I’m a big fan of Peps Mccrea, the UK-based award-winning teacher-educator and author. Peps draws on the science of learning and amplifies approaches and techniques in the classroom that work. He also focuses on culture and norms, particularly around classroom behaviour. He said this in a recent edition of his Evidence Snacks series:
‘The behaviour and attitudes of others has a huge influence on our own. When a large number of people within a group (like a class or school) adopt a similar behaviour this ‘social norm’ effect becomes so powerful that it can often override more formal policies and rules.’
Unfortunately, the social norm that overrode formal policies and rules at my secondary school on the West Coast, which I moved to from Roxburgh Area School in Year 9, was misbehaviour and classroom disruption. It meant that teachers spent valuable time managing poor behaviour rather than pushing each student to realise their potential. This is not to denigrate the teachers working at the school at the time. Matt Lysaght and Trish Roney, in the Geography department, were authentic and relational, fostering classroom environments that had a pervasive sense of fun. Neil McKinley struck a great balance between warm relationships and high expectations, and getting the best out of us. For the most part, those students who were reasonably able were not pushed. You had to take ownership of your learning if you were to realise your potential. This was positive for self-management and autonomy, but equally, it meant that some students fell short of their potential.
Fast-forward through a BA and Diploma of Teaching at Canterbury, and my first teaching job was at Whanganui Collegiate School. It was a special and impactful experience. Most of the teaching staff and around three-quarters of the students lived on-site. I loved the strong community element to the school and the feeling that everyone was working towards the same vision.
I worked as a History teacher and assistant housemaster in Grey House. The intersection of boarding and day students added real diversity to the school community. I quickly realised the myriad opportunities that students had at the school, and these conditions helped them thrive, whatever their interests and talents were.
The school culture was also based on hard work and realising your potential. It had a real influence on me following my experiences at secondary school. Admittedly, Collegiate was an independent school at the time and carried a degree of privilege that supported the vibrant and broad offerings. Coming from a working-class background, I talked openly to students about recognising privilege and using this to support others.
My own school experience and those at Collegiate presented contrasts that helped shape my early views on education. Experiences since have added to that, but the core of what matters to me was established quite early on. This was honed at Wellington College under the leadership of Glen Denham and our two-sided mission of supporting students and teachers to thrive, while challenging inequity in Aotearoa.
I shared aspects of what matters to me as an educator with the students at the year level assemblies on my first day at John McGlashan College. After telling them a bit about my life journey, I felt it was important that the boys knew what I was about from the first day. If someone asks them what drives their new principal, they should be able to share aspects of this.
Firstly, my role exists to serve the students and ensure that they thrive in their journey at our college, and realise their full potential. I presented an image of an inverted pyramid to show them what this looked like - them at the top on the broad base, and me at the pointy tip, but at the bottom - Student centered servant leadership.
Secondly, I shared that teaching and learning are everything to me. This is why we exist as a college. We are privileged to have rich sports, arts, and cultural activities, but the classroom is our core business. Here, we work to realise our potential and personal excellence, which looks different for everyone. Wrapped around this is the need to ensure effort in everything that we do. Most of us have to work hard to realise our potential - effort begets excellence.
We then talked about positive masculinity and being men of good character. This is a difficult time for boys. There is a widening ideology gap between young men and women, and worrying trends in other metrics of socialisation, performance, and wellbeing. We must show boys what is possible to get the best out of them. Honesty is the disruptor, while curiosity and conversation will be the agents of change. Showing our boys what positive masculinity looks like and helping them rise above the noise and negative messaging on social media is key.
As mentioned above, helping our students realise privilege and how lucky we all are to be part of this school matters to me. We extend that to think about how we can serve and uplift communities with humility. This sits with our Presbyterian heritage and the values and vision of John McGlashan for our boys. We look backwards to look forwards.
As I shared in last week’s newsletter, belonging also matters to me. All of our students should feel they belong here, and if they do not, I asked that they come and talk to me, so that I can address any problems. I also believe that wellbeing is enhanced by a sense of belonging, alongside feeling success in the classroom and being involved in co-curricular activities. As Peps Mccrea states in the article referenced above, ‘The more we feel we belong to a group, the more we invest in its goals and adopt its norms.’
I connected Inclusivity and cultural responsiveness to belonging. We recognise and celebrate difference and diversity, and work to ensure the students are culturally responsive and prepared for the world they will go out into beyond school.
It has been warming over the past week to receive presentations from Year 9 students about who they are, what matters to them, who their influences are, and what their aspirations are at our school. Their dean, Donna Smith, suggested they could do this, for which I am hugely appreciative. I love the feeling that this kōrero is a two-way dialogue. This, though, is a story for another newsletter.
Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi
With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive
Dr Aaron Columbus
Principal | Tumuaki
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