Due: 24th March
“He waka eke noa”
We are all in this together.
Module Objectives:
Upon completion of this module, participants will be able to:
- Articulate their personal leadership philosophy and goals.
- Develop a compelling vision for student success that is inclusive and equitable.
- Align their personal goals and vision with the school’s mission and strategic plan.
- Identify and utilise relevant resources to support their leadership development.
Task 1: Defining Your Leadership Philosophy
Reflect on your values. What are the core values that guide your personal and professional life? How do these values influence your approach to leadership?
Consider your beliefs about learning. What are your beliefs about how students learn best? What are your beliefs about the role of the teacher in the learning process?
Define your leadership aspirations. What impact do you want to have as a leader? What are your long-term goals for your leadership journey?
Explore different leadership styles (e.g., transformational, servant, instructional). See below for resources to explore. Which styles resonate most with you? Why?
Briefly journal your reflections and insights from this activity. You might like to prepare to share your thoughts with your learning partner(s), as a way to introduce yourself at a deeper level than you might do ordinarily. You will meet your learning partner at PLG 1 (21st March).
Task 2: Defining Student Success
Explore diverse perspectives on student success. Consider the following questions:
- What does it mean for students to be successful academically? Socially? Emotionally? Culturally?
- How can we ensure all students, regardless of their background or learning needs, experience success?
Develop an inclusive definition of student success that applies to all learners in your school.
Discuss your definition of student success with colleagues and seek their feedback.
Task 3: Aligning with the School’s Mission
Carefully review the school’s mission statement, values, and strategic goals.
Analyse how your personal leadership goals and vision for student success align with the school’s overall direction.
Identify any areas where your personal leadership goals and vision may need to be adjusted to better support the school’s priorities.
Share your reflections on the forum in 150 words or less.
Resource Bank:
Explore the resources most relevant to you and your personal reflections:
- The New Zealand Curriculum – https://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/
- Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers– https://teachingcouncil.nz/assets/Files/Code-and-Standards/Tataiako-cultural-competencies-for-teachers-of-Maori-learners.pdf
- Leading Learning: A Professional Standards for Principals and Senior Leaders– https://teachingcouncil.nz/professional-practice/our-code-our-standards/
- Leadership Styles – https://hbr.org/2024/04/6-common-leadership-styles-and-how-to-decide-which-to-use-when
- Transformational Leadership –https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescoachescouncil/2024/08/13/transformational-leadership-the-how-and-why/
- Servant Leadership – https://positivepsychology.com/servant-leadership/
- Instructional Leadership – https://schoolreviews.education.qld.gov.au/res/Documents/spotlight-paper-instructional-leadership.pdf
- Seven Strong Claims About Successful School Leadership Revisited – https://www.profdavidhopkins.com/assets/docs/Seven%20strong%20claims%20about%20successful%20school%20leadership%20revisited.pdf
Assessment:
- Self-reflection throughout the module.
- Completion of all activities – journaling for Task 1, conversation with colleague for Task 2 and post on forum for Task 3.
- Peer feedback and discussion within the online forum.
18 Responses
Our school vision is Engage, Explore, Empower—guides every aspect of our learning community. This model aligns strongly with our school’s mission to foster curious, confident, and capable learners. My leadership vision—centred on student agency, inclusive practice, and future-focused learning—supports this by prioritising hands-on experiences, rich dialogue, and opportunities for students to take ownership of their learning. Handing the thinking over to students reinforces our strategic goal of developing independent, critical thinkers. However, to more closely support the school’s priority on culturally responsive practice, I recognise the need to more intentionally integrate diverse perspectives into learning design and leadership decisions. This includes amplifying student voice, especially for underrepresented groups. Adjusting my goals to explicitly include equity and cultural capability will ensure my leadership remains aligned with the school’s values and responsive to the needs of our learners and whānau.
In both my personal and professional life I value integrity, equity, compassion, and a commitment to continuous growth. These guide my approach to leadership by ensuring that aim to lead with authenticity, and strive to create inclusive spaces where everyone is valued and supported. I strongly identify with our kura values of manaakitanga, fairness, responsibility, and hard work.
I also resonated closely with the whakataukī at the head of this module as it is used in our kura as a guiding principle whenever we are leading change particularly as staff.
My aspiration as a leader is to be a key part in a school culture where staff and students thrive in all areas — academically, socially, emotionally, and culturally. I want to be a leader who inspires collaboration, strengthens whanaungatanga, and ensures that every learner is seen and supported.
The leadership styles that resonate most with me are servant leadership and instructional leadership. Servant leadership aligns with my values of humility and service. Instructional leadership appeals to my desire to be involved in the core business of teaching and learning. I want to spend some time further expanding on elements of transformational leadership in my approach as I grow, as I desire to inspire and support change that aligns with our kura vision of personal success and hauora.
JHC’s mission to equip students to create the best possible future deeply aligns with my own leadership goal of fostering holistic success and inclusive practice. The vision’s focus on manaakitanga, hauora, and connectedness mirrors my belief that education is relational and identity-affirming.
I see strong alignment between my leadership philosophy and our schools strategic goals, particularly in the emphasis on ako, the pursuit of excellence, and working in partnership with the wider community. However, I recognise that I can more intentionally reflect The Hargest Way values in my day-to-day leadership interactions, particularly in modelling environmental stewardship and encouraging student-led initiatives that reflect shared responsibility.
I try to lead in a way that models the same values and skills we want to grow in our children. They also fit with our school’s vision of ‘Creating innovative global citizens who can thrive in a changing world’, our mission ‘Achieving personal growth for all through strong community partnerships and innovative teaching and learning’ and the principles of Reggio, which my school is inspired by.
My first goal is to switch off more – leaving work at work! This will help me model a better work life balance for my hardworking team and show them that looking after ourselves and our wellbeing is one of the keys to a thriving team.
Growing another leader in my team is my second goal. This reflects our Reggio belief where everyone is part of the decision making process, helping everyone feel capable and valued for their contributions which helps strengthen our relationships, collaboration skills, trust, and the team’s sense of belonging.
My last goal is to improve my questioning to better gauge when to tell and when to coach, helping others think more deeply and find their own answers—just like we encourage our students to do.
In discussion with Dave, I have a servant leadership style and I feel these goals align with this style.
Lindi I love your school’s vision and mission. Your goals are excellent. They reflect a servant leader of integrity who highly values others and puts the needs of staff and students first, which are traits of an effective leader.
Our Mission statement is ‘Achieving personal growth for all through strong community partnerships and innovative teaching and learning’ alongside our values of ‘Connected, Creative, Curious, Courageous and Caring’. As Alastair stated we are a Reggio inspired school and also guided by the 8 principles of Reggio alongside our vision and values.
My personal leadership goals and vision are based on equity, empathy and empowerment. I resonate most closely as a servant leader. My personal values align closely with the schools.
I would like to work on bringing in elements of other leadership qualities into my practice including those of the transformational leader and the instructional leader. I believe this will better support 2 of our strategic goals around students flourishing in their academic skills as measured by the NZ Curriculum and fostering a culture of excellence and creativity. I believe this will also support my identity as a leader and my leadership vision.
Beth, your goal of developing transformational and instructional leadership into your practice along with your sevant leadership style is excellent indeed, this will further benefit the students and staff you lead.
Our Vision: Creating innovative, global citizens to thrive in a changing world. Mission statement: Achieving personal growth for all through strong community partnerships and innovative teaching and learning.
Communicating complex information in an accessible manner is paramount, as it fosters understanding and builds trust among team members. This open approach directly supports any leadership style, strengthening bonds and creating a collaborative environment. Empathy and active listening are essential complements, allowing leaders to connect with their team on a deeper level, understand their needs, and respond accordingly, further solidifying those strong relationships.
Simon Sinek’s principles resonate with this leadership approach. “Start with Why” encourages leaders to articulate the team’s purpose, aligning efforts with a shared vision that inspires and motivates. Creating “Circles of Safety,” where individuals feel protected and valued, is equally important. This fosters a sense of belonging and encourages open communication, allowing team members to take risks, share ideas, and contribute their best work.
As an Apple Distinguished School and a Reggio Emilia-Inspired School, we cultivate a learning environment where innovation thrives. We integrate Apple technology to empower students, fostering creativity and deeper engagement, while embracing the child-centered, inquiry-driven principles of the Reggio Emilia approach. This allows us to create rich, exploratory experiences where technology serves as a powerful tool for expression and discovery, enabling children to construct knowledge through project-based learning.
What a wonderful environment to work in Alastair, where individuals feel a sense of belonging, protected and valued. Where collaboration, open communicationa and risk taking are valued. The integration of the Reggio phylosophy and Apple technology must be a hugely exciting journey for both staff and students.
St. Patrick’s Kaiapoi’s vision statement is:
“Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia ō tātou māhi” – Let the uniqueness of the child guide our work
My leadership aspirations are the desire to listen, understand and care for others, through the servant leadership model, so that they can be their best selves and come to school ready to learn or teach. My background in youth work has taught me time and time again that people need to be understood and feel cared for to feel safe and do their best. This matches well with the school vision statement because we want to value the uniqueness of each child who comes through our door. This desire to understand our students and staff creates a safe and nourishing environment for all, and I feel a great connection to my personal leadership values.
Our school uses the term “Ake” (Accepting, kind, and empowered) to illustrate the way we want to be at school. I want to challenge myself regularly, especially about being kind, as a baseline way of being as I lead.
In terms of the strategic vision, our faith goal is to “foster faith and spirituality in a secular world.” Personally, I am involved in Anglican spaces, and our school is Catholic. This is definitely a rub point for me, and I find as I wrestle with it, I need to keep my mouth shut at times and hold my personal faith values to myself when I want to disagree with the way something happens.
Tom I really appreciate your comments around Servant Leadership which I am a big fan of. When the people we are leading know that their needs are put first, that they are listened to, valued, safe and cared for they thrive.
My school’s missions statement is “Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia ō tātou māhi” – Let the uniqueness of the child guide our work. Our mission statement puts the child as the priority, this aligns with my vision for myself as a teacher and leader, putting the child first.
My school’s overarching values are ‘ake, ake, ake’. This to me encompasses what it means for a student to be successful, we are setting them up as good people for life. Within ‘ake, ake, ake’ our values are accepting, kind and empowered. I believe these values are a big part of my leadership style, helping others to feel empowered and supported in their roles, being kind (even when it’s tough) and being accepting. To me being an ‘accepting’ person is important, I am flexible and adaptable to situations, coworkers and students.
One of our strategic goals is to ‘provide for opportunities and challenges of the future across the school’ – This is an area where I could adjust my personal vision and challenge myself to seek out more opportunities to undertake more scoping/discovery exercises to identify and determine our needs for the future.
Amy, it is excellent that you recognise that your leadership style and your school’s values align and also adjusting your vision to align with one of your school’s startegic goals.
Matamata Primary Schools vision statement is – One size fits one. This is underpinned by our School Values of Makoha (have a heart), Maharahara (Be a thinker), Whakahi (Stand Proud) and Hoea to Waka (Own your actions).
Our vision emphasises personal learning and personal growth which is exactly where I see myself on my own learning journey to becoming a leader.
I believe I am a servant leader – with its emotional success aligning with our school value of having a heart. I believe in having an inclusive environment in which both teachers and students feel empowered and supported. Having a holistic approach to teaching and learning also serves me well within this value.
Being a thinker as a leader means that I am able to be flexible in my approach to teaching and learning and I know as a leader we need to be flexible and adaptable. I am constantly working on developing a better environment to make our lives easier, rather than having added pressure and workload.
I stand proud of who I am as I develop my confidence to see how I can fill the leadership role with more gusto. I absolutely love sharing in the success of those around me and am getting better at acknowledging my own successes. I like students to be proud of who they are and where they come from so I work on fostering this environment.
By focusing on helping students to take more ownership of their own learning and to manage themselves – therefore making more independence, students can learn to own their actions. This very much encompasses my own learning as a leader as I am learning to guide myself through my journey without too much reliance on those around me.
The areas I believe I can work on and develop further for my own personal growth are to deepen my focus on personalised learning and assessment. To strengthen my cultural responsiveness by immersing myself further into the understanding of our schools policies and documents so that I can better equip myself for my own learning and behaviors. I would also like to further develop allowing students to take more active roles in the classroom and school environment – and know it is ok to take a step back and allow more student led agency in.
Femke, I love the concept of ‘one size fits one’. Your goals are excellent and will not only benefit your professional developement but will also benefit your team and your students. From what I have learnt about you as a leader last year, I concur that your leadership style is that of a servant leader.
Tautoko tonu i te haerenga ako o ngā ākonga me ngā tangata tika ki te wāhi tika i te waa e tika ana
Excellent educational experience for ākonga with the right people in the right seat at the right time
Our schools’ vision statement.
I believe in inclusivity and equal rights for all. Education around our students’ individual needs helps us to assist them to reach their full potential. We work together to help them, we partner up with a great therapy team, their whanau and our community to offer them individualised plans to support their future and goals.. Through understanding we grow strong. “Na te mārama kahi ka tupu kaha tātou”
My life values align well with these outcomes of our organization.
I can become a bit impatient and a bit too ambitious when I feel strongly about something. I often have to seek the advice from others to put things into perspective. Priorities will certainly be something I will focus on in the future, this and delegating some of the smaller tasks to create space and resources for the bigger projects – but always keeping the student and the forefront, this will help with my own teacher wellbeing and in turn allows me to continue to give back to my organization and akonga.
Sanet after reading your post, I believe that you are the right person, in the right seat at the right time. Your school is blessed to have you. Love that you seek the advice of others when you feel strongly about something, it demonstartes humility and vunerability which are traits of a successful leader.
Aligning with the KTS’s Mission
Our mission statement, like my personal leadership vision, is student centred. It has the heart of the individual in mind. To be passionate and to dream.
“The power to dream and the passion to achieve” – Kōhia te wānaga e tū ki te ao mārama
Our three key values (Care and Respect, Persevere to Achieve, Lead with Integrity) guide us to be Kohia Kaitiaki. We build agency in our students and take every opportunity to involve our ākonga with making decisions for the school. One example is the school council but also through lesson content – designing inquiry investigations that result in real community action. This aligns with the core values of instructional leadership. “resourcing strategically, managing the instructional program, promoting a positive school learning environment, developing leadership skills and knowledge.” (Hallinger & Murphy 1985; Robinson et al. 2009).
One of our strategic goals includes providing “ākonga with multiple opportunities to progress” and “enabling them to become connected and informed citizens.” I feel this is an area where I could adjust my personal vision and to challenge myself to seek out multiple opportunities to connect – take more risks and think outside the box – what is it to be an informed citizen?
Nicola, I really like your school’s key values and mission. You have set yourself an excellent challenge which will ultimately impact positively on those you lead and teach.