Leadership for Learning
The ministry delegates decisions for
how to implement its policies and curriculum to the schools and, in turn,
its leaders. They are the ones who
implement the national objectives and
curriculum through shared vision,
inquiry, learning communities, reflection, trust, and valuing teacher and
student learning.
New Zealanders describe leadership as distributed. It is shared with
teachers and students and modeled
throughout schools. As one principal said, leadership is subversive.
The principal is proactive in leading
through modeling.
Teachers and administrators engage
in learning together using inquiry to
examine effective pedagogy in authentic contexts—such as events, activities, and community roles—and to
integrate knowledge, attitudes, values,
and skills into the learning. Lyn Byrd,
principal at Ilam School, says, “It is
not just about delivering a curriculum
framework. Passion is important, as
are relationships within the school.”
For Ilam teachers, this relationship
building took place as they developed
norms for behavior called mutually
agreed team expectations and behaviors (MATEs). School leaders are engaged in inquiry, self-reporting, and
reflection to discover effective ways to
implement the national curriculum
and to promote student learning.
At the 2010 Learning@School
conference in Rotorua, Anne Tolley,
the minister of education, shared her
realization of the potential that information communication technology
(ICT) has to transform learning. She
outlined the ministry’s commitment
to several strategies, including:
• Substantial investment to roll out
broadband for learning, administration, and communication
• Support for upgrading in-school
ICT networks
• Effective professional development
and reflective practice for implementing new national standards
for literacy and numeracy
• A national education network
(NEN) to provide reliable access
to examples of innovation and
use of ICT for improved learning
outcomes
The ministry’s commitment cre-
ates conditions for learning so that
the vision for building a world-class
education system can be realized,
and so that New Zealanders will have
the knowledge, skills, and values to
be successful citizens in the digital
age. However, as the principal of the
secondary school at Christ’s College
stated, “Education is not learning
about technology, but rather using
technology to learn.” As we journeyed
across the country to other schools,
we saw many examples of technology
for leadership and learning.
Student Leadership
In several schools we visited, student
learning portrayed leadership devel-
opment. Technology, independence,
and self-regulation gave students
voice. At Pt. England School in Auck-
land, we saw leadership opportunities
in student-led reports that highlighted
their learning using e-portfolios,
Web publications on blogs, podcasts,
and video broadcasts on You Tube.
The focus was on the development of
self-confidence in students, many of
whom are from immigrant families,
through Web and video production
for a global audience. At Ilam School,
TEKE Angels is a formally organized
student technology leadership group
that helps teachers and other students
learn to use technology. The TEKE
Angels also run CHILL Expo: Chil-
dren Leading their Learning, a two-
day event of student-led workshops
on specific software for teachers, stu-
dents, and parents.
