The Shape and Shaping of School Leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

A major turning point in the direction of New Zealand’s school system came with the introduction of the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms in the late 1980s. Throughout the following 20 years of directing and redirecting the focus of schools, the nature and expectations of school leadership at each level have been substantially redefined. Courses of action intended to improve performance and system efficiencies are dependent on proven leadership at each level for their success. In modern systems, rather than being ‘one-off’ events, the reforms have tended to become a modus operandi that not only requires leadership that keeps pace with the direction of reforms and gives them effect in practice but also requires investment in ongoing inquiry into how leadership capability is developed and demonstrated in accordance with the system goals. The system, therefore, has a vested interest in shaping the meaning and nature of school leadership. This chapter describes the reforms that have set the context for redefining school leadership in New Zealand, followed by accounts of policy and other initiatives intended to align leadership theory and practice with system imperatives. The responses to these developments and changes are analyzed and discussed.

Appendix: National Administration Guidelines (NAGs) 2009 version

NAG. 1

Each Board of Trustees is required to foster student achievement by providing teaching and learning programs which incorporate The National Curriculum as expressed in The Ministry of Education (2007b) or Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.

Each board, through the principal and staff, is required to:

• a. Develop and implement teaching and learning programs:

  • 1. To provide all students of age 1–10 years with opportunities to achieve for success in all areas of the National Curriculum ;

  • 2. Giving priority to student achievement in literacy and numeracy, especially in years 1–8;

  • 3. Giving priority to regular quality physical activity that develops movement skills for all students, especially of age 1–6 years.

• b. Through a range of assessment practices, gather information that is sufficiently comprehensive to enable the progress and achievement of students to be evaluated; giving priority first to:

  • 1. Student achievement in literacy and numeracy, especially in years 1–8; and then to

  • 2. Breadth and depth of learning related to the needs, abilities, and interests of students, the nature of the school’s curriculum, and the scope of The National Curriculum as expressed in The New Zealand Curriculum or Te Marautanga o Aotearoa;

• c. on the basis of good quality assessment information, identify students and groups of students:

  • 1. Who are not achieving;

  • 2. Who are at risk of not achieving;

  • 3. Who have special needs; and

  • 4. Aspects of the curriculum which require particular attention;

• d. Develop and implement teaching and learning strategies to address the needs of students and aspects of the curriculum identified in (c) above;

• e. In consultation with the school’s Māori community, develop and make known to the school’s community policies, plans, and targets for improving the achievement of Māori students; and

• f. Provide appropriate career education and guidance for all students of age 7 years and above, with a particular emphasis on specific career guidance for those students who have been identified by the school as being at risk of leaving school unprepared for the transition to the workplace or further education/training.

NAG 2 (Planning, Self-Review, and Reporting)

Each board of trustees, with the principal and teaching staff, is required to:

• a. Develop a strategic plan which documents how they are giving effect to the National Education Guidelines through their policies, plans, and programs, including those for curriculum, National Standards, assessment, and staff professional development;

• b. Maintain an ongoing program of self-review in relation to the above policies, plans, and programs, including evaluation of information on student achievement; and

• c. Report to students and their parents on the achievement of individual students, and to the school’s community on the achievement of students as a whole and of groups (identified through NAG 1(c) above) including the achievement of Māori students against the plans and targets referred to in 1(e) above.

NAG 2A (National Standards)

Where a school has students enrolled in years 1–8, the board of trustees, with the principal and teaching staff, is required to use National Standards to:

• a. Report to students and their parents on the student’s progress and achievement in relation to National Standards. Reporting to parents in plain language in writing must be at least twice a year;

• b. Report school-level data in the board’s annual report on National Standards under three headings:

  • 1. School strengths and identified areas for improvement;

  • 2. The basis for identifying areas for improvement; and

  • 3. Planned actions for lifting achievement.

• c. Report in the board’s annual report on:

  • 1. The numbers and proportions of students at, above, below, or well below the standards, including by Māori, Pasifika, and by gender (where this does not breach an individual’s privacy); and

  • 2. How students are progressing against the standards as well as how they are achieving.