8 July – Engaging with resistance to change
When implementing new practices, reactions inevitably vary from strong support through to vocal resistance. This session explored where resistance to change comes from; ways to minimise it ahead of time; as well as the best ways to respond to resistance when it occurs. When understood and responded to appropriately, resistance to change can result in…
Read More30 June – Bringing critical reflection into the fold: Strengthening a culture of coherence
During this term we have focused on bringing Kāhui Ako practices into the ‘fold’ of school practices, while building greater coherence through the development and application of leadership inquiries. Part of this process is ensuring reflection is intentional and not left as an afterthought. In this session we briefly unpacked the differences between technical, aligned…
Read More2 June – Understanding the role of emotion in educational change for improvement
Have you ever wanted to introduce something new in your school but been faced with what feels like ‘resistance to change’. Do you wonder why people sometimes say they are keen to try something new but nothing actually changes? In this session we explored how perceptions of risk can get in the way of change…
Read More27 May – Identifying, challenging and imagining: Critical thinking in practice to improve teacher collaborative leadership
Trigger events and barriers can be at work when we try to engage in critical thinking. In this session we will use an ICI framework (identifying, challenging, imagining) to help reveal more about what is going on with our practice and that of others. At the heart of this is identifying assumptions, especially those that…
Read More12 May – Focusing on the main thing – what is one problem you are trying to solve?
We began by mapping your priority role and relational spaces for greater coherence and identifying where the point people for this are situated. These spaces bring our attention to the interface of Kāhui Ako and school-based practices. The session devoted the majority of the time for you to work in school groups to progress a…
Read More6 May – Finding the way: Sustaining the improvement of practices through shifts in sub-cultures
Over the next two terms with your focus on implementing changes related to your leadership inquiries, attention now turns to sustaining transformation of practices. We started by revisiting where we left off at the end of Term One regarding the focus of your inquiries, your positioning within these and the current status of your inquiries.…
Read More7 April – Creating Coherence
ELN Team for this session: Deidre Le Fevre, Maggie Ogram Creating coherence is an important part of leading an effective school however the multiple daily demands of school life can make this challenging to achieve. In the first half of this session we explored what coherence means and why it matters. In the second we…
Read More24 Mar – Why Genuine Inquiry Matters (Part Two of a Two-part Workshop)
Inquiry is something leaders and educators are expected to engage with yet it can be challenging. Humans are hard-wired to make assumptions and jump to conclusions. In this session we explored what genuine inquiry means, why it matters, and what makes it difficult. We practiced some strategies to help ourselves and others engage in genuine…
Read More25 Mar – Connectivity: Positioning and enacting your collaborative leadership inquiries plan
There are numerous ways a leadership inquiry can be positioned. This depends on your own school and Kãhui Ako context. Some approaches are informative, critical, affirmative, generative and/or strategic (Southern, 2015). In this online session we provide a framework for you to apply to your emerging leadership inquiry plans. At the core of this are…
Read More11 Mar – Team learning: A key enabler of transformative leadership inquiry
Collaborative leadership inquiries occur in and across groups, where learning is collective. There are enablers and barriers to group/team learning, some you may have experienced and others you may not be aware of. Many enablers are aligned to critical reflective practice and dialogue, whereas a number of the barriers can be traced back to untested…
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