One of the amazing things was how well this group from across a range of sectors and experience levels in leadership just came together and supported each other a grew together.
2024 Programme Participant
Around this time last year I caught up with friend and colleague, Maurie Abraham, who had recently retired after 11 years as foundation principal at Hobsonville Point Secondary School. Maurie was keen to canvas some thoughts on how he might work with a small group of principals who were keen to engage with him now that he’d retired, to learn more about how they might develop further in their leadership journey.
During our conversation we discussed how principals have access to a wide range of professional learning opportunities that fall broadly into the following areas of focus:
- Maintaining – Developing the ‘mechanics’ of principalship – understanding their role as leaders of organisations. Equipping them with the knowledge and skills required to function as a leader in the school as it exists, ensuring they can manage and sustain current practices that focus on providing a quality education experience for their students. These programmes assume the system is operating effectively and focus on inducting leaders into understanding how to sustain it.
- Improving – Recognising the need to make changes that address areas of weakness or concern in what is happening (e.g, student motivation and engagement, achievement in identified areas, attendance, the capability of staff etc.) and introducing specific strategies to change/lift performance and monitor outcomes. These programmes operate on the assumption that the current organisational structures are fit for purpose, but that there are areas where the school system should or could be adapted, modified or improved to deliver on better outcomes for all learners.
- Transforming – Questioning the systemic factors that shape how schools operate, and unpacking the reason and purpose behind these things. Involves connecting with the ‘why’ behind what is being done currently and being prepared to challenge and change these things. Recognising that simply improving things won’t achieve the systemic change required to achieve an equitable, future-focused approach to teaching and learning for all. These programmes require a high level of commitment, buy-in and trust and support for pushing the boundaries to make change happen.
The image below provides a more simplified way of thinking about this relationship…
Maurie and I agree that there is value in all three of these approaches, but that while there are many opportunities available for school leaders to engage in the first two types of professional learning – there are far fewer in the third, and that of these, few are designed to fully support the transformation actually happening back in schools. This is because such change initiatives will inevitably encounter all sorts of roadblocks and challenges, causing leaders to loop back to the things addressed in the ‘maintaining’ or ‘improving’ approaches.
We talked about the approach that would be most appropriate for achieving the sort of transformational change that we were discussing I referred to the research-based principles I’ve referenced previously in which I identified following four characteristics of effective professional development:
- It is in-depth
- It is sustained over time
- It is related to practice
- It is contextually relevant
With these principles in mind, we set about designing an experience for school leaders with a vision for transformation within their school and the education system. As we explored this further we agreed that whatever we did needed to address the needs of participants at three levels:
- Changing themselves – helping participants understand what motivates and drives them as a leader, the beliefs that shape their practice and the strategies they have to care for self in the midst of a challenging and demanding role.
- Changing others – learning how to build trust so that others will be motivated to engage with and contribute to the change. Providing support for individuals while building a sense of collective ownership around an agreed direction and purpose.
- Changing the environment – developing a ‘system mindset’ – understanding the school as a system and as part of a wider system, and the ‘connectedness’ between various parts of the system. Understanding how change made in one area will inevitably impact other areas.
(Astute readers will recognise this framework from our Agency By Design playbook)
And so the foundation for a programme we’ve called “Refresh, Reconnect, Refocus” was laid, and over the next few weeks we worked to design the elements of the programme and advertise it among our networks to see if we might find a group of principals willing to participate. The rest is history – the initial programme began with a retreat held at Hanmer Springs in March of this year, concluding with a day of celebration in July where participants were able to share the changes they’d achieved in their local contexts.
The programme we designed, as described on our web page, was spread over a period of 20 weeks, beginning with the retreat where relationships were formed, key themes and ideas explored, and tools to guide further action introduced. Over the following 20 weeks participants were involved in regular one-on-one coaching sessions with Maurie and I, ongoing contact with a participant ‘buddy’, and periodic group sessions where they could engage with international experts in different aspects of educational transformation. The programme concluded with the ‘celebration’ event where each participant shared what had been achieved in their personal context.
Sarah Martin was one of the participants in our 2024 cohort. Sarah has been principal at Stonefields School in Auckland for more than a decade, and she had this to say about her experience of the programme and how these elements wove together to help shift her practice and thinking as a school leader:
Much of what Sarah says here is captured by the feedback received by another of our participants in this year’s programme:
“It’s not often that you will find a professional learning programme that reignites your leadership fire for education! As well as being supported and encouraged throughout the six months; I feel like I have had an over-qualified cheerleader working alongside me! This programme offers all the good stuff: a retreat but guilt-free workshop, a new network, practical and tested ideas for leadership, future of education insights, 1:1 coaching, ongoing peer support and bite size professional learning invites – all with just the right amount for busy Principals to engage with.“
Weaving all of these things together to provide the right balance of personal reflection and growth alongside developing the capacity and capability to lead change lay at the heart of our programme design, and lies behind choosing the name ‘Refresh, Reconnect, Refocus“.
As we suspected, the importance of maintaining a purposeful, supportive connection with and between participants during the 20-week period proved to be a key element of the programme. This is highlighted well in the feedback from another 2024 participant, Dyane Stokes who is at the start of her principalship journey at Paparoa Street School in Christchurch:
Each of these participant views highlight the success, for them, of the programme design and how this has helped them in their personal and professional motivation to achieve the goals they have for their schools, their staff and their students – and for themselves as leaders.
Throughout the process Maurie and I emphasised the importance for participants to think of themselves as system leaders, rather than simply leaders of an organisation. While it is both inevitable and important that attention is given to addressing the everyday and often urgent matters that face leaders within the organisational context of a school, to be effective as a transformational leader you need also to sustain a broader scan of the education environment, and be skilled at understanding and managing the complexity of relationships that exist within the learning ecosystem.
Would you like to be involved?
Now that we’ve crafted a successful programme design, Maurie and I are offering this opportunity to fresh cohorts in 2025. Next year we’ll be offering a repeat of the programme for principals beginning with a retreat at Hanmer Springs from 13-15 March.
In response to numerous requests from a number of people, we’re also offering a modified version of the programme to specifically address the needs of AP/DPs, beginning with a two-day hui in Wellington on 23-24 January.
In addition, we’re working with the Lutheran Schools Network in Australia to co-construct a variation of the programme for a mixed group of principals and senior leaders in Melbourne, starting in April.
One of the key benefits of these programmes is the level of personal attention you will receive. We have deliberately designed for smaller cohorts of around 20 participants, so that there is a greater degree of intimacy and personal connection in the experience.
If this sounds like you please click on the image below to take you to a page where you can find additional information and links to the registration forms. I encourage you to share this post with anyone in your network that you think may benefit from being a part of a programme to support them in becoming a leader of transformation in their school or context.
