Activity 2 – Current issues in my professional context

I am extremely lucky to be at a school that sees developing the school culture as pivotal towards changing outcomes for students. The (fairly new) Principal of the school is intentionally creating a positive climate at the school and is the keeper of those thoughts and beliefs. Through an outside agency we are involved in a project called “Culture Counts” and have had extensive professional development about what culture is and creating a climate of agentic rather than deficit thinking.

The school has a Decile 2 rating and this has been consistent through the 15 years I have been teaching at the school. It is in South Auckland so the sabbatical report by Salvatore Gargiulo directly echoes many of the issues we face at our Primary school. As he states “children born into economic hardship are immediately disadvantaged.” We know as teachers at our school that, “The majority of the impacts affect how a child is able to access education.” The impacts of poverty which he discusses are very real within our community:

·       it impacts on how children are prepared for school

The school has taken measures to address many of these needs successfully through:

Food – we have a breakfast club run by our TAs every morning

Lunches – any child without food is given lunch which is funded by our BOT

Uniform – free school uniform is available

Kidscan – supply raincoats and shoes for our students

Duffy Books ensure each child has quality books at home

Fruit in schools – each child has one piece of fruit daily

Milk in schools – each child has a carton of milk daily

We have a scheme with Visique where pupils eye site is screened and free glasses supplied

Literacy and Numeracy programmes in place for students deemed well below NS

·       It impacts on the household’s relationship with the school

Knowing that our parents view school as authoritative we have set in place:

The Mutukaroa programme – our DP works alongside our new entrant parents sharing assessments and finding ways parents can help their child at home

Informal Expos where parents can come and visit class, have shared kai and celebrate successes

Goal setting conferences/ 3 way conferences to empower our students to talk about their results and where to next

·       The hidden curriculum and rules

The professional development through Culture Counts is addressing many stereotypical ideas and challenging the thinking of our staff

Our school motto is “Strive for the best” and we have high expectations of our pupils and one another. Our staff meetings and team meetings centre around our tamariki and what we are doing to improve target student’s results. Our professional development directly aligns with our Strategic goals and our school Vision is visible on the walls and is referred to as we are here to serve our children and community. The staff have a book of information (The Kaupapa book) about the school’s history, Vision, targets, routines and administration which is valued by new staff and updated throughout the year to be our ‘go to’ document which helps with clear communication.

We have “The Weymouth Way” which the children and staff follow – “We think, we help, we learn, we care” which is “how we do things around here” and the language we promote for our students. We also have a mantra for staff which is – “professionalism at all times.” We unpack this throughout the year and have clear expectations of how we behave towards one another to foster a positive environment and are asked to challenge deficit thinking or comments. We still have a way to go with this as a school community is made up of a variety of personalities with some static thinking. Last year we had a successful ERO report which emphasized the great “feel” of the school and the caring environment. As Stoll (1998) states “In Primary schools, care and control influence their culture, such that when pupils leave primary schools there is a feeling that they have left a family.” Through our “Culture Counts” professional development we have gathered “voices” (from students, teachers and families) to gage where we are at and where we need to get to, to encompass the ideals of working in a more whanau centred environment. Great emphasis is placed on “knowing your learner” and exploring the many cultural backgrounds of our children.

Many of these systems have been put in place for staff and consultation continues to ensure staff embrace the school’s vision and goals so that “we know where we are going” we have targets that are to be met at a National level which are displayed prominently in our staff room - this was uncomfortable at first but to be responsible for success a very necessary move. Collegiality is happening within our teams, shared documentation and minutes of meetings are accessible to all staff and our personal planning – again this was uncomfortable to begin with but documentation and evidence are part of being professional. Each teacher identifies target students in reading, writing and maths. Progress is discussed and monitored within teams and frequently discussed during team meeting with the clear understanding that we are here to improve results. This also fosters a supportive environment as we discuss teaching strategies within teams, moderate work and gather evidence. Individuals are offered PD tailored to them so we can see ourselves as life long learners – this course has offered me different ways of thinking and has undoubtedly improved my practice. The point that I feel we need to work on as a community is – “Risk taking”. Currently the climate at the school feels like we have come a long way in challenging thinking but any innovative changes could rock the waka. I would like to team teach but there would be costs involved which have put that thought on hold. Other ideas (which usually involve money) are being considered but many of our staff are happy with the culture and shared vision and see “risk taking” as a negative thing.

References:

Academy for SELinSchools. ( 2015, Apr 28).What is school culture and climate? [video file].Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-_NvhlcusQ

Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London.

Gargiulo, S. (2014). Principal sabbatical report. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leadership-development/Professional-information/Principals-sabbatical-reports/Report-archives-for-2007-2014/Secondary-award-recipients-2014/Gargiulo-Salvatore