As part of my NAPP readings, I have been given a copy of the ‘School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and Why’ document. You can access it HERE if you like.
While I am sure the information contained within is superb, I have yet to get passed the forwards. Because there are forwards from groups I never knew existed. So I thought I would take a step sideways and figure out who they all were
All information was taken from either the BES document or the website of the Organisation concerned which is linked onto the page.
So, the forwards are by
Te Akatea: Te Akatea is the New Zealand Maori Principals association. Established in 1989-90 to support Kupapa Maori Education.
International: This was a forward by Ben Levin and Michael Fulling from the University of Toronto
New Zealand Schools Trustees Association (NZSTA) : NZSTA is a membership based organisation that represents around 91% of school boards and is a non profit. Their roll is to support boards get the best out of schools
NZ Principals’ Federation: NZPF have the vision to be the most respected and influential advocate for New Zealand’s school principals. Established in 1992 they provide a range of support for NZ principals.
New Zealand Pasifika Principals’ Association: Did have a website I could find. From the BES document this group is looking to assist with ‘growing, developing and nurturing Pasifika leadership in New Zealand Education’. There was a contact on THIS list from the NZPF webpage
New Zealand Association for Intermediate and Middle Schooling (NZ AIMS): Have a super bright and bubbly website and look like they host/facilitate lots of PD opportunities. I couldn’t quite find out exactly their aims/vision though – sadly the strategic plan link was a dud.
Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand (SPANZ): Also formed in the late 1980’s, SPANZ support Principals and their schools. It looks like membership is for individual school leaders rather than for a school.
New Zealand Secondary Principals’ Council (NZSPC): NZSPC represents Principals who are members of the PPTA. They also negotiate the Principals collective agreement… which I guess is important 🙂 I think I had heard of this council previously, probably due to the collective bargaining processes
Normal School Principals’ Association: Didn’t have a webpage I could find – but there are contact details via the NZPF page
New Zealand Area Schools Association (NZASA): The NZASA is an organisation formed among Area Schools from throughout New Zealand to advance the cause of Area Schools in particular and rural education in general.
Deputy and Assistant Principals and Syndicate Leaders, Primary and Intermediate: Another one I could find any direct information on. I did learn that a syndicate leader is a teacher in charge of a particular cohort of students eg from yr 1-3 or y7-8.
National Association of Secondary Deputy and Assistant Principals (NASDAP): NASDAP provides representation for Deputy and Assistant Principals to ensure their voice is heard. The run a conference every other year with regional meetings in between.
NZEI:includes over 50,000 educators from primary and early childhood. They encourage high quality education and are the industrial voice of this group of educators. I have off course heard of this group before
PPTA: The objects of the Association shall be: (a) To advance the cause of education generally and of all phases of secondary and technical education in particular. (b) To uphold and maintain the just claims of its members individually and collectively. (c) To affirm and advance Te Tiriti O Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) as embodied in the First Schedule of these rules. The PPTA also negotiate the collective agreement for secondary teachers. I had also heard of the PPTA before (and am a member)
New Zealand Catholic Education Office (NZCEO):The New Zealand Catholic Education Office (NZCEO) is a catalyst engaging Catholic schools to become leaders in New Zealand education, delivering outcomes in the spirit of the Gospel. I had heard of this group before from a teacher college lecture we had on catholic education in NZ.
Independent Schools of New Zealand (ISNZ): ‘represents the nations leading private schools’. The webpage appears to cater more for members of the public looking to choose a school, but there is a closed members only section that may provide more info
New Zealand Educational Administration and Leadership Society (NZEALS): ‘NZEALS supports leadership and innovation in education. It has strong networks within and across sectors, sharing research and quality practice. It enables leadership partnerships and supports new and aspiring leaders.’ As there is a special ‘deal’ for first time principals I think this group is primarily for Principals.
National Education Monitoring Project (NEMP): The purpose of NEMP was to get a broad picture of the achievements of representative samples of New Zealand school students at successive points in time so that; trends in educational performance can be identified and reported; good information is available to assist policy makers, curriculum specialists and educators with their planning; the public can know about trends in educational achievement. This program was lead by Otago University academics. I think I had heard of this, and in digging found I had read some stuff written as a result of this project.
ERO: Everyone loves to hate ERO 🙂 A teacher saying that ERO is coming is enough to instil sympathy and knowing looks from even the most enthusiastic teacher. Yet the website states that ‘ERO reviews schools and early childhood education services, and publishes national reports on current education practice’. ERO is coming to my school later this year so I will learn more about them first hand 🙂 So I had heard of ERO.
New Zealand Council for Educational research (NZCER): NZCER is ‘an independent educational research organisation generating the ideas, questions, tools, products and services to meet educational needs now and for the future. NZCER has a proud history and a deep commitment to Māori education.’ I had heard about NZCER before because I have read some of their publications and will do a wee plug for the awesomeness of Rachel Bolstad. Her work is awesomesauce. And one time, she broke twitter 🙂
Leadership and Management Advisors: I couldn’t find a website for these guys, but the document lists a long list of committee members from various tertiary education providers.
Universities and Tertiary Institutes: Again I couldn’t find a website, but the group involves a large number of persons working at tertiary education providers
Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL): As Australia’s peak professional organisation ACEL is a forward thinking, relevant and responsive agent of change and innovation. ACEL is a not-for-profit company and a 21st Century learning organisation that is continuously improving its practices to harness national and global opportunities. I had heard of these guys as they are running a super looking conference in Melbourne in September that I am still working up the courage to ask if I could attend.
And then finally the forward from the Chief Education Advisor, BES.
In total, there were 24 forwards for this document. I had heard of 9 of the organisations – and really only know 4 well. It concerns me that in such a ‘inclusive’ list of councils, there are probably only 2 (the ppta and the NZEI) who represent everyday normal teachers. And even then (and feel free to shout me down) these organisations do tend to be known for more bargaining and money than teaching and learning.
Which brings me to the point of this whole exercise. Not every teachers needs to read the BES. But I think it should be a lot more accessible than it currently is. How do we make such documents more available. How do we include normal everyday teachers in these discussions. I am not suggesting more associations or committees, but somehow the committees in place need to be more accessible and sharing for everyday staff.
ibpossum takes on tech 