Hutia te rito

Te rito - the centre shoot, the new harakeke shoot

This shoot is the 'baby', and is the most important part of the harakeke plant. It is to be protected and nurtured until it has grown and matured.

Te Rito

The Teacher and Learner

The Learner and Teacher

The heart of an organisation is its people.

In this framework / context, learning and teaching is reciprocal and not without the other. It is the educators and the learners who are the central focus. When they flourish, so too does the collective.

Awhi rito / Matua

The ‘Parents’

These are the leaves that embrace and protect the centre shoot (te rito) of the harakeke plant

Awhi Rito

Middle Management

The ‘Parents’

=

Middle Management

In the context of this framework, the protective leaves are the Middle Managers. They are directly responsible for the learner and teacher, and the link between the learner/teacher and senior leadership.

Kaitiaki /Guardian

Kaitiaki

The Guardian

He kaitiaki – The Guardian

The kaitiaki leadership role is about being a guardian, caregiver and protector of all aspects of the kura . . . Kaitiaki leadership focuses on the protection and preservation of positive human relationships . . . as the foundation for teaching and learning pedagogy p.17

Protection is important for creating a safe environment for the shoot/learner/teacher to grow. It is the leaders role to ensure that the learner and teacher is safe to grow

Tu Rangatira: Maori Medium Educational (2010). Wellington, New Zealand:Ministry of Education

Kaitiaki/Culture of Care

Culture of Care

Culture of care

’...teacher development as a human being is just as important as their professional development, because you can’t be a good teacher unless you are growing as a person’ p.527

Creating a culture of growth and evolution as a whole person is important for rich development of the person, the collective and the organisation. The leader is responsible for guiding and cultivating this growth

Hayes, D., Christie, P., Mills, . M. & Lingard, B., (2004) “Productive leaders and productive leadership: Schools as learning organisations” , Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 42 Issue: 5, pp. 520-538, http://doi.org/10.1108/09578230410554043

Middle Leadership

Middle

Leadership

Middle leaders in universities are responsible for leading learning … mentor individual staff in their career development and support the development of their unit as a collective…p. 191

Becoming a middle leader prompts . . . development of, new knowledge, skills and perhaps also dispositions…p. 191

A relational perspective changes the focus from the individual to the collective dynamic…p. 192

As middle management, there is a reciprocal relationship with both those that you lead and follow. This means the responsibilities of the middle leader can develop from not only the individual (te rito) but to the development and growth of the organisation (harakeke plant) as a whole.

Franken, M., Penney, D., Branson, C. (2015) Middle leaders’ learning in a university context, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37:2, 190-203, DOI: 10.1080/1360080X.2015.1019120

Tupuna/Grand Parents

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He tangata / Humanistic

Bryman (2007), states some characteristics of effective leadership as being trustworthy and having personal integrity, being considerate, referring to respect and trust relationship between a leader and a follower and acting as a role model and having credibility.

Humanistic approach is associated with upholding ethical practice, these leaders emphasise human relations and morality in their work. The subjective nature of personal narratives can diminish the

importance of leadership work. (Duignan, as cited in Waniganayake, 2012)

Tupuna / He tangata/ Humanistic

According to Gunter & Ribbons (2003), the humanistic approach focuses on qualitative methods. Quality comes from care and providing more than what is expected. Going the extra mile with students shows the care for ‘people’ and nurturing the learner in a way that they are not just a ‘number of student’.

Gunter and Ribbons (2003) also state that “humanistic approach enables us to ask questions that generate understandings about whether effective school leadership is educational leadership” (p,266)

Four Key Responsibilities

Tamati (2011) explains four key responsibilities, which highly supports humanity rather than education as just a business (p.70):

Te Mouri Takohanga

(‘Being Responsible’) – refers to an individual’s attitude and actions.

Being responsible is about being professional, acting ethically and appropriately, being honest, being positive and open to others and different perspectives.

Humanistic

Te Whai Takohanga

(‘Having Responsibility’) – relates to having or taking on designated roles and positions of responsibility.

Te Tuku Takohanga

(‘Sharing Responsibility’) – is about sharing power, roles and positions. But, more than this, it is about relationships.

Sharing responsibility is about engaging with others, listening to others’ points of view, acknowledging different perspectives, and asking for and providing assistance.

Te Kawe Takohanga

(‘Taking Responsibility’) – is about courage, risk-taking, having a go, taking up the challenge and trying new things.

Tupuna (Ancestors)

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Nga Uara / Values

Tupuna /

Ancestors

Tupuna or Tipuna are the grand parents /ancestors. They are those from which we get guidance, we learn, and we are shaped. The significance of tupuna with this framework is that we must acknowledge that we are descendants as well as a reflection of them also.

Nga Uara / Values

Here the harakeke is a symbolic representation of the collective whole and has a link through the whakapapa to the past, present and the future. All people have a collective responsibility to respect and values each other’s strengths, skills and attributes(Tanya, 2003).

Leaders of future schools must become both reflective practitioners and life-long learners of intellectual aspects and authentic leadership practices (Paul & Jacqueline, 2004). The harakeke is a representation of reflective practice.

Leaders acting in accordance with their values must strive to develop an environment of shared goals and vision to have a positive impact on the ‘te rito’. Such environment will improve the teacher's commitment to the organisation and its vision (Allen, Grigsby, & Peters, 2015). Teachers will be more active, influenced and motivated towards the holistic development of the 'te rito' when the actively understand and engage with school leadership (Way et al. as cited in Abdulraheem Ali, Sanjay Kumar, & Moza Tahnoon Al, 2017).

Organisational commitment is a psychological state that characterises the employee’s relationship with the organisation (Zabid Abdul, Murali, & Juliana, 2003).

Bogler and Somech (2004) explains organisational commitment on the basis on three factors:

• Identification: Staff understanding and relating to the organisational goals and values.

• Involvement: Engaging with the values and contributing to a shared vision.

• Loyalty: Long standing membership in the organisation and increased participation in managerial decision making.

Nga Uara / Values

According to Hodgkinson (1991) education leaders must know two things: “where the values are and where the power lies and suggested that aspiring future leaders should study values. When leaders develop self-knowledge about values they develop the ability to empathise, sympathise and be compassionate towards their followers (Crawford & Robinson, 2014).

Tupuna / Ancestors =

Whakawhitiwhiti / Communication

Tupuna / Ancestors

Ancestors in this context comes to mean all those that have come before us and have been guiding the growth of the plant for some time. They are the wise ones at the Senior Leadership level.

In regards to communication, it is the conversations, the dialogues, the exchange of ideas, and the passing of information.

Communication tells the stories and brings experiences to life through visibility for te rito, awhi rito and tupuna.

Korero/Communication

Talanoa or Communication - is referred to as a conversation, a talk, an exchange of ideas or thinking, whether formal or informal (Vaioleti, 2006).

Whakawhitiwhiti/

Communication

A good leader will talanoa mahino (clearly communicate) to students of their expectations regarding student achievements in advance to enable them take charge of their learning and work towards achieving their education goals (Blase` & Kirby, 2009).

There are various ways and styles to communication with te rito, awhi rito and tupuna. Our tupuna continues to communciate using their wisdom as oppose to utilising current technology used by awhi rito and te rito.

Communication

Whakawhitiwhiti/

Communication

Educational leaders can continue to talanoa and communicate regularly and clearly with students, colleagues and all parties involved in higher education in order to meet their organisation goals and for all to be aware of the direction of where the department or school is heading (Bryman, 2007).

This will inspire, encourage and motivate people to give their best. As a leader you can create educationally powerful connections with people or team members through talanoa sessions and appreciating their contributions in all way (Robinson et al., 2009).

Talanoa plays a big part in developing and nurturing your relationships with your team. If you build and sustain a great team, you can accomplish just about anything.

Communication

Effective leaders occasionally engage in challenging talanoa conversation with students or colleagues about their learning (Cardno, 2012). In difficult situations, this may affect the connection and relationship between all parties. A leader who has faka’apa’apa or respect will be able to acknowledge there’s a problem and deal with the leadership dilemma.

An effective leader will give others the opportunity to participate in the discussions regarding their learning and work and furthermore encourages the openness in their talanoa or conversation (Bryman, 2007).

An education leader should also display faka’apa’apa when he/she talanoa to others. "Tongans share a belief that in displaying faka’apa’apa to others, others will subsequently display faka’apa’apa to oneself" (Johansson Fua, S. 2007, p. 678).

Whakawhitiwhiti/

Communication

Tautoko

=

Support

Tautoko

The word tautoko means to 'support'

In this framework, tautoko of the plant or organisation can be viewed as both the investment in to te rito/plant/organisation

AND

as a supporting OUTCOME of te rito/plant/organisation

Within the harakeke plant, investment can be viewed as the root system, the soil, the stones and drainage. These are factors that work together to enrich the plant

The outcomes can be seen as products that can be made from the plant that reciprocates support OR supports another indirect kaupapa such as everyday items and ako– kakahu, kete, taura, whariki and kete kai. These are products that are created from the plant

Tautoko

Within an organisation, investment can be viewed as learning or training, professional development, personal development and mindfulness.

It is important to meet the learning styles for our learners and to provide effective resources that can achieve this. There needs to be a balance within budgets that can be invested in the professional development of staff. The foundation of learners must be cared, nurtured and maintained for positive outcome.

Tautoko

Tautoko includes human and operational resources which also includes well-being.

The successful outcomes for the learners can be visible through graduation, higher learning and achievement of personal goals.. There is also a need to reflect on learners that may take longer to complete a programme.

Tautoko/Te Rito

‘who you are’ is important in ‘who you might become’.

holistic student development’

(Quinlan, 2011).

A combination of the psychological and psychodynamics approaches to leadership – leading others with humanity – ethical approach to people

(Crawford, 2012).

Tautoko/Rito

Tautoko/Awhi Rito

Leadership with humanity is important to any leader who wishes to be ethical in their approach to people (Crawford, 2012)

Tautoko/Awhi Rito

Understanding the behaviours both of leaders and of followers allows leadership skills to be developed in a supportive organisational structure (Crawford, 2012)

Tautoko-Tupuna

Regardless of the experience or context, often the most important source of support is other people: bosses, coworkers, family, friends, professional colleagues, coaches, and mentors.

These are people who can listen to stories of struggle, identify with challenges, suggest strategies for coping, provide needed resources, reassure in times of doubt, inspire renewed effort, celebrate even the smallest accomplishments, and cheer from the sidelines. (tupuna) (Velsor, Ellen Van, et al., Wiley, 2010)

Tautoko/Tupuna

Tautoko/Tupuna

Support is a key factor for leaders in maintaining their motivation to learn and grow. Support also serves as a social cue that puts a positive valence on where people are currently and on the direction in which they are moving. Support mechanisms also provide learning resources. By talking to others about struggles, openly examining mistakes, and seeing to it that the organization reacts positively to the changes they make, people have the opportunity to confirm and clarify the lessons they are learning. If people do not receive support for development—that is, if their environments, co-workers, bosses, friends, and family do not allow and encourage them to change—the challenge inherent in a developmental experience may overwhelm them rather than foster learning. ) Velsor, Ellen Van, et al., Wiley, 2010)

Tautoko/Tupuna

We continue to invest energy and resources in efforts to understand and improve the leadership development process. (tupuna)

Kaupapa / Theme

Kaupapa /

Theme

From an indigenous lense it is important to understand that this model is a LIVING entity with a history, an origin and a mauri. It is a being of its own. Each part has a significant role to play, and they are all connected.

The harakeke concept in adaptable and inclusive for all which extends the indigenous visibility and validity.

The harakeke concept can be used across many sectors and groups of learners

Kaupapa / Theme

Kaupapa /

Theme

It is important to work from the centre going outwards. The central focus is the rito, and then from there the different layers of support and structure are outlined. The main objective is protection, support, guidance and nourishment, and growth of te rito.

The overall goal is to ensure that the plant, the organisation, and everyone connected to it thrives. This can be described as mauri ora.

Framework

Framework

Here we can see what the framework looks like in its entirety from a Western perspective.

The concept of a living entity is still very relevant, with the surrounding concepts playing their part in the growth of the plant , the organisation, the teacher and the learner.

The growth of the framework using the harakeke concept may be dependant to the awhi and ako that can either provide positive and or a 'negative' outcome.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Talanoa is a significant attribute of an effective educational leader. Good quality talanoa contributes to the growth and nurturing of our harakeke.

Educational leaders nurture and encourage the rito through talanoa and providing them (students) with the knowledge, wisdom, information and skills to grow, be strong and mature, will endure well in their future.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Whatever you learn, learn it thoroughly. After you have learned, learn to apply what you have learned and live your life according to what you have learned.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Whakawhanaungatanga – kaitiakitanga – tupuna – Talanoa- lalaga, leveki – reciprocal and responsiveness collectively weaving of knowledge that benefits the diversity of children and families, deep understanding of every child and family culture with meaningful connections.