Inspiration on a lazy Sunday afternoon: the Hornby music tradition

 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