I had the privilege of addressing the delegates at the annual conference of the Independent Schools of NZ today on the topic “Modern Learning Environments: Where’s the innovation?” 

The focus of my talk was on how we need to work with our teachers and community to ensure we are able to identify and articulate our moral purpose – identified in the beliefs and values we share, and which should underpin our approach to change. If we simply tinker with altering parts of what we do or have (i.e. the furniture in our classrooms), or get carried away with building architectural delights, but without considering our purpose – or the ‘why’ at the centre of the golden circle that Simon Sinek refers to – then we’re at risk of missing the opportunity of effecting change that is meaningful, sustainable and adding value to the lives of our students. 

The innovation, then, is being able to set a transformation agenda, working from the core beliefs and values (moral purpose) of our staff and community, reflecting the particular character, aspirations and ideals that they hold in common – to move to a ‘third place’ in terms of how we think about school and schooling, instead of simply swinging on the perpetual pendulum of improvement. 

Of course, we must carry our staff with us – so a special focus must be provided in the area of professional learning and development. This can’t be achieved through simply attending the odd workshop or having a guest speaker attend a staff meeting. This sort of change will require a combination of systematic, inquiry-based practitioner reflection and action, combined with the mentoring and support of the ‘agents of change’ who can introduce the new thinking, challenge assumptions and help clarify the moral purpose that underpins the school’s activity. 

I’m currently putting the finishing touches to an online course due to go live next term (referred to in my previous post) that will provide the stimulation for groups of staff within a school to activate and lead change in the area of modern learning practice, by challenging together their thinking and assumptions in four key areas:

• rethinking learners
• rethinking teachers
• rethinking learning
• rethinking support.

​I’m really looking forward to this opportunity of working with groups of staff from a variety of schools where we can collaboratively seek to find and share our answers to these questions – and from that, build some new frameworks to guide our practice into the future.