Purpose, Culture and the Perils of Leading Change
Faculty: Katherine K. Merseth
Time: 8:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Session Overview
Culture is often viewed as the key factor in a school’s success. However, the idea of culture can be abstract and the puzzle of shaping culture can seem impenetrable. This session seeks to help participants understand the organization purpose and its culture. We will approach the concept of culture from a perspective of practice. By the end of the first session participants will be able to answer two questions: (1) what is school culture, and (2) how can I enact my cultural vision for my school.
Required Reading
1. *Case Study: Parramatta State School
Recommended Reading (optional)
- Heifetz, R. and Linsky, M., (2002); “The Faces of Danger” in Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, Chapter 2.
**please note this recommended reading is not required for the session, it is optional to continue your learning.
Case Study Questions and Reflections
- Describe the culture at Parramatta when Patane arrived and what it was like five years later? What had and hadn't changed? When he arrived ... little to no consistency between teachers. People doing their own thing. Low expectations. Teacher surviving. Reactive, not proactive strategies. Moral likely to be low. Five years later ... teacher excellence and high expectations of what practice looked like were embedded in clear frameworks. Common language developed. Walkthroughs, feedback and coaching in the school. Higher trust between staff. Great teaching recognised and celebrated.
- What do you see as Patane's beliefs about culture change? In what ways was he successful in enacting these beliefs, and how? Culture change started with him - being visible, modelling the expectations by being actively engaged alongside teachers.
- Heifetz and Linsky write about being marginalized when leading change. Did you see places in the case where Patane experienced this? Marginalized by the more experienced teachers who did not see the need to engage with frameworks and certification towards excellence.
- What specific advice would you give Patane for the start of the term? One on ones with those who are still resistant. What do you love about the school? What are your strengths? How can we help you to continue to grow professionally by investing in you? Let's build a PDP together for 2026. What can you offer our younger teachers?
Notes from Kay's Session
People like routine, change is unsettling for some for this reason.
What is the purpose of my school? To help children to be the BEST they can be. Support children to navigate the complexities of being a preteen. Exists to help children reach their potential as learners and help them to become good humans that can contribute to society. Provide safety and care.
What are we doing that we shouldn't? Stepping into parenting territory as we support adults with digital safety and social media.
Things we are not doing that we should be? More engagement with our Māori community and Pasifika community - we celebrate culture but could be doing more to create conversations about learning. More involvement with parents in our schools. More pulse surveys with children regularly - two/three times a term. More timely/early meetings with families about attendance.
Reflective Questions - Peter Drucker
What business are you in? We are in the business of growing learners to achieve their potential and growing great humans who can go into secondary school with confidence and a kete of skills to help them navigate the teens years.
I am in the business of people management, strategic development, project management, community relations, driving the best teaching and learning through building teacher capability.
Who are your customers? We serve children and families in our local community.
Parents GIVE us their children, the best child they have ...
What do your customers value? Accessibility to staff. Openness, strong relationships. Safety and certainty.
It is worthwhile to have this conversation with staff so we are all on the same page about curriculum and pedagogy. "If you don't know where you are going you'll probably end up going somewhere else."
How can one lead in uncertain circumstances?
Adaptive Leadership - Ronald Heifetz, r and Laurie, D - The Work of Leadership HBR.
Different types of challenges require different leadership tactics.
Technical challenges - require information - require execution
**Adaptive challenges - visionary leaders - require transformation
(** most of our challenges at leaders)
CHECK out the SLIDE - Many Challenges in School Leadership are Adaptive.
Leadership would be a safe undertaking if your organizations and communities only faced problems for which they already knew the solutions. Every day, people have problems for which they do, in fact, have the necessary know-how and procedures. We call these technical problems.
But there is a whole host of problems that are not amenable to authoritative expertise or standard operating procedures. They cannot be solved by someone who provides answers from on high. We call these adaptive challenges because they require experiments, new discoveries, and adjustments from numerous places in the organization or community.
– Ronald Heifetz & Marty Linsky in Leadership on the Line
But there is a whole host of problems that are not amenable to authoritative expertise or standard operating procedures. They cannot be solved by someone who provides answers from on high. We call these adaptive challenges because they require experiments, new discoveries, and adjustments from numerous places in the organization or community.
– Ronald Heifetz & Marty Linsky in Leadership on the Line
So ... the problem of practice ... implementing new curriculum and HIT pedagogies is highly adaptive and I must treat it as such. It is not technical change.
It will be challenging for some. Our cultural norms will help carry us through some of the complexities of this.
John Kotter - Leading Change
John Kotter - Our Iceberg is Melting (Story of the Penguins)
Leading Change Steps
1. Urgency
How can we build urgency? Create a goal that is time determined to help create the sense of urgency.
2. Build Guiding Team
Put the right people in the waka. ID those who are a positive influence on the culture and those who are a negative influence and those you are not sure about.
3. Develop the Vision - clarity and communication
4. Communicate for Buy in (SO IMPT)
Elevator speech. 2 ways to communicate vision (newsletter/in person/hui)
An elevator speech (or pitch) is a concise, persuasive summary of who you are, what you do, and the value you offer, designed to be delivered in the short time of an elevator ride (around 30-60 seconds) to generate interest and spark further conversation, often used in networking or interviews to introduce yourself, a product, or an idea
5. Empower Action
Who to empower, how to empower and support, reciprocal accountability
6. Create Short Term Wins (look for these and celebrate them)
7. Don't Let up - keep pushing
8. Make Change Stick - sustainability (systems/processes/cultural norms)
MAIN TAKE AWAYS -
You will never change what you are willing to tolerate.
Change = Loss (people have to give up something in order to change). Costs are seen to be greater than the benefits.
Perhaps the most resistant factor is that they don't know how to change, my job to show them how.
Michael Patane
1 Technical Leadership
2 Organisational Leadership
Building the Capacity for Effective Family-School Partnerships Part 1
Faculty: Karen Mapp
Time: 1:15 - 2:45 p.m.
Session Overview
The learning objectives for this session are to explore the following:
- What we now know from current research about the impact of family engagement on both student achievement and school improvement.
- The purpose and goals of the Dual Capacity Framework (Version 2) for Family-School Partnerships.
Required Reading
- *Mapp, K.L., Henderson, A.T., Cuevas, S., Franco, M.C., and Ewert, S. (2022) Everyone Wins: The Evidence for Family-School Partnerships & Implications for Practice . (pp. 13-20, 43-64). Introduction and Chapter 2. Scholastic.
- Lawrence-Lightfoot, S. (2003). The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn From Each Other . Ballantine Books. Introduction and Chapter 1.
Study Questions for Preparation
- What ideas presented in the readings are the same or different from your current way of thinking about family-school partnership? Idea of parents working alongside as partners is similar to our way of working. Learning maps as a way of students/parents/teachers building a understanding of the child, the people in their world and their aspirations.
- As you read the materials, write down the various “Wins” from engagement that are new to you or surprised you. Retention of staff ... surprised that it had such a big effect on how enjoyable teachers were finding their jobs.
- What are your core beliefs about the engagement of families? Families are first educators, families are important and valued in the student-tchr-parent - relationships. The biggest gains are when all three can work together to realise the potential of the student.
- Through the framework and readings, what we now know about how to effectively engage families. Seek voice, ask questions, be curious about what is important to parents and what their aspirations are for their children - rather than just asking for help at school.
- How have past experiences, be they positive, negative, or a range of both, shaped your beliefs about, and orientation towards, family-school partnerships? Past experiences have been tricky with some of our families - difficulties at hui and fono with relationships between families which have created anxiety for children and staff. Difficulties with some separated parents whose engagement with school ended up creating significant stress for the child and the teacher.
- What are your own “ghosts” or biases and assumptions in connection with the work of family-school partnerships? That some parents will need to support to be able to engage with plans and discussions about their child's learning so it is strength and not deficient based.
- What fears, hesitations, or apprehensions do you have about this work? Our young teachers will need to be well supported to work alongside parents, especially those can be demanding in their mannerisms. It would be important for us to consider how best to encourage all parents to engage with us in different ways - ie the cold eurocentric type email does not work to engage our M and PI families.
- What passions, beliefs and commitments do you bring that will help you do this work? A commitment as a parent myself and confidence as a more experienced leader. Credibility in our local community as a long standing member of the school community. Active alongside parent groups and seen in sport and cultural events outside of school.
Notes from Karen's Session - Karen L Mapp
Family engagement is a strategy, not a goal.
A strategy to help you reach your goal.
ie to increase family engagement at learning conferences to help raise achievement and progress in Mathematics and English
(target 75% of year eight students at/above CL by end of year eight
Do our families know what the school goals and targets for improvement are?
First newsletter out to parents - describe the three strategic areas and a summary of the AIP goals.
How to we create another way to help parents understand that we want to to build a partnership with them to support progress and learning.
The goal - to get full, equal and equitable partnerships among families, educators and community to promote children's learning and development.
We need to lead with our ears, not our mouths.
Include this in first PT conference - Listening to hear about what parents think, dream and worry about for their children ...
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