He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero.
What is the food of the leader? It is knowledge. It is communication.
Module Objectives:
- Critically analyse and evaluate your own communication style and its impact on various stakeholder groups within the school and wider community.
- Strategically apply advanced communication techniques to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics and foster shared understanding amongst diverse teams.
- Develop and implement proactive strategies to cultivate and maintain high levels of relational trust with staff, students, whānau, and external partners, even amidst challenging circumstances.
- Articulate the nuanced relationship between relational trust, effective communication, and their role in leading school-wide initiatives and fostering a positive school culture.
- Evaluate and apply relevant leadership frameworks and research to inform their approach to communication and trust-building within a leadership context.
As Deputy and Associate Principals, you are pivotal in shaping the relational landscape of your kura. This module challenges you to consider communication and trust through a strategic leadership lens.
Deepening Understanding of Communication Styles:
For Deputy Principals, a nuanced understanding of communication involves:
- Contextual Agility: Recognising how different contexts necessitate adaptable communication approaches, considering power dynamics and potential sensitivities.
- Strategic Messaging: Crafting clear, consistent, and compelling messages aligned with the school’s vision and values.
- Active Listening and Inquiry: Employing sophisticated listening techniques to understand perspectives and facilitate constructive dialogue.
- Non-Verbal Communication and Presence: Cultivating a leadership presence that conveys confidence, empathy, and approachability.
- Conflict Navigation through Communication: Utilising advanced communication skills to mediate conflict and guide teams towards resolution.
Resources:
- MindTools – offers numerous articles and tools on communication skills. Explore what is useful for you, from effective written communication to listening skills and everything in between!: https://www.mindtools.com/c_CommunicationSkills.htm
- TED Talk: Julian Treasure – “How to speak so that people want to listen”: https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_how_to_speak_so_that_people_want_to_listen
- Article: “Four Ways to Communicate with More Empathy” – Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2022/08/4-ways-to-communicate-with-more-empathy
Elevating Relational Trust in Leadership:
For Deputy Principals, building relational trust involves establishing a school-wide culture of trust through:
- Leading with Transparency and Integrity: Demonstrating consistent ethical behaviour and fostering open communication.
- Empowering and Distributing Leadership: Trusting staff with autonomy and fostering shared ownership.
- Strategic Vulnerability: Demonstrating appropriate vulnerability to encourage shared learning and support.
- Navigating Difficult Conversations with Empathy and Courage: Addressing challenging issues directly and with empathy.
- Building Trust with Diverse Communities: Adapting communication and engagement strategies to build meaningful partnerships.
- Accountability and Follow-Through: Consistently following through on commitments.
- Systemic Approaches to Trust Building: Implementing school-wide initiatives that promote trust.
Resources:
- Article: “The Trust Factor” – Educational Leadership (ASCD): https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/the-trust-factor
- Video: Brené Brown – “The power of vulnerability” (TED Talk) – while not education-specific, offers valuable insights into building trust through vulnerability: https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability
Task:
Reflecting on Communication and Trust in Practice:
Consider a recent situation where effective communication significantly contributed to building or maintaining relational trust within your school, or conversely, where a communication challenge impacted trust.
Discuss with your learning partner the key communication strategies employed (or not employed) and their impact on the level of trust. Post a summary of your discussion and key insights on the forum (150 words maximum).
Assessment:
- Completion of all readings.
- Participation in the online forum discussion.
- Conversation with learning partner and subsequent post on forum
5 Responses
Our discussion highlighted how effective communication is crucial for building and maintaining trust, even in challenging situations. My learning partner shared an experience concerning a student returning from stand-down, where she communicated concerns about winter sports participation to the whānau via email. The strategies employed included careful drafting, seeking feedback from my SENCO, and choosing a less immediate communication channel to allow for thoughtful responses. This led to a positive outcome as the whānau understood her genuine intent to support the student’s success. I recounted a similar situation where honesty about a student’s behaviour was appreciated by a parent, who valued the directness over previously sugar-coated reports. A key insight for both of us was the unconscious application of the HAIL acronym (Honesty, Authenticity, Integrity, Love) in these successful interactions. Having a conscious framework like HAIL will serve as a valuable “checklist” for future sensitive conversations, solidifying communication as a goal for growth this year.
After having the discussion with my learning partner, we both found that approaching difficult conversations with honesty and a genuine desire for a positive outcome (aligning with HAIL principles) led to better understanding and positive results, even without prior knowledge of the acronym. It was interesting to see that both of our recent experiences, despite being in differing contexts, truly highlighted the effectiveness of the principles included within the HAIL acronym. This also shows that it can be used across a variety of situations and not be narrowed down. After the module, we have both now recognised the value of the HAIL framework as a deliberate tool for future sensitive communications. I think it will be something I print out and put somewhere for me to see when having the conversations or make sure I have looked at it before having the conversations so that it helps keep the conversation within those key principles. I appreciate my learning partner for sharing their insights during our discussion and their scenario too.
We’ve recently completed our annual review of courses and learning pathways offered at our school. Factors like student numbers, staffing, and sustainability all influence whether a course remains. While major changes are rare, a yearly review in a large high school is essential. In the past, this process was largely top-down, with SLT making decisions independently, often out of practicality/expedience. However, this limited the range of perspectives considered and risked making imbalanced decisions, especially if SLT aren’t directly involved in classroom teaching or student learning for a particular course.
This year, I led a more inclusive approach by involving a wider range of stakeholders in the review process. Decisions reached about courses may/may not have changed significantly as a result, but what has improved is the level of institutional trust. Simply broadening the consultation process has strengthened relational trust and shown that important decisions will involve listening to a variety of voices, rather than imposition. This inclusion has made it easier and more palatable when some hard calls have been taken re. keeping / removing programmes of learning.
We have a cycle of negativity that regularly builds up among our teacher aides, they feel left out and that their voices aren’t being heard. This can affect morale and lead to divisiveness and a culture of negativity . I have increased the frequency of our meetings to weekly rather than fortnightly where they can share their thoughts and concerns and be heard. During the meeting I do my best model active listening, audibly acknowledging their concerns, and thanking them, reiterating the important work they do. When appropriate, I’ve involved them in more of the communication with teachers and parents to plan for our high-needs students. Just making space for them and verbalising that we value their input has already made a big difference. It reminded me how powerful honest, empathetic communication is for building trust. Whether or not I can act or affect the change for them being heard is making a difference.
Love this…our teacher aides are so valuable, they need to be heard. Awesome mahi