Passionate Creed Reflection

(Oct, 2019)
Current Passionate Creed:
Motivated by a servant heart, I want to cultivate an
Invitational school culture where whānau is valued,
colleagues are supported, and all students feel cared for,
safe, and stimulated.
I am still happy with my overall intention of my passionate
creed which is to “cultivate an invitational school culture
where all students feel cared for, safe and stimulated”.
This aligns with the general principles of wellbeing covered
in the ERO readings (ERO, 2016a; ERO, 2016b). I believe that
my fictional school would feel like a caring school because
the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects of a
person are all addressed and respected. Students would
feel stimulated due to the high expectations and
Multi-intelligence styles of learning. Students would also
feel safe because of our commitment to healthy thinking
and communication.
As I reflect on my Passionate Creed and my school
website I am feeling confident that they are well aligned
but I have made some changes to my creed which I feel
express my philosophy more accurately.
My revised passionate creed is:
Motivated by a servant heart I want to cultivate an
invitational school culture where ALL learners feel cared
for, safe, and stimulated.
 I believe this can be achieved by pursuing a holistic
approach to student wellbeing which ensures that
effective teaching pedagogy is promoted and compassion
is practised in all facets of school life.
My second sentence in my Passionate Creed helps me to
define ​how​ I will go about cultivating a caring, safe, and
stimulating environment.
The word “holistic” is important to me not only because it
reminds me to look beyond academics in my teaching
practice but also allows me to incorporate an important
part of myself - my spirituality. My fictional school also
recognises the importance of spiritual development
across the curriculum and school culture by including an
“upwards” focus in the motto, logo and curriculum.
Combined with the inward and outward focus of the vision
I believe that Keystone Primary is strongly holistic in it’s
outlook.
I have removed the words “whanau is valued and
colleagues are supported”. These are still important to
me, but what I have learnt during this paper is that
effective practice means that whanau and colleagues
should be valued and supported anyway. I now prefer to
include them by saying “ensures that effective teaching
pedagogy is promoted”. “Effective teaching pedagogy”
gives me more scope to widen my knowledge base over
time and holds me accountable to ensuring my pedagogy
is actually effective. I have chosen the word “promoted”
as this put the onus on me to not just know about best
practices, but to actively seek them out and develop them
in my teaching. This strongly aligns with Domain Five:
Indicators and Examples of Effective Practice (ERO,
2016a). My fictional school puts a high value of
professional development and best practice.
Lastly, I have included “compassion is practiced in all
facets of school life” as a reminder that things are never
perfect. I won’t be perfect, colleagues won’t be perfect,
students won’t be perfect and situations will often be far
from ideal, but having a compassionate approach will
enable us to be as restorative as possible. This element
has not been explicitly unpacked in my fictitious school
but is implied with our Biblically based ethos, restorative
practice, and holistic outlook.
I would be happy for the first sentence to stand alone
with the understanding that “all learners” includes, not
only students, but also myself, colleagues, and whanau
as we can all position ourselves as “lifelong learners”
(MOE, 2007, p. 8).