Stewardship

Domain 1: Stewardship

New Zealand has devolved educational governance to local boards of trustees of which the principal and a staff representative are members. This means that there is a close relationship between governance and leadership, and the expectation is that trustees will work strategically and collaboratively with the principal, staff and students to realise the school community’s vision and values and achieve agreed goals and targets.

The stewardship role of boards encompasses both accountability and improvement functions. Boards have specific legal responsibilities under the Education Act 1989. Although evidence relating to the effectiveness of boards is limited, recent studies suggest that an improvement-oriented stewardship role is most likely to promote enhanced learning outcomes.

Effective stewardship involves planning for, and acting in, the school’s medium and long-term interests. To set strategic direction, goals and priorities, the board needs trustworthy information about the needs and aspirations of the students and the school community. Once strategic direction is agreed, policies, processes and practices must be aligned. How effectively boards represent and serve the school community depends very largely on their members’ ability to establish trust-based relationships.

The main task of a board of trustees is scrutiny, including self-scrutiny: ‘Are we doing the right thing here?’

This scrutiny should focus on valued student outcomes, transparent sharing of information (without which scrutiny is impossible), and ongoing evaluation of performance in relation to goals and targets: ‘What difference will this make for students, and how will we know?’ Effective boards seek honest, insightful evaluation and are willing to take hard decisions in the interests of students.

Board members exercise agency in their role, drawing on their networks and expertise to strengthen organisational capacity and effectiveness.