Auckland was redesigned as a Supercity because a group of people had the bright idea tha
t Auckland was under-performing economically and socially. Rodney Hide, the figurehead for this change, recently remarked that now it was up to the people in Auckland to make the structure work for them. Too right. As the only city in New Zealand of sufficient size to grow international clout, Auckland does have to perform. The Auckland environment is dynamic. School principals – sit up and take notice.
The performance of the education system as a whole in Auckland is coming under scrutiny. City leaders are genuinely interested in the question of how to lift the city’s education record to world class standard. The contribution of education to community wellbeing will feature strongly in the Auckland Plan, due out for consultation in August this year.
There are 542 schools in Auckland City, with over 260,000 students in them. Only 43% are of European descent. The students attend schools highly stratified in the city according to socio-economic status and ethnicity. Close to 3,000 students leave school every year without a school qualification but the underperformance of Maori and Pacific children in particular occurs in schools of all deciles.
The consensus that education could have a key role to play in making the radical shifts required to enhance Auckland’s economy and social fabric was endorsed by those at the Auckland Education Summit, co-hosted by COMET and the Cognition Institute on 11 May 2011. It drew more than 180 leaders from across the city’s political, commercial, social and educational landscape and they noted the importance of getting Auckland’s education sector working more cohesively to shift education outcomes.
The complex skills picture in Auckland is not just about schools, of course. Participants at the summit recognised that there should be much more coherent and active connections between all levels of education in Auckland, and between the schools and community leadership, in order to drive educational change.
But school principals are busy enough and already committed to teaching and learning in their schools. Some would argue that they are already involved in making shifts: what more could we ask? Realistically, how could principals help the process of sharpening education outcomes across a city?
Firstly, principals already understand the connection between participation in quality early learning and new entrant learning. City backing for increasing the participation of all children in early childhood learning – and actively engaging in that goal – is all the more likely if Principal Associations back the inclusion of that goal in the soon-to-be-consulted-on Draft Auckland Plan.
Secondly, many participants at the Summit suggested an Auckland education framework or charter that mandates a two-way support process for raising achievement. A charter could contain explicit goals about lifting achievement for all. Schools – their principals and boards – may be asked to “sign up” to the goals, as an expression of education sector commitment to working together. In turn, schools would receive the active commitment of communities to supporting them in their role and recognition of their value to in their community.
Thirdly, participants at the Summit noted that education is a shared responsibility. Sharing responsibility includes understanding the evidence and data about outcomes. Currently there is no mechanism for a cohesive, widely shared understanding of the performance of Auckland’s education system. NCEA and National Standards data will be keenly analysed for its ability to understand the “big picture” of how the system is doing. There will be considerable interest from the city in the way in which schools report student progress, and the involvement of principals in the discussions about that will be particularly important.
Finally, the strengths of Māori, Pacific and other diverse communities include the ways in which community networks can support school leaders in making a difference for students. This can come about in surprising ways – and only takes a willingness on the part of school principals to listen and be part of community discussions about educational performance in their local patch.
Auckland needs an education and skills framework for connecting delivery of education in schools to the Auckland Plan; and the setting of simple and clear goals for incorporation into the Auckland Plan.
What is a “framework”? It could include a whole range of things that work together. It could include an agreement or Accord between the Mayor and the Minister of Education about how he or she will support achievement in Auckland. It could include a kaitiaki governance group that could oversee action and outcomes; serviced by a leader who could be Auckland’s Commissioner for Education. It could include a Charter or City Agreement that key stakeholders could be invited to commit to. It will undoubtedly include targets, both high-level and specific. For example –
- All children will have access to and participate in early childhood education
- All school-leavers will have NCEA Level 2
- All adults will achieve at least one tertiary qualification.
The targets, part of the Charter or arising from it, could be accompanied by measures, collaboratively set. There could be a transparent, public reporting mechanism that allows the community to see progress.
It is still unclear what such a Framework would actually look like. But there is no doubt that a new way of working is going to be needed if we are to see a significant shift in educational outcomes in Auckland. The mayor’s leadership on that, and the involvement of school principals, will be key.
