Recently I attended my second  Australian School Improvement Summit, hosted by Elena Pasquini Douglas and her inspiring team at The Knowledge Society. 

What stood out to me most was the shift we are seeing in education, not just in New Zealand but in Australia too. The conversation is evolving, broadening, and becoming more ... courageous.

Lately it feels to me like education here in New Zealand has become weighed down in the politics of it all.  I think that we have to keep reminding ourselves that this is about our learners, and doing the best we can to send them out into the world as best prepared as possible.  

I don't think education should ever be about politics. It should be about ensuring every child has access to effective teaching, a coherent curriculum, and the opportunity to thrive. It should be about equity and doing what is right for these children. When we delay meaningful change, the achievement gap for our most vulnerable learners widens.

At the education summit, I was reminded that real improvement doesn’t come from ideology or opinion. It comes from courage, the courage to act on what we already know works.

Structured Literacy, explicit instruction, and knowledge-rich teaching aren’t new ideas. They are evidence-based practices, proven to make a difference when applied with consistency and care. I am an advocate for a Structured Literacy approach because I've seen the incredible impact it has had on learners.  It is the difference between a child being a statistic of low achievement and a child thriving in life.  When a child's learning is left to chance too many never quite catch up.

Meaningful, system-wide change always seems to feel just out of reach. While we wait for consensus and/or political alignment, another group of students moves through their schooling minus the foundations that should be a given.

My colleagues in this space all agree, we must ensure every classroom, every teacher, and every leader has access to knowledge, tools, and professional learning that make a difference.

We don’t have to wait for permission to make things better. Change begins in classrooms and staffrooms - with leaders and teachers who choose to align practice with evidence, even when it’s challenging to speak up.

Real leadership means leaning into this responsibility. It means holding firm to what we know is right, even when it is complex or uncomfortable. It means staying focused on evidence, not ideology. And it means seeing every child’s success as our shared moral obligation.

Leading beyond politics means holding firm to what’s right for learners, not what’s convenient or trending. It means seeing education not as a contest of ideas but as a shared moral purpose.

So what's my message?  Let's do everything we can to keep students at the centre of our education decision-making and support our incredible teachers to be effective in ensuring no learner is left to chance.

Be courageous.