Education Leaders Forum - Enhancing Learning Culture, 21&22 August 2014 Christchurch Perspectives on Leading Change

1. Getting it right in schools

2. My role as a principal is to make a difference in the
lives of children and their families
My actions are to support and encourage the right
thing to happen across the school based on the
shared values of the school
My class is my staff – through them I achieve the
above
I need to respect, support and grow the talents and
competencies of staff and in particular focus on the
leadership team
My leadership needs to be collaborative and
distributed

3. Shared Vision
Theory to practice
Strategy including time management
Flexibility: plan for multiple pathways and expect
different levels of confidence and progress
STUDENT CENTRED CHANGE
Teacher and non teacher staff empowerment
including respect
Teacher and non teacher staff support including
PD, coaching, feed forward and feed back
Quality control including review

4. Shared just means that – it isn’t the leader’s
vision
Fullan cites 10 assumptions about change
which are paraphrased below and on the next
two slides
Don’t assume your version of change is the
one that should be implemented
Teachers (and non teacher staff )need to work
out their own meaning to significant innovation
if it is to result in change of practice

5. Conflict and disagreement are part of successful
change
Teachers (and non teacher staff) need pressure to
change and there also needs to be sandpit time
given to them to react, reflect, and interact with
others on the purpose and benefit of the change
being implemented
Effective change takes time and persistence is
critical to success
Don’t assume lack of implementation means
rejection or hard core refusal to all change
The complexity of change means all wont
understand it or do it at the same time

6. For change to happen a plan is needed. The
plan needs to be based on these assumptions.
No amount of knowledge of the theory
underpinning the change will ever make the
action needed totally clear. Better knowledge of
the change process will however improve the
mix of resources on which to draw
Changing the culture of schools to student
focused, future focused and success for all is
the real agenda not implementing single
innovations

7. Thought through in advance
Systematically planned and implemented
Tested and evaluated before wider
dissemination
Fullan and Hargreaves 1991
Consider the different strategy used to develop
and implement NZC 2007
National Standards 2010

8. Thought through in advance
Systematically planned and implemented
Tested and evaluated before wider
dissemination
Teaching and leadership as inquiry through
Prototypes
Pilots
Sandpit play
Time to share with and observe colleagues
Coaching and mentoring
Dialogue
Evidence based professional learning communities

9. Front end of the school charter
Strategic focus
Teaching as Inquiry
PLG’s
School review

10. Growing teachers
http://www.michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/JSD-Power-of-
Professional-Capital.pdf
Change leadership
http://www.michaelfullan.ca/media/13396053050.pdf
Leadership, Professional Development and
Teaching and learning BES
http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2515