Principal in Person, with Dale Burden, Howick College

How long have you been an educator, and where did you train?

I’ve been in education as a teacher for 35 years. Started my career at Whanganui Collegiate, which was quite an experience for a state schoolboy from Papanui High School. It just happened to be the only history teacher job in the country at that point. I moved to Whanganui High School as a head of faculty after five years at Collegiate and then to deputy headmaster at Westlake Boys High School and then have been a principal for the past 18 years at three New Zealand schools. This time includes a stint in Melbourne establishing a new senior college from scratch. It was literally an empty paddock. I trained in Christchurch at Canterbury University and the Christchurch College of Education.

When did you become principal at Howick College?

I’m starting my third year this year.

What’s the best thing about being an educator and principal?

I got into teaching to make a difference to young people based on my own experiences. I was lucky to have been taught by my mostly hardworking teachers who wanted to make a positive difference. The best ones did not accept mediocrity, had high expectations and while they were friendly, they were firm and demanding of students. For me, the thing I enjoy the most is when your efforts as a teacher result in learning happening in the classroom. The look in a student’s eye or the expression on their face when they “get it” is worth all the hard work to get them there.

Of all the roles in a school the classroom teacher is the most important. In education good teachers get promoted out of the classroom into offices as heads of faculty and then senior leaders. As I’ve moved up the promotion ladder, I’ve not changed my main driver to make a difference. These days as a principal I enjoy working with other adults to get school-wide improvements. So, the joy of making a difference is still there, it’s just on a larger scale and to achieve this you need a team of adults on the same page working together and going in the same direction. This is a lot more complicated than doing what I did as a teacher and sports coach, when I just had my students or football team to work with. Because as in any organisation not everyone gets on board right away and change takes time. But when it does happen, as I’ve experienced in every school I’ve led, it’s a great feeling to see the difference it can make across an entire school.

What makes Howick College special?

In my experience most New Zealand secondary schools have about 75 per cent of things that are the same. The special character, socioeconomics, location and teacher expectations are those things that involve the type of culture that exists at the school. Howick College therefore is very similar to many New Zealand schools. What’s special about it is that for a large school – 2300 students – it has a small school feel about it. This is helped by its location close to the Howick Village and coast.

It has a positive feeling where students are happy and feel known. It’s also a college that has a very diverse cohort of students. While it’s not particularly multicultural there are many cultures, interests, and students with a wide range of abilities. The special thing about this is how well all students’ needs are met no matter ability level or interest. We do not have deficit thinking and have high expectations for all of our students regardless of backgrounds.

What improvements would you like to see in the education and school management sector?

Many things, however, the absence of any long-term plan in the education sector that’s established by people that actually understand each sector of education and don’t come with a political agenda would be really useful. The last three governments have caused huge upheaval in secondary schools with their political agendas. The previous government under Jacinda Ardern took us way too left and now we’re in a period of adjustment. Keeping politicians and politics out of education would be a big step forward. Secondary education is not that difficult to manage. The removal of political agenda from our schools would make them so much easier to lead. A long-term plan that we established and stuck to would mean that education would be off the political agenda and focussed onto what’s the most pressing problem in the sector – teacher recruitment.

Part of any long-term plan would be in my opinion a revisit to the Bali Haque-led review of Tomorrows Schools. Many aspects of the David Lange-led Labour government’s reforms in the late 1980s have now gone well past their used by date. The previous government had a chance to do what Labour governments always do and make sweeping generational and impactful reforms. They opted out and instead chose changing the curriculum and NCEA, both of which have been completely botched by very poor change management processes and particularly flawed thinking in the curriculum changes. Political agendas also played their part in its failure. Finally, the media should stop using the mistakes of teenagers at school as “click bait” and either start reporting the great and positive news that schools have or stay away completely.

How is the relationship between Howick College and its local community?

Howick College has always enjoyed a good relationship with its local community. However, there are still some legacy issues we’re working very hard to change. Our community has made it clear to us that they expect more in terms of better student behaviour, uniform wearing and achievement outcomes. Successive parent surveys have indicated very positive progress and we’re well on the way to meeting our community’s high expectations. Our in-zone roll for this year is at a record high. This is always a good indication of community satisfaction.

Other indicators we use internally are reporting back to us the same positive news. We work hard with local people, businesses and community groups to foster strong relations. Community development officer Kate Pike is leading the work of increased collaboration with our local community. We work with all the local contributing schools in the communities of learning groups we belong to. The seamless nature of the transition from year 8 into year 9 is testimony to the strength of these relationships.

What other suggestions have you for the education sector?

As a part of the long-term plan, all government agencies and teacher unions need to review themselves to work out exactly what their purpose is and stick. These would include the Ministry of Education, Education Review Office, and Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA). The PPTA, for example, should be solely focussed on the remuneration and working conditions of teachers, not all the side issues they get involved in.

Also, students with learning differences need more school-based support. This should begin with more teacher aides, better training and significantly better remuneration. With teacher recruitment, I would suggest pay for all their university fees and then bond them for three years. This might attract the best and brightest, like teaching used to do.