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When students name what matters most, do leaders have the agency to act?

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When students name what matters most, do leaders have the agency to act?

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Sometimes there are bureaucratic obstacles to creating safe spaces eg, forms which don’t allow for gender differences. It’s important for leaders to support young people to know what to do if they are being/feeling excluded, discriminated against.

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What are the defining features of an excellent, equitable, and internationally competitive Australian education system?

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What are the defining features of an excellent, equitable, and internationally competitive Australian education system?

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What role should school leaders play in shaping education policy and reform?

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What role should school leaders play in shaping education policy and reform?

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What does it mean for a young Australian to truly flourish at school?

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What does it mean for a young Australian to truly flourish at school?

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Listen to student voice

Lots of frustration with the system pushing back and lack of trust. Many often feel they don’t have the agency to act

Lots of discrepancies between what schools want and what government wants

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Just do it. Have a go, assess, recalibrate. It doesn't have to be perfect but we have to make a start in having policy makers and school leaders learn from each other.

Policy should demonstrate trust in the profession and allow for contextualisation at school level (or classroom). Nobody knows students and their needs like the teachers do. If you have a rigid approach policy will likely not have any real impact on the school, student, or learning outcomes.

Policies shouldn't be about gathering data to then hold against schools or students but to help them.

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What would genuine co-design between school leaders and policymakers look like in practice?

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What would genuine co-design between school leaders and policymakers look like in practice?

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What capabilities do school leaders need to contribute effectively to system reform?

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What capabilities do school leaders need to contribute effectively to system reform?

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How do we collectively ensure current working conditions do not become the accepted norm?

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How do we collectively ensure current working conditions do not become the accepted norm?

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What opportunity does the proposed National Teaching & Learning Commission present for Australian Education?

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What opportunity does the proposed National Teaching & Learning Commission present for Australian Education?

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What will it take to move to an education system genuinely designed for equity?

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What will it take to move to an education system genuinely designed for equity?

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What would it take, through policy and practice, to close the gap between our aspiration and our reality?

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What would it take, through policy and practice, to close the gap between our aspiration and our reality?

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Table 2

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I am with a fabulous table group

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Table 9

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Positive student teacher relationships

Meaningful connections.

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We started with this - students want transparency about where their choices leads. Some students choice NOT to pursue an area of passion in learning at school as it’s too prescribed and turns them off. Students need to understand the purpose of school and that it’s supporting them on their life pathway.

We began the card exercise with mental health and wellbeing and the importance of student voice and agency

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Question 1

Shifting attendance to engagement.

A true sense of achievement, learner agency

Sense of authenticity over their learning.

Importance Drawing upon the alumni. Connection to pride and culture.

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Good grades are still important, engagement and passion are important, range of relevant courses are needed. Bring socially connected with peers and teachers, social relationships because that’s how society works.

Appropriate challenge. Learning is designed so that everyone is challenged and extended, (ZPD). Is this too difficult to do in the ways that classes are organised?

It’s possible,give students autonomy,

Conversations (dialogic learning) are important for both learning and relationships.

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Table 15

Students believe they can meet their potential.

Teachers encourage and believe and give opportunities.

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We need to solve the knowledge gap for educators and leaders to know the parrellel pathways available for students. This is also requires a strong understanding of who our students are. Time to get to know them

Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not. We need to be the bridge

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Spending the time to get to know the students and silencing the white noise of compliance and risk mitigation that get in our way of making meaningful connections and access to valuable insight. This avoiding us going straight to solves.

Communication and awareness are essential. Two way feedback.

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Student voice: becoming the best version of yourself. Use the big ideas to check on where you are? This increases ownership and agency for students.

Student references that agency will hopefully increase as they move into the next stages of learning.

Academic achievement is just one aspect of how we need to measure student successes. Soft skills, empathy, communication that is beyond the digital habitat, perseverance …

In an uncertain world and times students engage in project based learning underpinned by the achievement standards; knowing and understanding them. Student learner is the agent of the learning ? Is this dependent on student dispositions??

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Balancing the digital. Going outside, interacting in the real world. Schools using real life scenarios for students to engage with.

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Student - “Taking something (meaningful) away when they leave school - interests, pathways. A backpack of skills/dispositions for life).

We need to be aware of ALL student cohorts. Cultural safety and identity are important components of flourishing. Curriculum is not meeting needs of students.

An endpoint of flourishing at school is - self confidence, being engaged, thinking critically - not NAPLAN or ATAR.

There is a divide between what we are trying to do in schools and the imposed systems - this detracts from principal agency.

The concept of Flourishing IN vs Flourishing OUT of school. Flourishing isn’t an outcome after school, should be a process/experience of school.

Innovators bear the emotional labour. Real innovation comes from grass roots. This is exhausting but necessary.

What if we had agency over our curriculum what would it be like? As educators and educational leaders we need to check our own values and the ways in which we define education - makes changes management challenging to navigate traditional models.

WE NEED TO LISTEN TO STUDENTS - they have been telling us what they want for a long time…

VET is a really great pathway but also still seen as an add on and schools will refer to it to new students engaged. It is still a bolt on solution.

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Table 16 Question 1 Flourishing Students

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Table 16 Question 1 Flourishing Students

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enjoyable, meaningful, security, wellbeing, ability to work in whatever pathway you want, reading and writing is good - need literacy skills to participate (especially low SEI/regional/remote), access and opportunity it creates, entrepreneurial mindset, belief can overcome obstacles, resilience, failure is part of the process, can solve problems, physical and psychological wellbeing to engage, trauma informed practice, feel safe, not going to get flexible pathways unless psychologically safe, but need to get students physically to school - issues with school avoidance, rise of home schooling. May be flourishing in a different way but not building a sense of belonging, need right conditions to become best versions of themselves. What does it mean on a micro level to be successful and flourishing?

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Do leaders have the agency to act? Constraints but opportunity to respond - choice, but cannot respond to all. Key themes, elevate in an appropriate way, understanding what voice and agency mean, portably and choice, have students at the table, sometimes barriers to getting extra resourcing and programs - can be difficult even when free programs eg Young Change Agents is a free program but can be difficult to get into schools - why are there system barriers?

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The first question may be better expressed as: what does it mean for young Australians to truly flourish as a result of their schooling? This will then frame how we design learning experiences, schools and our systems.

Flourishing is supported through the development of knowledge, dispositions and capabilities - using developmental progressions.

It is broader than academic achievement - it is the learning journey.

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Q1 the architecture of how policy is made and the inputs from a variety of sources. How to have input is quite limited. Having opportunities across sectors and with others helps to give a voice.

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Nothing for us with out us

Problem inquiry first? Co- design of policy supporting localised creativity for strategies and a feedback loop to assess effectiveness of policy setting

If we ask kids - how to ensure respectful listening and responses from policy leads

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Need well qualified staff to teach students in inclusive engaging ways. Becomes about delivery rather than bespoke teaching if unqualified . Some can Teach out of qualifications if students are activated become partners in learning.

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Genuine consultation and collaborative development - Vision, current state of play in schools, voice authentic from all levels, before shaping the work

Role for school leaders to be activists in shaping and reforming policy that directly affects the education space.

Have us there from the beginning - not to only review the established policy

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Activism

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Q1 Co- construction with context

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Constantly looking for the next idea rather than reflecting and learning from what has already gone.

Conversations with politicians and policy makers has changed. More openness. Needs to lead to more action

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Systems and structures need to value leadership to make decisions in local context

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We need good people in schools and often young leaders in regional remote bit we also need quality expertise, not just our money up - especially in regional and remote. So we need right people and we need to look after their wellbeing . Our least experienced to the lowest SEI or regional remote /most complex but least experienced. Intersectionality of disadvantage compounds.

Takes bravery!

We need to get on with it!

Remove politics from education!

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Agency is enabled when "belonging" is imbedded in the strategy and addressed through our policies in terms of equity and inclusion.

Media narratives can influence the perceived and enacted agency of school leaders. The role media plays in influencing community perceptions and the ability of schools and systems to respond to priority areas in the face of "back-to-basics" and "declining standards' rhetoric.

Leader agency - What would it take for systems to trust school leaders to make decisions appropriate to their context?

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q3 creating the space for participation

Develop own capability proactively and carving out the role

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Whose voice is actually heard or prioritised in principal advisory groups? When do younger voices have an opportunity to engage? Geographical impacts may have engagement in advisory council - deliberate recruit to ensure the different complexities- rural, remote, etc

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Clarity of what we can say no to as we can’t do it all and need to prioritise kids first in contexts

The role of associations and coalitions in supporting purpose and ‘kindly resistance’ ie resistance for good

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Policy makers - throwing the policy down the funnel to schools for implementation, but nothing feeds back up - Conversation needs to be continued and reviewed and evaluated.

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Principals need to have autonomy and to be able to disrupt.

How to develop this?

Experience, Mentorship, Courage

The system needs to create opportunities for success

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Leaders feeling confident to make decisions that match their learning community and building this capability for Principals. Having the capability of judgement and discernment in making decisions for leading the school.

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Policy violence is real - coercive control occurs. Leaders feel vulnerable to hold a line

Candy mountain as a metaphor for persuasion to do something and getting an unexpected outcome

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Transparency about decision making and consultation. Decisions made at government level but no consultation just an expectation of implementation - increased workload and moves focus away from leading teaching and learning

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What role should school leaders play in shaping education policy and reform?

·      Principals need a voice in the operationalising of policies

What would genuine co-design between school leaders and policymakers look like in practice?

·      Early consultation via Principals advisory groups, associations, etc.

·      Policies usually gets written when something goes wrong, we need to flip that.

·      Policy and executive writers need to be working principals

What capabilities do school leaders need to contribute effectively to system reform?

·      Autonomy and trust from powers that be

How do we collectively ensure current working conditions do not become the accepted norm?

·      The system is too risk averse

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Capability - how are the state governments investing in the coaching and mentoring of principals - funding

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Having ASPA at the table for co-construction, consultation.

Principal agency

Building successful partnership between academics and principals.

Autonomy frustration.

ACTPA reflective supervision model - to support principal capacity and wellbeing

Dispositions of teachers and pricipals?

Are there Principals at the table with AITSL reviewing Principals standards?

Misalignment between system expectations/policy and procedure and principal autonomy and decision making

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Humanity first - relational

Compassion

Empathy

Strategic

Saying no

Servant leadership

Trauma informed

Cultural safety

Collaboration

High expectations and work that achieves it.

Joyful - sense of humour

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1. Need to be clever in designing responses to ministers. If you want this implemented we are going to have to first…

If leaders were able to do what they love the tedious things might be more bearable.

Initiatives start from schools, principals need to make choices within frameworks. Tight and flexible.

Your school foci is up to you… you can be told what to do but not how.

Importance for principals of have confidence and experience to exercise agency.

Principal agency, need different levels of support and trust depending on their capabilities needs etc … data is material for self reflection.

Principals need to influence adults to change.

Agency requires time and space.

2. Co design does involve everyone. Research, principals. SOE. Things are initiated by principals and associations. If initiated by centre, involve us early. what opportunities are there for principals to shape change? Principals need to meet.

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We are already normalising the current system and trying to adapt policy/procedure, retrofitting to an unsustainable system. The old frog and boiling water scenario, and there aren’t many frogs jumping into the pot because of it.

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Q1 need to be able to work toward international standards.

Agreement and clarification on what constitutes contextual approach and the standardised approaches.

Need to be clear on the categories and how they all work together.

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q2 opportunity to change the way the orgs operate and also include principal voice is important. More representation of school leaders and academics in the field.

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Defining features of an excellent, equitable and internationally competitive Australian education system.

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Defining features of an excellent, equitable and internationally competitive Australian education system.

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A system that is genuinely equitable is designed by people from the targeted equity groups.

Strong advocacy

Background should not determine destiny.

Equity of funding for equality of outcomes

Defining what equity looks like in relation to educational funding

Development of opportunity to learn standards (an equity idea)

Wrap around supports for students

Equity reform takes 10-20 years not a 3 year election cycle-feature a bipartisan commitment instead.

Every students needs met

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table 13 (depleted group)

Media influence needs to be changed. Until media outlets change the manner in which they portray education bodies, it will be difficult to create an equitable system

Our education system needs to be culturally responsive including policies etc