Sunday 31 December 2017

English language skills in your school.

I assume for this post that English is the first language of your school.

If your school is in the USA you will follow the US English. If you are in Australia you will follow the Australian English.

Now your teachers need to get on the same page about what the standard English is for your school.  In a primary (elementary school) this requires some discussion amongst the generalist teachers to ensure that they are being consistent across the classes.

If a school has specialist teachers of English and other subjects much inservice is needed to ensure that the standard English is the same across all classes in your school no matter what the subject.  The English teachers, assuming they are in agreement about the standard English desired, can take a lead in the inservice discussions involving other subject specialists.  In this case we would see 'distributive leadership' in action. Every teacher in this specialist context is a teacher of English.

I am unsure the extent to which US English is influenced by Australian English but I suspect not a lot.  My observation is that it is the reverse.  If we take the oft used word programme (the old standard English spelling) and its now more common form 'program' used across Australia I am all in favour of this change to the US version.  The question is are all the teachers in your school?

At the risk of insulting my US colleagues I find the influence of US English a little irksome across my country.  My hackles rise when I hear the following:


  •  'get go'
  • New years (Even hear this on the government broadcaster the ABC when normally Aussies would say New Year)
  • gotten
  • off of

Now I must tell a tale against myself.  As a visiting student in a graduate program in a Canadian university I came across the common expression 'a bunch' of this or that and found myself thereafter using this expression.  It is now common in Australian English.

Sorry.  However my point is that your teachers must be on the same page about such usage.  They must even be more on the same page about the golden rule of effective English communication being the KISS rule.  Choose fewer appropriate words to create your sentences and paragraphs.  One of my favourite teachers was a teacher of English and he once told me to take more time and write a good short essay.

No teacher in your school should accept shoddy and lazy English, but they must apply this constraint in a positive way.  All students need to learn that everything they say for others to hear, or write for others to read, must be written in a way that does not insult the listener or the reader with poor language.

I of course recognise the value of colloquialisms and again at the Canadian university when I had to deliver in a tutorial I caused much mirth with my Australianisms like 'spot on'.  I also recognise the text message abbreviated language of the mobile phone. Not sure that I heartily approve of it but swimming against this tide is very Canute like.

Hopefully the chosen English syllabus for your school provides clear guidance for your teachers however I still strongly maintain that there should be the in service discussions described above.

I am an avid user of my Kindle reader and just read a book in which the author took great delight in using the word 'moue' over and over as if to just show that he knew it, when a simple word like pout or grimace would have been more appropriate.  This same author also appears to be very confused about what comprised a simile making this error more than once.  My review of this book was not kind.

How's this for being old fashioned!  I am a great believer that learning the format of letter writing both of the informal and formal variety is an excellent discipline for learning what makes an effective sentence and an effective paragraph.

My age shows in this post but I recklessly proceed to post it anyhow.


May the Force be with you in this New Year's Eve!  Go for it in 2018.


GD







Wednesday 27 December 2017

Symbols and Ceremony

Schools have symbols of their culture and it is vitally important that these be recognised and nurtured.  Such symbols are:


  • School song
  • The school uniform
  • The school flag
  • The various sporting trophies and awards. (Many are donated by ex students and various dignitaries.)


The ceremonies are:


  • Recognition of significant national and state (Provinces in Canada) days 
  • Transitions from Primary (Elementary) to Secondary (High) school with maybe extra transitions if there is a Middle School
  • School dances/balls
  • Graduation from Secondary (High) school


Added to the above are any major performances by the students such as plays and musicals.  So many students can be involved in these and for some it is one important time when they receive wide public recognition.
Celebrating successes such as major sporting wins and outstanding academic performances.  It is important to let the whole school feel the pride of achievement of their representatives.

I think it is fair to say that US schools are tops in all of the above.  In my own Australian culture we have over the years been a bit more reserved, but in contemporary schools I think we would tick most of the above boxes.

An important rider is that teachers also get to celebrate and be recognised.  I recall as a teacher in a Secondary school that the Principal would publicly announce outstanding tertiary study results by his teachers.


May the Force be with you!


GD

Sunday 24 December 2017

Political correctness in schools.

Contemplate a non government (private) Christian school in Australia.  It is a fee paying school but also receives some government funding.  It can preach its own religious tenets within the law.  However with the recent same sex marriage bill that made such marriages legal such schools have a problem if they deem by their religion that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

The federal government is to address such issues in 2018.

At a more general level in Australian government schools the approach is secular and along with political correctness in a very multicultural society this means only a thin veneer of Christianity in such schools.  As I said in a previous blog the annual nativity play is pretty much a thing of the past as is the reciting of the Lord's prayer.  The safe route is to teach comparative religion.  I am all for the secularity and the comparative religion, but deep down having been a school principal feel that maybe a bit of ceremony has been lost.  I guess it is up to the various religious groups in the wider community to provide the ceremonies.

In all Australian schools Principals have to address the gender issues now out in the open for LGBTI persons.  The protection of the law is there in terms of acts of discrimination.  However within a school community Principals have to manage parents and their views when it comes to how the school will manage this situation.  It is a very tricky area with parents needing to be well informed of what the school is doing and having the right to exempt their child if it goes against their family values.

There is a more general side to the gender issue of being male and female.  These days and rightly so women keep pressing for equality and the schools need to take this into account.  On the other side of the coin I sense a feeling amongst men that their masculinity is somehow being quietly denigrated. One hears men speaking out about this and at times women also supporting them in this concern.  One boys only private school near my home advertises that it is there to produce "good men".

Then there is the political correctness in day to day language use.  A good thing, but it can be overdone and teachers need to be in top of this.

The joys of being a school Principal in contemporary Australian society.


May the Force be with you on this Christmas day 2017!


GD



Thursday 21 December 2017

Is Principalship becoming too difficult?

I read alarming articles indicating that Principalship has become so demanding that it is no longer a desirable career.

What are the pressures that may result in this situation?

With a majority of Western Australian government schools opting to become Independent Government Schools Principals then become responsible for a one line budget and must account for all costs including employing their own staff.  Maybe the added administrative demands are too much in a context of not being trained for such.

Then there are the pressures of modern devices and software like the internet, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the mobile phone.  There is no doubt that the whole population is hooked adults,  teens and even younger children.  These aids can be turned to good effect in an effective school as most contemporary Principals well know.

Another area of concern is the need to recognise the LGBTI concerns amongst student populations and I have written about this elsewhere.  This a particular problem for Principals of non-government independent schools where a religious core of teaching precludes the support of say same sex marriage.  Australia now has a law recognising same sex marriage.

A further area of concern in Australia is the pressure for the federal government to see students performing well in the compulsory NAPLAN tests.  Poor results see comments from the Minister for Education that that teachers have much work to do.  Principals are under pressure here as their results appear on the federal government sponsored Myschool website.  Teachers are accused of teaching to the test.  They are only human and one cannot be too harsh in judging such activity.  It would require a bold Principal to stand upon and strive for a 'no gaps' learning policy as I have recounted several times in previous posts.  You are probably sick of reading about it in this blog.

Despite all the above I still claim it is a wonderful job to be a Principal and with the appropriate training the contemporary pressures can be managed.  'Distributive leadership' is a way to go whereby the talents and knowledge of every staff member can from time to time be deployed in leadership roles related to more effective learning of the students.  Leadership does not reside solely in the traditional administrative hierarchy of a school.


May the Force be with you!


GD






Tuesday 19 December 2017

Communication with parents new to a school

Hi readers!  Back from my time with my grandies.  Children are a wonder and so candid.  I asked my 10 year old grand daughter whether she thought I was old fashioned.  She said grandad I have to say that those sandals you wear are awful.

To my topic for today's post.  One of my grand children is starting a new school for 2018.  I was naturally curious about the curriculum the school would use so I went to the school website but could not find the answer.  The website consisted mainly of many encouraging statements about how the school would care for and educate its students. They were a bit flowery but okay.  So off I went to the federal government Myschool website on which details of each Australian school are registered.  Again my curriculum query was not answered.  I then went to the official Western Australian Education Department website and found the answer.

One element of my concern was that the school is an Independent Government Primary School and I wondered how much freedom the school had about the curriculum to use.  I discovered that Independent or not it was required to utilise the curriculum devised by the State Curriculum and Standards Authority. To my delight this curriculum is essentially the recently developed Australian National Curriculum (ANC) with some variations applied by the state of Western Australia.  In this blog I have commented often on how much I like the ANC.  I am not a fan of busy classroom teachers having to devise a curriculum.  This is a job for curriculum experts with the classroom professionals spending time together in each school making sure they are on the same page with their interpretations of the prescribed curriculum.

The school that my grand daughter will attend in 2018 would be well advised to include in its website general information for new parents about the curriculum to be used and how they might pursue further detail if they so desired.  I need to add that in speaking with a parent with children at that school with this parent going to be President of the Parents and Citizens group for that school during 2018, I discovered that there were plans to update the website.  I just happen to have this parent as a neighbour.

I don't intend to let the school know my views about new parents being informed as to the curriculum to be used, but will lobby through my neighbour to suggest the inclusion on the upgraded website.


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

To all Christians out there I take this opportunity to wish you a blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year.  To all who respect the Christian celebration of Christmas, but for whom it does not have personal religious significance I wish you a prosperous New Year.

For whatever vacation period you have at this time of the year in the Northern and Southern hemispheres I wish you a relaxing time.  Spend it with your loved ones remembering that they are the  priority above all else.

May the Force be with you!

GD

Saturday 9 December 2017

Time to smell the roses

Hullo to those who log in to this blog.  Will be taking a few days to spend time with grandchildren.

Have another post in mind to be done before Christmas, but it must wait until I complete my joyous family commitment.  It's about schools' communication with parents.

Thanks to my readers.  Hope what I have to say is of some practical assistance to Principals out there in school land.


May the Force be with you!


GD

Thursday 7 December 2017

Being a school Principal in a democracy

In my country of Australia our federal parliament has just passed legislation to legalise same sex marriage.  It has been a fierce debate across the country as Australians were given a postal vote to assist the parliamentarians.  The vote was clearly in favour of sane sex marriage.

Schools are right in the mix of the collateral events that might arise from this legislation.

Government, or as my overseas colleagues would say, public schools must be secular in every way.  It would seem that this is clear cut and I would hope that it is.  The days are gone in nominally Christian Australia where prayers and nativity plays were the go.  It has to be a comparative religious environment suited to our multi-cultural country and as such is embedded by law.  I've got to say, having recently seen my grand daughter in a nativity play in a private Christian school I weep for the Principals of government schools. It was enough to bring tears to the eyes and the little kids were wonderful. However supposing as Principal I said yes to a nativity play yet had Jewish and Muslim students in my school.  I suppose they could be exempt as Jewish children were from Christian religious education in the good old days when I was a student. By the way, I am not Jewish yet have a Jewish daughter-in-law and Jewish grand children.  It is not a problem in  our family and I wonder if it might not be a problem in schools.  Silly me, of course it would be a problem for some.

It is not that simple when it comes to sexuality.  I have written about the Safe Schools Program in previous posts.  To recap briefly this program originally designed for primary (elementary) and secondary (high) schools enables the exploration of sexuality taking into account the needs of LGBTI  students. On the face of it one would have to say that this is a good thing, especially for the wellbeing of LGBTI students.  However the program is so controversial that it has been banned in government primary schools.  As a school Principal I would want the authority to canvass parents for their permission for their student children to experience this program.  If a parent said no then so be it and their sons and daughters would be exempt. Tricky!

For non government private schools some function in accordance with religious beliefs that are antithetical to same sex marriage and in Australia are refusing to budge.  There is now some talk that their government funding may be in  jeopardy. I don't think that in any of these schools there is any sense of not accepting LGBTI persons for who they are.  It is just about the marriage thing.

It seemed in my days as a school Principal so much simpler, but I guess it wasn't simple for LGBTI students who suffered in silence.  I don't recall any incidents of this but worry that it could have been overlooked by yours truly.  They were unfortunately different times with less sensitivity to issues like LGBTI.  The acronym had not even been invented.  I'm glad it has.

May the Force be with you!


GD











Tuesday 5 December 2017

Celebrating success

As the school Principal you will be keepingt a keen eye out for successes to celebrate.

Suppose you have just received excellent results for your school in the compulsory government NAPLAN tests in literacy and numeracy.  Time to celebrate with the whole staff in some form another.

Suppose your school has been lauded for an excellent stage performance of a play or a musical.  Time to celebrate with all the participants.

Suppose the school grounds have been kept tidy for a long period of time.  Time for you to get on the PA and congratulate the whole school.

Suppose some bright maths students have won prizes in a competition.  Time to celebrate with the particular students, their teachers and to let the school bask in the success.

At a more personal level a long time ago a very effective administrator showed me samples of the personal congratulatory notes he wrote to various of his staff for commitment beyond the call of duty.  I took this on board and used it myself.  The notes are very private to the persons to be congratulated. As an example, when I was Director of Personnel for the Education Department of Western Australia,  one of the 160 clerical persons for whom I had responsibility pulled out all stops to resolve a cleaner shortage in a very remote school.  I left a a note of thanks on his desk indicating the importance to that school of what he had achieved. I can't recall but as was my way I probably spoke personally to him as well.  Spoken words are good, but the written note has a permanence about it that the recipient can return to from time to time and also use as part of reference material for job applications.

The 160 staff beavered away over their computers day after day and by dint of effective guidance from their Managers were able to get the government schools across the state successfully staffed for the opening of the school year.  This was a vital target, as to not achieve it caused problems at school level and opened the Education Department to annual criticism from the media and the Teachers' Union.  To celebrate my Managers and I organised a barbecue in adjacent grounds for the 160. The Director General joined us for the celebration and was bit taken aback, but supportive of the fact that we did this.

If you are a Principal of a remote school often staffed by young teachers boarding away from home in an unfamiliar environment, celebrations and just time to get together and relax are vital.  In our climate barbecues are good.

Lest you think I am bragging, as an educational administrator the indications are that I did okay, but I am here to tell you that I made many mistakes as I learned my craft. I hope I learned from them.


May the Force be with you!


GD