Learning for Leadership

This morning I began to read Learning for Leadership. This book has been written by Michelle Anderson and Christine Cawsey. Over the course of the year I have listened and re-listened to an ACEL podcast of Chrisine's where she presents, in my opinion, some terrific ideas, views and strategies in enabling schools to move forward with learning. Christine is the Principal of Rooty Hill High School in Sydney's west.

Anyway as I read the introductory chapter I was struck again by what I believe to be the foundation of educational change. This comes from the OECD guidelines for improving School Leadership:

" ... the proposition is put forward that leadership is more than just technique and timing; it is about the morally purposeful pursuit of change beyond individual achievement, to the collective commitment to challenging inequality - in its broadest sense."

It will be interesting to continue to read as I am seeking information that I can build into a framework for leadership development within my school. Shifting the leadership from management to embedding learning within all that is done. Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated!

Liza Minelli: Legendary Entertainer Awesome Creator

I was recently watching a program where Liza Minelli was interviewed. She is such a gracious woman who showed a true human side of entertainment in this particular show. One thing that struck me is that even though she has performed for many years every time she sings a song she sings it as if "it is the first time but also the last".

I started to think about this and wondered if we thought this way each time we walked into the classroom/school how much more creative we could be with our work. If every lesson I taught was a lesson that I viewed as being the first but also the last. Imagine the potential of what could happen for the students in front of me!

Tactics or Strategies: It's all about keeping the focus

It's interesting how when you get so busy in the life of a school it seems like ages before you can sit down and have a good read of some research or browse of the internet. Yet when I do get these moments I really enjoy what I find. I have recently been interested in attending the ACEL Summer School and was doing a little bit of research of my own about the four days in January. Anyway, I came across the site of Dr Cheryl Doig. She has a plethora of information on this site including links to a wet paint site that discusses the foundations of building Professional Learning Communities.

Some of the interesting comments that Cheryl makes include:

• Are Principals using tactics or strategies? It's the strategies that will work!
• What questions are being asked when building a school culture that values 'walk throughs'? 

Why would I be doing this?

What changes do I want?

Where are we heading as a school?

What collective culture do we need to build with our staff to be able to get there?

Remaining focused whilst developing the norms of working together which in turn will develop dialogue and discussion.

What is one thing we can identify that will make a difference if we explore it just that little bit further?

But most of all working in schools is about working with people. When we are working with people we need to remember:

• Building people: building the common language
• Working on collaborative ways of working together
• Community building
• Facilitation is paramount

Continual articulation of purpose: Referring back; questioning; have we met what we said we would work toward?

Most important of all I believe is the development of shared responsibility. The agreement of the norms of working together allows for all to take responsibility of the school and the learning that is occurring within it.

Adding to the Assessment Dialogue

Just read a post that generates some great thoughts around the assessment process and what we are actually doing when setting assessment tasks. Pete speaks about the layers of assessment. How many layers are we creating to ensure that we are getting to the complexity of student learning? I agree here that the dialogue is crucial. Sometimes teachers just don't appreciate how much they can actually bring to the conversation and how much learning can come because of the conversation they have. The learning I talk about here is not just student learning bit professional teacher learning as well. 

We have to keep unpacking the layers, adding the layers, asking questions - key critical questions about what the students are doing so that their learning and our teaching is continually informed.

Action Research - Helping to Form a Dynamic Professional Learning Community

Over the last three weeks the staff at our school have been implementing action research within their learning spaces that stems from backward mapping of assessment tasks. This has been a dynamic professional learning experience to which the teachers have taken like 'ducks to water'! At our recent feedback staff meeting our teachers discussed their task and what was gained from the action research. What we have been able to do is generate some exciting professional direction that will enable us to meet the needs of students at this point in time at Holy Family.

So, what are our future directions?

• Further development of structures for students when completing tasks
• Differentiation of student work
• Scaffolding students toward recognising their strengths in which to work
• Open ended tasks
• Students taking direct responsibility for their learning
• Specific focus on what needs to be taught
• Monitoring of student work
• Identification of what needs to be taught: informing teaching and learning
• Development of KLA specific language 

This just highlights our next step. We are ready know to take on the challenge of embracing the Quality Teaching Framework whilst ensuring key links with the Diocesan School Review and Improvement Framework.

An exciting journey lays before us!

Positive Behaviour For Learning (PB4L) The Journey Has Begun

Holy Family Parish Primary School at Ingleburn has begun working with PB4L in 2009. Whilst only at the beginning of the PB4L journey, the staff of Holy Family has embraced the framework as an alternative way of operating to improve student behaviour and therefore, student academic performance. PB4L is highlighting the need across all schools and within the community to implement a consistent and equitable approach to Pastoral Care.

The framework is a preventive approach to behaviour management that allows for individual student differences to be identified, accepted and managed. One of the most significant changes with this approach has been the collection and analysis of data from all areas of the school, particularly the playground and classroom. This data has allowed the staff to ask critical questions about the processes and procedures in place and what can be done to prevent repeated inappropriate behaviour.

The development of a set of clear school rules accompanied with an expectations matrix has allowed for significant staff discussion as well as drawing on research both within Australia and overseas. The discussion is allowing all staff to be involved and to own the framework. It has also assisted with defining the need to explicitly teach students the appropriate behaviour to display within the school context. This is vital for the sustainability of Positive Behaviour For Learning over time.

PB4L is not a program or complete package. It is a framework that is designed to be applied at the local school level taking into account the needs of the school which are defined by the staff who work within the school.

Holy Family has a PB4L team that is made up of teachers and a school support officer. The team also has a mentor from the Catholic Education Office who brings a different perspective whilst asking challenging and constructively critical questions about the implementation process.

At Holy Family PB4L offers students pastoral care at an individual level. Recognition and celebration of positive behaviour plays as equally an important role as consequences for inappropriate behaviour. Celebration and forgiveness are essential elements which allow children to learn from their mistakes and to move forward in a positive way.

Within a Catholic school environment, Holy Family looks to the example Jesus gave us in the parable of the Lost Son about forgiveness, acceptance of indiscretions and celebration of relationships amongst us.

“… But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Luke 15:32

Celebrating First Communion

Yesterday the students from  my school celebrated their First Communion. It was a wonderful occasion for the community. It highlighted some significant elements of what it means to be a Catholic:

• the presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist is our opportunity to be spiritually nourished;
• we allow our children the privilege and the right to be a part of a Catholic Christian community; and 
• the preparation for the Eucharist is a time of significance for children and their families. It is a time for renewal and recognising the commitment we make as members of the Church.

Celebrations such as this are a reminder of the rituals that our church holds. They are significant to our understanding of who we are as people and where we are headed in our lives. As an adult it reinforces to me the importance of proclaiming that I am a Catholic and I am proud of my Church and her rich tradition.