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.
16 Responses
I like to believe as a leader and teacher that how we treat everyone around us matters just as much as what we teach. My approach is guided by these three values empathy, honesty and hard work. I hope that I am creating a space where everyone feels they can share, be respected, and motivated to grow. I would like to think my end goal as HOF is to be seen as fair and leave a department that is thriving and enthusiastic about teaching Mathematics to all leaners. As for long term goals I am not sure just yet. I feel if I want to move further into management it may mean a change in School which I am always open to however I have a real soft spot for CHBC. Our students are diverse and I enjoy the challenge this brings to the classroom and my role as a manager. I like the idea of servant leadership that you are there to support your staff and students to make them feel seen and safe so they will be happy in what they do. I think most of this aligns directly with our strategic goals and values.
1) HAUORA: Fostering a climate of safety and connectedness to develop strong, healthy and resilient students, staff and whanau
2) Our College will support Professional Learning and Development for teachers which will support all learners to promote student success and achievement to their fullest potential.
3) Our College will actively support our staff to be culturally responsive and celebrate the diversity of our school community.
Values
1) Respect/Whakanuia
2) Integrity/Manatangata
3) Community/ Iwi Kainga
4) Excellence/Hiranga
Your response made my heart sing Catherine. You have however identified the essential conflict between feeling happy and fulfilled in the place you are in while sensing that you could do more even though you know initially it will make you feel considerably less comfortable. How interesting the future will be!
My core values revolve around empathy, honesty and integrity. This has always been at the core of all my roles and relationships, regardless of whether they are professional or personal. I believe for me to have these expectations of the people I work or relax with, they need to know I can also be relied upon to demonstrate those same qualities.
Without honesty, there is no trust, and with no trust, no one can be relied upon to give their all or their comments or conversations maybe nothing but lip service to me, our colleagues and partners, thereby undermining key objectives. The same applies in personal relationships. I have had friends that have disappointed me with their life decisions, which fall contrary to what I believe to be morally and ethically right. There are limitations, even amongst friends! If that sounds pompous and entitled, so be it, it’s what I believe.
We all know the power of the student/teacher relationship. There must be trust, honesty and engagement. There must be a desire on the part of the teacher to get to know and understand their students, and those students need to be able to rely on that relationship. Understanding their life stories, their way of learning, their interests, passions, and fears must shine through. Factoring those into the learning experiences with engaging and contextually appropriate lessons shows that you care, understand, and want the best outcomes for the students. Allowing a piece if yourself to shine through, also demonstrates to the student that you too are human, are fallible and it’s not all a one way street.
In my opinion, students learn best when the above factors are prevalent and demonstrable. Rote learning, generic worksheets and no consideration for differentiated instruction is generally disengaging and disheartening to most students. There will be those who are intrinsically motivated to do whatever they are told, but they are the minority. This goes to the heart of what it is to be a teacher. We choose this profession to make a difference, to see your students be ready, prepared and excited about their next learning chapter, and ultimately prepared for whatever their life goals are. Not all students are able or interested in going to university; some desire a trade, be entrepreneurs or whatever. As long as you have given them what they need and want, then you’ve done your job well and delivered on your passion.
My journey as an educationalist came late in life, so my personal aspirations will differ from others. While I never say never, at this point in time I have no desire to be a principal. AP or DP perhaps, however my leadership goals are more around driving positive change using technology to deliver on the aforementioned goals of highly engaging, contextually relevant, and most importantly, easily differentiated pedagogy. This includes doing a better job catering to the Neuro-diverse, ELL, and multi-generational disengaged learners. This is the goal of all Kura and Kaiako, however resources, especially time, make this very difficult in most akomanga. Technology now allows this, however there are barriers. Fear, innocent ignorance, or over-zealous implementation will hinder the effective and efficient uptake in many cases. My goal is to lead that change when-ever or where-ever possible. That may be in a leadership position, or not.
The leadership roles I have had the privilege of experiencing are mostly outside of education in the context we are discussing. I have led both legacy organisations and set up my own, all of which have been in the not-for-profit sector. I see myself as being a social-entrepreneur with my bucket being filled when I fill the buckets of others. In all of these cases, taking an existing idea, goal, or strategic intent, then delivering on that using what I bring to the table and that of others, has been my modus-operandi in all cases. Having and exploiting a shared vision, and allowing those I work with to use their skills, networks and passions to collectively deliver the desired outcomes has been successful on every occasion. When I am singled out as the leader or “the main man” it is an opportunity for me to congratulate and recognise those that have worked beside me.
Having worked primarily as a relief or release teacher, I have seen many classroom and pedagogical strategies to engage and inspire students, and have been exposed to different school cultures. As all teachers are leaders in their own classrooms, regardless of their roles outside the classroom, there is something to be learnt from all of them. For me, considering the roles I have enjoyed as a teacher, alongside those I have had in the community, means I have a unique amalgam of experiences and relationships to draw on when considering and reflecting on my own leadership journey this far, and what the future might hold. I have no doubt I will draw on all of these over the coming months. Reflecting on this journey via the prompts to this writing really has reinforced in my mind the ways and means in which I have delivered effective leadership and how I might continue being successful in an educational context. I see myself as having adopted an Authoritative leadership style outside of school, where I have had to share my vision, make people excited and take them along for the journey. Within school and considering my short term and medium term goals and aspirations, a combination of Democratic and Coaching leadership styles will be needed to enable colleagues to become excited for what the future holds in terms of the technologies that are available, while simultaneously upskilling them to capitalise on those opportunities.
Defining student success.
Success is a very personal and unique position to hold. No one can or should tell you what your success looks like or should look like. It is driven by your own desires and needs, short term, medium term, and long term. Initially success might be simply being at school on time 3 days out 5, learning how to spell your name or managing a disagreement in the playground appropriately. Long term success might be knowing what sort of adult or even parent you want to be.
Success applies to all the facets of life, and each of these deserve their own definition. Whether that be socially, emotionally, physically or academically, they all need to be considered and the relevant goals need to be set independently of each other.
This is my definition of a successful learner at my school, developed from both a school perspective, and, drawing on documents such as the NZ Curriculum and Te Tiriri.
A successful Whitiora learner is a confident, connected, and culturally grounded ākonga who demonstrates respect, resilience, and responsibility. They value their own identity and the identities of others, are committed to their learning journey, and contribute positively to their kura, whānau, and environment.
My friends and colleagues all concur this a broad and flexible definition, and covers all the elements being discussed in this doc. It is similar to the learner profile developed at school.
This is a very thoughtful response Peter. You have certainly thought hard about these issues and I can tell they are important to you. Interestingly you enjoy writing more than most as well as writing well. Has your school thought of using your considerable writing skills is document writing, policies and communications?
Given your avowed lack of desire to seek senior leadership, this could be an avenue to explore.
My personal leadership values of whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, and ako align strongly with Mangapapa School’s WHY—Feeling Connected, Loving Learning, and Opportunities to Shine. I am deeply committed to creating a culture where every learner feels safe, valued, and proud of who they are, especially our Māori ākonga, whose success I keep firmly in focus. I actively work to grow cultural capability in Te Ao Māori and to support, guide, and differentiate how we give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in authentic and meaningful ways.
My vision of learner success is holistic—academic, social, emotional, and cultural—and this is reflected in our Learning Awa: Learning to Be (REACH values- Respect, Excellence, Attitude, Community and Have a Heart), Learn to LEARN (learning assets – Communicator, Collaborator, Self Manager, Thinker, Researcher), and Learning to Know and Understand (via Te Mātaiaho). I believe in transformational and servant leadership, leading with purpose, courage, and a strong sense of equity.
One area I’m continuing to grow in is supporting others to strengthen their own understanding and practice around Te Tiriti. I know that leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about listening, learning, and being brave enough to lead with heart and conviction. I feel strongly that my goals align with our school’s direction, and I’m committed to refining and growing in ways that uplift our shared kaupapa and create real impact for our learners and whānau.
Great response Kylee. Leadership isn’t about having all the answers and something you have to be brave enough to say ‘I don’t know’ Leacers who think they have all the answers don’t prosper in the role. I love your humility and willingness to learn. Your akonga must love you for it.
Strategic Goals
1) HAUORA: Fostering a climate of safety and connectedness to develop strong, healthy and resilient students, staff and whanau.
2) Our College will support Professional Learning and Development for teachers which will support all learners to promote student success and achievement to their fullest potential.
3) Our College will actively support our staff to be culturally responsive and celebrate the diversity of our school community.
I enjoy that we recognise that learning is important and we aim for every student to do as well as they can but also understand that there is far more to a person than academic success. This resonates with my views on education – that we are here to help every student prepare for the future but also to create an atmosphere which they enjoy and feel that they can find their own strengths. I have taught in other schools (in England!) where it felt like a factory churning out exam results – this felt very soulless.
Values
1) Respect/Whakanuia
2) Integrity/Manatangata
3) Community/ Iwi Kainga
4) Excellence/Hiranga
I do feel as though the values cover a lot of the attributes which develop well-rounded individuals and I certainly think that community is highly appropriate for Central Hawke’s Bay. I would be an advocate for including ‘equality’ as I am a firm believer that everyone should be treated equally (although I suppose this is covered with ‘respect’). I sometimes struggle with ‘excellence’ as one of the four values as I feel that some students and staff interpret this as being the best (this is aided by the fact that ‘excellence’ is the top grade for NCEA). I prefer to think of excellence as a measure of progress rather than attainment. As a leader I would like progress to be valued over attainment so that staff can celebrate a wider range of students and not just those who are ‘top in class’. My hope would be that this would not alienate those who feel as though they are failures and consequently give up trying.
Very interesting response Sam. While I completely agree with most of what you have said personally I am committed to equity rather than equality. I perceive that we don’t all have equal needs in order to live a good and productive life. An American academic spent a year here and wrote about the essential difference between US and NZ citizens. We believe in fairness while they believe in freedom.
Thanks Geraldine, yes the equality vs equity debate is interesting. Yes, fairness and freedom do seem to summarise the two different countries quite well!
The concept of helping each student’s potential shine aligns strongly with my educational philosophy. I believe that every student possesses unique strengths, and as a Health and Physical Education (HPE) teacher, it is essential to design a diverse and inclusive curriculum that allows each student to excel in their own way.
As a Year 10 Dean, I recognize the critical developmental stage this year represents, marked by significant personal, social, and academic changes. Adolescents at this age are navigating a period of transition that can be tumultuous, with shifting friendships and identity exploration that often impact their overall well-being. It is essential to provide targeted pastoral care during this phase, offering both emotional support and a structured environment with clear expectations. This balanced approach is fundamental to fostering resilience and promoting positive outcomes for students during this formative period.
In term of our strategic plan – We have three fundamental priorities 1. Ignite a love of learning | Te Aronui ki te Ako 2. A journey of self-discovery | Te Ara ki te Whaiaro 3. Connect and belong | Te Piringa, Te Herenga
In terms of HPE the idea of ensuring our students love Physical Education and are life long participants in physical activity is vital. Connecting and Belonging is perhaps to me the most important. To provide a school that allows for all students to be well supported, safe, and feel respected and ready to learn is vital for the success of all our learners.
I love ‘connecting and belonging’ as values. They are so important to all age groups but at this critical age they are vital so students don’t feel alienated.
It sounds as if you are doing some great work in latching the girls on to physical activity for life. Well done.
Mission Statement: To educate young men by challenging and extending them in academic, sporting and cultural activities to develop the required knowledge, skills, values and character they need to succeed in their lives.
Values: Tū Māia | Courage; Ngākau Mahaki | Humility; Te mahi tahi | Industry; Tū Rangatira | Integrity; Tū Whakahī | Pride; Tū Whakaaute | Respect
Strategic Goals: Academic Excellence; Character Development; Inclusive and Supportive Environment; Cultural Engagement
I see strong alignment between my leadership and the school’s direction -e.g. my focus on fostering inclusive and supportive environments aligns with the school’s mission, values and goals.
Academic success is important, but it’s not the only measure of achievement. I believe education should inspire curiosity, critical thinking, and a love for learning that lasts beyond school. However, our focus on academic excellence aligns with my leadership approach because I do set high expectations that encourage a growth mindset. This ensures that every student, regardless of background, has the opportunity to achieve their own version of success.
I am a firm believer in balancing academic achievement with personal growth. For me, it is just as important that the young men I have an influence on learn to lead with integrity, take ownership of their actions and become positive contributors to society. This aspect of my leadership fits in with the school’s overall mission.
*I couldn’t read the article on Leadership Styles as it required a paid subscription to access – just wondering if others had same issue or found a way around it?
Your analysis shows a nice balance between promoting academic success and character development. I really like your school values as they are both timeless and timely. You are quite right regarding the Leadership styles reading. Will alert Emma.
I believe that all akonga can succeed. As a leader, it’s ensuring that within our kura, our learners have a range of opportunities across the curriculum to find their passion and feel success. We are currently in the process of re-developing our school vision statement and we place great emphasis on this, also recognising that every learner is unique and they should all have the opportunity to be themselves and shine in their own way.
This directly links to my some of my leadership goals – which is to value and embrace the differences that my colleagues bring, while building capacity for effective teaching pedagogy and practices to ensure every learner has success.
In our kura, we live and breathe our REACH values and Learning Assets (as I have been at my school for 10 years, we have had lots of input in developing these:
Respect, Excellence, Attitude, Community and Have a Heart
Kaiwhakarite (self manager), Kaiwhakaaro (thinker), Kaikorero (communicator), Kaimahitahi (collaborator) and Kairangahau (researcher).
All of these values and assets are also firmly apart of my leadership philosophy and shown in the following ways (will bullet point to keep brief).
Respect – Listening and appreciating the differences colleagues bring. Seeing myself as a learner alongside colleagues.
Excellence – Building capacity, high expectations for teaching and learning, using and delving into data to put plans in place for where to next?
Attitude – Embracing new learning and research, being open and willing to learn.
Community – Building effective relationships with staff, management, the BOT, learners, whanau, local iwi and the wider community.
Have a heart – Showing kindness and empathy, focus on hauora
Kaiwhakarite – Expectations for colleagues to manage themselves, follow through with things discussed
Kaiwhakaaro – Fostering a culture where questions are embraced, looking ahead and planning goals
Kaikorero – Communicating clearly and appropriately, responding appropriately and at times, just listening when it’s needed
Kaimahitahi – Shared goals, purpose and vision – a culture of working together and supporting one another
Kairangahau – Being a researcher by keeping up with latest finding, discussions, science and programmes that can support effective teaching and learning.
Thank you for your thoughtful response Steph. There is a beautiful cohesion between your own essential beliefs and your hopes and expectations for the children in your care. I particularly liked the ‘Have a heart’ concept. Empathy seems not to be a sought after characteristic in some quarters but you are doing your best to foster it which is so creditable.
Completely agree on all your thoughts regarding student success – especially ensuring that across the curriculum on offer at a school, there is scope for them to find their passions.
I believe most Primary Schools do an incredible job of embedding their values into daily life in a way that feels natural and consistent. Having been on a few Primary School boards myself, I’ve really noticed how well values are used to shape not just student behaviour, but also teaching practices and school culture as a whole. It’s something I think Secondary Schools could definitely do better—finding more intentional ways to reinforce values so they become a lived experience rather than just words on a classroom wall.