Westland High School is coeducational and caters for years 7 to 13. It has a decile rating of 6 and a roll of 373. We are a small rural school on the West Coast.
Our learners are 20% Māori, 1% Asian, 1% Pacific, 4% Other, with the remaining students identifying as Pākehā. Our contributing schools range geographically from 'just up the road' to 26 kilometres away. We are geographically isolated, however, this has its own unique advantages. Students are connected to the environment with many rich geological features readily accessible.
We are a 'broad church' and arguably have a wider range of community concerns to attend to than a more homogenous urban school.
Our students are connected to the region and the community. Our school site acts as a hub for many community events (community sport, community ACE classes etc). Our Māori students feel a strong sense of identity and are confident with learning within Te Ao Māori
There is a disconnect between aspirational rhetoric and practice. Westland High School states that it prioritises the success of Maori students, however, a recent ERO report identified significant issues. "This intention is not supported with action planning by leaders and teachers to cohesively support Māori learners to achieve success. ... Trustees and leaders need to work collaboratively with Māori learners, whānau, the Māori community and school staff "
Sadly this contrasts starkly with Māori achievement only a few years ago where Māori learners were achieving at the highest levels within our classes and bucking the national trend for our decile rating and felt happy and confident in their learning at Westland High School. We seem to be in a state of mauri moe (Pohatu, 2011) (withdrawn, disengaged, lacking energy) currently. I have been agonising over this, as I don't think we're doing our maori learners justice.We need to connect with and value our learners and for this to be evident in the classrooms, in the playground, in the way that we do things. We need to communicate through the said and unsaid that we value maori culture and maori learners.
Much like our learners, there is a sense of disconnection amongst staff. We talk about a future focused school, however collaboration is at a low ebb. “Major decisions affecting teaching and learning have been made with little consultation. This has led to a lack of collaboration and low morale amongst staff.” (ERO, 2017) This sense of disconnection and frustration of not being heard and not being communicated to has led teachers to operate within a culture of individualism (Stoll, 1998). Teachers operate autonomously within classroom siloes. There are elements of Balkanism (Stoll, 1998) with small instances of spontaneous collegial support and collaboration amongst staff.
We seem to lack a school wide culture that connects us as a group. Schein (as cited by Stoll, 1998) defines organisational culture as the deeper ingrained ideas and values shared by the group. That is the things that define us, that we just know ‘that’s how we do things’. We lack a central culture as a school. We are currently fragmented and paralyzed as a school and need to regain a sense of common culture and what drives us. This will involve a realignment “a mutual process of coordinating perspectives, interpretations, and actions so they realize higher goals”(Wenger, 2000). While we need clear and inspiring leadership to guide us, we all have a part to play in supporting organisational change.
I am optimistic that if we as a school (in the broadest sense) place the learner at the centre of what we’re doing, we will find the strength to dust ourselves off and connect to our common purpose.
We seem to lack a school wide culture that connects us as a group. Schein (as cited by Stoll, 1998) defines organisational culture as the deeper ingrained ideas and values shared by the group. That is the things that define us, that we just know ‘that’s how we do things’. We lack a central culture as a school. We are currently fragmented and paralyzed as a school and need to regain a sense of common culture and what drives us. This will involve a realignment “a mutual process of coordinating perspectives, interpretations, and actions so they realize higher goals”(Wenger, 2000). While we need clear and inspiring leadership to guide us, we all have a part to play in supporting organisational change.
I am optimistic that if we as a school (in the broadest sense) place the learner at the centre of what we’re doing, we will find the strength to dust ourselves off and connect to our common purpose.
"Hutia te rito o te harakeke, Kei whea te komako e ko? Ki mai ki ahau; He aha te mea nui o te Ao? Maku e ki atu, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata"
Reference list:
ERO. (2017, June 29). Westland High School - 29/06/2017. Retrieved from http://www.ero.govt.nz/review-reports/westland-high-school-29-06-2017/
Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture
Potahu, T. W. (2011). Mauri - Rethinking Human Wellbeing. MAI Review, 3, 1-12.
Wenger, E.(2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2), 225-246.
Reference list:
ERO. (2017, June 29). Westland High School - 29/06/2017. Retrieved from http://www.ero.govt.nz/review-reports/westland-high-school-29-06-2017/
Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture
Potahu, T. W. (2011). Mauri - Rethinking Human Wellbeing. MAI Review, 3, 1-12.
Wenger, E.(2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2), 225-246.
Hi Philippa - like yourself I found this topic difficult to tackle given what we've been through as a school this year. My observations reflect yours around the culture of individualism and balkanism present in our school.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned on Sharon's blog, I'm struggling with the question about what I can personally do about our school culture and what sort of effect I can realistically expect to have. I sort of feel an onus personally as a member of a school with cultural problems that I must work hard individually to do my bit to change that culture. Having said that, I have a feeling of being overwhelmed and unsure of where to start. This is where the importance of management comes in to clearly set direction.
You thoughts about placing the learner at the centre of what we do make perfect sense, and hopefully it will be that that might start driving some positive cultural change.
Thanks for sharing this, Philippa - it takes a lot of courage to share stories of struggle but all teachers can relate to them. I've been reading Madeline Levine's Teach Your Children Well and much of what you have written here connects to her thinking about what she calls ' the glacial pace of change in education' and how big and daunting the shifts are that are needed to be made by management so that these changes can filter down to our classrooms. Good luck as you reflect on your school's practice and help them to reach a place of mauri-oho.
ReplyDeleteThank you Philippa for your honesty. As Heather has mentioned, it takes a lot of courage to give such an honest reflection of the struggles that as teachers we are facing at our places of work. I think that it's important to know that you are not alone.
ReplyDeleteDue to being a one person department, I sometimes feel that I have rose tinted glasses on and are missing out on the big picture. Our school has undergone a lot of changes in the past three years: New principal, two CAPNAs that did nothing of staff morale and with the changes we have implemented this year, staff are tired due to having to fill gaps earlier in the year when we couldn't find replacements for those that had decided they wanted to leave for various reasons.
I feel that for teachers these days, the list of what we are required to do is getting bigger and bigger. Part of the reason we are teachers are because we care for our students. When we read reports that state we aren't being effective, that takes its toll. For many of us, education worked for us but for today's students, it simply does not work. It is up to us to continue to look for ways to engage our learners and this can be done, but don't expect to be able to do this by yourself. We need to continue to engage in conversations with our colleagues and senior management. As I always say to my students, like Rachel Hunter said "It won't happen over night, but it will happen."
Thanks again for your honest, insightful post.