In a 'previous life' I worked alongside pictorial archivists. I was always fascinated by their common question 'what's in the picture?' What are we seeing, what do we think is going on here?
I could ask that question here. It looks like a music duo performing in a beautiful setting. And it was.. the husband and wife duo 'Rockabella' (Nicky and Reuben) playing on a beautiful summer-like autumn afternoon at a beautiful bar/restaurant called 'The Black Door' located in Lincoln just outside Ōtautahi Christchurch.
I wouldn't be posting this here if there weren't a really interesting story here. Reuben was a member of the Hornby High School band 'Outer Control' that won Smokefree Rockquest in 1989. The members were Bobby Kennedy, Clinton Harris, Reuben Hiku, Pearl Runga, Hamish George, Glen Teasdale, Maree Maxwell (nee Blowers), Sarah Sharfe, Lisa Inglis, Lisa Wilson, Kate Hewson, Nelly Sione, and Teena Edens (now Edens-Finlay).
Here is a video of the band in 1990, the year after, again entering Smokefree Rockquest:
Two members of the band (Bobby and Clinton) went on to be members of kiwi band Opshop too.
Below is Reuben's younger brother Clayton, a musician in his own right, and currently assistant HOD of music at another secondary school in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Clayton was head student at Hornby in his Year 13 year.
Early on in the afternoon, one of the audience members was Clinton Harris, another member of 'Outer Control'. Clinton moved back to Ōtautahi a year ago, and currently has a demanding role in mental health. He commented that music is his 'release', his de-stressor from his work.
Let me interpret that: his creativity is his release from a stressful job, it is one way in which he maintains his balance in life. Reuben is a self employed businessman, as is Nicky. They both do stressful jobs. I suspect that for each of them their music, their creativity, is their 'release'. Professor Peter O'Connor and his team at the University of Auckland have written about the positive impact of a focus on creativity on our wellbeing.
These amazing people reflect a rich music tradition from Hornby High School. Of course back in the '80s and '90s creative excellence wasn't the 'vision' for the kura and its members (students and staff alike). There were however inspired and inspiring teachers who nurtured this talent, amongst them Pete Rainey, who was one of the founders of the Smokefree Rockquest. Both Clinton and Reuben talked of the inspiration that they got from Pete. Never underestimate the impact of one inspiring teacher. Professor Hattie's research says that the teacher makes the difference.
And never under estimate the power of a unifying vision in creating and building coherence, and commitment. Similarly never under estimate the impact of a coherent clearly espoused pedagogy (in our case 'Learn Create Share') on staff, learners, and outcomes.
Now teachers have been inspiring students since .. well 'forever' really. My hope, my expectation, is that when we identify creative excellence as our vision, we are more likely to inspire teachers to inspire students. Perhaps it's that teachers feel as if they have 'permission' to be that inspiring person that they really are, they feel that they have permission to inspire the young people with whom they work. Perhaps it's that more teachers feel that they have permission to inspire. Perhaps that is because they understand that the kura values this as an outcome of their mahi. What's more, I reckon that over time we are more likely to gather together teachers with this purpose in mind. That's what it feels like to be a part of the Hornby community. It's all a matter of being intentional and deliberate about this end goal.
And it's not a bad idea to think about this in the context of the current teacher action in support of their 2023 contract claim. We need more teachers. We need more teachers who inspire our young people. We need them now. I feel privileged to be able to work amongst just such a group of educators.
I still hear those cries of -'teachers.. overpaid and underworked, 12 weeks holiday a year, work 9-3" .. you know the sort. My answer to that is always the same: "if it's such an attractive profession, why aren't there queues of people lining up to become teachers?" If that were true, if teaching were such an attractive profession, we should have no recruitment problems at all.
Ask the average principal what it's like trying to recruit teachers right now, and what it has been like for possibly the last decade ... there is a shortage. Maybe it isn't as attractive, maybe it isn't as soft an option, as those on the neoliberal right would have us believe.
Footnote: having a free Sunday afternoon to spend listening to cool music over a glass of wine is a rarity in my life, and I reckon in the lives of most teachers. Whether as a classroom teacher or a Tumuaki, Sunday afternoons are normally spent working. Living the life.. eh
We used to say 'how do you eat an elephant'? The answer is of course 'One bite at a time'. I'm not sure if that saying is still 'a thing'. Similarly, we could ask 'how do you change a society'? 'One person at a time'. Or alternatively how do you change a kura? One person at a time.
On today's walk around, I came across Bailey. His teacher Mrs Davis said 'Show Mr Sutton what you have been making.' Bailey had been using off cuts of card to 'make stuff'. Specifically, this stuff.
We talked about French armoured helms .. he was interested.
I showed Bailey these photos ...
That's me indulging a little of my own creativity making stuff from 'recycled materials'. Bailey and I connected.. he smiled, actually his eyes lit up (that's BIG!!), he could see the connection, the interest, we shared. We talked about 'creative excellence', and about our school vision 'he puna auaha, a centre of creative excellence'. We talked about stuff he could 'make'.
This experience is enabled and strengthened because we have a school wide/shared pedagogy, 'Learn Create Share', one of the great gifts of our Manaiakalani kaupapa. I have repeatedly said that it is no coincidence that our vision is one of creativity, and that the word 'create' is at the centre of our pedagogy. That connection, that coherence, is empowering and powerful.
I may just have strengthened a relationship with, made an impact on, one young man today. And regardless of what Bailey makes next, we know that developing creativity improves our wellbeing. I am hoping .....
I love wandering through our learning spaces. I love watching good teachers at work. I love watching engaged students. I love seeing creativity in action. Today I wandered into our creative arts spaces, places that feed my educator's soul (they all do, actually!!). I came across a session with Whāea Rowena in which the students were being challenged to draw from nature, specifically creating botanical drawings.
I was aware from some conversations we'd had last year that Whāea Rowena did this, but all the same seeing it in action drew a gasp. I had to race along to the sciences area right next door to see if there was a scientist free and able to come see.. there wasn't, they were all hard at work with groups of their own
So why the gasp? Why the excitement?
First, I think what I was seeing was an outstanding example of cross curriculum work, albeit with a visual arts 'bent'. That in itself is awesome.
I also reckon I was seeing several essential components of creativity: slowing ourselves down, and taking time to observe the world around us. In one of my other careers I worked in a regional museum, and there I met with various natural scientists. One was studying the Cadis fly. He would go out at night and set light traps in which he would catch things that flew, and the next day he would analyse what was in the traps. He would then proceed to draw by hand the specimens he had trapped. He was credited with discovering at least one previously unknown species (is that the correct term?) of Cadis fly. Taking the time to draw by hand requires careful observation, and his drawings were meticulous in their attention to detail, and artful at the same time.
This also put me in mind of the work of Elwyn Richardson. Richardson would often take students outside and have them observe the natural world, and then engage with that in various creative media - drawing, lino cuts, sculpture etc. These are some examples:
'In the early world', Elwyn Richardson', page 238, NZCER
'In the early world', Elwyn Richardson', page 239, NZCER
'Elwyn Richardson and the early world of creative education in New Zealand', Margaret MacDonald, NZCER
I talked afterwards with Whāea Rowena. This class work practises a number of those skills so necessary for creativity, but those of most significance in my mind (as a non arts educator) are the two already mentioned: taking the time to slow down, and taking the time to observe the world around us and to wonder.
It put me in mind of the work of Professor Peter O'Connor and his colleagues on creativity in schools. In particular it put me in mind of this beautiful book (which frankly I can't recommend enough!!):
And all of this put me in mind of a poem I wrote last year about creativity:
And again I have to say thank you to NZCER, and to author and research Margaret MacDonald, for making both Elwyn Richardson's original book, and Margaret's wonderful analysis, available to us. Their support has meant a lot for our team and their mahi.
I am pleased to say that Whāea Rowena's lesson is not unique in our kura. Our children are blessed when they are able to participate in experiences like these. They are all a part of our education journey as a kura, a journey guided by our vision 'he puna auaha, a centre of creative excellence', a journey facilitated by our underlying pedagogy 'learn create share', one of many of the taonga that we receive as part of The Manaiakalani Programme.
