Acacia Hill School is the only special school in Central Australia and that is a contributing factor to the special challenges of leading this school. Isolation can very easily inhibit a school’s change process and without change it can become insular and too comfortable – not achieving the best outcomes and results for students and teachers. Without renewed knowledge and the sharing of learning and practice, a school does not function to its best capabilities and reach its full potential.
On becoming principal at Acacia Hill, my passion and vision as a leader was put to work, as we commenced to work towards building a vibrant professional learning community and establishing ourselves as a Centre of Excellence for Special Education in Central Australia.
Another special challenge was to firstly work on our image within the professional community and the wider community as well. We needed to be seen and perceived as a ‘school’ providing the best educational and functional outcomes for all our students and not as a ‘care’ centre. A big challenge still is to put forward our reasons for existing, as the debate on ‘Should we have special schools’ and the meaning or interpretation of inclusion is very paramount across educational and professional settings Australia-wide – but that is another whole issue and warrants much reflection and discussion! However, it certainly presents as a special challenge for us as our existence depends on how we are seen and that depends on our vision and the creation of our environment, to achieve success.
Being an isolated and insular school, it became very evident that there was work to be done to create a professional learning community where all members could learn together. To approach this challenge, we firstly collaboratively established our values – respect, integrity, collaboration, understanding and adaptability. As a whole school community, these values have formed a part of our daily activities and are proudly displayed at the front entrance of our school. We were the first school in the NT to hold a values education forum which involved students, staff, families and visitors. ‘Learning Together’ has become our motto and our school activities are shared with the community with a focus on fun and functional learning. There is an ambience of family with everyone contributing, sharing, learning and celebrating success.
Being in our isolated position there is not much opportunity for the sharing of practice. Professional development is of paramount importance to improve outcomes for our students, enhance performance of our teachers and keep us all abreast in national trends. Professional development became another special challenge - what is required; how to deliver it; and how to ensure positive results. Many staff have remained at the school for a long time- there is no other choice or option in Central Australia if they wish to remain teaching in a specialised setting. It is very easy to become comfortable and not see any reason to move beyond that comfort zone and continue to achieve adequate results but possibly not the best results. To take a risk and move with a change process is a huge challenge for some. My special challenge is to provide inspiration to staff and the school community to give everyone the opportunity to feel valued and excited in what they are doing. Performance management is a special challenge in leading Acacia Hill School.
Hattie (2003) has demonstrated that aside from what students themselves bring to school, teachers and teaching, account for the greatest level of variance of any factor operating in a school. Teachers and the way they perform are the greatest source of variance that can make a difference to student learning outcomes. My biggest challenge in building and maintaining a strong and vibrant professional culture is to support high quality teacher practice. This is a challenge with our isolated position and funding needs. Good effective leadership requires communicating information and involvement. Funding has been sourced through projects to enable staff to attend inter and intrastate forums and conferences with an expectation that learning will be shared with colleagues. This is a long-term challenge and has evolved from a commitment from all staff and requires a significant investment in training staff. Teacher development and effectiveness in the classroom has a focus on:
We are also involved in establishing a professional learning community with the only two special schools in Darwin. This has been a huge challenge with distance and communication. However, through successful special pedagogies, submissions and grants, we have been able to have staff visit each other’s settings and develop a positive learning environment. Staff have been very appreciative and committed to the sharing of expertise, knowledge and practices and developing strategies to enhance their student’s outcomes. The funding has now finished and it will be another special challenge to provide ways to continue to create opportunities to maintain the collegiality, professional learning and quality education. Our professional learning community will continue, as staff have established procedures for acknowledging participation and contribution of members and authentic partnerships have expanded our network and have increased everyone’s opportunities to learn.
Another special challenge to overcome is how to continually cater successfully for the diverse needs of our students and families. There are new and diverse disabilities being diagnosed and many students present with extremely challenging behaviours. Students have a number of special needs and to cater for these, teachers and all staff have to be aware of and gain knowledge and experience in how to apply appropriate teaching strategies to ensure the best quality outcomes are achieved. Effective teaching and learning strategies are required to motivate students, address the variety of learning styles to help promote life-long processes, skills, attitudes and knowledge of learning. It is my challenge to lead opportunities for sustained professional development and collaborative reflective practices and to ensure time is available for staff to work together to support change and learning and that there are always meaningful ways to work together to increase and maintain collegiality.
Working with, and supporting, our students' families are also special challenges. Families with a child with a disability need to feel valued and confident, and need support within the community. Sometimes the support is of an advisory nature in accessing services or advocating for rights – it can also be providing emotional support and sharing of knowledge, experience and stories. For these reasons a special challenge for me is to have acquired knowledge of disabilities, legislation, acts, policies, procedures and experience in strategies to successfully support our students. Our staff also need to be aware of this information and national trends and issues. Being abreast of these trends and issues requires time, commitment and being proactive and part of a wider network of colleagues and association memberships.
Being principal of a successful special school in the NT has many special challenges and overcoming them is hard work – but it is very rewarding and purposeful. Daily success stories where a student walks for the first time, communicates for the first time, reads a word or looks at you and smiles, having never acknowledged anyone’s presence before, can only be described as magical! I love what I do and I see our students and staff ‘learning together’ to create success and life-long learning. My challenge has been to turn isolation and insulation into inspiration and invigoration to achieve a successful school community. I believe a leader must demonstrate capability in the areas of professional knowledge, leadership of learning and leadership of the organisation. The challenge is to build effective relationships, manage complex interactions, and create and maintain intellectually challenging environments. Any purposeful activity depends on commitment, values, passion and perseverance.
Discuss presentationReferences
Hattie, J (2003). ‘Teachers Make a Difference: What is the research evidence?’. Paper presented to the ACER Research Conference, Melbourne, 19-21 October, Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ms Marianne Langsford is Principal of Acacia Hill School, in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.