Schools in all Australian states and territories are being implored to try harder to improve student behaviour and reduce suspensions. They’re worthwhile ambitions but they’re also hard to achieve without changing the system. If the system is that we investigate student behaviour and then use the findings of that investigation to determine blame before…
I remember working with a teacher whose class was fabulous for him … and only him. He was a talented classroom operator with a highly unique and somewhat unorthodox way of teaching that’s hard, even now, to describe. He could make breakthroughs with tough kids too. They loved him. He commented to me one day…
I’m acutely aware that never in the history of people being told to “calm down” has anyone actually done it. But is it possible that we in the teaching profession need to take a little chill pill as we traverse Term 4? I think it could be. Yes, I know things are hard, perhaps more…
I saw the incomparable Emma Murray speak at a conference yesterday. For me, this alone presents an unmissable fanboy moment as Emma is the high-performance mindset coach for the Richmond Football Club … my beloved team. Emma is seen by many as being a “secret weapon” in their recent run of premiership successes. Emma spoke…
None of you would be unfamiliar with the phenomena of a department, authority body, CEO or government passing down a directive to schools that feels a little like a wish without a plan. I noticed with interest a new policy that was recently released to NSW Government Schools around ambitions to make these schools more…
Once a semester I send that email. This is that email. There’s nothing special in it, nothing too thought provoking and nothing controversial. It’s just an offer to help. We have dozens of partner schools starting 2023 with culture at the top of their school improvement agenda. And what we do is partner with schools…
I get it. The last couple of years have felt like a never-ending problem-solving exercise. From a school leadership perspective, surviving the great staffing shortage and the ongoing absence challenges is taxing. The metaphor I keep hearing is that school leadership right now is like being that plate spinner at the circus. We’re spending so…
I shared the stage with the incomparable David Price at the WAPPA Conference in Perth last week. I was hosting a panel discussion and David said something that has been spinning in my head since. David’s assertion was that the word “performance” is doing more damage in schools than we might be aware of. And…
A couple of times a year, at least in a formalised way, we report to parents. And that’s both a good thing and plenty. In your broader communications home, such as our weekly/fortnightly newsletters, I’d like to suggest that you stop reporting. Stop reporting the list of students who won “student of the week” ……
I reckon there are two limiting factors that stop us from thinking and dreaming big in our schools and lives. The first one is circumstance. The pandemic is a good example, as are staff shortages, scant resources, staff turnover, educator capacity and critical incidents. These circumstances tend to draw us into survival modes where the…