Paddy Ford President

1
Dont Drop The Baton
NZPF Conference 2008
2
Dont drop the Baton

• New Zealand schools are good at what we do. We
  have one of the best education systems in the
  world.
• Our funding system is rather unique and while it
  is not perfect we have continual arguments on
  what could be done to improve it.
• I get to visit schools around the country and am
  impressed by the passion of our colleagues. Our
  initiatives and our ideas. Our unique approach.

3
We are good!

• We deliver a curriculum free of the autocratic
  demands placed by other nations on their teachers
  around curriculum delivery.
• We have so far avoided the entrapment of national
  testing and associated stress relating to
  teaching to the test.
• We have an education review system that allows us
  to set our own goals and report on the
  achievement of those goals.
• We can direct, within reason, our own resources
  to develop the culture we want in our schools.
• We can employ the staff we want to maintain the
  vision we have for education.

4
We are a part of our community

• We work with our communities to form a
  partnership in educating our children. While your
  BOT meeting may not be the favourite time of the
  month, the photos we just received from the out
  and about campaign showed how extensive our
  community involvement is.
• We have an inclusive education system. For all
  its flaws and funding issues we do have the
  ability to mainstream our pupils for the benefit
  of our communities.
• We have a Professional Development programme that
  did not exist 5 years ago and is a very realistic
  attempt to address issues raised. First time
  Principals, Aspiring Principals, PDPC, PPLG and
  contestable funding (more on this later).

5
Dont Drop the Baton

• If we are so good what is the future? What is the
  strategic plan? What direction are we going? What
  are the solutions?
• More money? Budgets are boring! We could double
  the funding tomorrow and still have complaints.
• In China they teach 50 pupils per class - but
  they only teach 11 sessions a week.
• Are we going to wait for the Government to
  develop new initiatives to give us the
  satisfaction in our employment that we crave for.

6
How do we keep running this race with a vision to
win and not drop the baton?
7
The Baton (or progress in education)is affected
by powerful forces

• Initiatives
• Accountability
• Managerial diversion
• We may be Unfit for Purpose
• Strategies with Potential
• Recruitment and Retention
• Clusters Networks and Partnerships
• International Benchmarks

8
Initiatives

• We get initiated out! An endless stream of
  disconnected innovations that no one could
  possibly manage. Abrahamson calls it repetitive
  change syndrome.
• Initiative overload, change related chaos, wide
  spread employee anxiety, cynicism and burnout.
• How many of us believe the system is on our
  side? Our surveys indicate 62 believe we get
  good advice from the Ministry and 50 believe
  they get good advice from SE.

9
Accountability

• Externally imposed, ill conceived and poorly
  driven. Having an annual plan is a good idea.
  Sending it to the Ministry is not!
• External intervention results in pro forma
  compliance.

10
Managerial Diversion

• Manage the budget, the plant, personnel, public
  relations, the BOT, the initiatives, the
  staffroom notice board, the lost property, the
  buses, the fund raising, the before school/after
  school programme.
• Aided and abetted by some super Principals and
  familiar to NZ Principals who work in smaller
  schools.

11
Unfit for Purpose

• The role has changed dramatically
• It is incredibly more complex and substantially
  different
• You may be ill fitted to the purpose and lack the
  experience..and you drop the baton..(but we can
  help you pick it up and run with it as you will
  see)
• Includes unethical behaviour (buses, media
  comments, staff poaching) A minority in NZ

12
Strategies with Potential

• Its a good idea but it doesnt work because of
• Timing
• lack of sense of purpose(healthy food a school
  priority?)
• Constraints (we dont all have a pool)

13
Recruitment and Retention

• how are we going to keep them on the farm once
  they have seen the farm?

14
International Benchmarks

• The ongoing debate about arbitrary and externally
  imposed literacy targets.
• Information overload can drive us to distraction.

15
Cluster Networks and Partnerships

• Like Fullan I see cluster networks and
  partnerships as vital to the future of
  Principalship and to the success of the system as
  a whole but the cluster must not be a time waster
  and you must want to be involved. Open plan
  classrooms are an idea that worked, but only for
  some!
• However to my way of thinking not dropping the
  baton involves networking and is the only option
  I see at this stage.

16
Networking/Clusters/Collegial Support

• Email trees work (unless you are the President)
• Visiting and mentoring and ringing works better!
• Clusters work but sharing results works better.
• Our surveys indicate that 82 of us believe we
  get good advice from our professional
  organisation and our colleagues.
• Yet external accountability hand in hand with
  internal values, practices of responsibility and
  efficacy works. Have you ever heard a colleague
  say weve failed dismally to reach our targets
  and Im going to quit! Yet if you have
  connectability with your fellow Principals
  through networks or clusters and are open about
  your goals and successes you do receive positive
  feedback.

17
Creating connections to family and whanau (more
networking)

• BES evidence shows that we need to make
  connections to students lives in order to
  optimise student outcomes.. what better
  argument is there for our NZ curriculum that is
  not top down but has the ability to be locally
  driven using school and community cultural
  contexts. What is important to us?

18
Be an effective Principal

• Use NZPF or Leadspace or local network.
• Dont do the work that you asked others to do.
• We need continued diagnostic data over time to
  compare ourselves with ourselves. We need to know
  what we want to improve.
• We need to be assessment literate and able to
  discuss this within our schools and our networks.