Current Issues in my Professional Context

"Deciles are a measure of the socio-economic position of a school's student community relative to other schools throughout the country" (Ministry of Education, 2017, para. 2). 

The current system used by the Ministry of Education is the decile rating system which categorises schools according to the percentage of students from low socio-economic communities. It is stated however that a decile rating does not necessarily indicate the overall socio-economic mix of the the school, nor reflect the quality of education the school provides, (Ministry of Education, 2017). 

So while our school is rated within the decile 2 category, the socio-economic mix span is broader and does not necessarily categorise the nature of our students and families. Gargiulo, (2014), states that there are three factors a child's socio-economic status may influence their schooling, they are; 

• Student preparation for school, in the practical sense, such as clothing, food, health
• Home/School relationship, where schools are the authority, resulting in a passive relationship.
• Hidden Curriculum, Where the perspective and background of the teacher may either subconsciously or consciously perceive and therefore treat lower socio-economic students as less able and disadvantaged, often resulting in the inability to understand or relate to the students and/or families.

It would be ignorant of me to say these elements don't exist within our school to some extent and that socio-economic status influences our students in these areas. However as school we are on a journey to address these areas and break down the stereotypes and walls that can and have in the past easily encompassed our school. The strategies below are based at a Secondary School level, but programmes in place we have in commone are the provision of lunches and breakfasts, student achievement conferences and positive behaviour for learning. Our literacy programmes no doubt differ but are differentiated and in some cases specialised for learning needs, the youth and mentoring programmes in our school feature as social skills development courses.

retrieved from Gargiulo, (2014)

Using the Tataiako curriculum tool has been one way I have seen management break the 'hidden curriculum' barriers amongst staff. Our staff in general are pretty good and understanding where our students are 'coming from' when issues arise and approaching each student with the 'knowing' of how they will respond best in different situations. However this document has seen the residual perceptions addressed and with continual growth and development around this, the staff continue to grow as learners themselves, which is a HIGHLY encouraged factor within our staff culture.

retrieved from Stoll, (2000)

The above 'norms' or 'strategies' taken from the readings outline how some schools have or are expected to adjust or establish their climate in order to address disadvantages established by poor climate or culture and/or socio-economic influence - not that these are linked in anyway as poor climate and culture can and does exist in any school, and the negative flow on can be harmful to teachers, students and staff. 

The journey our school has been on has seen a drastic change in both culture and climate. In the last 5 years our school, due to various factors has seen not only seen 5 (some interim) Principals take on this role but also 4 Deputy Principals. With our current management  team having been established for approximately 2 out of the 5 years. As you can imagine the climate in the school when our current Principal and then Deputy arrived was less than stable, secure or functioning to it's full capacity. Upon the appointment and establishment of the Principal/DP team, the immediate shift in climate was noticed and it was positive. I guess you could summarise this as grateful. Grateful for stability, structure and positive, concise and wise direction.

There are always elements of resistance and fixed mindset when change starts to take it's full affect, however the expectations, guidance and ability to find common ground to move forward alongside staff, allowing our journey to operate as a structured yet 'living document/open process' has established a positive, collaborative and quite humorous (we had this to begin with however) climate between staff. Reflecting on the four teaching cultures of Individualism, Collaboration, Contrived collegiality and Balkinisation, mentioned in Stoll (2000), I personally think there are not only opportunities but necessity for each of the aforementioned teaching cultures to exist on some level. The dominant in our school would be collaboration, particularly in context to our current Mindlab postgrad paper that we are all completing as part of school wide professional development. With the establishment of new management after our turbulent time of constant transitions and waning climate, the list of 10 norms featured in Stoll's (2000) article started to establish themselves with greater dominance and impact. I would say all 10 started to disappear rapidly during the transition time, so that 'grateful' feeling previously mentioned was no doubt the result of the 10 norms being established back into the school. It started at staff and Board level and our Principal and DP worked hard to create and develop these norms amongst us all. The students were next and the current area for development is the focus on families and community. Our aim is to continue to break any barriers down to partner with families in the hope and expectation that growth and development of our children is at the core and requires active family/community participation. We have a core element of our community and families that are vital to this and contribute wonderfully. Those on the fringe are encouraged with relationships between class teachers and parents encouraged via regular communication about their child and events that continue to welcome our families through the gate. The expectations below I think are not only advocated for students but also their families. This is a journey and with anything in an organisation isn't always attended to consistently...yet.

retrieved from Gargiulo, (2014)

Our students have, and no doubt always will respond best to a relational approach. 

Although seen here as featured in Gargiulo, (2014), as a mental model for poverty, the concept of relationship when in leadership or in care of others across any structure in society (school, church, management etc), is vital for success. The elements within these models would be beneficial if shared across the  socio-economic divide and as as a school we strive to attend and broaden the scope for our students toward achievement particularly and connections.  This not only works in helping the students grow within themselves but also teachers and families. The basis for our current climate and core to the culture of our school has adjusted with the use of Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L), where are foundational values, in-consultation with students, teachers, parents and community are; Respect, Resilience, Identity and Integrity. At the cusp of Tier 2 the impact and changes seen have been considerable and are definitely not limited to a 'fly by night' phase within but now embedded within every aspect and element of our school. I believe this is something that will continue to grow and adapt as our journey continues.

Gargiulo, S. (2014). Principal Sabbatical Report, (September).

Ministry of Education. (2017). School deciles About deciles What deciles measure Which funding deciles determine, 4–6.

Stoll, L. (2000). School culture. Professional Development, (3), 9–14. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242721155_School_culture