Teachers warned of dangers of schools' competition

Teachers should beware of the potential to harm caused to children by excessive competition between schools, an Auckland secondary school principal has warned.

Graeme Macann, from Rosehill College in Papakura, was guest speaker at the graduate ceremony for the College of Education this morning. He urged graduates to take responsibility for the health of the sector they work in.

“Keep a sense of responsibility for the system as a whole in the front of your minds," he said. “If you work in a school or early childhood centre, or intend to, then as well as having an entirely understandable sense of loyalty and connection to that institution, I would ask you to ensure that whatever happens to promote its interests doesn’t do damage to any child or student in any other similar institution.”

Mr Macann, a former Post-Primary Teachers’ Association president and chairman of the Secondary Principals’ Council, said the school sector pays a high price for the amount of competition present among schools and that made it important for professionals to stay connected with their peers.

He quoted social critic Neil Postman, who said: "If we want to care for the planet we’d better express that by developing a sense of responsibility for our own neighbourhood". Mr Macann: "For me, that has to include all the schools in my neighbourhood."

He said for all professions the client base was now more diverse than ever, more demanding, less tolerant of errors and with much greater access to information. Those who feel connected to society, need to develop considerable resilience to work successfully in their professions.

“It’s chastening, as well as heartening, to know that the learning has to continue,” he said. “Chastening, because sometimes we allow ourselves to become deluded with a sense that we’ve finally ‘got there’; heartening because life would be boring if indeed we had reached a peak of knowledge and experience without further challenges.”

Mr Macann studied at Massey University through distance learning in the 1990s and early 2000s and graduated with a Diploma in Education endorsed in Guidance Studies and a Master of Education Administration with first-class honours.

This year he is on leave from Rosehill College to work as a leadership and management facilitator at the University of Auckland.