For so long I have pondered the question of what it is that drives me – I’m passionate about inspiring others to succeed. However, I have a broad range of skills. I’ve always been this way. never one for just exploring one path.
I guess this is what took me down a multi-disciplinary degree route. What I learned was that everything is interdependent and interconnected.
This fuelled my passion for a connected approach to all things as a school leader, deeply embedded in my passion for connecting’ with people and inspiring them to succeed.
Life is not a selection of separate experiences. Each one builds on what has gone on before, what is happening and paves the way for what happens next.
We build our perceptions on all our experiences. We may become good at selecting skills and information for the task in hand, but much of our approach will be informed by all of our past experiences and relationships -and the links we form in our understanding, often informed by our emotional responses and memories.
Where am I going with this? It stands to reason our children dont learn in compartments. Just because we’ve put the Maths books away and we’re now looking at science, it doesn’t mean all that has happened during Maths is neatly folded away waiting for tomorrow.
imagine if the lesson came to an end when you were mid problem -solving. would you be happy just to stop and hand your book in? If you were struggling, then this might be a key moment, reinforcing avoidance, or preventing opportunity to ask. Emotionally this may be tough.
If you had more to consider, or had been immersed in’ the flow of learning, perhaps you need time to integrate this.
Certainly the shifts we make can lead to a plethora of emotions and responses, or general confusion.
Overwhelm.
Surely this is not so far removed from-demands made on staff and school leaders?
The day can seem like a whirlwind of separate and rared demands,where nothing seems related.
In fact, this can fuel feelings of overwhem, lack of motivation rooted in lack of seeing the point or purpose in some of the tasks being demanded.
How about a more cohesive view?
We start with our why. It’s even before the vision :
Why educate?
Why learn?
How often do we ask our staff, parents and children these questions?
Answers will vary, but if you all share them, maybe you can get to the crux of why you’re all there.
Personal learning philosophy:
Why do I need to learn?
If our children can answer this meaningfully in relation to why it’s important to learn and not for some abstract concept of a job in more years’ time than they’re currently lived, then maybe they’ll just see the point to persevering .
Creating the need to know, be able to do something, find out, or change something is key to all of us living meaningful lives. so why educate?
What’s the relevance of school? Why do we do it? Why are you here?
Everyone in the building is there, but do they know what drives them? This can be a tricky one, particularly if the answer does not arrive readily, but a drive to make a difference to the world and to the lives of community may support some of your ideas.it’s much broader, and would make a fantastic permanent display.
I’m now thinking life stories and the impact of education, empowering and inspirational reflections, as well as hopes and visions for the future.
And there we have it . Now we’re ready for the vision. A vision, it’s in the word, what do we see, envision, what is the big picture? Draw it, create it,give it concrete images , isn’t this what we do with our learners? Make a model,play with it, discuss it, give it a voice, and then formulate it so everyone loves it and believes it.
Here we are about this
Sense of self is key to self-confidence, it follows that a community, a team with a strong sense of identity can then build relationships and actions grounded in this . If you’re building confidence then all you do is linked to this .
Your systems are structures are rooted in this.
Your curriculum is fuelled by this.
Your enrichment activities are
fuelled by this.
Your pedagogical processes are
fuelled by this.
In fact this sits at the heart of all decisions-if it’s not big enough , change it.
At this school we want everyone to have the confidence to: make the changes they believe in.
Woah!
What does this mean for your policies? Your behaviour. policy can’t just be about compliance, instead debate what this means, get it night and meaningful.
Your CPD policy, if we want this for children and families, then what does it mean for our staff? Who will we recruit?
This would certainly help steer your selection process. What we’re looking at is how developing a culture and ethos sits at the heart of connected and coherent action.
What skills do we need to develop?What are the considerations for how and what we teach? What implications are there for our environment?
It’s not just about farcy signs and training everyone to recite it, it’s about creating a living breathing entity, a connected community that creates an inspirational environment for living and learning.
I believe learning is boundless, for this we need brave and boundless leadership and Boundless Inspiration. We’ve been working on this lately… to be continued!