Creating schools of excellence requires a shared vision, clear action plans for what matters most, and continuous reflective practice.
Here's some key ideas for developing momentum for whole school participation in reflective and developmental change:
Learning together
- Culture – develop a culture that is based on relational trust and co-created vision. Build in opportunities to experiment and to fail safely.
- Challenge – develop internal expertise to question beyond the known.
- Connection – adapt any ideas to fit your context rather than adopt practices of others.
- Conversation – develop a culture of inquiry, discussion and dialogue. Listen!
- Collaboration – work as a team. Use external sources, conferences and online tools to connect you nationally and globally.
Taking action
- Catalytic – focus on the one of two things that will make a difference to learners and drive that focus relentlessly.
- Cunning plan – develop plans and set goals based on the shared vision and direction.
- Coalition of leadership – grow others in the team to take action.
- Commitment – once you have your plan keep focused AND be flexible enough to change the plan if needed. Develop systems to report on what matters.
- Continuous reflection – provide professional learning and reflection opportunities,
Leadership takes courage. In an increasingly complex world, schools that wish to remain relevant to young learners of the future must move forward.
This week's post comes from guest blogger, Cheryl Doig of Think Beyond, whose tagline is "Challenging leaders to think for the future". Cheryl is a recognised leader in education. She is managing director of both Think Beyond Ltd and ALPinE Leadership Ltd.