In 2024 Jennifer Scothern-King delved into how to build and maintain engagement with the schools she was working with. She observed and recorded successes and noted some of the challenges along the way. Jenni shared some of this with the experienced facilitators on zoom and has put together this comprehensive case study to acknowledge all the ideas and make them available to others. We mihi to Jenni for her mahi.
The current situation
At the end of Term 1 2024, engagement with 5 schools in an area assigned to me in mid-2023 was minimal. Changes of staff (including principals) was contributing to this at the four Primary schools. The High School had little engagement from teachers other than the lead teacher, who was unable to see the full picture of what an Enviroschools Envirogroup is and how to successfully submit a funding application to WRC, despite support from the previous facilitator and then from me in 2023.
One other school has FOE status but has an Eco Council and I have been supporting a lead teacher with the council with Zero Waste and gardening related matters. Some local Taupō schools were also either on hiatus or minimal engagement, so this was causing concern.
When considering why this was the case, I took into account that the local Taupō schools have Living Landscapes support through Kids Greening Taupō, Zero Waste support with Shannon from Taupō District Council (Waste Minimisation officer), and TDC Parks and Reserves staff have been supporting with pest control alongside Robyn who represents Predator Free 2050 and Greening Taupō.
Exploring alternatives
It became apparent that a list of strategies would be a helpful way forward with building engagement and this became a ‘deep dive’.
If at first you don’t succeed, explore more alternatives!
Generating interest in Me in My Environment, Water of Life, Ecological Building and Energy Theme Areas has been lifting engagement with local schools. It is interesting to note that Zero Waste and Living Landscapes are dominant themes in Waikato Enviroschools and nationally.
Through consultation with Adrienne, lead facilitator, and discussion with other experienced facilitators when I delivered a slideshow of the strategies I’d collated by mid-June, a Toolkit for Engagement has emerged.
Taking Action
kahukura – butterfly
All of the tools/ strategies identified in the following slideshow notes are tried and tested by me and other facilitators. They serve as a reminder that when your usual approaches to school staff are not eliciting regular or purposeful relationships of engagement there are other strings to your bow to try which may have been forgotten or uncomfortable or fallen off the radar. By my stepping up and adapting more strategies to fit each school and their situation there has been a marked improvement in engagement.
The resultant slideshow has since been shared with the wider network of facilitators and available as a download. 2024_ES_Waikato_handout Enviroschools Facilitators toolkit for Engagement ppt July 2024
Reflect on change
As I reflect on this exercise it is clear to me that it’s important to take time, using the Action Learning Cycle, to focus on a thorny current situation – extra time for one which requires serious mahi to weave a solution to. Other facilitators are expressing appreciation of this toolkit as a way forward as they forge or renew relationships with school staff.
Facilitators are responsive to each unique staff and students’ needs, aspirations and environment. We’ve all tried a range of approaches to engage and build on our relationships and interactions with schools.
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Jenni’s tips
Jenni’s tipsThe tips are in no particular order. They acknowledge individual styles, personalities, and diversity.
- Email newsletters once or twice a term – include principal, office and lead teach – add other teachers who have attended workshops or expressed interest in being on the email list.
- Complete an annual review/plan with lead teacher and/or principal when possible – if it’s not completed at the end of the year try again in Term 1, or any time you get a chance without being pushy about it. Invite students to participate in the review. Take chocolate! (or tasty fruit!)
- Request time at a staff meeting, either after school or during Teacher Only days – be patient and gently support lead teacher towards this goal.
- When you do get a response to an email, follow up with a visit or call as soon as possible to keep the ball rolling. Send them a meeting invitation that’s not on their staff meeting day.
- Check school newsletters regularly to see what has been happening at their school, and what is coming up. Join school facebook pages and respond when they’ve shared something relevant to our Kaupapa. Notice EOTC opportunities to be involved in.
- Find out what inquiry topics or themes are proposed for each term and support planning where possible – offer the links to resources, network contacts, and/or sustainability aspects.
- Phone principals and/ or lead teachers when emails elicit no response and find out if they are comfortable with a call or visit from you to check in with them.
- Be friendly with the office staff.
- Pop into the tari to say hello or to leave an offering in the staffroom. (You never know who you might bump into serendipitously)
- Cold call with a gift that is relevant to the school’s current projects or mission. Email ahead or call the office prior, with a date and time frame.
- Cold call with an invitation to a cluster event or workshop or with a gift. Precede with an email letting them know this is likely to happen with the date likely you will be in their area.
- This is most practical at morning teatime, lunch time or after school but not on a staff meeting afternoon.
- It’s a chance for teachers to connect and/or chat about their current inquiry/theme learning.
- Be culturally responsive and respectful at all times. Take time to know the marae they currently or could associate with, or local hapu, mana whenua and tangata whenua. (Understand the difference)
- Invite schools to complete a brief Google or MS form asking for interest in cluster events and if so what content interests them. Follow up with those who haven’t responded – they are busy people who may have missed the email.
- Encourage opportunities to talk with other Enviroschools’ staff either locally or through online opportunities.
- Offer Cluster events that seem relevant to the area and local curriculum. This could be an Encounters Day / BioBlitz / Restoration opportunity / Council Waste Min, Zero Waste theme meeting / caretakers’ workshop / Nature Connection workshop / Sustainable Energy PLD/ …there are many examples on the website, as case studies.
- Be sure to follow through with any promises or offers made to teachers or principals at your earliest convenience. Share padlet or other online resources or resource delivery such as pdf versions of Enviroschools online resources. Share your availability dates for project support or funding support, etc.
- Be gentle and patient – there is a lot of change they are facing through Curriculum demands, change of Government, focus on Curriculum priorities, staff shortages…
- Be a good listener – get to know the people with whom you’ve made contact. Find out what is important to your contact person and what is of most interest/ concern that you can help with, relating to our Kaupapa.
- Be ready to adapt plans when the unexpected comment or reaction is evoked. Our work is in response to their needs and aspirations, not ours.
- Take any opportunity to reflect, whether it’s an ‘official’ reflection or a time to pause and consider your and their position.
- Realise that not everyone is as passionate as us about sustainability or has comparatively undivided attention to sustainability. Sometimes it’s the small helpful suggestions or congratulations on the small steps taken that have a big impact moving forward.
- Take opportunities to engage with staff or students outside school, at community events/ at the supermarket/ … incidental conversations in serendipitous moments.
- Most good things take time – building strong working relationships is one of those things.
- Provide an opportunity for staff to realise how much sustainability mahi is already happening in their classroom or school. Often there are unrecorded but ongoing habits worth acknowledging.
- Stay cheerful, with an air of quiet confidence.
- Consider your relationships you can develop with – Kahui Ako – Local experts / organisations – Curriculum lead staff at Ministry of Education
- Encourage a tuakana – teina relationship between schools… a new school or revitalising engagement – have an established school share a tour of their projects/vision. Or mutual sharing of their journey and problem solving. The focus can be reflection, celebration and integrates the kaupapa/ exploring alternatives…
- Engage in annual events held by the school or community such as planting days, as a way to be seen and heard, walking the talk.
- Read their strategic and annual plans on their website – when a strategy priority aligns with our kaupapa you can be intentional with resources or initiating conversations.
Additions: Related personal success criteria questions (from Matt – Waitaha/Canterbury)
- If I walk into the staffroom do teachers know my name and begin a conversation? (other than the lead teacher)
- Is this a school I can just drop in on any time?
- Do teachers, other than the lead teacher, contact me independently?
- When I walk past the principal’s office am I sometimes invited in?
- Do I have banter with the office crew and caretaker?
- Do non-Enviroschools teachers attend clusters?