5th iNet International Conference, 26 28 November 2008

In August 2006 I was fortunate to accompany Dr Jan Robertson to the iNet Leadership Festival in Chile. Over a five day period we travelled the country, presenting five whole-day leadership seminars and workshops.

It was an arduous tour, moving from mountains and across plains to the desert in the north. We spent two days in Santiago, and a day in each of Concepcion, La Serena, and Antofagasta. With so much travel the challenge was to be bright and alert each day to present a quality programme.

The seminars were sponsored by The Catholic University of Chile, St John’s School (a private school), a municipality and a mining company. Quite a range of people attended, including Ministry of Education officials, municipal personnel responsible for education, teachers, university staff and businessmen.

For me, the greatest challenge was working with groups whose first, and often only, language was Spanish. The task was, however, made easier by some very high quality interpreters, especially in the first few days. Workshopping with Spanish speaking audiences was a real challenge, but we became expert at reading body language.

The greatest lesson I brought back to New Zealand was that, no matter where we went, we heard the same issues and comments we’d expect in New Zealand: ‘Where do we find the time?’; ‘The curriculum is so crowded?’; ‘How do you get teachers to change their practice?’ Having been a principal for so long, I was reminded about how much I enjoy working in New Zealand’s ‘Tomorrow Schools’ environment. Our hosts were amazed at the choice and freedom we have, and by the lack of bureaucracy in our system.

I also found lots of schools hoping to use iNet to expose students and teachers to a wider world of teaching and learning. I encouraged school leaders to consider the advantages of developing new learning communities. As communication reduces the barriers to teaching and learning, people in our schools will increasingly be exposed to a host of questions and challenges. iNet’s growing presence in Chile can only help to enable its schools to adapt to the new educational landscape.

Mike Sutton, Principal, Nawton School, Hamilton, New Zealand