In This Communiqué We Want to Cover

He Kākano Communique 7 – Wednesday 6 May 2011

In this communiqué we want to cover:

·  Recap

·  Victoria University Evaluations

·  Key Learnings from your National Advisory Group

·  The Kaikoura Wānanga – what we will be doing

·  More Te Reo Māori learning

This will take you four minutes to read. PLEASE DO IT NOW.

RECAP

1.  In communiqué 6 we reminded you of the importance of the whole senior leadership team being able to work through the GPILSEO model – or the professional development framework you prefer to work from – and the ‘Au’ to ‘Whakawhanaungatanga’ model; the value of the leadership team sharing the key readings, especially the two texts ‘Scaling Up Education Reform’ and ‘Culture Speaks’; the importance of raising questions about data you have gathered as evidence for Māori student achievement; and of taking the opportunity to discuss these as a team before the co-construction meetings take place, rather than waiting to discuss them when the Manutaki arrive.

2.  We also emphasised the importance of your leading discussions about SMART Goal setting (that come out of the data analyses or evidence); about becoming pedagogical leaders; and the importance of attending the co-construction meetings with Manutaki in a good room where someone can formally take notes/Minutes, so that SPREAD and OWNERSHIP of decisions become the norm.

3.  We believe that getting into these ‘habits’ of process will be a useful precursor to the role that the schools leaders will need to play as they bring on board more of the staff – especially at middle management level.

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY EVALUATION PROCESS

4.  We recently met with the Victoria University Evaluation team, led by Dr Anne Hynes and Professor Luanna Meyer. Not all schools will be aware that Victoria’s role is to evaluate the programme for the Ministry of Education with the ten schools that agreed to be part of their evaluation process. We are aware that the surveys that the Victoria team undertake have caused confusion with other surveys that schools have undertaken as part of the He Kākano programme. We apologise for that. We know ‘data fatigue’ is a real issue with schools. We will do the best we can to make sure that requests for information are minimised as much as possible, but also hope that you understand that data we collect is maximised for your use and interest.

5.  To that end, outcomes of the configuration maps exercise will be put onto the private web sites when all wānanga 2 are completed.

6.  All copies of gnarly issues and bus stop responses will also be on the private site. However, if there is anything you want by way of resources, simply email Paul Woller or Soli Weiss and they will oblige.

Email addresses are:

and

KEY LEARNINGS FROM YOUR HE KĀKANO NATIONAL ADVISORY GROUP

7.  The first National Advisory Group meeting was held on Monday 18 April in Wellington. The next ones will be on Monday 18 July 2011 and Monday 10 October 2011.

8.  The agreed role of the group will be to:

·  Provide collegial support for the He Kākano team and the community of schools engaged in the programme

·  Support the development of communities of practice of participating schools in the He Kākano programme

·  Raise matters of longer term or strategic importance that the He Kākano project team and Ministry of Education should be aware of in relation to Māori student achievement

·  Advise the He Kākano project management team of specific issues or insights reported by participating He Kākano schools – especially issues related to leadership and Māori student achievement. Although we have indicated who the regional representatives are in a previous communique, we will provide you with the list again (on the He Kākano public web site) so that you can contact them if you want to.

9.  Representation on the He Kākano National Advisory Group will require members to be active participants – for example, at the next meeting, four members have volunteered to present their thinking/views on a major topic that has arisen from the wānanga or in their school, as a result of their involvement in He Kākano. Topics for discussion may include stories relevant to the kaupapa of He Kākano, regional/national trends – what's making a difference in He Kākano schools, to discussions about appropriate classroom evaluation observation tools. These will be shared with all schools.

10.  Some of the key learnings of the first He Kākano National Advisory Group hui include:

i.  There are a number of positive programmes that have the potential to support the intentions of He Kākano (PB4L, Restorative Justice to name two). They all show how important it is to have quality trained people and well-trained facilitators who take their time with the school leaders and don’t rush discussions. When there are a number of such programmes operating in a school, the challenge at the leadership level is to be able to integrate them as seamlessly as possible within a useful framework, and that takes time to think through and implement.

ii.  The wānanga need to be more flexible so that schools get a decent amount of time to discuss issues of common concern (such as how to handle discursive re-positioning, discussing some of the results of tools such as the Configuration maps). We need to use the wānanga time well and to work hard while there. The group thought that staying overnight in a Māori (marae) context was an important element of the wānanga and in doing so we honour tikanga Māori.

iii.  We (the project team) need to cater for ‘initiates’ to the programme in a different way from those who are ‘au fait’ with He Kākano. One of the ways we can address that challenge is by asking leaders to brief new staff about what to expect from the wānanga before they attend. We also need to avoid being doctrinaire or ‘preaching to the converted’, so that we don’t end up ‘deficit modelling’ teachers. As the Chair Peter Gall put it: ‘...the wānanga are about finding the balance between being presented leadership theory, the research that backs the theory and having time to share the practice’.

11.  The He Kākano Advisory Group is an opportunity to provide ‘another voice’ to add to the different kinds of conversations taking place. For example, if the project team is able to provide an overview of the student and teacher surveys, the Group would be a first port of call for discussing responses – possibly through the web site community of practice first.

12.  Other issues/questions raised included:

·  Unit Standards vs NCEA results – what is the likely impact going to be on (Māori and Pacific Island) students’ achievement levels?

·  What are the implications of students’ subject choices or teachers’ choices for students if no coherent theme of study is developed?

·  How often and how regularly are staff professional development meetings held in schools?

·  How do we deal with the tension between ‘quick fix’ solutions to generational challenges, and solutions that He Kākano is establishing, that will require much more time to resolve?

THE KAIKOURA WĀNANGA 2 – WHAT WE WILL BE DOING

13.  Some principals have signalled the need to say what they might be in for. While this may be a good idea for some, we trust that the element of surprise is not lost. The programme will involve the following topics for discussion and reflection:

·  Whakawhanaungatanga – what’s been the biggest learning related to He Kākano since the first wānanga in your school?

·  Overview of the wānanga – kaupapa purpose/raising Māori student achievement

·  Sharing our journeys

·  Goal Setting

·  Moving from ‘au’ to whanau (Manutaki).

·  Professional goals – professional conversations (ethical and cultural conversation) - Weaving individual goals together

·  Gnarly issues Post-its – what’s sitting upper most in your thinking?

·  Discursive repositioning and activities for implementing back in school

·  Painting/Metaphors/Data/whakatauki/student voice

·  Institutional Culture - Jig saw activity with reading on cultural progressions

·  Institutional configuration maps (As individuals and shared).

·  Co-construction Meetings - Critical reflection on the first Co-construction Meetings (Stock take Tool)

·  Ngāruawahia DVD (reflection Activity)

·  GPILSEO reflection Activity

·  A Professional Reading of the Leadership BES

·  Looking ahead Critical Questions

·  Weaving the Threads Contract Overview of outputs.

·  Gnarly Issues Bus stop

·  Planning ahead using the Indicators Framework

·  The last word pointing forward – Manutaki

MORE TE REO MĀORI LEARNING

Try these (the underlined syllables tell you which ones to emphasise):

Te Wai Pounamu Tair Wah-ee Paw-oo nah-moo

Kaikoura Kah-ee kaw-oo-rah NOT ky –koh- ra

Otautahi (Christchurch) Aw – tah-oo – tah – hee

Otākau Aw-tah-kah-oo

Rangiora Rah-ngee-aw-rah

Mauri ora,

Paora Howe (Professional Operations Manager) and Hine Waitere (Professional Development Director) on behalf of Professor Russell Bishop (Project Director)

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