Reenvisioning purpose

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Re-envisioning purpose

• Inside-out and upside-down
• a recipe for reinventing schooling
• for the 21st century
• Dr Leoni Degenhardt
• Principal, Loreto Normanhurst

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• WHY
• schools need to change

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The rate and extent of change is well documented

• advances in technology and communication
• changes in employment, family and gender roles
• increasing abdication from personal / parental
  responsibility
• the decline of social institutions
• spiritual hunger, but less allegiance to
  organised religion
• globalisation
• complex ethical and ecological issues
• deep uncertainty and the rise of fundamentalism
• increasing divide between the haves and have-nots

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The future of school

• Im not saying that its a good idea to change
  school. Im saying that it is inconceivable that
  school as weve known it will continue. And the
  reason why its inconceivable is that little
  glimmer with my grandson who is used to finding
  knowledge when he wants to and can get it when he
  needs it, and can get in touch with other people
  and teachers, not because they are appointed by
  the state, but because he can contact them in
  some network somewhere. These children will not
  sit quietly in school and listen to a teacher
  give them predigested knowledge. I think that
  they will revolt.
• The Future of School A Discussion between
  Seymour Papert and Paolo Friere (late 1980s)
  http//www.papert.org/articles/freire/freirePart1.
  html

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• A moral imperative
• how can we NOT make schooling a
• relevant and growthful experience
• for our young people?

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• So how do we move from this.?

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• John Brack Collins Street 5pm

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• to the Knowledge Society?

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• Photo of Curran theatre

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Inside out

• Start with students
• Identify your values
• Connect with the external context
• Draw on theory

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Upside down

• Start with students
• Make everything serve their needs
• Listen to the school community
• Incorporate external requirements

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And you need

• a contemplative, holistic approach...
• flexible
• humble
• collaborative
• intuitive
• humour-laden
• respectful

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A 12 step recipe

• for reinventing schooling
• based on the experience of
• Loreto Normanhurst

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Loreto Normanhurst

• Catholic independent school for girls aged 12 -18
• Based on the educational philosophy of Mary Ward
  , 1585 1645
• Founded in 1897 as a boarding school only
• 915 students, 190 boarders from country NSW
• Upper North Shore of Sydney

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Step 1start with purpose

• What is the purpose of schooling ?
• How should schools be?
• Your answer will depend on your mental
  paradigm..
• on your imaginary (Beare, 2006)
• on your ontological perspective

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Ontological perspectives

• How do you see reality?
• What is the metaphor you use to describe a
  school? your school?
• a factory? a community?
• an army? a business?
• a family? a nation-state?
• Your metaphor will shape your actions

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My ontological perspective

• a
• living systems view of organisations
• (and therefore of schools)

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• the fundamental nature of reality is
  relationships, not things
• a living system has the capacity to create
  itself
• (Senge et al., 2000, p.52-3)

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At Loreto Normanhurst

• growing
• individuals
• and
• communities

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Step 2identify values

• At Loreto Normanhurst
• Catholic Christian
• Mary Ward charism
• We needed to work out what these meant by
  telling stories

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Mary Wards educational philosophy

• Reformation era her background
• a dangerous innovator
• education of womeneducation as
  liberation
• innovative curriculum eg drama
• education of the whole child, in and
  out of the classroom
• relevant to the needs of the time / place
• as part of a community and society

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• 8

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Step 3engage with the external context

• schools cannot shut their gates and leave the
  outside world beyond them
• schools are losing their monopoly on learning
• schools are one of our last hopes for rescuing
  and reinventing community
• teachers need a lot more help
• market competition, parental choice and
  individual self-management are already redefining
  how schools relate to their wider environment
• schools can no longer be indifferent to the
  working lives that await their students when they
  move into the adult world
  
• Fullan, 1997

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Step 4include everybody

• collect data survey people
• listen to people students, parents, staff,
  wider community
• provide structures which include a wide range of
  perspectives
• share professional reading and ideas
• nb. not everybody will WANT to be included

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At Loreto Normanhurst

• The strategy workshops
• included all staff, most parents, many students
• re-articulated the schools values
• convinced people of the need for change
• created a sense of urgency the burning
  platform
• required people to engage in double-loop
  learning
• focused our efforts growing individuals and
  communities

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Step 5dream of how it could be

• presencing
• Senge et al.(2004). Presence Human Purpose and
  the Field of the Future.

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At Loreto Normanhurst

• as part of each
• Strategy workshop
• people were asked to
• present how they would
• personally contribute to
• growing individuals and communities

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Step 6develop a shared paradigm

• How would we make it happen?
• calling for draft models
• communal critiquing
• amalgamation of the best ideas
• successive teams of volunteers
• the evolution of the holistic Loreto Normanhurst
  Student Growth Model (LNSGM)

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What would it look like?
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Elements of the LNSGM

• Learning relationships
• FACE curriculum
• - Faith
• - Academic
• - Community
• - Extra-curricular
• Radical new pedagogy
• Digital portfolio MySite

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• Holistic learning program Integrated
  Learning
• - EQ
• - Literacies
• - ICT
• - values
• Advisor role
• Student/advisor conversations
• Plenary meetings with parents

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• And what did we really mean by holistic
  education ?

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Step 7 lead appropriately

• Leadership for change
• Leadership of change

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Useful leadership theories

• Level 5 leadership (Collins, 2001)
• Parallel leadership (Crowther, Hann et al. 2001)
• Values-based contingency leadership (Day, Harris
  et al. 2001)
• Leadership from soul (Beare 2006)
• Contemplative-reflexive leadership (Degenhardt,
  2006)

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Contemplative-reflexive leadership for reinvention
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Step 8manage change and micropolitics

• listening
• avoiding balkanising the opposition
• providing opportunities to express concerns
• being aware of gatekeepers
• bearing a lot of projected anger
• having a resilient Leadership Team
• sharing change and transition theory with staff
• change management workshops

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Transition management

• Change the situation, what happens
• Transition the psychological process that
  people go through to come to terms with the new
  situation.
• Bridges (1995)

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Understanding change Handys
sigmoid curve
Handy, C. (1995). The Empty Raincoat making
sense of the future Arrow Books Limited.
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Transition management
Bridges, W. (1995). Managing Transitions Making
the most of change. London.
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Step 9provide professional development

• voluntary workshops to develop the underpinning
  principles of the LNSGM
• external learning consultants
• external process consultants
• internal practitioner researchers
• release time for planning and curriculum
  development

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Step 10adapt structures architecture
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Curriculum design evaluation structure
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Step 11 evaluate constantly

• annual school goals
• exit surveys for students, staff
• evaluation of
• learning programs
• team effectiveness
• regular events and functions
• the hidden curriculum
• the Evaluation Committee annual whole school
  evaluation

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Step 12 you will end up with a continually
reinventing culture
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A continually reinventing school

• a perpetual learning system
• Argyris 1992
• is also a paradox
• culture is by definition a stabilizing,
  conservative process, whereas a learning culture
  attempts to institutionalize and stabilize
  learning, innovation and change
• Schein,
  1992

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Examples

• 2008 is vastly different from 2004
• (programs architecture pedagogy
• structures school culture)
• helping the pioneer Year 7 Team (the
  keepers of the vision) deal with ongoing
  evolution
• the need to support change vanguard as change
  continues

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Learnings

• The need for a WHYa compelling reason for change
• The need for a strong values base to draw on
• Inclusive processespros and cons
• Leadership for change
• Communication issues
• Mistakes are your friends
• The need for openness to change and adaptation
• The will and grit to work through uncertainty
  and pain

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We need to work for continuous
change in our schools
Our young people, our society, and our world,
need people of sound values, engagement with
present realities, and clear vision for the
future and the courage
to make that vision happen..
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• In times of change, learners inherit the earth,
  while the learned find themselves beautifully
  equipped to deal with a world that no longer
  exists.
• Hoffer