Media attacks on principals and getting traction

Regarding Philip Harding's very good question about how to get traction with the media, some of what is said can be challenged on factual basis - for instance a few of us were able to publish letters in response to a DomPost editorial which was trying to argue that teaching has more effect on student achievement than the effects of family background, research shows otherwise and its an easy matter to refute.

Also letters or articles which more generally rehearse the arguments against national standards sometimes get published and are well worth trying for.

I do think though that to some extent primary principals are just going to have to weather the criticisms of the nations newspaper editors and various other conservative commentators. At the same time they should a. note that the arguments being employed against them are usually not very good ones and b. not underestimate the quiet authority they carry as a group who more typically get on with the job than protest, providing they can articulate their own concerns well.

Regarding John Tamihere's column, I think the most telling thing to note there is the bit about. "Being control freaks, they also know better than their communities and boycott education summits called by and for their communities because they cannot set the agenda and predetermine the outcome"

This refers I think to a hui on Maori Education run by the Waipereira Trust last year which was poorly supported by local principals see
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10504782

this talks about

The trust's chief executive John Tamihere lamented that only three principals out of 93 schools were at the summit, which showed "that principals do not want to engage with Maori - when they are invited into Maori territory they do not want to connect.

"No one in the English speaking world has come close to winning an argument against teachers - it's like they're untouchable."

However, West Area Principals Association president Bruce Dale said the cost was a prohibitive factor.

Teachers also didn't want to go along to a summit where they would be "harangued" when they were trying to lift educational performance.

And talking could only do so much, Mr Dale said."I want less hui and more doing. I've heard it all before. I'm totally committed to raising achievement levels - I think a lot of principals are working towards that."

Then for an example of Tamihere's thoroughly overheated and one-sided arguments related to Maori educational failure see Tamihere at
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10504499.

In short I think that if Tamihere wants principals to be more responsive then he should seriously reconsider the calibre and reasonableness of what he says to and about principals and teachers.

Lastly I am collecting all examples I can of media comment as I think they provide a great insight into 'popular' educational politics- if you come across examples of national standards-related attacks on teachers and principals please bring to the attention of this site or to me on thrupp@waikato.ac.nz and I will add to the pile!