The following is a Message from the AEL Journal Volume 47 Issue 2
As I reflect on the significant activities shared throughout this issue, I am reminded of the centrality of our learning ecosystem – a vibrant, inclusive community that unites and lifts us all. In a time where polarities threaten to fragment the educational landscape, the spirit of pluralistic leadership that defines ACEL stands as a beacon of hope and strength. If our collective experience within our community is any indication, then we are indeed a microcosm of the depth, breadth, and extraordinary diversity that makes our profession so vital and transformative.
At the heart of this connectedness and belonging is our inaugural Middle Leadership Summit held at the Gold Coast, 2-3 June, proudly supported by the Queensland Department of Education. The key thread throughout our summit is activating middle leadership underpinned by three key pillars: Connecting to Others, Contributing to Our Profession, Committing to Action. The summit will provide a dynamic experience guiding participants through a journey of connection, self-reflection, and insight. A highlight will be our practitioner-led roundtable sessions exploring critical themes that empower leaders to drive meaningful change. These sessions are designed to spark thought-provoking conversations and actionable insights. We look forward to providing a platform to engage with peers, share experiences, and gain fresh perspectives on the evolving role of middle leadership.
What's in Issue 2?
Our theme for issue 2 is “Pluralism and Leadership” understood as building connections despite differences in views, and promoting a balanced representation of voices. This issue achieves this most effectively with authors who have contributed a diversity of leadership perspectives aimed at creating equitable learning environments for learners. We are very fortunate to have two international authors as our leads in this issue. Carolyn Shields from Michigan, United States, has provided a provocative piece that draws our attention to transformative leadership as a way forward for leading schools while Peggy Burrows from New Zealand puts forward Māori principles of leadership as an alternative to Western-centric approaches.
In this issue, Emeritus Frank Crowther has included some personal reflections developed over a 50-year career in education. Frank is retiring after 14 years of service as ACEL Patron and we are very grateful to him for sharing this final contribution. We have four very different general articles. Nick Kelly presents four golden rules for “designerly leadership” described as a type of leadership that draws upon design capabilities to deal with complexity in schools. Matt Pitman honours student voice within school operations. Michael Rosenbrock and Dan Ingvarson discuss Generative AI and offer some valuable principles for schools and systems to consider as they navigate and make meaning of the challenges and opportunities provided by this ubiquitous technology. Lili-Ann Kriegler focuses on early education through brain-aligned practices.
Two of the articles in this issue focus on Indigenous education. Chris Deslandes shares a success story of a remote Aboriginal community school that has achieved very encouraging results in English literacy and numeracy while Lisa Walker discusses collective leadership from a First Nations perspective. Sandra Vecchio’s success story looks at how a culture of thinking was created in a secondary school by science teachers. Gabrielle Kempton’s leadership challenge reimagines learning through five phases of learning going beyond the confines of standardisation.
As we did in the first issue this year, we have included a section on ACEL awards. Our final article showcases an essay written by Braydon Giles who is one of the 2024 New Voice Scholars.
ACEL Awards: Celebrating leadership and inspiring the future of education
It is through our annual awards and scholarship program that ACEL recognises excellence and honours educational leaders who have made a significant contribution to education, educational leadership, and the improvement of student learning outcomes.
Nominations for this year’s National and Branch Awards, and New Voice Scholarships have now closed. We extend our sincere thanks to those who took part in the peer nomination process: your involvement helps shine a light on recognising and celebrating exceptional educators from all sectors across Australia. While we look forward to introducing our 2025 recipients later this year, in this edition of AEL we are delighted to showcase some of our esteemed 2024 awardees.
Calling future leaders: Join the 2025 NextGen cohort
ACEL was delighted to recently launch the call for interested educators to participate in our 2025 NextGen program. NextGen is an exciting opportunity designed to support and engage early career educators. You will find an overview of the program and what it offers on page 63. I strongly encourage you to put yourself forward, or to encourage a colleague to apply. Becoming part of NextGen means joining a vibrant national network of like-minded educators committed to making an impact and shaping the future of education.
Returning to the theme of this issue, pluralistic leadership calls on all of us to pave the way for courageous leadership that will foster creative solutions and build a collective commitment to reimagining and actively shaping the future. I’m excited for you to sit back and immerse yourself in this issue.