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This paper offers a brief personal reflection on some leadership related observations from work as an early childhood teacher educator over the past thirty years. Te Tiriti o Waitangi education is a specific area that has previously not been sufficiently prioritised and has only comparatively recently been affirmed in government policy as a key focus of education henceforth. This paper reflects on some of the underlying reasons for this omission within education, pointing to notions of white supremacy in the colonialist assumption of sovereignty and ongoing racism that has negatively impacted on educational experiences and outcomes for Māori in Aotearoa and has also resulted in the degradation of our environment despite Tiriti o Waitangi assurances about the sustenance of rangatiratanga and protection of taonga which should have supported ongoing kaitiakitanga of te taiao. Some hopeful recent policy initiatives are acknowledged. It finishes with recognition of the current climate emergency and the need for urgent educational leadership required in response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traverses changes in perceptions of the school principal's role, from sole to distributed leadership practices. A brief commentary on selected New Zealand literature is followed by a case study of a secondary co-principalship that identifies adaptive strategies and success factors in this joint role. The potentiality of the national Leadership Strategy (2018) and Educational Leadership Capability Framework (2018) to impact these distributed features will then be explored. The paper concludes with suggestions for future directions for distributed leadership practice in New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by international trends and government policy, it is a requirement for all newly built schools in New Zealand to be designed as innovative learning environments (ILEs) with flexible learning spaces. These environments, celebrated by some for the "transformational" educational opportunities they may provide, also raise questions about whether the anticipated pedagogical value of these "non-traditional" spaces is based on idealised visions of teaching and learning rather than empirically derived evidence. Before such complex issues can be efficiently addressed, evidence of the actual "state of play" of ILEs is required. Drawing on New Zealand specific data from a large Australasian research project, this paper triangulates principals' opinions, teachers' perspectives, and the literature on some key preliminary issues: what types of learning spaces can be found in New Zealand schools; what teaching styles are evident in these spaces; what pedagogical beliefs are driving ILE teaching practices; and what types of learning activities are occurring in ILEs? The paper provides an evidencebased platform for further discussion about the opportunities and challenges surrounding the use and practice of ILEs in New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to suggest that without an educational environmental shift in New Zealand it will be difficult to achieve authentic school leadership change. The paper is based largely on the results of a study of the leadership perceptions of 94 secondary school principals in New Zealand (Slowley, 2012) and therefore is mostly about how difficult it is for secondary school principals in New Zealand to make changes in their leadership. However, it also points to a dichotomy that exists for principals at all levels and school types, between the leadership assumptions that permeate the schools' self-management system in New Zealand and the new leadership forms being called for by the government and its advisors and by some educationalists. This paper argues that dichotomy exists because the current schools' self-management system compels principals to be focused on the demands generated by an education market and by the government's expectations that principals should be effective administrators. To illustrate this dichotomy, the paper outlines the impact on the leadership of the individual principal of the accountabilities and leadership assumptions they are subject to on a daily basis. In so doing, the paper raises important questions about the value of providing principals with models of good leadership practice when those leadership models contrast with the inherent leadership assumptions within the current education environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents small-scale research undertaken in New Zealand, through a range of formal and informal research approaches, to explore educational partnerships and the features of successful collaboration for educational leaders. It explores the perspectives of leaders across the sectors on the extent and value of their networks and collaborations, both within their own schools and centres, and between educational settings. It identifies the range of networks in which the respondents were engaged, the drivers and barriers to collaborative working, and the skills and dispositions that collaborative system leaders felt that they possessed. The research was carried out as the New Zealand government launched a policy of Communities of Learning, aimed at engaging schools to work together in ways that would improve student learning outcomes. The paper therefore offers timely insight into strategies that would support contexts for purposeful collaboration by leaders in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the Ka Hikitia Māori education policy and its subsequent influence in effecting system change towards Māori students' achievement. It discusses how a Request for Proposal to the Ministry of Education's Building on Success was conceptualised to support English-medium secondary schools across New Zealand to address this policy. The result, Kia Eke Panuku, is a professional learning and development response that works with Strategic Change Leadership Teams to create culturally responsive and relational contexts for learning, focused on Māori students enjoying and achieving educational success as Māori. It is argued that neither a political mandate for change nor a set of learned strategies by school personnel will truly bring about a changed reality for Māori students. Rather the reform must be led by transformative leaders who are driven by both the moral imperative to change and a keen sense of urgency to see this happen in our schools for Māori students and their home communities. The major issues raised in this paper, and the solutions that have been reached thus far, can help inform others who are trying to raise the participation, inclusion and achievement of students who may currently be marginalised from formal education settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, New Zealand primary and intermediate schools are adopting the concept of flexible learning spaces and promoting team teaching approaches. Such open spaces and pedagogy can be challenging for even experienced teachers to adapt to. Is it realistic, therefore, to expect novices to work successfully in these challenging spaces from the onset of their teaching careers? Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes in New Zealand equip graduates with the knowledge and skills to plan, teach and evaluate learning for a diverse class of children with individual learning, social and cultural needs. However, while researching their own practice working within new spaces and pedagogy, some experienced Bay of Plenty intermediate and primary teachers articulated additional necessities for beginning teachers starting out in such complex teaching environments. Analysis of their ideas suggests such spaces require teachers to have particular capabilities if they are to work collaboratively in open learning spaces. This paper argues that ITE programmes and leaders need to be proactive and include appropriate theoretical and pragmatic coursework, to assist student teachers to cultivate the capabilities required of collaborative team members, by the time they graduate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a largely unrecognised group of educational professional leaders. It seeks to develop an understanding of AP/DPs working in New Zealand secondary schools who considered themselves career AP/DPs. The investigation explored the characteristics and career paths of these leaders who view their position as a vocation and terminal career. Based on findings from a nationwide survey, career AP/DPs, when compared with AP/DPs who aspire to full principalship, experienced a serendipitous and much slower career progression, were less educationally qualified, and were less likely to be employed in larger, high decile schools. It was also found that female career AP/DPs made the decision not to seek principalship at a much earlier age than did males. It is suggested that the education system, in general, and principals, in particular, have important roles to play in ensuring that career AP/DPs receive the support necessary to fulfil their career goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research study investigates the use made of the Educational Leadership Practices Survey (ELP) by a sample of New Zealand secondary schools. The paper presents an overview of selected literature on leadership for learning and distributed leadership principles. The study's methodology and contexts of three case study schools are then outlined, together with findings that reveal variable use of the ELP by school leaders in accordance with each school's priority development needs. The discussion raises implications for leadership practice in regard to student input into decision making; teachers' pastoral/academic roles; interpretive support for the ELP; and professional learning for the range of school leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership is now promoted as the sine qua non (essential ingredient) for maintaining and developing effective education in New Zealand. It was not this way in the latter years of the 1980s and through the 1990s, when educational management was the preferred nomenclature. Since the turn of the millennium, management has subsided into the shadows of leadership in New Zealand education as part of a global shift in the education policy lexicon and the Educational Management, Administration and Leadership (EMAL) field. Rather than argue whether leadership should be preferred over management, or vice versa, this article focuses on the rise of leadership in New Zealand education over the last 30 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I reflect on research relating to school leadership and the use of research to support school leadership over the last 30 years in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Tomorrow's Schools reforms in 1989 wth its shift to school self-management saw more interest in understanding the size and nature of the principal role. More recently there has been interest among policymakers in using research to support effective school leadership, and revived attention to the place of school leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand's education system. This article is also intended to provide future Aotearoa New Zealand researchers into school leadership with some references they can use to chart how things change if new policy settings and supports for school leadership are introduced as a result of the Tomorrow's Schools Independent Taskforce's recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student bullying behaviour is a long-standing concern in New Zealand schools. International studies consistently show high rates of student reports of this behaviour. Research suggests that bullying behaviour is a socioecological and systemic phenomenon that is best addressed via systems-based and multifaceted approaches implemented using collaborative processes. Less is known about the most effective components of these multifaceted approaches. This article analyses New Zealand Wellbeing@School survey data to suggest ways forward for schools. A multilevel model was used to associate two student and two teacher measures from the same schools. The findings indicate that a mix of school-wide actions were associated with lower levels of student aggressive and bullying behaviour. Five sub-groups of actions are discussed in the light of recent New Zealand and international research. The article concludes with a call to locate anti-bullying approaches within a multifaceted and holistic framework which has the overall aim of promoting wellbeing and healthy social relationships. A holistic approach enables schools to foster protective factors such as belonging, and address risk factors that influence bullying behaviour, as well as a range of desirable education and health outcomes for young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on instructional leadership consistently assigns this role to school principals whilst indicating that it can be spread amongst others. Recently the spotlight has moved to middle leadership involving a focus on classrooms through direct instructional leadership. The purpose of this study was to add to a small but growing body of literature that centres on middle-level leadership in schools. The research aims were to conceptualise the nature of the direct form of instructional leadership that has been devolved to the middle leadership level; investigate perceptions of expectations held of middle leaders in schools; and investigate their perceived confidence in performing the role. An on-line survey of 185 primary and secondary school middle-level leaders confirmed strong agreement with the role expectations described in terms of a conceptual framework of direct instructional leadership. The results indicated that whilst overall confidence in performing these tasks was high, gaps existed between role expectations and performance confidence, with the function of "having difficult conversations" being the largest gap for both primary and secondary school middle-level leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed leadership that includes democratic practices can open spaces for children and their families to share their knowledge and skills and participate in everyday early childhood leadership activity. Drawing on the findings of a Masters thesis this article discusses how one kindergarten's exploration of the local community has afforded insights into reframing leadership as an emerging social process whereby teachers, children and families are participants in an approach to leadership described as democratic leadership. Past leadership research has commonly focused on skills, traits and behaviours of people deemed leaders. Moving away from the primacy of the individual towards knowing leadership as an emergent phenomenon that exists between people incorporating multiple worldviews, elevates democratic principles such as collaboration and meaningful participation. Leadership-as-practice was used to analyse the ways in which excursions into the community have broadened teachers' understandings of leadership and fostered more democratic and inclusive participation of children and families in the kindergarten programme. Utilising excursions within the local community as a mechanism to support a democratic form of leadership suggests that leadership can be perceived as arising from the collective work of people in everyday contexts. The value of extending the learning environment beyond the boundaries of the kindergarten, to engage with the local community, offers possibilities to make connections with the surrounding land, understand local stories, histories and cultural events. In this sense democratic leadership intersects with place-based education as children's awareness of themselves as citizens of a community deepens. Inquiry as a form of participatory democracy was a key feature of decision-making in this study and provided a common purpose for community excursions while encouraging leadership opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how involvement in an Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) programme in one New Zealand early childhood centre provides leadership opportunities for teachers and children and highlights the benefits of [re]connecting young children with nature on a regular basis. It focuses on teachers' and parents' views and perspectives on their participation in this nature-based education programme, specifically in regard to the leadership opportunities that the programme provided for teachers and children. This article highlights the powerful influence of the EOTC programme in the development of teachers' leadership. It describes how leadership is a contextual phenomenon and explains how a formal EOTC programme in an early childhood centre provided increased opportunities for teacher leadership regardless of formal leadership position. Distributed leadership and relational leadership were identified as key components of the programme. The article also explores how involvement with the EOTC programme and the natural environment provided significant opportunities for the leadership development of children, in addition to developing their physical abilities, independence and social skills. This article adds valuable knowledge in the area of leadership opportunities resulting from involvement in an EOTC programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our organisation's research project, "Leaders Growing Leaders" (Ryder, Davitt, Higginson, Smorti, Smith & Carroll-Lind, 2017), which investigated effective ECE leadership in Aotearoa/New Zealand, leadership dispositions were identified as one means of making sense of the complexities of leadership within early childhood education. The New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa. Early Childhood Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2017) highlights the importance of kaiako (teacher) responsibilities. Similarly, this article argues that the six specific leadership dispositions of an early childhood education leader, identified in our research, can act as a framework to explore leadership responsibilities. Participant voices are drawn on to exemplify and articulate the specific leadership dispositions of being: a communicator; relationship focused; caring and supportive; and a leader of growth and change, whilst also acting as a critical friend. We argue that responsible leadership must be purposefully grown, developed and sustained across the culture of the ECE setting. Underpinning this understanding is the need for dedicated leadership professional development that supports emerging and current leaders, and their teams, to engage in robust collegial dialogue and reflective practice in terms of what it means to be a responsible leader. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including early childhood education, educational leadership and childhood education in New Zealand.

New Zealand has a flexible curriculum and assessment structure that enables unique courses to be offered in senior secondary schools. Five medium sized secondary schools that have developed unique courses were examined using a socio-material methodology to explore who was involved in the development and what considerations guided the decision making process. The principal and course developers from each school were interviewed and the data was analysed using Actor-Network Theory. It was found that each unique course was influenced by its specific context. Three conditions were identified across the case studies that enabled the innovative curriculum design: a perceived flexibility in national curriculum and assessment structures, a clear motivation or idea, and a passionate person (or people) to develop and maintain strong relational networks. School leaders can nurture these conditions by clarifying alignment between curriculum innovation, the school's strategic direction and values of the context, by strengthening the connections across the actors in the network and by encouraging flexible thinking about constraints and possibilities. This study provides an example of the use of Actor-Network Theory to explore curriculum innovation and explores the positioning of the environmental context as an actor within socio-material networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The premise of performativity is that through established targets, evaluation and accountability mechanisms, governments or organisational leaders can expect effective and often ambitious change within an organisation. However, this article challenges such assumptions, and suggests a different narrative by presenting the findings of a study which investigated the significance of pre-determined change in a mandated new curriculum for New Zealand secondary school teachers. Over a two-year period involving semi-structured interviews with twelve secondary school teachers across three schools, observations of the classroom practice, and document analysis, this research shows that the pressures of a performative environment determined leadership and teacher priorities and ironically, became the barrier for authentic change. As the findings show the teachers adhered to the philosophy of the new curriculum, yet appeared reluctant to change their practice. These teachers' espoused beliefs were incongruent with their practice, and this article offers an insight into this complex context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on a study which explored how school leaders acquired professional learning through immersion in Chinese language and culture. The study was founded on the 2014 New Zealand Principals' Delegation to China. A key outcome from the study was that the school leaders' experiential learning was conceptualised as a form of professional learning and development. This resulted in the leaders being empowered to better equip their students to become more culturally competent and, thus, Asia-aware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This leadership story is presented as a duo-narrative of two Pasifika academics engaged in early childhood teacher education and leadership. Utilising talanoa, tuatua, and tuatua mai (Ravlich, 2016; Smith, 2014; Vaioleti, 2006) we explore the tensions for Pasifika early childhood education in the current political and social climate. The intention for this dialogue engages in problematising key concerns for Pasifika early childhood leaders, particularly issues of marginalisaton and underrepresentation in education. What emerges regarding the future of Pasifika early childhood education is the urgent attention required in leadership to navigate the neoliberal climate that has perpetuated a market driven sector. Our dialogue engages with such tensions: to question and conceptualise the complexities of leadership for Pasifika early childhood programmes, including initial teacher education. The journey of Pasifika early childhood education past and present is explored and drawing from cultural aspirations, insights and experiences we attempt to reconceptualise Pasifika leadership for the future of Pasifika early childhood education in Aotearoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christchurch schools had the opportunity to participate in disseminating a low-intensity intervention for children in Years 1-4 aimed at helping children to better manage anxiety and stress following the long term environmental disturbances related to earthquakes. A story book constructed as an intervention tool for use in classrooms and another for homes were both distributed. The intervention is reviewed, a focused description of one school's use of the intervention is given, and qualitative feedback from this school's staff is reported. Additional information regarding other area schools' experience is also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School leaders are at the forefront of reform agendas. They are challenged to embrace digital technologies, rethink the roles of students, teachers and school leaders, remodel physical spaces in schools and consider significant shifts to school administration and leadership. In this article a theoretical framework of learning leadership, relational trust and risk-taking is evoked to examine how leaders broker change to implement Innovative Learning Environments. The research reported in this article provides an analysis of pedagogical, instructional and learning leadership discourses drawn from the qualitative data in a survey that involved 165 Aotearoa/New Zealand school practitioners. Findings suggest the value of positive and critical leader engagement with the discursive nexus of education policy and economic rationalism. The research addresses the paucity of research on principal perceptions of ILE and the challenges this policy direction presents for leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research study outlined in this article describes the findings from a self-assessment and coaching leadership pilot in New Zealand as part of the international project "Professional learning through reflection promoted by feedback and coaching" (PROFLEC) (Huber & Hiltmann, 2011). The self-assessment inventory was integrated as part of the National Aspiring Principals' programme, which included peer and group coaching, professional learning groups and online learning communities. The study involved 41 participants and the methodology included a survey monkey questionnaire and interactive interviewing of every participant and their coaches. Six major themes emerged from an analysis of the findings: the overall impressions of the CPSM inventory; the context-related issues of the inventory; the emotional engagement with results; the power of the coaching paradigm and experiences; self-awareness and reflective growth; and developing bravery and courage in leadership efficacy. The tool served as a way to observe one's own perception of practice from a different perspective and was an effective stimulus to discuss issues of educational leadership. It not only highlighted strengths and areas for development but also offered a chance to compare capabilities with others. The results of the self-assessment tool required specific coaching and feedback in the ongoing leader development process. The continued use of this CPSM tool, with the related feedback and coaching, may ultimately depend on the ways in which the tool can become a more integrated component of the aspiring principal development, and into principalship, to warrant its continued inclusion. It also needs to be viewed alongside alternative, indigenous self-assessment tools and what information is helpful for understanding one's current leadership strengths and areas for future learning and improvement to meet the long-term policy needs of a unique and bicultural New Zealand education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing recognition of the important role of pedagogical middle-level educational leaders in relation to their direct impact on the learning outcomes of students is evident in both recent research and policy. In spite of considerable attention being drawn to the significance of leadership at this mid-level of the school, there is a notable lack of leadership development that specifically targets middle-level leadership. In fact, there is evidence that middle-level leaders are currently experiencing role expansion that has been bequeathed to them from leaders in the tier above without recognition of the associated challenges. This study set out to examine the views of secondary school leaders responsible for the development of middle-level leaders and the views of the middle-level leaders themselves regarding their experiences of leadership development. The findings reveal strong differences in the perceptions held by those in executive level positions (school governors and school principals and deputy principals) and those in middle-level positions (curriculum leaders and heads of department). It is concluded that in the absence of national initiatives for middle leadership development, institutions need to make this a priority and need to clarify expectations, merge understandings and include the needs of the organisation and the individual to develop and leverage the critical role that these middle-level leaders play as instructional leaders who can impact the quality of teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2010/20111 Canterbury earthquakes provided the opportunity to reflect on the role of educational leaders in crisis contexts. This article draws material from a wider study which followed a range of school communities as they responded to, and began to recover from, their earthquake experiences. The focus in this article is on (a) what we can learn from how school leaders internationally have responded to similar disasters, (b) how a leadership role changes in a crisis context and (c) how those in leadership roles in four Canterbury schools met the challenges they faced. The article draws this material together to discuss how educational leaders, their leadership teams and their organisations might prepare for such unexpected events. One of the key findings is that the inclusive culture of the school and the strength of the relationships before the event will have a bearing on how well a school manages the crises they might face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]