EdRising Is Here!

Over the past twelve months I’ve been working with a small group of future-focused educators in New Zealand to ‘imagine’ how we might lift the horizon on what we’re seeking to achieve in education here in New Zealand. The motivation for this comes from our shared concerns about the state of our education system – and it seems there’s plenty of reason for us to feel this way.

Last year the OCED’s Economic Surveys Report contained a chapter titled “Ensuring the tide lifts all boats:
Improving quality and equity in schools across New Zealand” which identified a number of key points about the New Zealand education system which I’ve summarised below:

• New Zealand has a deep pool of highly talented and motivated teaching individuals, but the system is performing below potential.
• Declining education performance and ongoing inequity are a serious threat to NZ’s prosperity.
• Support elements are lacking, including a sufficiently detailed curriculum and efficient assessment tools.
• National reforms have put NZ teachers under ‘above average’ stress.
• The education system’s significant assets could be leveraged more.
• The MoE operational capacity has been pared back too far.
• New principals are not receiving enough training.
• Time actually spent on teaching and learning is below OECD average.
• Centres of excellence operate too much in isolation and lack support has fostered distrust.
• NZ is the world leader for preparing teachers for a multicultural environment.

In the twelve months since this report was published I can’t see too much progress being made towards addressing any of these issues – and, arguably, a number of our present initiatives appear to be exacerbating some of the problems identified here.

It’s not that no-one cares. In fact, I know a great many educators who are working passionately in their schools and institutions to provide the highest quality learning opportunities for our tamariki. A scan of activity on the DisruptEd Facebook page or the AEC Substack confirms this. The problem appears to be more deeply rooted in the way our system has been designed and the patterns that have evolved in how it now operates.

With the introduction of Tomorrow’s Schools, our education system was designed around principles of autonomy, school choice and competition that, while well-intentioned, have created unintended consequences. Schools compete for staff, students, funding, and reputation rather than sharing innovations and supporting collective improvement. This competition mindset discourages sharing of effective practices between schools and kura.

This, in turn, creates a barrier to achieving system-wide change and innovation. Where innovation has been supported it often appears in “islands of excellence” that remain isolated from the broader system, and rewarding individual institutional success over system-wide improvement, All of this can make collaboration feel risky rather than beneficial.

The increased autonomy of local schools, while unquestioningly providing benefits at the local level, has also created difficulty in terms of strategic continuity in educational policy, which in turn has created a whiplash effect for schools and educators. Without a coherent vision and support (including resourcing) we’ve seen schools develop “initiative fatigue” from constantly adapting to new reforms and an environment emerge where long-term planning becomes nearly impossible when priorities shift with each election cycle.

As a result, many educators have become cynical about new initiatives, seeing them as temporary political projects and institutional knowledge and momentum are lost during transitions between such initiatives. This and the Ministry’s reduced operational capacity mentioned in the OECD report has left a vacuum in system leadership. and the absence of coordinated support systems leaves schools to navigate challenges in isolation.

Its a system issue

I’ve written several posts previously about the need for systems thinking in all aspects of the design and operation of what happens in classrooms, schools, communities and our broader education system. This isn’t simply the responsibility of governments or bureaucrats – it’s a disposition required of anyone who is providing leadership.

Last year Michael Fullan produced a paper titled 8 Steps to Revolutionise Education. In it he says;

System change is when a new combination of factors occurs that becomes a wedge powerful and attractive enough to begin the transformation of the current system. Systemness itself is the interaction of a small number of powerful factors and the effect of those actions.

It’s that idea of an interaction of a small number of powerful factors that intrigues me – and is the idea behind EdRising as a movement. As Fullan goes on to explain;

“It’s a bigger call: Join a movement to experience systemness change in these times. It is a power move for equity and equality. It is power with to quote Parker Follett.”

His reference here is to Mary Parker Follett, a pioneering management thinker, who challenged traditional views of power as domination or coercion. Instead, she proposed the concept of “power-with,” emphasising collaboration, shared decision-making and the creation of a shared purpose. It focuses on building relationships, resolving conflicts constructively, and leveraging the strengths of individuals within a group.

Imagine if…

What if we reimagined our education system not as a collection of competing institutions but as an interconnected ecosystem as described by Fullan. Imagine if that ecosystem became one where…

• Excellence is defined by how we collectively serve all learners, not just by individual school achievement
• Innovation is shared openly and adapted across contexts
• Educators collaborate across institutional boundaries as a professional norm
• Policy development involves practitioners in meaningful ways
• The Ministry serves as an enabler and connector rather than just a regulator
• We commit to strategic continuity that transcends traditional 3-year political cycles

This is the dream behind EdRising. This initiative aims to create the connective tissue our system desperately needs – drawing on the deep pool of talent and commitment that already exists in our kaiako and leaders across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Become a part of EdRising

EdRising is being launched with a two-day convening of 100 like-minded education leaders and innovators from across New Zealand, with input from more than a dozen international thought leaders who are leading transformational activity in their own contexts.

Six themes will be explored across the two days, with each theme introduced by a ‘panel’ of international thought leaders teamed with NZ education leaders, and a facilitator tying the various perspectives together. The aim here will be to tie together the following…

• Global voice – illustrating what’s possible and has been achieved elsewhere, highlighting the driving vision behind that, the conditions that made it possible and the things that are helping sustain it. Aim here is to lift horizons, inspire, and engage in some ‘bigger picture’ thinking.
• NZ voice – highlighting what’s being done in the context of Aotearoa/New Zealand, acknowledging our unique bi-cultural setting and commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and implications of this in terms of how we envisage a transformed education system. Aim here is to ground future solutions thinking in the context of Aotearoa/NZ

We are targeting a mix of:

• School leaders who have demonstrated transformational ways of leading within their schools or kahui ako
• System leaders, policy developers and strategic thinkers who are future focused in their approach to designing and providing system-level support for education
• Mid-career educators and emerging leaders who are looking to expand their horizons and push some boundaries in terms of their work – those who will become the leaders within our schools and system into the future.

To find out more check out the EdRising website, and register your interest by clicking the image below to receive your invitation to atebe added to the EdRising newsletter to be kept up to date with what is happening.