Resources

One of the most significant leadership lessons borne of the COVID -19 crisis has been a renewed sense that the ‘buck stops’ with school leaders who have had to make sharp decisions and deploy a ‘take charge’ attitude. This sort of ‘commanding’ leadership is not often experienced in our profession. We are well-versed with collaborative and collegial leadership, we embrace ‘flat’ leadership approaches and see our jobs as enabling others to grow in their leadership. But COVID-19 has reminded us that commanding leadership is not a ‘dirty word’ and there are many instances in our schools that require strong, powerful, informed, and direct leadership.

New Zealand is full of great ideas in education… but without a clear pathway for change it is unlikely that a great idea will make it to being a great solution

During the COVID Rāhui/lockdown, educators reported tangible benefits and perhaps surprising increases in engagement from many of their students learning from home. Nicola Ngarewa and Chris Jansen explore how might we take these insights about student agency and translate them into change practices in our schools?