LEADING LIGHTS Issue 1 | 2024
Editorial
True leadership is to stand back and let others realise their true leadership potential - when you do, miracles happen
E atawhai ana mātou
Te whakatōkia o ngā kakano i ruia mai
E nga māhuri Tōtara e tipu ana mō āpōpō.
Nā tātou katoa hei awhi te kaupapa,
Hei mana ake te tū tauira tonu ai.
Haumi ē, Hui ē, Tāiki ē
We nurture and protect
the seeds sown near and far, so that they may grow into mighty totara for a not-so-distant tomorrow.
We embrace our responsibility,
To encourage ākonga on a path of lifelong learning.
Unified! Together! Strong!
True leadership is to stand back and let others realise their true leadership potential - when you do, miracles happen.
What a privilege it is for me to walk alongside leaders in different education contexts as they each interrogate their own practice and grow in themselves. There is a real depth to what’s possible when you companion a leader over a considerable period of time. I hear from these leaders that, as they seek to enhance their practice, they are more present and attuned to those they are working with. They each seek to find themselves, to know who they are and what they stand for. Each knows what matters, what needs dealing with and what might need more consideration, by themselves and with others. These leaders make their own pathway, tread their own path, making the pathway their own , in their own unique way. Others see these leaders as having a true confidence and are leaders who know their own value. These leaders show compassion and care by holding the lives of the people they work with as special. They each create space so as to create a community of people; a community with true collegially, spirit, a feeling that is immediately sensed. This is a space where you are known as a person, as an individual with their own life and one that goes beyond the school or centre.
In my scanning focused on what is being written about leading I have come across the term courageous leadership. This is being courageous to be seen, and to be heard as one leads. It is about showing true strength, and this does not mean having a loudness about you. As leaders navigate challenges, resilience, an inner resilience is required; one that has mutual support and the empowerment of others surrounding it. At the heart of the leader is a sense of self, a self- belief that shows a staunchness for what one stands for and that is far deeper than the shifting perspectives and decisions that have to be made. It is about a real purpose, deeply rooted in cultural values with inclusion and equity as a given and with the well-being of people at the centre.
As we seek to create, reimagine and transform education the desired outcomes may be different …
A success that is not defined by external measures but by the depth of our relationships, our sense of wellbeing and purpose, and the regenerative ripples we create in our spheres of influence and wider ecosystems. (Regenerators, February 2024)
"Walk through life as a presence, not as a personality" Eckhart Tolle
“Appear as you are, Be as you appear”. Rumi
Pataihia nga poupou o tōku whare
If we are searching for truth,
it doesn’t sit outside ourselves
but within
The focus for NZEALS is on
Empowering Educational Leaders
- the person in the role.
In this issue:
- We hear from our Co-presidents
- Martin Thrupp, an icon in education: an obituary
- CONFERENCE 2024 in Ōtautahi
- A.G.M. information
- NZEALS Awards- Fellows, Visiting Scholars
- Forums online
- JELPP- our journal focused on Educational Leadership Policy and Practice
- A survey on Middle Leadership
- Thinking about leading