Tuesday 31 October 2017

Listening is good

As a school principal listening is good, listening to your staff, listening to students, listening to parents, listening to experts.  Listening to experts is not alway good, but if you don't listen you have no basis for not accepting what they are selling.

I have a confession to make.  I always found it difficult when I felt that those around me were coercing me into various forms of team or group membership.  I recall being on a one month live in leadership programme.  We were broken into teams with which we stayed for the duration of the program. On one occasion we were asked to critique a presentation which we had all experienced.  I thought the presenter was too one way, talking at us, and I was still critical of this despite his expertise.  The rest of my team thought he was tops and set about trying to coerce me into their point of view.  I would not budge and this created unease within the rest of the team.

On another occasion when I was a Superintendent of Schools I was on another in-service that included exercises on learning to trust one another.  I felt that one of these was irrelevant as were a lot of the rest of the experiences on that course.  From memory I quietly faded away back to my district.

The point of my confessions is to show that one should not feel obliged to buckle under if one feels strongly enough. At NASA a 'group think' process, in which they participants could not see the wood for the trees, resulted in 5 astronauts losing their lives.

You may as a Principal experience one or two mavericks on your staff who are very effective practitioners in the classroom, but not too good at operating under a hierarchical administration.  Listen to them.  My experience is that they are usually someone I would want on my staff.  I can think of actual mavericks who worked on my staff and thank goodness they did.   I urge you to have an ear for the staff member who has an out-of-left field idea that benefits the learning in the school.

I watched for the second time the true story of Alan Turing who invented a computer to break the enigma code in WWII.  At first none would listen to him but eventually those experts around him could see what he was on about and they melded into a team and the code was broken.

I am all for team work that improves the learning of the students and makes for a happier settled staff cohort who love coming into their school community each day.  Teaching in teams is well known and very effective if the team members listen to one another and provide continuity of learning for the students.  It is still common that a teacher is alone in class with a group of students, especially in the secondary (high) school situation.  Opportunities need to be given to those secondary school teachers to communicate regularly with the teachers from other specialised learning areas so that they develop a common understanding about each child.

Effective staff teams also lend support to one another in the general sense of morale and a feeling of wellbeing.

In my next post I will say more about listening to students. There is some interesting primary research in good old Australia on this score.


May the Force be with you!


GD


Wednesday 25 October 2017

Winding up the school year

For my US readers the title of this blog is all out of kilter as your school year commences around September of each year.  By now you are well underway working towards the Christmas break.

In Australia the school principals are busy preparing for the new school year 2018 and winding up the 2017 year.  The schools finish in December then have the long 6 week summer holiday.  The 4th term of each year is therefore a very busy time when the principal and staff are tiring, not to mention the students.

I empathise with my principal colleagues at this busy time.  Keep a cool head and plough steadily through the prioritised tasks.

If you are retiring I know you will leave the school in top shape for your successor.  I hope that you have done a thorough preparation for retirement which brings some challenges like relevance deprivation syndrome.  I am still suffering from this hence I blog away and write about effective schooling. It is not life threatening.  I strongly advise people not to retire too early as with the longer life expectancy of today you can work a lot longer than in the past, health permitting.

Good luck with whatever phase of the school year is currently your challenge.


May the Force be with you!



GD

Monday 23 October 2017

Tough Love

Tough love from the Principal is not something that is needed every day, but it is right and proper that the students and staff know that you as the principal will deliver tough love if needed.

An absolute no brainer is to never raise your voice and/or become angry with a student or staff member.  They need to know that you will be firm and fair, delivering the tough love in a calm and considered manner.

Serious student offences such as stealing, physical violence, wilful damage of school property or verbal and mental abuse towards another member of the school community will be sure to require the deliverance of tough love from you or your delegated authority. There must be consequences for the student who is learning that rule breaking has consequences that are usually not pleasant.  Parents need to be aware that tough love is part of the culture of your school community.

Teachers deal on the spot with classroom breaches of behaviour standards but they must do this within the tough love parameters that are part of the school culture. With serial classroom offenders you may need to deliver the tough love.

Student offences or rule breaking, if persistent, are usually a symptom of deeper underlying issue that has to investigated along with the deliverance of tough love.

Teachers operate in a context of school community commitment to best practice and when they are so committed they seldom need tough love to bring them back to the way it is. At times a teacher can stray and say administer disciplinary action that is beyond the tough love limits.  Tough love may be needed if this is the case. They may breach the dress code that their school community encourages and again tough love can be needed.  As I write that I can think of a case of one my teachers doing just that and I applied tough love.

Of course there are serious offences such as teacher abuse of students in various forms.  This cannot be tolerated and at a certain level it can be criminal.  Tough love and legal requirements say that this cannot be tolerated and must be dealt with swiftly.

If a teacher is not coping in the classroom such that their class management and general pedagogy is off the mark then there are policies that require natural justice and due process to right this.  Every teacher in the school should be aware that such processes exist and that they can expect fairness, but also that the matter must be righted.  In extreme cases dismissal can be the consequence.  You as the Principal must play a major role in resolving such matters as the eduction of the students may be suffering.  I have dealt with this at various levels of seriousness on many occasions as a school principal and as a superintendent with responsibilities across many schools in my district.  In the end it is your responsibility as a principal.  A tough gig that cannot be avoided if the situation arises.

When I was a principal the cane was still used in government schools.  I tried to ban it in my school and was surprised at the staff resistance. It was banned many years ago now thank goodness.

Just wanted to say something about the ancient practices of making students write lines or lists of words as a punishment.  I banned this in my school kindly pointing out that we were busting our insides trying to get the kids to love the English language.  I cannot imagine that such practices still exist.

Another concern that I had as a principal was the regular use of 'scab' duty as a punishment.  This saw students having to spend their lunch hour picking op rubbish around the school ground.  I also banned this on the grounds that we again were working hard to have the students value their environment, becoming self regulating in keeping it tidy.

I sound like an old tyrant.  Perhaps I should not have used the word banned rather describing how I tried to positively convince staff to accept other ways of administering tough love.

Finally on the matter of suspending a student from school for several days as a consequence of breaking school community rules.  This is a serious step to take and only works if the parents are part of the action.  Maybe it is needed as a circuit breaker, but again I say only if the parents are fully involved.

In a school community where student and staff wellbeing are seriously worked on tough love is needed on fewer occasions.

Forgot to mention drug use within the school community.  Very tricky!  Needs to be dealt with but you may need expert help with this one.


May the Force be with you!


GD














Tuesday 17 October 2017

Playing my guitar

Having a rest from serious posts today and just playin my guitar.

Considering the next post on 'tough love' from the Principal towards staff and students.


May the Force be with you!




GD

Sunday 15 October 2017

Continuity of student learning

I watched with interest a TV speech to the National Press Club of Australia by the CEO of the Business Council of Australia.  She outlined a plan for the reform of school and tertiary education in Australia.

My first comment is about her recommendation that outstanding teachers should be paid more to remain in the classroom rather than aspire to be school Principals.  I am not against paying them more  but not to the level of the remuneration of a school Principal.  The positive effect that an effective Principal has on the performance of a school is well documented and I have seen it over and over in the field.  A top Principal will ensure that all his teachers are up to the mark on best practices.

My second comment is that the speaker in referring to student performance in Australian primary (elementary) and secondary (high) schools did not mention how vital it is to ensure continuity of learning for each student.  That is in subjects where mastery of prerequisites is needed to move on to new learning, the next step if you will, teachers need to be dogged in enabling students to attain the necessary mastery.  I still have my serious doubts that there is a commitment to this in all schools and I continue to worry about relevant data transfer as students move to new teachers in the next school year and from primary to secondary school.  In some cases there are more transition points from primary to middle school to secondary school.

My book on effective schools is big on the continuity theme and I have shared this in previous posts on this blog with almost the passion of a zealot.



May the Force be with you as you carry on being great school Principals!


GD

Friday 13 October 2017

Taking on students with a disability in a mainstream school

Many years ago I was asked by parents to take on their seriously hearing impaired daughter in my K-12 school in a fairly isolated rural environment.  Understandably they did not want to send her away from home to a location where more specialised education was available.

I took her on but found that teaching a seriously hearing impaired person is one of the hardest things I have ever attempted.  I encouraged the family to organise to seek more specialised help.  We just did not have the skills nor the resources to do justice to this child.

This week I read a report from the NSW government about schools taking into their mainstream classes students with various forms of learning difficulties and in particular autistic children.  I understand why the parents want these children in the mainstream and agree with this practice if the school has the staff trained to manage such situations and still give all the other children their best shot at a comprehensive education.  The report tabled practices to manage these children that it described as totally inappropriate and in some cases abusive to the individual student.

Some of the criticised practices smacked of desperate teachers trying to manage without having the full array of skills to do so.  My concern is that schools may feel pressured to mainstream say fairly severe autistic students in sympathy with what is deemed standard practice the days.  Nobody is a winner in such situations, especially not the students and their parents.

I will probably be labelled politically and ethically incorrect for showing sympathy for the sincere teachers who just could not manage to provide a full education for these children.  Human and other resources must be at their optimum if a school is to take on such students in the mainstream.  Principals should have the discretion to resist mainstreaming such students if they do not have the resources.  Principals need to to be brave in this for the good of the students and should not be subject to unwarranted criticism by the resource providers who have not come to the party.  Hopefully  the affected parents would agree.

May the Force be with you!


GD

Saturday 7 October 2017

Editing feedback

Part of my purpose in sharing with any interested readers the draft of my book on School Effectiveness was to possibly receive some comments about the usefulness of the content to practising school Principals. Any comments would assist my editing and decision whether to publish or not.  It is crass to seek comments on a blog, but I would be disappointed to present in published form something that is useless to the practising school Principal.

I have consistently received an encouraging number of readers and wonder if any of these interested persons have time to provide me with a comment or two.  The comments could be on individual posts or general comments.  Don't spare me if what I have presented is not useful.  Having been a Principal I know how busy you are and that you have no time to waste on poor materials that provide no assistance to your day to day work.

Take care and I trust the trauma of the the Las Vegas disaster is not too close to home for my US readers.  I am reminded of the song Everybody Hurts. We all hurt at some stage in our lives, but it usually passes or at least dims with time and the love of those close to us. To be hurting over the Las Vegas tragedy seems more than anyone should have to bear.

When I was a Superintendent of Schools I used to write to all school staff members of the many schools in my district towards the close of a busy school year via my newsletter.  My central message was to take time out with loved ones as this is the ultimate nature of reality on this Earth.

Contemporary school Principals have an incredibly busy life and face many more challenges than in my day as a Principal.  It is a wonderful job as I have said many times, but no job is worth losing you family over.

"Hold your family close.  Never for a second take them for granted as that will be the second you lose them." ( A quote by a daughter whose father's life had been tragically taken.)

Sorry.  I begin to ramble.


May the Force be with you!


GD


Friday 6 October 2017

School Development Planning (SDP) element #26

Hi to my followers out there in school land!  This is the final element of the SDP.  Do I hear sighs of relief?


SDP element #26
The Annual Report
Aligned SE criterion
In a general sense the parents can access the Annual Report of the school as an extra line of communication.
Current school documentation and situation
The school documentation affirms the requirement of an Annual Report and contains a suitable template that is flexible enough for items specific to a particular year.
Development objectives for 2016
Compile and publish the Annual Report.
Resources needed

·       people,
·       money
·       time
·       location
·       stationery
·       IT
·       Administrative and clerical staff
·       Over a 4 week period
·       On site
·       Relevant IT data bases
Timeline to achieve the objective(s)
During Term 4 2016
Process for achieving the objectives
Gather the relevant data and compile the report.
Outcome(s) of the assessment of the attainment of the objective(s)
An Annual Report was produced for 2016.  It adequately informed the school community members and met the requirements of the National School Opinion Survey.



+++++++++

You might recall if you have followed this blog for some time that each post is part of a book in final editing.  The book is about school effectiveness and how to ascertain how effective a school is.  It is written by a narrator/scribe about the views of Tom, a revered educator.  The whole book is put down on Tom's boat. This will assist you to make sense of the closing paragraphs of the book as follows:


"There it all was.  Tom concluded that evaluating school effectiveness was a formative process enshrined in the SDP.  If the evaluation revealed ineffective practices then change needed to occur.  Summative snap shots of student performance in some syllabus areas were to be obtained from the NAPLAN testing.  Even this was formative in the sense that it could reveal areas in the learning program that needed improvement.

Tom noted that schools have access to The National Improvement Tool (NSIT) developed by the ACER and approved by the Australian Council of Ministers of education for use in Australian schools.  He suggested that it is well worth a look by schools as helpful for their school improvement strategies.  (See NSIT on the internet)

It was early evening and we sat and had a quiet drink to unwind from the intensity of the day.  Tom had invited me to stay for the night and I was pleased to do so.  It had been a pleasure working with this unassuming educator.  We chatted about the tasks that I now had ahead of me to put the treatise into publishing order.  Tom being the practical and humble person that he was expressed some doubts about the usefulness of the treatise to practising principals.  I tried to put his mind at rest and indicated that we would make a good fist of getting it out there and let the audience decide the worth of the work.   It was a beautiful night on the river with the lights of the distant city reflected on the calm river surface and the lapping of the water gently on the hull.  Sleep came easily."



*************

There it is folks for what it is worth.  GD is all but written out on being a school Principal.  I am here to interact if anyone is interested.  Maybe we could strike up a dialogue or the overused term a "conversation".   I humbly submit that maybe I can be of help with a problem you may be experiencing as a school Principal.

I close this post by reiterating how I loved being a school Principal.  I guess I have been reliving those happy years in writing the book and posting this blog.


May the Force be with you!


GD














Thursday 5 October 2017

School Development Planning (SDP) element #25

In Australia all schools private and government are required to submit details to the Myschool website.  This site enables parents to peruse the details of their school about student performance and other matters.  There is a view in respect of this site that it enables parents to select the school to which they want to send their children. This has restrictions if a government school is chosen as students from within the zone for that school are generally expected to attend that school.  There are exceptions that I have gone into in another place.

In my view the Myschool website is a manifestation of a Federal Government that is too focused on academic results and not the whole child.  Government schooling is constitutionally a matter for each Australian state but the Federal Government wields the power of fiscal grants to maintain some control.  I suggest you Google 'Gonski andAustralian schooling".



SDP element #25
The Myschool website requirements.
Aligned SE criterion
In a general sense the parents can access the site for their school as an extra line of communication.
Current school documentation and situation
The school has detailed documentation about the Federal Government obligations in respect of reporting data for the Myschool website.
Development objectives for 2016
Meet the obligations for the Myschool website
Resources needed

·       people,
·       money
·       time
·       location
·       stationery
·       IT
·       Administrative staff
·       Clerical time
·       The school site
·       Relevant IT data bases
Timeline to achieve the objective(s)
Guided by the formal timeline for information.
Process for achieving the objectives
Gather and deliver the required data.
Outcome(s) of the assessment of the attainment of the objective(s)
The required data has been delivered on time.



One SDP element to go!

This site has considerable interest from US followers.  I'd love a comment or two about why this is so.


May the Force be with you!



GD








Tuesday 3 October 2017

School Development Planning (SDP) element #24

To any US readers my sympathies about the Las Vegas massacre.  It beggars belief.  We Australians have very tight gun laws and do not constitutionally have the right to bear arms.  This is all down to a recent prime minister who bit the gun control bullet after a massacre shooting in Port Arthur Tasmania our southern most state.

*********************************

This is about keeping up to date with curriculum changes as done by the quasi government bodies who have such responsibility.


SDP element #24
Relationships with quasi government assessment bodies appointed by the State or Territory.  This applies more to secondary schools and the need to meet tertiary entrance requirements.
Aligned SE criterion
NA
Current school documentation
The school has clear and stable documentation about these relationships.
Development objectives for 2016
Keep abreast of the State’s adjustments to the ANC and apply these in the school.
Induct new staff into these relationships.
Resources needed

·       people,
·       money
·       time
·       location
·       stationery
·       IT
·       Administrative staff (primary) keep abreast of the ANC changes and inform and mentor teachers in implementing the changes. (In secondary schools ‘curriculum coordinators’ and ‘senior subject teachers’ would be responsible for keeping all relevant staff up to date.)

·       This is an ongoing check and act process with the communications coming out of the state body that controls the adjustments to the ANC.
Timeline to achieve the objective(s)
Ongoing throughout 2016
Process for achieving the objectives
Awareness by the administrative staff and mentoring the changes. Ensuring that too much change is not attempted.

Outcome(s) of the assessment of the attainment of the objective(s)
The ANC as administered in the school is up to date with the latest changes to the ANC


Almost there in this long haul of SDP elements.


May the Force be with you!


GD