) has the potential to leave the professional practice of teaching impoverished
-There is the potential for damage because of the 'colonisation' of local knowledge and theory and practice by Eurocentric thought. The
dominance of Eurocentric ways of research and teaching helps legitimise world-wide inequality.

Angus said the lack of development for schools around well-developed resources such as Ka Hikitia and The Hikaira Rationale have delayed
the use of approaches that are good for Maori learners (and what we know are good for all learners).
Angus asked us to consider: How can we provide research and teaching in such a way that it galvanizes principals and teachers empathy,
skill and confidence in their work with Mori students and colleagues?

The work Angus has done around the Educultural Wheel is one way of looking at developing teacher practice that is responsive to Maori
learners..

10:00 to 10:40 - TSB Bank Arena

Morning tea with the exhibitors

10:40 to 11:15

Minister of Education
Minister Hekia Parata gave an address that focused on three key aspects of Government work at present: IES and Communities of School,
The new Education Council and the 30 Year Anniversary of NZQA (New Zealand Qualifications Authority). Parata is a very informed and
dynamic speaker. Her outline of the IES s something we as a school and Board are familiar with because of our involvement with the 8 schools
beginning work along the lines of this initiative. With the launch of the Education Council coinciding with the opening day of the conference, the
Minister was keen to highlight the importance of this organisation in its ability to strengthen our profession and ensure the people within it are
working within the Registered Teacher Criteria. She said that as part of this, the profession could expect around 4000 teachers a year who are
reapplying for their practising certificates could expect to be audited around how they are meeting the RTC. This has implications for us as
teachers and Maryann, Ginny and I have recently attended workshops and are part of professional learning groups looking at what this might
look like for teachers going forward. Minister Parata opened the floor for questions at the end and nothing controversial was discussed,
although there were questions around the funding of special education which she reminded people that there was new money in the latest
budget for.
11:15 to 12:00
Cathy Wylie: Vision for education in NZ? Highlighting strengths and challenges (Cathy: researcher with NZCER (NZ Council for Education
Resereach)
Cathy discussed the challenges that undermine the strengths f self-managing schools. Of those things, the man ones she discussed were:
Insularity; Isolation; Reinvention of the wheel; Expecting that there is universal availability of capability; and Expecting individual schools to
solve systemic issues. All the while we are dealing with an increasing diversity of learners; one fifth of the population living in hardship; and
increased socio-economic segregation.
Cathy discussed why the NZC (New Zealand Curriculum) can strengthen our system.
She looked at :
-The purpose of education the school has to step back, decide and discuss.
-Focus on the whole learner interweave knowledge with key competencies interweave with learners contexts.
-And we need to do this trough and inquiry lens making things more explicit how progress and actions relate open to change on the basis
of analysis

12:00 to 13:00

Chris Jansen:How innovation can create opportunities. How can leaders build on the successes within our education system and rise to the
challenges? (Chris: Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury)
Chris looked at what are we good at, and what is the same thing that we are not good at? Co-construction, Collaboration, Partnership and
Collective Impact. Is this the goal or the means to the end? Chris asked Why should we collaborate? Not for efficiency but for Innovation!
Chris discussed how important networking is in the development of truly collaborative practice.
Chris referred to the work he did in Christchurch after the earthquakes with business as well as school groups and what real collaboration
looked like. For schools, a lot of this collaborative practice was around modern learning environments and modern learning pedagogy.

13:00 to 14:00 - TSB Bank Arena

Lunch with the exhibitors

14:00 to 15:15

Steve Maharey Curriculum Lens (Steve: Vice-Chancellor, Massey University)

The Way Ahead: Education for the future. Steve spoke a lot about how we need to work in the third way. This looks at:
Personalised learning (not individualised)
Students are active informed participants in their own learning
Learners contribute to decisions about why, how and what they learn
Assumes order, complexity and disorder
Steve, like Cathy Wylie, said that we have the tool to do this - NZC and that if we have the following, we have the tools to prepare our
learners for the future:
- Effective teaching by professional teachers - Evidence based
- Engagement with the community

-Formative assessment (some summative)

- Technology enabled

- Leadership

-School organisation

-Supportive services

15:15 to 16:30

Peter Cammock: What's the dance and what's the spirit leaders need to flourish? (Peter: Managing Director of Leadership Consulting Ltd.)
Peters address was good for the end of the day as it looked at the balance between leadership, managing and doing the work.

16:30 to 16:30

Conference Closure for the day

19:00 to 22:00 - Te Papa Tongarewa

Conference Dinner
At the dinner I was able to speak with a number of Christchurch Principals and have invitations from at Rob Callaghan, St Martins School and
Ross Willocks at Queenspark School to visit and take staff to look at collaborative learning and MLE/MLP set-ups in schools that have not had
purpose-built rooms such as some of the newer schools have. Also at the dinner I spoke with Kim Waite (Toko School) and Michelle Cronin
(Huirangi School) from Taranaki who are interested in setting up class-to-class interactions as they are in a rural area of the North Island
looking fir a South Island school to work with.

02 JUL
09:30 to 09:35

Welcome MC

09:35 to 10:55

Michael Fullan: The 2014 Convergence - the new pedagogies.(Michael: Professor Emeritus, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)
The key things Michael spoke about in relation to his topic were:
Focus: Small number of goals
Capacity Building: Upskill, build the knowledge
If you want to change the group, use the group to change the group, and talk the walk articulate the knowledge.
Michael spoke about how IES and leading from the middle provides a real opportunity.
The Essentials of Effective Collaboration
1. Developing High Trust Relationships
5. Frequently Interacting and Learning Inwards
2. Focusing on Ambitious Student Learning Goals
6. Connecting Outwards to Learn from Others
Linked to Measurable Outcomes
7. Forming New Partnership among Students,
3. Continuously Improving Instructional Practice
Teachers and Families
through Cycles of Collaborative Inquiry
8. Securing Adequate Resources to Sustain the
4. Using Deliberate Leadership and Skilled
Work
Facilitation within Flat Power Structures
Michael highlighted the point that all good changes are voluntary, but inevitable.
The Change Leadership priorities are:
-Ability to Innovate and Implement
-Ability to surround themselves with a talented team
-Collaboration-internal and external
-Ability to manage outcomes
In relation to School Cultures, Michael highlighted:
-Talented schools improve weak teachers
-Good collaboration reduces bad variation

-Talented teachers leave weak schools

-The sustainability of an organization is a function of the quality of its lateral
relationships

And remember, better off being right at the end of the meeting, not the beginning of it.

10:55 to 11:30 - TSB Bank Arena

Morning tea with the exhibitors -- TSB Bank Arena

11:30 to 12:50

Professor Meg Maguire. At the Centre of the Storm - being a primary teacher in impossible times.(Meg: Professor of Sociology, Kings College,
London.)
Meg spoke about the issues within the English system. Although this was quite interesting, it is not new to us, but it did highlight some of the
reforms that have had a negative impact over there and that some of the ideas for here have come from the English system. I dont think our
profession would let it get that far, especially under the self-governing schools system. After a while this become a lecture about deficit thinking
and although it made us feel good about our system in NZ, I wasnt there to hear about how poor the English system is.
12:50 to 13:55 - TSB Bank Arena

Lunch with the exhibitors

14:00 to 15:25

Alma Harris:The essential components of a high performing education system - highlighting recent work on leadership and development(Alma:
Professor Of Educational Leadership, Institute of Education, London; Senior Policy Adviser to the Welsh Government)
Questioning High Performance: 3 Themes Context
-Change
-Connections.
You cannot mandate what matters (E.g. Collaboration)
Alma talked about high performance and relating it to success for every child in every setting. Performance is relative, it is not absolute.
Context matters in relation to the: Quality of Leadership, Quality of Teaching.
Alma talked about how the more we standardise education around the world, the more we do the same. She explained that context matters
make it suit your context. Look beyond the data and seek deeper explanation.
The key to change leaders is to focus on the right things, not the latest things.
High Performance: 3 messages:
-Context look beyond the data and seek deeper explanations
-Change Leaders focus on the right things not the latest things
-Connections- real potential for high performance resides within the system not outside it.

15:25 to 15:55 - TSB Bank Arena

Afternoon tea with the exhibitors

16:00 to 17:00

NZPF AGM

17:00 to 18:00 - TSB Bank Arena

Sponsors Drinks

03 JUL
08:45 to 10:00

Workshop of Choice: Alma Harris and Michelle Jones

This was a further chance to explore Almas work around leadership and to workshop and discuss this with other Principals
10:00 to 10:30 - TSB Bank Arena

Morning tea with exhibitors

10:40 to 12:05

Rural Principals Meeting

The focus of this meeting was to work with the NZPF board and help them to get a better idea of rural Principalship and the rewards and
challenges within this setting. NZPF will use the ideas shared to look at PLD opportunities for future events.

12:05 to 13:05 - TSB Bank Arena

Lunch with the exhibitors

13:00 to 15:00

Hear views on where our focus, as leaders in education, should be in ensuring the best outcome for students and continuing to move NZ
forward?
Panel discussion with speakers form over the three days.
15:05 to 15:15

Conference closure

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Board of Trustees for being able to attend this conference. As you can see, we had some
excellent speakers work with us over the three days, and as you will all be aware, it is the networking opportunities that are provided by
being in this setting that help to enrich the discussions around the learning undertaken. Being able to get alongside Principals from across
the country who work in very different communities to ours can be enlightening and also make me very thankful for the support and
guidance we get from our Board and community. It is sad to hear of the schools that dont have the support we do here. In saying that,
many of the issues school face are similar across the country, and usually related to the frustrations around the tasks that take a lot of a
Principals time that shouldnt need to e.g Novopay, Special Needs Funding, Working with outside agencies, etc.
Brent.