Iain Taylor

Iain has been teaching for 37 years, with 34 of these years as a leader, in numerous and very diverse settings ranging from low to high equity schools (or decile 1A to 9), starting in a small rural teaching principal position to very large urban schools, including an international school in Singapore. Iain has led a full primary, two contributing primaries, a K-Grade 5 school within a K-12 college, and three intermediates. He is a published author on intentional school transformation and turnaround, and has a master’s in educational leadership as well as sport and recreation qualifications.  

 

Iain is renown as a consistently effective and enthusiastic leader and change agent, with back-to-back 4–5-year Education review reports; overall winner 2017 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Award, winner of Excellence in Engaging, finalist 2022 Special Focus Award Environmental and Sustainability Award, and has served in numerous local, national and international elected leadership positions including President of APPA, President of NZPF, and Oceania representative on International Confederation of Principals Executive. In addition to this Iain has been involved in numerous MOE and other organisations sector representative advisory groups, has been a negotiation team member on two Principals Collective Contract Bargaining rounds for both NZEI and PPCB and has been recognised by the sector on numerous occasions including being a Distinguished Fellow of the APPA, and a Woolf Fisher Fellow.

 

Iain has a particular interest in innovative, flexible learning programmes, and how property and the environment, meaning the physical environment and the tone/pulse and energy environment of a school, can contribute to more effective student engagement, happiness, learning and achievement, and from a principal leadership perspective, particular interests in how we can be more innovative in our staffing and leadership structures, how we can lead with passion and authenticity and how we can look after ourselves, each other and stand up for our values/beliefs.