February Hui Reflection

On the 25th February, four years on from the quakes, we walked around what remains of Christchurch’s CBD.  I felt completely disorientated, as  most of the familiar landmarks have gone.  It was hard to get my bearings and even harder to remember what had once stood in the empty spaces.  Containers are still piled high in front of facades that they hope to save, and large metal beams brace the walls of buildings yet to be attended to.  Some streets are still completely cordoned off and rubble remains in front of half crumbled buildings that wait to be demolished. 

 

The Cathedral awaits its fate..... and a once bustling city square is almost silent, except for an enthusiastic preacher hoping to ‘save someone’s soul’.

 

However, a visit to the Re-Start mall shows that Cantabrian’s are resilient and are trying to move on. The container mall shows innovation and creativity at its best.  The large street art that brightens the sides of many buildings are simply stunning, and the sculptures made from parts of demolished buildings link to the past, but give a sense of hope for the future.

This walk around the CBD became the starting point to a discussion around 'Transformation', aligning 'transformational education' with the transformation of Christchurch, post earthquakes. 

From our brainstorm we came to the conclusions that:- 

- change is messy and uncomfortable

- creativity and innovation can blossom when given freedom

- the most effective transformation can only happen if there is a strong VISION

While in Christchurch we visited two schools - Breens Intermediate School and Te Pa o Raikaihautu.  Both schools were so welcoming, and while very different in their approaches to teaching and learning, really highlighted what 'transformational learning' could like like. Both schools had a strong sense of culture, community and shared vision. Their VISION's were 'alive' and underpinned all that they did. 

At Breens Intermediate, the Principal, Brian Price, spoke to use about leadership and building a leadership team with varied strengths. He talked about the teams that worked within each area of the school and how they operate using MATE's - mutually agreed team expectations.
He spoke about their curriculum as being a "Rich and responsive curriculum at the point of challenge"