#LeadLAP Post 3 - Rapport

Earning Trust as a Leader
"As a leader, every action you take (or don't take), every interaction you have, every decision you make or leave unmade, every expression on your face, the tone in your voice, or the body language you convey - everything about you - either earns or erodes trust".

When I read this quote - I almost feel the pressure! That is because it is so true - in our leadership roles every interaction matters.

I wrote a post entitled Serendipity - Every Interaction Matters  earlier this year. Rather than rewrite this - I have linked it above.

How do I earn that much needed trust from our staff and school community? 

I try to remember that every interaction matters and I try to make every interaction matter.

How do you earn that much needed trust?

Working Together to Make Our Schools Amazing

Being connected is a passion of mine.

For a long time I have been using Twitter and blogging to dip into the world of social media that connects educators all over the world. Establishing a Personal Learning Network exponentially increases your audience for professional dialogue and this is just what we need to challenge our thinking and move us out of our comfort zones. 

I am always blown away about the amazing sharing that goes online. 

Two years ago in conjunction the CPPA offered three online different options for principals and senior leaders to opt into so that we could explore the power of being connected. Paul Sibson ran a twitter challenge, there were Google Apps For Education workshops and I introduced quadblogging.

Starting small with only 12 people opting in and then at least four of these dropping out we ventured into unknown territory and over two terms our small group blogged about teaching, learning and leadership.  You can read more about this concept in this blog post written in 2015.

Quadblogging meant that other school leaders were taking the time to comment on my posts and I was taking time to comment on theirs.

The benefits of blogging are many however the main benefits I found were:
- blogging helps me clarify my thoughts
- authentic audience (my personal learning network) can challenge me to think at a deeper level 

Since the quadblogging exercise I have seen many other opportunities to participate in online. OSSEMOOC is a community of educators from Ontario and on their MOOC (Massive Open Online Community) they provide their school leaders many opportunities to connect. They study books on blog hops, debate topics on voxer chats, provide each other support through many different forms.

We would love to have a community that we can connect on a little closer to home so after talking to the organisers of the OSSEMOOC and connecting with other educators we are stepping out of our comfort zone and setting up our first blog hop.

Watch this space for how to get connected and join in the conversations around leadership and learning. Let's work together to make our schools amazing.

Legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice

Week 29

"Ethics, also known as moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct."

(Sultana, 2014, pg 44)

Teachers belong to a professional community. Teachers at St Francis of Assisi Catholic School also belong to a Catholic professional community. Both these professional communities have a code of ethics that guide us in our interactions and all times we need to be aware of the consequences of our actions. They are not a set of rules but rather guidelines.

It is stated on the Education Council site that the integrity of our profession relies on robust processes that give the public peace of mind, knowing teachers meet high ethical standards and are fit to teach. Teachers in a New Zealand schools need to demonstrate commitment to students, parents and caregivers, the community and education itself. Teachers in Catholic schools have an added commitment which is to our own spiritual growth and well being. Teachers in all schools are required to demonstrate professional standards of conduct in all we do.

At our Teacher Only Day at the beginning of the year we handed out the Code of Ethics to all staff and highlighted a few points on it. It is displayed on the wall of several rooms around the school. 

But what does it all really mean, what do we do when things go wrong or an ethical dilemma arises?

There are many ethical dilemmas that could arise in the school setting. This year we have required all teachers to set up a professional blog and use it to reflect on their practice. The intent is also that this is how they will document how they are meeting the PTC's. Initially teachers would share their blogs with the senior leadership team (SLT) however it is our ultimate aim that teachers would feel comfortable about sharing their learning in a more public setting. The senior leadership team is modelling this with their own blogs and working hard to ensure that we are commenting and giving feedback to help teachers to reflect further.

As yet we have had no issues in this area but upon reflection I can see a possible ethical dilemma that could occur.

What if the content of the blog posts are not of a professional standard?

What if the content of the blog posts breach confidentiality?

What if the the blog posts are used for the wrong purpose?

What if the content of the blog posts being the school into disrepute?

This is where the code of ethics comes into its own as it gives us something to fall back on, something that we can use to initiate some dialogue with the professional in order to find a solution to the issue.

How you would we address this potential issue if it occurred in our practice?

Our SLT has very recently attended a course Collaboration and Important Conversations: Partners in Powerful Learning facilitated by Joan Dalton. This course has been invaluable in helping us gain some shared understandings of how we would deal with dilemmas such as these.

We would ensure that our staff had a shared understanding of the Code of Ethics. (I don't believe we unpacked this well enough at the beginning of the year and believe we need to revisit this). 

"People need to be part of the conversation in order to achieve shared clarity." (Dalton, 2016, pg 42)

Assuming we had constructed some common understandings about the Code of Ethics at the beginning of the year then the dilemma becomes much easier to deal with.

We now have an agreement that we can fall back on to challenge the unethical behaviour. We can use the agreement to take people to task.

Dalton (2016), describes an approach to hold people accountable. This conversation beings with a statement that has three parts: Stick to the facts, Refer to agreement, describe the gap and inquire.

An example of how this may sound is:

"Patricia, I read your post last night and I see that you have used people's names and criticised their practice. Our code of ethics states that we will protect the reputation of students, parents, staff and Board members. Help me understand your thinking about this."

Having a code of ethics - an agreement with staff that all have agreed to makes this much easier to deal with. The important conversation must be had otherwise the behaviour will not change however it does not need to be confrontational as if the agreement is in place - there is nowhere to hide.

References

Dalton, J. (2016). Learning Talk: Important Conversations at Work. Victoria 3463; Australia. Hands on Educational Consultancy Pty Ltd.

Hall, A. (2001). What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. Paper presented at the IIPE Conference, Brisbane. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Developing-leaders/What-Ought-I-to-Do-All-Things-Considered-An-Approach-to-the-Exploration-of-Ethical-Problems-by-Teachers


New Zealand Catholic Education Office. (2014) Code of Ethics for Staff and Boards of New Zealand Catholic Schools. retrieved from http://www.nzceo.catholic.org.nz/media/resources/publications/NZCE-Code-Of-Ethics-2014.PDF

Sultana, H. (2014). Ethics in the Teaching Profession. ABC Journal of Advanced Research, 3(1)

Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice

Week 28 

I attended the Trans Tasman Principal's Conference in Auckland a couple of weeks ago. The theme for the conference was Knowledge in Our Hands. There was a large focus on acknowledging the culture of both lands and sharing of information. 

I was proud to be part of the New Zealand contingent as waiata supported korero again and again throughout the conference. Many of our Australian counterparts commented that we were so far ahead of Australia in this acknowledgement of the indigenous peoples of our land. 

There was a strong cultural theme at the conference and conversations with other delegates demonstrated  examples of  excellent practice at schools that are really honouring the bicultural nature of our country. Attendance at the conference and particularly the workshop run by Te Ringakaha Tia-Ward, What Works for Maori Works for All, have really made me reflect on what culturally responsive practice looks like or will look like at St Francis of Assisi School.

Tia-Ward talked about the journey to change the face of education at Whangarei Intermediate to allow Māori to succeed as Māori. He was generous in sharing initiatives they have put in place on their journey especially the Maori Achievement strategic plan. At times during his presentation I felt that he was speaking directly to me. I certainly felt challenged to do a better job than I was currently doing for Maori students at St Francis of Assisi. Even though it is never our intent sometimes what we are doing could be seen as tokenism and this is not something I am proud of at all. 

We have not yet consulted with our Maori community about what their aspirations for their children; we want to develop shared understandings about Maori enjoying and acheiving success as Maori looks like.

We are currently working on a draft programme of work for Te Reo, The Senior Leadership Team is teaching Te reo and Tikanga Maori in each of the hubs fortnightly, We have Senior and Junior Kapahaka groups that are extremely well attended. Our senior group meet at 8am each Thursday - this has been such a good decision as we have found we have parents and caregivers (and younger students) coming for the whole session which just wouldn't happen if we were running Kapahaka in the middle part of the day.

I am sure we could capitalise on this opportunity to begin to consult with our Maori community about student achievement and aspirations.

Ka Hikitia is the Government's strategy to guide schools and their communities to ensure that their schools work well for every Maori student. 

The Board of Trustees is accountable for the performance of the school, with a key focus on raising student achievement for all students at the school.

Cultural Responsiveness is the way in which a school responds to the aspirations of our Maori community - Boards need to build policy and procedures that support the achievement of our Maori students - and as stated by Tia-Ward (2016) this will in turn support the achievement of all of our students. 

So... where to from here for St Francis of Assisi School?

We have a brand new Board of Trustees - everyone is new as this is the inaugural Board. We will need to spend some time getting training for our trustees so that everyone understands their responsibilities in relation to Maori achievement. Hautu is a cultural responsiveness self review tool that has been developed for BOT's to use to review how well they are doing in this area. This would be a good place to start - it is  designed to be flexible and to help BOTs plan a way forward from wherever it is that they are starting.

We are currently embarking on consulting with the community on establishing a vision for the school and we are planning on how we can engage with all stakeholders - we need to do this well. How will we ensure that our Maori stakeholders are represented in planning and decision making at this level?

- consultation with local iwi for next steps

- engage Grow Waitaha for support in this area

- whanau hui to share Maori interim achievement data

In order to make any of the above successful we will also need to evaluate our communication methods. Currently we communicate by newsletters (posted on the website and emailed and now accessible on the new school app); emails; blogs. It is time now to ask our parents to give us feedback on the communication methods and ensure that we are meeting the needs of all our stakeholders.

References

Ministry of Education. (2013). Ka Hikitia Accelerating Success 2013-2017. The Maori Education Strategy. Wellington, NZ.

NZSTA. Hautu - Cultural Responsiveness Self review Tool. http://www.nzsta.org.nz/professional-development/hautu-maori-cultural-responsiveness-self-review-tool-for-boards-of-trustees

Week 26 - Activity 2 - My Professional Community

Week 26 St Francis of Assisi School Community of Practice
-Applied Practice in Context Post #2

In order to discuss the values and and principles that underpin my practice within this community I feel the need to describe the context a little more fully in this post.

Stoll (2000) states that a school’s culture is shaped by its history, context and the people in it and that a school's age can impact cultural change.

I am the principal of a new school that opened its doors to students on 4 February 2016 - this year! At the time of writing this we have been open for fifteen weeks. Our school opened after the closure of two schools - St Paul's, Dallington and Our Lady of Fatima, Mairehau.

Our school is new, however it is also a merger of two school communities who both bring with them history of their own contexts. We have staff from both schools, staff from other schools and a contingent of beginning teachers , we have large groups of students from both schools and a few new students as well and we also have two parent communities. These will all have their own impact on cultural change as we move forward together.

What is the organisational culture (collective values/principles) that underpins your practice? 
Building relationships, continuous improvement, mutual respect and collaboration are the principles that underpin my practice. As a senior leadership team (SLT) we want to create a culture where all teaching professionals feel supported to take risks and where everyone is focused on shared goals and where everyone takes responsibility for the success of all.

In her Ted Talk Teachers Create what they Experience Katie Martin (2016) talks about the things that leaders need to do to create a shift towards a culture of innovation and for the community to be able to understand what the desired teaching and learning looks like. The building of a shared vision is paramount, teachers need to opportunity to learn and the opportunity to take risks and to be able to perceive learning as a process not an event, teachers also need have opportunity for coaching and rich feedback from their peers, and lastly the chance to work collaboratively with their peers. 

How are we as an SLT contributing to fostering a positive professional environment in your community of practice?

- we model collaboration by working together in a shared space on shared projects
- we release teaching teams for collaborative discussions in contact time
- we work hard to show staff they are supported and and that their efforts are valued
- we provide regular professional development opportunities and we are working on delivering PD in different ways
- we are organising visits to other schools so that teachers can see collaboration working in other contexts

Essentially we are trying to provide as much support as we can when we can.

What are the current issues in your community of practice? How would your community of practice address them?

One of the issues in our community of practice is that of building a shared vision that everyone owns and buys into. We are just in a phase of moving from having an establishment Board to electing our first Board of Trustees and this will be one of the first and most important projects they will have to be a part of once they have been voted in. 
We need to canvas all stakeholders and find out what it is they want for our students. We need to use many different techniques to ensure we offer many different ways of people engaging in this process. e.g.

- run a What if exercise with all stakeholders.
- Survey the stakeholders
- Blog and use Padlet for an interactive response
- World Cafe 
- Focus Groups

The SLT will need to work with the Board and the staff to produce an action plan so that we end up with a vision that serves our whole school community. I am looking forward to having a shared vision that all stakeholders feel they have had a part in creating and that they share a collective responsibility in striving to achieve it.

References
Stoll (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from 
http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture

Martin, K. (2016). Teachers Create What They Experience [Video] TEDxElCajonSalon
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcDpDPwRxvU&sns=tw

Week 25 - APC - Activity One

Week 25 Communities of Practice

What is a Community of Practice?

Wenger defines communities of practice as “groups of people who share a concern or a passion or about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interaction on an ongoing basis” (Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002, p.4).

As educators we cannot help but be part of at least one community of practice. When I think of this term I see many interlocking circles - each circle defining one community of practice but no circle that sits distinctly on its own. I think that I belong to a number of communities of practice; the teaching community at St Francis of Assisi; the Senior Leadership Team at St Francis; My Professional Learning group (Principals); My Professional Learning group (within St Francis); the Canterbury Primary Principals Association (CPPA); My Twitter Professional Learning Network; the Catholic Cluster; The Canterbury Catholic Primary Principals Association (CCPPA); the Mairehau Learning Cluster. For each of these communities of practice we engage at different levels depending on the goals or shared vision that we have.

What is the purpose and function of your practice? In what ways do you contribute to the community of your practice?

First and foremost I am an educator and a leader and my community of practice is the St Francis of Assisi teaching community, we share knowledge and expertise and interact daily. Reflective practice is part of who we are, we all have professional blogs, we meet regularly formally and informally, we all belong to professional learning groups - subsets of the larger Community of Practice. Dawson (2012) states that reflective practice leads to better learning. We are working hard to develop a culture of continuous improvement and this shared goal keeps us focused. The purpose of this community of practice is to work together to build a collaborative learning culture for all learners in the community.  As part of the SLT I contribute to this in many ways. 

... providing systems and structures that allow teachers to get on with their core business with as few disruptions as possible 
- provide each team with collaborative "thinking time" - we take over their learning hubs for an afternoon a fortnight so that they can spend some time as a team talking about the next steps in collaboration 
- providing just in time PD
- providing coaching and mentoring for staff

What are the core values that underpin your profession? Evaluate your practice with regard to these values.

"We need to build more organisations that prioritise the care of human beings. As leaders, it is our sole responsibility to protect our people and, in turn, our people will protect each other and advance the organisation together."                                                             Simon Sinek

I love this quote as I think it clearly indicates what has to be at the centre of everything - relationships. Spending time building relationships and building trust is important - this is what we as a Senior Leadership team have set as our highest priority this year - in order to build a culture of continuous improvement we have to build relationships with each other, our students and our families. 

We need to build trust, and create an environment where everyone feels valued and supported. We are making great headway in developing this community of practice.