Mighty falling

In Aotearoa/New Zealand there is much wisdom carried in Maori whakatauki or sayings. One that is in mind at the moment is:

Kua hinga te totara i te wao nui a Tane
The totara has fallen in the forest of Tane

The totara is a tall and mighty tree and when it falls it leaves a great gap in a forest. This whakatauki acknowledges when someone of importance has passed away. In the last two months two mighty 'trees' have fallen and I write to acknowledge them, honour them and in some way take heart from the gifts they have left behind.

Both my friend, Liz Bowen-Clewley, and my uncle, Ted (Neil Edward) Gallagher, were champions of those who did not have a voice. They were tenacious and unyielding in their pursuit of justice for others. They did not go around trying to please and placate, they got out there and did stuff and made a difference in this world. They worked between employers and employees, bridging what is sometimes a treacherous divide to reach solutions that met the needs of both parties. They worked in service of others, always. They cared. They cared deeply. They both loved animals. Liz loved the arts, Ted loved his sport. They had enormous respect from others in the fields they worked in, respect earned because of who they were and how they worked. They forged new ground in these fields, they were bold and if they saw a problem they found solutions. They didn't seek glory or status, having made a difference appeared to be recognition enough.

I feel that the world is poorer for the loss of these pretty amazing people. We need more people who are willing to stand and be counted, more people who will go against the tide if it is the right thing to do, more people willing to do the hard yards rather than take the easy path, more people who are committed to pursuing justice for those whose voice too often go unheard. We need more people like Liz and Ted... many, many more.

I am blessed to have had both these remarkable people in my life and they have shaped me and will continue to as I look up to them and aspire to be more like them. Perhaps in my desire for more people to be like Liz and Ted I should start with me.

Go well everyone. Love big, care deep and get out there and do stuff that matters.

Letting it go

An old friend of mine used to say that if it isn't useful or doesn't bring you joy then get rid of it... she was talking about keeping a house clean and tidy. As I was tidying up our home today I started reflecting on this in two ways, both of which were really good for me.

Firstly, about the tidying up of stuff. I am a bit of a hoarder, I hate to waste things and often think that perhaps something will be useful for me or someone else at some stage so hold on to it. Yesterday I went clothes shopping at a second hand store, I spent NZ$95 but walked away with the following items: for my son- three sweatshirts, one woolen jersey, one pair of pyjamas; for myself- two skirts, one pair of pants, one pair of jeans, three cardigans and one pair of pyjamas. They are all good quality and in good condition. With all of these new clothes drying on the rack after being washed this morning I realised that they had served their purpose for previous owners and were then let go, so I went into my own closet and cleaned out clothing that I no longer needed or wanted. How liberating! I don't have to keep something just in case I lose weight, or gain it, nor do I have to keep it because someone gifted it to me even though it doesn't feel comfortable or look right. Someone else may love these items of clothing and that is just great.
I have been doing a lot around recycling, reducing and reusing lately... reducing being the first step in making a positive impact on the planet. When buying second hand I am reducing by not buying newly produced items and purchasing based on when I need something rather than just because!

Secondly, is the deeper significance of the statement and this is what I mused on as I was tidying up. Looking at what we do with our time and getting rid of that (as much as practical) which is not useful or does not bring you joy can be just as liberating as cleaning out the closet! Some of this comes back to being aware of what your goals are, what your dreams are and what is important to you, then apportioning your time accordingly. Our lives can be hugely busy but some of it can be busyness for busyness' sake rather than useful or joyful time spent.
Today we stacked wood, had lunch, did some gardening work, and tidied up around the house before preparing a roast vegetable risotto for tea... and time seemed to go so slowly, I felt like I had time for all of this without feeling pressured or rushed. This is because it was useful and I enjoyed most of it too, strange as that may seem, as some of that time was spent with my own thoughts and the rest with my family. It was great being outside in the fresh air on a relatively warm winter's day, knowing that the cooler weather was coming again.

In my role as a teacher I am thinking that this is as true for the classroom as it is in my own home. When we are so busy we lose sight of what is useful or joyful the joy of learning can disappear almost entirely. I am looking at my planning and stripping it back, focusing first at what is useful and joyful (for us all in the class)... I figure if we start there and then move forward from that then we might just strike the better balance.

Perhaps taking on the philosophy of getting rid of that which isn't useful or joyful (where practical) has the capacity to simplify our lives and help us get more out of the time we have? I think it just might.

Teachers Matter Conference 2015

I know it has been quite a few weeks since I last wrote- I haven't been idle but focused on enjoying our summer in New Zealand and preparing for our new teaching year. A highlight of January was preparing for and attending the 10th Annual Teachers Matter Conference in Rotorua.

Karen Boyes in action in one of the workshop sessions

The conference was two full days of learning, connection and challenge. 

Silvia Rosenthal-Tolisano, of Langwitches fame, opened the conference. Her call to action wasn't the least bit subtle, through sharing stories of her own life and family she challenged us to change what we do in schools so our children will learn how to learn in meaningful ways that they need to as 21st century citizens who are likely to live into the 22nd century. We need to see modern learning as so much more than just knowing more stuff. Her call to action was built on by subsequent speakers and so the conference developed a thread that went something like this:

We need to change:

Hey there super cool teacher,
I need you to help give me the
opportunity to learn what
I need to in a meaningful way so I
can thrive in the world
I will live in! 

• because the world has changed and it isn't going to change back 
• our kids have changed and they need something different from us now! 

We need to take risks:

• our kids need to be allowed to and supported to take risks 
• risk adversity is something we are faced with more and more with our young people and how can you learn and solve problems if you are afraid to try something new? 

We need to make connections:

• with our students, with their lives and what is important to them 
• through sharing our stories and the stories of others 

We need to change:

• there are so many challenges, where do you start?  
• just take one step on the path to change... just one step at a time... but do it NOW! 

Steve Gurney shared some of his stories to support the notion that risk taking is healthy for our young people and we are doing them a disservice by protecting them from failure. Steve is an adventurer, inventor, engineer, risk taker and in sharing his story conveyed that by embracing our failures as part of our learning journey we can grow and achieve so much more than if we sit in the warmth of our comfort zone. We need to find ways to let our children learn to get comfortable with the uncertain and uncomfortable. As Steve spoke I realised this is not only such an important message for all of our children but for us as educators and parents as well. We need to take risks too, especially if we are committed to changing what we do for our children, we have to get out of our comfort zone and into the growth zone by embracing risk and failure as part of the adventure.

My Gen Alpha... ready to
take on some new challenges! 

The next keynote speaker was Michael McQueen who discussed generational differences and highlighted some challenges and opportunities presented for modern teachers with the young people that now sit in our classrooms. There were many moments where I smiled as I related to what was being shared, my son is apparently a Gen Alpha kid and when Michael was talking about them I recognised so much. Our children now are able to access so much information so they have a width of knowledge but not so much a depth, as Silvia had spoken about the day before it is not about knowledge itself but what you do with it that is important (I loved the term AMPLIFY that she used when taking information/knowledge and doing something with it then sharing it, which I guess I am trying to do here) Michael spoke about our kids being connected, and that when they ask 'why do we need to know this' it isn't just to be annoying, it is a genuine question and "because I told you so" isn't a sufficient answer any more as the notion of truth has changed. Our kids can check facts online before you can even start to defend your position. He reinforced the need to share stories as a way to bridge the gap between their truth and yours, sharing a perspective of the truth rather than declaring it as an absolute.

Our last keynote speaker was Chic Foote, a passionate clever educationalist who is driven by the need for relevance, meaning and authenticity to create real learning opportunities for our children. She helped pull the threads together with the advice to start somewhere, just one thing, and then build from there. Just one thing.

In amongst these thought proding and provoking presentations were a marvellous mixture of workshop presenters who gave us some opportunities to explore different topics in more depth... all things that worked in with what the keynote presenters were offering us. Ideas and learning that we could take back into our classrooms and schools (and homes) to start shifting and changing. I am only sad that I could not attend more of these myself.

I was impressed by the energy in the room, watching teachers actively sharing their learning and ideas with others, participating in the various forums provided and reflecting on their own practice. I felt proud to be a teacher in amongst this group and wished so much that reporters and politicians would see and feel what I did about the teachers in this room over these two days.

Karen Boyes, founder and director of Spectrum Education and the Teachers Matter conferences, ensured that this conference was about honouring teachers as well. As Karen said 'teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible' and so the TM Conference is about creating a place to energise for the new year, make connections, learn and be given the opportunity to be inspired by some fantastic presenters. She has done this for ten years with determination, energy and enthusiasm and I am extremely grateful to have attended and been a part of this adventure particularly in recent years. For me it was a wonderful two days that I had prepared for in advance and am still processing three weeks later... thank you Karen.

Karen in action 

Below are some poems I wrote during the conference to summarise the keynote speakers and thank them, as Silvia pointed out it was another way of creating and then sharing learning/knowledge which I hadn't considered at all but it makes sense... there are so many ways we can respond to what we have learned and share our insights to create new understandings.

Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

Global citizen, global teacher

Digital diva, connected leader

Sharing with us, some of the new rules

That we need to consider for the kids in our schools

Embracing the MOST IMPORTANT skill

Learning how to learn, so we will…

Teach for the NOW

Learning anytime, anywhere, anyhow

Steve Gurney

Inspirational goal setter who breaks *some/most* of the rules

Steve has asked us to take risks so we don’t become fools

Learning through your stories will stay with us heaps

And we’ll pass on what we have learned with our peeps

Success comes from belief and determination in pursuit

Of your dreams and desires with the attitude you choose

Check in on your beliefs and the changes you have made

Be curious and keep trying. You could just amaze.

Failure, Risk and Mistakes are part of the trip

So get out there, have a go, try again and let rip!

Michael McQueen

You started us with a trip down memory lane

And illustrated some key shifts with generational change

Truth, Resilience, Affirmation and Risk have moved

So this sets post modern challenges for us in classrooms

Story telling to offer guidance and share lessons for living

Build confidence, allow risk and let go of esteem giving

Our kids are different, they’re switched on and know heaps

But keep in mind that it’s wide and not deep

They’re also plugged in, grown up and empowered young peeps

Changing climate of classrooms and parenting too

Teachers are changing so embrace colleagues older and new

For helping us build empathy across generations we thank you

Chic Foote

Thank you Chic for helping us to see

That we need to look ahead and at our own history

Overwhelmed is a word many of us are likely to feel

Thanks for acknowledging this and keeping it real

Thank you for sharing your stories with us

Reinforcing that relationships and empathy build trust

We’ve celebrated where we have got to and reflected on where we’ve come

Then we will take action so we grow and have more fun

ONE THING you said, take action we will

With ONE THING for a start up this challenging hill

Embracing the future one step at a time

One step is a start so we will all shine

End of conference

Simply the best is what we’re about

But it isn’t perfection we looking out……………… for.

The best are the learners, dreamers and risk takers

Those that connect and become mistake makers

We are excited, overwhelmed and challenged it’s true

And that’d just the presenters, so how about you???

Let’s take what we’ve learned, share our stories and grow

You are simply the best so go out there and GLOW…….. like the stars you are!!! 

   

Know your players

Recently I watched the movie The Blind Side and as I have been thinking about leadership a lot lately there was a scene that really stuck out for me. If you are familiar with this movie you will probably know the scene, if not have a look here:

The key line: know your players.

As a leader that has to be the crux of it for me, know the people you work with. If you are a teacher then your players are the students, the parents/caregivers and your colleagues (including support staff!). If you are in business then it is your team, your support staff, your clients, your suppliers and your management/directors. If you are working in the charitable/not-for-profit sector then your players are the paid/unpaid staff, volunteers, committee members, clients, sponsors and supporters.

You may extend your players over time depending on how you progress. I am working in a school this year and see that there are people in our wider community that are players that I will need to engage with so I better get to know them too.

How can we get to know our players?

• Firstly, be prepared to listen more. Let go of your own agendas and tune into the message that is being given by those who are speaking. Ask people about themselves, find out about those things that light them up through talking to them. 
• And importantly, make time for people to interact with you. Leave your door open for part of the day. Be accessible. Time invested in establishing positive relationships early on will save you time in the long run.

And consider this too: 

• Small talk helps some people connect, be prepared to make time for this so people can develop a relationship with you as another human being. 
• Respond to communication. If you get a message respond as soon as possible, even if it is just acknowledging that you have got the message and will respond more fully when you get some time. 
• Give people opportunities to be involved in what is going on. 
• Ask for feedback regularly. 
• Ask others for advice. This is a great way to learn about people and build trust. 
• Observe your people. Watch them in meetings, see how they interact with each other. Watch how they work with others. What seems to switch them on, what seems to turn them off?  

Once you know your players then you can adapt your delivery to meet their needs, keep them engaged and get them on board. Even if you have a title and a big desk in a fancy office, getting great results from your team or players means that this is not all about you... it is very much about them and what you can do to inspire, encourage, mentor, coach and lead.

Take a moment to consider who your players are (it might even be those players in your own home that you are leading), and then ask yourself "how well do I know them?"

• Do you know what switches them on and what turns them off? 
• Do you know what they value? What is most important to them? How do you know this? 
• How do they communicate most effectively? 
• When is their most productive time? 
• What are they passionate about? 
• What are they afraid of?
• What are their dreams, goals and aspirations? 
• Who is most like you and who is least like you? How do you interact with and respond to these people? Are you fair and reasonable? (a great chance for self reflection) 

It is highly likely you won't know the answers to all of these questions for all of your players and that's OK, some of these won't be relevant for your circumstances or relationships. It is useful to reflect on them though and make a conscious decision to get to know your players better if you find gaps where you wouldn't expect them to be. It is also helpful to think about the answers you come up with and consider if these are facts or assumptions. To avoid damaging relationships you may need to investigate further through conversation and observation to test your assumptions and be ready to change tack if you find you are wrong.   

If we take the time to value the people we work with then we create a great brand for ourselves, we are able to improve workplace culture, we are better able to pull together in time of crisis, we can manage change more effectively and we are more likely to hear about problems earlier as our people know and trust us. 

There is a Maori proverb that encapsulates the sentiment of this post beautifully I think so I will close with it. 

He aha te mea nui of te ao? What is the most important thing in the world?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It is people, it is people, it is people. 

Quote image sourced from: http://www.generationalliance.com/whitepaper/article/peace-the-case-for-sustainable-business/

The growing brain

A few weeks ago I attended a course about Neurobiology and Early Life Trauma delivered by Grant Sinnamon. Although it was largely designed for counsellors and therapists as a teacher and a bit of a neuro-nerd I found the content really relevant and useful. There was so much content that was amazing but for now I will concentrate on just a couple of points.
One of the take aways from the event was that trauma in early years of brain development can present in a whole lot of different ways later on (please note in this context trauma isn't necessarily major injury or intentional harm, it may be a change or loss, it could even be the result of a minor concussion).

Brain development is hugely important for us to consider as teachers. There can be standards set and expectations established for various age groups but in reality when our children enter school they come in at their own stage of development and their progress from there could be dependent on things like any early life trauma encountered. Grant Sinnamon suggested that if a trauma occurred at a time of significance in the development of the brain then there could be an impairment but with correct diagnosis this could be remedied or mitigated at least by building or strengthening pathways that may have been underdeveloped earlier in life. He stressed that interventions must mirror development, starting from the bottom and building up.

This is a challenge for schools. A powerful consideration offered to us during this seminar was if a child is struggling in some way academically such as learning to read and it is due to an interruption in their brain development (for arguments sake think about developing left/right cross over) then putting them in intensive remedial programmes and giving them extra reading to do may in fact not remedy the situation properly and could even cause greater problems by increasing anxiety and stress related to reading as a task. So the suggestion is that we go back to the earliest point of development that seems to be interrupted, with the reading example start with crawling and build up to remedial reading programmes.

He reminded us that the brain develops from bottom to top and inside to the outside. For most of the session we talked about the brain stem development. The brain stem controls our most basic and vital functions and it is where our options are most limited: flight, fight or freeze. If through early life trauma we have created a strong pathway to react with flight or fight then that will almost be an automatic reaction to any stressful situation... think about some of the challenging bahaviour we see in classrooms, could this possibly contribute to some of what you have seen? In order to support the learner it might be that we need to strengthen other pathways that may be underdeveloped, such as learning breathing techniques to calm down and therefore be able to respond better to stressful situations by accessing our thinking part of the brain. This fits beautifully with Glenn Capelli's Three Rooms of our Magic Brain. Grant talked about blowing bubbles being one strategy to help build slower breathing in a fun, non threatening manner. Creating a safe environment for these students is vital.

He has developed a model called REPAIR(tm) and is talking about this all over Australia and New Zealand. It makes good sense, and much of it relates to how we can create safe environments for children. I do recommend if you get a chance to hear him speak it is well worth the effort.

Clearly I have only just touched on a couple of small ideas from our whole day together... there is just so much more I want to learn!

The thing is that I am a classroom practitioner, not a therapist. As a teacher I would love to learn more from Grant Sinnamon and how we can use what he has developed so we are better armed to support the children we work with. For me it is about how we support the range of individuals we work with and finding ways we can help them to build secure foundations for their learning. Knowing more about how our amazing brains work must surely help us to achieve this end.


Further reference:
Slides by Grant Sinnamon from a similar seminar- http://www.academia.edu/1688621/Early-Life_Trauma_and_the_Brain_Consequences_and_Interventions
Grant Sinnamon talking about his REPAIR (tm) Model- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBWmT_TBebA

Your actions scream louder than the words you use

Last week I was reading a post called What our kids learn in school (http://markmanson.net/school). It got me thinking about education and teaching again.

We are teaching much more than we have written in our planning or have milling around in our own minds... what we do screams so loudly that it often drowns out what we say.

It is said that integrity is doing the right thing even when no-one is looking. In our schools and our communities our students/children are looking so integrity becomes vital. We are teaching even when we don't think we are.

Consider the following:

• if we state that speaking kindly is important and then yell at a student or put them down 
• if we state that we need to sit quietly and listen to others, then talk to a parent/colleague at an assembly when the students get 'the hairy eyeball' for chatting
• if we state that when you do something wrong you need to apologise but refuse to admit when we make mistakes 
• if we state that it is important to reconcile differences maturely and then backstab our colleagues or glare at them in public 
• if we are teaching healthy habits and yet eat poorly 

... what are we teaching in those circumstances? 

• That the rules don't apply to us
• That when you are in a position of power the rules don't apply to you 
• That our students are powerless 
• That we are right and they are wrong 
• That you don't trust people in authority, they lie 

Of course this isn't the way it is with every teacher, or parent, grandparent, caregiver, coach. In fact I'd like to believe most of us value our role as role models. Our students/children need to know they can rely on us to stand by our words, so that when we tell them we care about them and that they are valued they will believe that too. 

Here are some small examples from my own experience and I'd love to hear your examples too as I find our stories are powerful motivators and reminders : 

Not so long ago I apologised to a student for telling her off publicly when she said something very unkind to another student. She was flummoxed and stated that she couldn't understand why I was apologising to her when she was the one who had done something wrong. I explained that I was apologising for my behaviour because how I reacted was wrong and then we were able to talk about her behaviour. 

I do this at home too, I know sometimes when I am tired I can snap or react rather than respond, when I do I apologise (not as often to my husband as I should!). My four year old is quite adept now at letting me know when I have hurt his feelings and he is right to call me on it. It is OK to be human, none of us have to be perfect. 

Teaching is leading

From my perspective if you are a teacher (and let's think broadly about that term as well) then you are a leader and that is a tremendous privilege and responsibility.

Recently I attended a presentation about successful educational leadership with associate professor Ross Notman from the Otago university. He presented findings from his own research as well as international research including the International Successful School Principalship Project. As we went through there were opportunities to reflect on our own leadership practices and experiences of leadership, in this time I often came back to the thought that these qualities are not the exclusive domain of successful school principals.

Below are three of the areas discussed and how these might look for classroom practitioners:

Building a strong vision and setting expectations
Here we are talking about motivating others, setting high expectations, having a clear sense of purpose 
In the classroom how do you share your expectations? How do you motivate your learners? Are you clear about why you are doing what you are doing? And how do you communicate this with your class?
When we set clear expectations our students have confidence to complete set tasks. When they know why we are doing what we are doing there is a better buy in and if well thought out with them in mind then the learning will have greater relevance and therefore be more meaningful. Motivated students are more likely to be self managing and committed to the task at hand, whilst we don't want to create a dependence on us for motivation it is important that we support the students to get on board and stay on board. We can use WALTS (We Are Learning To Statements) to help clarify the our expectations, we can use rubrics and tools like SOLO taxonomy among others.
When talking about expectations we are not only talking about teaching and learning, there are behavioural expectations as well. One important thing to consider about expectations and is that unless these are held/owned by the whole group then they are unlikely to be motivating or sustainable.

Understanding and Developing People 
Thinking about building relationships and developing dispositions, valuing others, practicing what you preach
The three R's of teaching is sometimes described as relationships, relationships, relationships. I agree! The fabulous Allie Mooney shared the following quote at a conference I attended many years ago "you need to reach me before you can teach me", I have never forgotten it.
How do you build relationships with your students? It is not about being friends but getting to know each other. How do you develop dispositions in others? What about valuing all the students in your classroom? Do you practice what you preach?
If we know what switches people on and turns people off we are better able to help them stay motivated and share a vision that is palatable. When you are teaching is your focus on the subject/topic or the different learners you have in your class? Where your focus is will make a huge difference to the quality of the relationships you have with your students. It is not always easy to like all the children/young people who enter our classrooms, some come with some pretty tough baggage, it does help though if we approach all students with a desire to identify their strengths and unique gifts as everyone has something of value to offer. A question I have gained from a parenting expert Dr Monika Potter is to ask yourself 'what would love do?', it is a helpful reminder when dealing with difficult behaviour.
If we want our students to walk along a path with us, to respect and respond, then we need to be authentic... they can smell the disingenuous a mile off and if we don't practice what we preach then that will erode trust which is one of the foundations of relationships. It is OK to be human and make mistakes, admit it, apologise and move on if you do... in just the way you would expect your students to make amends if they made a mistake.

Redesigning/Refreshing the Organisation 
This is where we are establishing collaborative cultures, restructuring to meet changing needs and managing conflict. 
How do you create opportunities for collaboration in your classroom? What about distributed leadership... do you share ownership? How do you identify the needs of the learners in your care? What do you do about changing needs? How flexible is your classroom programme? How do you manage conflict? Do you create opportunities for honest, healthy discourse in the classroom?
We can be the masters of all destiny in our classrooms but when we do that we disempower our learners. Think about ways that we can share decision making with our students. I remember with one class giving them some guidelines for choosing desk groups then let them go for it, I was impressed with the quick way they selected their groups and how successful they were. Collaborative cultures take time to build and it is important to work on creating an environment where it is safe for students to disagree or have different opinions even with the teacher. When groups go too far with their desire to reach consensus we start to lose divergent, innovative thinking as the need to fit in with the group supersedes anything else. This is called 'group think' which I would imagine as teachers we would want to avoid developing in the minds of our young people if they are to be the leaders of the future.
Teachers have a lot of competing demands on our thinking when planning for our students so consider how much of what you do in the classroom is driven by student needs. When you are thinking about needs are you only concerned with the academic or do you look at the whole person? I suggest that if you are not considering the social, emotional, physical aspects of your students lives you might be missing out on some important information which will enable you to better tailor your programme to meet diverse needs and help your students do their best. If a child is struggling with their learning sometimes the root of the problem may not be the subject area or lack of ability but could be a health issue, problems with friends, or any number of things going on. Focusing only on the academic may lead to little improvement or, worse still, increase anxiety and create more problems. This brings us back to knowing our students and relationships, relationships, relationships.

There are many other qualities we could discuss including being leaders of learning, modelling an inquisitive mind, thinking dispositions and so on but I think this is a helpful start to establish the understanding that teachers are leaders. These qualities can equally be applied to parenting and other contexts I am sure.

Leadership for me is a learning journey. I see so many opportunities in everyday life to apply aspects from my learning in leadership so far. If you are interested in exploring leadership a little more I suggest that Simon Sinek's leadership material is a good place to start.

Simon Sinek shares valuable insights around leadership and is well worth following. 

Same bat time, same bat channel- can TV help us improve student engagement?

Here's a little thought I have been having for a while... what if we looked at what TV stations do well to capture and maintain an audience and applied that learning in our classrooms?

I know it sounds a bit odd and in our day where we have varied forms of visual/digital entertainment perhaps the analogy is redundant but I'll let you decide that.

This is some of what I have been considering:

• On TV channels they have specific programmes airing at certain times but it shifts and changes depending on the day. There are some regular programmes and some variation, there are also thematic times such as Christmas or special days of remembrance where the schedule reflects that theme. 
• There are regular ad breaks, often every 10-15 minutes, which can be entertaining in themselves or provide us with an opportunity to shift focus or move around a little. 
• There are a range of programmes scheduled which are designed to meet the interests of varied parts of the target demographic. 
• The target demographic is carefully considered and monitored. 
• Programmers use cliffhangers and other strategies to hook their viewers in and make them want to tune in next time (as the old Batman series said 'same bat time, same bat channel') 
• Sometimes programmes that are less popular are sandwiched between two more popular programmes to keep their viewers tuning in. 
• What is coming up may be talked about in the credits from the previous programme to ensure that viewers do not switch channels. 

When we apply this to the classroom here is what it might look like:

• Lots of consultation with the students so you understand your 'demographic'. What are their favourite subjects, least favourite, how do they prefer to learn, what are their goals, strengths and needs... then consider how you can cater for that (hint: they won't be the same as the class you had last year, or the year before and they will probably change preferences throughout the year too)
• Short snappy lessons- don't drag on boring your audience or they will tune out! 
• Previews of what is coming up as we round off what we have just done e.g. (after a summation of what was learned) "so that was maths folks, coming up we will be exploring the fascinating world of adjectives in our writing...".  
• You can also preview a new topic coming up next week or next term at different times to build anticipation and buy in.  
• There will be predictability with daily scheduling but there will be variability between lessons and you may adjust your schedule seasonally. If we do things the same way all day engagement will drop off (hint: being talked at for long periods of time in the classroom is exhausting and encourages tuning out). 
• If something is a less popular subject then schedule it between two other more popular subjects or parts of the classroom programme e.g. if there is a general reluctance with math and written language don't schedule them immediately one after the other.  
• Stop regularly to allow people to move, shift focus, stretch, ask questions or talk. (Click here for some reasons to consider more action in your classroom) 
• If something isn't working then consider changing it, do something new or different, find another way. You could trial different things to see if they work, like pilot programmes.  

We want our students to tune in, buy in and engage just like a TV station wants their viewers to do, the big difference of course is that we don't want our students to be passive 'viewers' of the learning but active participants whose opinions, interests and needs do matter. And to finish here's a really bold thought, what would it look like if every student had their own schedule designed with them in mind? Just an idea...  

So, how do you get your students to tune in to the learning offered in your school or your classroom? 

By the way, please excuse the spelling for some folk out there, I come from New Zealand :)

The big bad red bug

I have been absent from the blog for a little while as we have been in hospital with our little man, we are home now and hopeful that things will continue to improve.

To help explain what was going on we talked to our little boy about the bug and that the doctors were trying to find it so they could help his body stop it hurting him. I talked with him about this bug and what it might look like and where it might be... I thought it was probably a green a spiky but my very unwell little boy was adamant that this particular bug was red, just red.

I wrote this poem for our little man and we have read it often. It has prompted a lot of discussion including where the big bad red bug might be hiding out, what the robot machine is doing, how the little army inside is working hard etc. Even though we are home my little guy asked me to read him the poem again and then exclaimed that the big bad red bug is gone with his cough and the robot machine has it... here's hoping!

Big bad red bug- A poem for Will J

By Megan Gallagher

The big bad red bug is lurking inside

It comes out and makes trouble and then it hides

My army of helpers that live inside me

Are searching throughout to find it you see

But that big bad red bug is sneaky it’s true

It hurts me and makes me feel hot and cold too

My army needs help so we call in the team

Doctors and nurses take some blood to screen

They’re looking for clues to help them to find

That big bad red bug and where it hides

The blood tests come back, a clue they all shout

Let’s give you some medicine to scare that bug out

The put a handy tube into my vein

So we can put an end to that red bugs’ mean game

It means that I have a special bandage to wear

And a robot machine that gets the medicine there

It takes a while for that bad red bug to be found

It knows it’s in trouble so it goes underground

But eventually big bad red bug is through

Thanks to my own army and the medicine too

I need lots of rest, fresh water and hugs

To recover from that mean nasty big bad red bug

Soon I’ll feel better and my own army will too

I wonder what colour your bug would be if this happened to you? 

Could you be happier at work if you worked like a volunteer?

Be happier at work by working like a volunteer. 

You might have heard the statement that to get more out of your job you should work like you own the company and perhaps that is true. I have been reflecting a little lately and think that working with a volunteer mindset is a good way to get more enjoyment from your work. 

Here are three simple reasons: 

• Volunteers choose to work there 

This is a big shift in thinking... rather than having to go to work (insert groan here) if we approach this as a choice that we make then we are more empowered. Volunteers choose to give what they can because they want to and they care. 

If we give what we can rather than just what we are 'paid to do' or 'what is in our job description' or even because 'the outcome is part of my professional development plan' then we get to stretch ourselves, show the best of ourselves and, if this is what you want, create a positive name for our selves.  

• Volunteers work because they believe in their organisation 

Volunteers usually believe in the organisations they choose to give their time and energy to. If your organisation has a organisational culture statement, stated values or philosophy then get to know them and understand what this looks like and feels like in action. Embrace and exude those parts of the philosophy that knit with your values. 

The volunteers I have seen often share their volunteer work with as much if not more passion and enthusiasm than their day jobs so imagine the positivity you can create adopting this attitude about your work. 

• Volunteers feel good in their work because they are contributing to something worthwhile

This is how volunteers stick with it even when the work they are doing is hard, time consuming or unpleasant. When I am cleaning the toilets at our local playcentre (a family/whanau led early childhood setting) I don't really mind as I know that it helps create the healthy, safe environment that we want for our children. 

Again if we find a way to feel like we are contributing to something outside of ourselves that has worth then even the mundane, difficult or unpleasant tasks will be easier to bear. 

Now this might all sound like a fairy tale version of the cut throat work environments some of us may work in. I know that there are challenges including employers that take advantage, difficult colleagues, unreasonable bosses, annoying clients to name a few (and this isn't even touching on the mechanical/technical frustrations we may be faced with) but this approach is working with a mindset that is about you and not necessarily the other people around you. If this approach doesn't work in your workplace then I urge you to volunteer in your community so you can experience the benefits of this perspective if nothing else. 

I guess perhaps this is also a call to change the culture of our workplaces too... imagine if we all worked like this, if we all gave what we were able to because it felt good to contribute, because we wanted to? Imagine as employers and managers if you embraced this mindset with your staff, offering them greater freedom in exchange for increased productivity perhaps. The other day I read a little article about Richard Branson with interest about offering employees unlimited vacation time, this kind of knits with the volunteer approach that I have been speaking about.  

There is a caveat here about working like a volunteer and that is managing your time so you maintain a balanced lifestyle. This is more about thinking how we spend our time and valuing all those things that are important to us. All ideas to think about I guess. 

Image from: http://blog.trophies2go.com/recognizing-volunteers/

Why we need space for mindfulness in our schools

A friend recently shared a news report about a school community debating the teaching of mindfulness in the school, some thought it was a great idea whilst others did not want it shared with their children.

It was a fascinating piece to read.

I think perhaps there was a little of the fear of the unknown playing in the minds of some so perhaps there was room for further explanation and sharing of research to support the adopting of the practice. Who knows and it's not my place to be debating the rights and wrongs of that particular school issue but it did get me thinking about mindfulness in our schools and if there is a place.

Photo sourced from:
 http://sustainable.org.nz/sustainable-business-news/your-mind-at-work-is-mindfulness-good-for-business#.VCk1ifmSwyk

For me mindfulness is about being aware of our own thinking and bringing ourselves into the present moment so we can fully engage in what is happening right now rather than worrying over what has happened or might happen.

I am no expert in the field at all but I thought I would share some ideas that I have from my perspective as a parent and teacher. I have been thinking about why mindfulness is an important habit for our children to learn and then about how we could create opportunities for developing and practicing mindfulness in our busy school days.

Why focus on mindfulness in our schools? 

If our children are able to calm their minds and be 'in the moment' as it were then I see that it could lead to some positive outcomes such as:

• better stress management
• students could be better able to identify where they are having a difficulty and generate possible solutions or seek help in a timely fashion 
• improved concentration through avoiding distractions 
• encouraging better self management enabling students to respond rather than react to conflict or negative situations 
• more harmonious playground activity 
• enabling the teachers to concentrate on learning opportunities rather than behaviour management in the classroom meaning everyone gets a better deal

And the potential good news is not only for our children, their mental wellbeing and their learning... it has the potential to help teachers too! If we practice mindfulness with our students we could enhance our own health and wellbeing at the same time as creating a healthier, more harmonious working environment for our students, colleagues and families. There is a lot of evidence to support mental health benefits for adults with mindfulness. 

It is great to see some research being done in the field of mindfulness in education to support the practice and offer a road map for future progress in schools. Check out this link for one useful paper about the process written by Grant Rix  from NZ Mental Health Foundation with a focus on the NZ context. 

How to encourage mindfulness in our schools? 

There are a whole range of techniques that I believe could be used to enhance mindfulness, many of which are about calming down the chatter inside our minds. 

Here are a few that I have used in my own classrooms or for my own wellbeing, some of these may work better than others and I would be interested in your feedback: 

• breathing techniques- deep diaphragmatic breaths to calm the mind. I have used this with children who have anger control issues... when something happens and you feel angry before you do anything else move away and do 10 deep breaths where you focus on breathing in and out slowly then come and see someone. For more about breathing click here 
• relaxation- a mentor from my teachers college days took us through a muscle relaxation exercise which I know still helps me to relax my body and mind at times. Basically you lie on your back and systematically tense different parts of your body then release them starting from your toes and working your way up the body (so you scrunch your toes up tight and then release, do this two or three times then move into tensing up your feet and up the body). The focus is on feeling the tension release when you let go. 
• visualisation- when I have dozens of things spinning around in my head I sometimes need to stop, accept them then let them go and I have found visualisation really helpful. There are several that I use and have used with children as well, here are a couple. Imagine you have walked through a forest and you come to a deep clear pool in a clearing, it is warm and safe, around the pool are big round stones, as you pick each one up imagine something that is worrying you and write it on the stone, then let the stone drop into the water, watch it float to the bottom, you can pick that worry up any time you want but for now it can stay there. Another one is walking down a hallway with lots of doors and putting my worries or concerns into each door and shutting it before going through the end door where the room is empty. There is also the balloon idea, which can be done physically as well as in your mind, imagine blowing up a balloon, each breath you put in something that is worrying you, when it is full, tie it off and let it go, watch it float up into the air and away. 
• being grateful- I know that this seems to be creating more to think about but every so often, stopping and working out what I am grateful for right now helps to even things out and bring me back to reality when I am getting bogged down with negative thoughts.  
• having down time- if we are always moving from thing to thing to thing without finishing something off or having down time then there is no space for mindfulness... and it is stressful for our learners. We need to be able to wrap something up before shifting to the next thing. I do think that integrated learning helps create flow and seemlessness which makes the shifts and changes throughout the day more organic. I also think summarising our learning, reflecting on it if possible, before we move on can help create that space as well. 
• juggling- giving your brain a repetitive task that takes your focus and attention to complete helps to quieten the extraneous noise as well. I taught one class to juggle at the start of the year and they did really well, it was amazing how focused some students became. It works with other tasks like knitting. I found earlier this year making a pom pom with my little boy incredibly calming. It is about being present with that task however, rather than multitasking... in fact it can be an opportunity to practice letting thoughts come and go whilst staying focused on the task at hand. 
• yoga- in one class we would do 10 minutes of yoga every school morning before getting into
  
  maths, I used a children's book of yoga positions (Isabelle Koch- like a fish in water) and we would do 4 or 5 positions most days sometimes with music sometimes without. It was amazing the calmness that would descend over our classroom, for myself and the class. The focus was on breathing and moving slowly.  
• focus on our senses- mindful eating is one suggestion that comes up often, it is focusing on the whole experience of eating our food, smell, see, taste and even touch. When you go for a walk outside focusing on what you can see that you might not have seen before or what you can see, hear, smell right now can be helpful, it is all about bringing your attention to what is happening in the here and now. It amazes me with what my little boy notices when we are out and about that I haven't spotted. 

As an aside: I do wonder if when we start 'educating' children that we inadvertently unlearn their natural sense of mindfulness, if perhaps we create more internal 'chatter' or bring in more distractions (think about our classroom spaces for example, are they visually noisy?). Do we often demand that they focus on what we are wanting them to right now when they are actually fully engaged in something else? Might it be best for our children to adopt a mindful pace? This education isn't only what happens in classrooms either.

There is much to consider. I guess in my way of thinking I wish this wasn't something I had needed to learn (or perhaps relearn) as an adult and perhaps having opportunities for our children to practice mindfulness in our schools will help us all.

Links:

• http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/newsletters/view/article/27/407/2012/ 
• http://teach-learn-lead.blogspot.com/2014/05/sing-your-song.html
• http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/like-a-fish-in-water-isabelle-koch/1112144111?ean=9780892817733
• http://teach-learn-lead.blogspot.com/2014/08/stimulating-or-visually-noisy-does-what.html

Why teach writing in school?

Why do we teach writing in school? I've been thinking about this recently so tonight I am sharing some of my ponderings. At the same time it makes me wonder how often we really question why we teach what we teach every day but let's stick with the writing for now.

There are a lot of reasons we might teach writing, here are a few to start with: 

• to learn one way to develop, organise and/or clarify our thoughts
• to communicate with others
• to share our learning 
• to be able to actively participate in society... to have a voice
• to broaden our opportunities in the future 
• to show evidence of our learning 
• to exercise our creativity
• (to quote 'Mr Keating' from Dead Poets Society, to woo women?!?) 

It would appear that there are many good reasons for learning how to write which is great news, this gives us a huge range of options to create authentic purposes for writing. Authentic is the key word here. As adults, generally speaking, when we are writing we are doing it for a purpose and an audience. In classrooms it would seem to be more often an academic exercise and I am not sure that it needs to be. 

Let's think about some of what we may write in the world outside school and the audiences we might be thinking of as we write: 

• A shopping list- for ourselves or a person who is doing the shopping for us 
• An application- for a future employer perhaps 
• A book- for a particular demographic 
• A blog entry- for a particular demographic or mainly for yourself to clarify your thoughts
• A diary entry- for yourself, or for a family member in the future to read 
• A professional reflection- for yourself to improve your practice and/or an appraiser or critical friend 
• An email/letter- for the person you are writing to, perhaps a friend 
• A facebook post- for your friends or something for the general public 
• A report- for your employers, a stakeholder in a business, members of a community group/committee  

So in our classrooms if we are asking the children to write about a given topic for us, the teacher, is that modelling what writing is really about? I know we need to help our children to improve their writing to enable them to communicate more effectively (in writing) but the challenge is doing this in a meaningful way. We, their teachers, are not their only audience. 

As I said I have been thinking about this and here are some ideas that I came up with about possible contexts and audiences for our students, clearly it is just a start: 

• Writing to a local member of parliament about a community issue we are concerned about 
• Writing an application to take on a role in the classroom or school (perhaps a leadership role?) 
• Blogging for themselves or to share with friends/family members showing what they are learning about at school or in a particular project 
• Diary writing for themselves (I remember at a course many years ago hearing this advice to offer to students about free diary writing at school [may have been from Kelvin Smythe?]- just don't write anything you wouldn't want your parent/caregivers to read if they were to pick up the book) 
• Writing to the school board about an issue around the school or an idea to improve the school 
• Writing a story for another class in the school, or for school children overseas where they may have limited access to books and resources for learning to read 
• Reflecting on their own learning, what is going well, what they are working on- this could be for the teacher, for themselves, for parents/caregivers
• Writing for a school newsletter/newspaper/website to share what is happening in the school with the community 
• Writing a plan for a project- either for yourself or recording for a group of peers (it could be a shared document like a google doc) 
• Taking notes for yourself on a particular topic that you are learning about

Sometimes the context comes from other learning, such as a response to a drama we are engaged in where we may write 'in role'. We may feel compelled to record our thoughts in response to a text we have read or an issue we have been learning about. The opportunities are endless, and when our children notice these for themselves then perhaps we are on the right track to creating real writers.

A note about spelling and neatness before I close. When we write something for ourselves we need to be able to read it, so it needs to be legible and we need to understand it. However if we are writing for someone else we need to practice some empathy and understand that making it clear and easy to read is really important, we have conventions such as spelling to support this ease of reading. In my opinion spelling and neatness is about understanding context and audience. 

Context and audience are important considerations to create authentic learning opportunities and whilst we may see learning to write as an essential skill, having a good reason to do so is no less important. In fact, I'd argue that it is almost vital... when we have a good reason, we are far more likely to be motivated to participate in the learning and that is when the magic happens.   

This is a letter my three year old wrote to his nana when she was overseas... authentic contexts are everywhere

Politics- personality or policies and practice

At the moment we are in the final days of our national elections and like many people I have some opinions. One of them comes from some of the comments I have been seeing in social media and hearing in discussions around the place. Much of the discussion seems to be based on the personalities of the politicians, not their policies or practice. If we vote based on personality does that not lead to us being easily manipulated? I kind of think so and it concerns me hugely. As citizens our voice is in our vote and this should give our politicians a sense of accountability but if we are the easily manipulated masses who are just voting in a personality contest then we lose the power we have and give them licence to practice without concern for the voice of the people who have put them there in the first place.  

I have worked a lot with boards of community organisations, volunteers and schools. In one situation there was a charismatic person, well connected, a great storyteller, who was a brilliant wheeler and dealer and managed to avert a couple of potential crises although I am not entirely sure of how he did it. He had been with the organisation for significant time and was well liked. He moved on and was followed by almost his complete opposite. We were a little taken aback when first introduced to this quiet, serious gentleman who at times appeared to lack some confidence. While we didn't recognise it initially he offered us a lot. He was thoughtful, listened well and presented us with full information rather than the shiny version of what we might like to hear. He offered us options with a dispassionate analysis of potential outcomes. As it turned out he had a dry wit and was very kind and considerate on top of it all.  

Each of these gentlemen gave us something in their time, as most leaders do I believe. The point is if we only vote based on personality the second gentlemen in this example would never have had the opportunity, yet what he gave us was something the first person couldn't and he put us in a stronger more secure position than we had been in previously. 

That we have the right to vote here and that we have a range of options in our voting when so many do not have the freedom or opportunity to be heard means to me that we have a duty to vote consciously. I haven't always taken this privilege seriously but I do now. Do not be taken in by advertisements, they are not policy or representation of practice, they are cleverly created pieces of work made by people whose job it is to convince us to buy what they are selling... the ads are just marketing. Be mindful of the media and be aware of who you are listening to. I think that skepticism is a handy perspective to adopt when considering where you will put your vote. 

If you succeed and no-one sees you have you still succeeded...?

I read this quote the other day from Bradley J Sugars and as I have been teaching I have been thinking more and more about it... 

       A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more                                   than an hour of praise after success 

This has got me thinking about praise and success hence this question, if a person succeeds and there's no-one to praise them have they still succeeded? 

I guess firstly it is about how we define success. This is always an interesting conversation... what does success mean to you. I know some people who by many counts would be seen as successful and yet they don't see it themselves or feel that they haven't quite attained what they should have. Part of this might be that these people are committed goal setters and once they achieve one goal they already have their eyes on the next one? I also wonder if it is that success is really a personal thing and that it evolves and changes as our lives do. 

Success is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose with synonyms like victory and triumph. 

I am all for celebrating the successes in our lives. Last year I had finally completed my PostGrad teaching qualification, I had been chipping away at it for a number of years whilst full time working, travelling a lot and having our little boy. When I finished I was hugely relieved and although I was studying by distance I chose to go to graduation... this was a moment for me, a public place where I had a private celebration of something significant for me personally.  

However, if we are only looking at the big victories at the end of a venture then we miss the opportunity to celebrate the learning from the journey. And sometimes when you are working through things encouragement is really helpful, I know it was for me as I was under pressure with my study and thinking of giving up. 

And this brings me to the question I asked earlier... do we always need someone praising us to know we have succeeded? It usually feels good to have people notice when we do something well but if we only feel success when others notice then we have created quite a difficult life for ourselves as our personal measure of success is externally defined not internally. We are relying on others for our sense of self worth. 

One of my pet bug bears as a teacher is when the children come to me and ask "have I finished yet?" My response is usually something like "I don't know, have you?" A question like this is indicative of a couple of things: 

1. they don't know why they are doing the work or what the expectations for the work are 
2. they don't know what they are capable of or what their best effort looks like
3. they have become dependent on others to define when their work is 'good enough'

I would prefer that they were coming to me asking "this is what I have done so far, I am not sure what a next step could be, can you help me?" or "I am feeling stuck, can I talk with you about this?"
This then opens an opportunity for me to provide support and encouragement and empower them to have ownership over their own efforts. 

We need to identify ways to help our students without debilitating their development of self management. Some of this comes back to what we do as teachers- making sure we are explicit about our expectations, that we co-construct learning outcomes or rubrics so they can self monitor with clear guidelines that are meaningful for them. A lot of this comes back to understanding our learners and what motivates them and then helping them to understand their own needs, interests and growing talents. We also need to help them identify when personal best is important and when it is OK to slacken off... we all have times when we give a little less than we could, perhaps we are tired, under stress, feeling sad or unwell, or just not interested in a particular topic at that particular time, but if we operated like this all the time our talents would still be hidden under their bushels and we wouldn't get much done. So we manage our time and energy, our students need to be able to learn to do this too, in fact I would like to think the people I work with will be better at it than I am so I can learn from them!  

And they need to experience failure along with success, it is an important part of developing a growth mindset, learning that the journey is important and valuing the learning along the way. If we tie our self esteem to success and victory alone then we are exposing ourselves to unnecessary vulnerability, especially if our measure of success is based on the reactions of others. Karen Boyes has written an excellent blog about embracing failure in learning that discusses this in depth and provides great food for thought as well as some useful tips to support learners in embracing failure. 

Here are just a few questions I am asking myself at the moment so I thought I would share them here too.

• What does success look like for you? 
• Do you celebrate your successes? If so how? How long does the good feeling last? 
• Do you ever celebrate failures? If so how? 
• Is there a difference better encouragement and praise? If so what is it? 

Links: 

Why is learning so scary- Karen Boyes- http://www.karentuiboyes.com/2014/09/why-is-learning-so-scary/

What would you do for a sticker- an earlier post- http://teach-learn-lead.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/what-would-you-do-for-sticker-some.html

Hope in the face of a bit of disappointment

I am a teacher by trade and a learner by nature. I firmly believe that teaching is an act of faith and hope... if we didn't have hope we wouldn't bother investing in the future, and that is really what teaching is, it is investing in the future.

At the moment I am reading a book by Michael Aschenbach- Vision 3000. I have only just started it but it has got me thinking.

Currently in New Zealand we are getting ready for our parliamentary elections, the behaviour of our politicians in the recent past has been really shameful and the behaviour of our media manipulative. Although I understand that corruption exists in many places I did think naively that in our country we were better than the depths of deceit and disregard for the regular folk we are witnessing. I am not the only one concerned, and this is not about any particular political persuasion, there seems to be a lot of people dismayed in a lot of ways and I get a sense that the discontent is becoming palpable. Perhaps this is also a reflection of other world events at the moment where we see people treating other people poorly, where power is being wielded unwisely and trust is being broken time and time again, perhaps in New Zealand we are realising that we don't want to follow the others this time.

In Michael's book he talks about this turmoil being part of a transformative process. When we as human beings decide enough is enough we will bring about positive change. Trevor Grice, a mentor in my past work, said the following often 'in our struggle we find our strength'. I have to think that through the struggles we are currently experiencing locally, nationally and internationally we are finding strength. Strength to change the way things work, strength to let past hurts go so we can embrace diversity rather than fight it, strength to hold on to that which will move us forward and let go of that which is holding us back.

In order for that to happen I believe we need to be educating our children to think widely and question deeply. They need to engage their imaginations and dream big, bold dreams. They are the leaders of our future and god willing they will be stronger, better leaders than many of us are looking to at the moment.

There is so much to be grateful for, so much good in this world and so much to look forward to... we do not have to keep repeating the mistakes of our forbears or of other nations/belief systems around the world. We can forge new paths on the way to create the kinder, braver, better new world that we want our children to inherit. 

Authentic leadership in education

Authentic leadership for me is about integrity... doing what is right even when no-one is looking, it is about having your ethical antennae up at all times, it is about relationships and it is about people.

Focus

To lead authentically in education I think there are two key places the leader needs to focus their energy. Firstly and most importantly is the learner. Trevor Grice, the founder director of Life Education Trust NZ, often quoted that with all decisions we needed to ask ourselves one question "will this make a difference for our children?" It makes decision making a whole lot more simple. If it is going to make a positive difference, especially a significant one, then that would suggest it is a path worth pursuing, if not then don't go there.

The second area of focus needs to be the people you have in your team. In schools these are your teachers and support staff. If you don't have them working as well as they can then the learners suffer.

Expectations

Now if we want our team to work as well as they can for the learners in our care then we need to be clear about expectations and these need to relate to making positive differences for our learners. I am not talking statistics here necessarily, sometimes we get too focused on numbers and forget the stories and the people that sit behind them. What I am talking about is the range of differences that could occur from fulfilling these expectations, and these may be social, academic, well-being, spiritual, physical etc.

We need to review the expectations regularly and ask ourselves, are they still appropriate? Do they reflect the needs of our learners today and in the future? And don't forget to ask ourselves if the language is appropriate. Once we have agreed on these expectations then we need to reinforce these valued outcomes by living them, promoting them, sharing the good news stories relating to them and whatever else we can to help them stay alive in our community.

I am sure many of you have heard theories around an individual or group usually aiming for the expectations that are held for them, meaning if you don't expect much of me then it is likely that I will not aspire to do much more than you expect. This is a generalisation of course but is interesting when we relate it to the workplace. We need to reflect on whether the expectations we have for individuals meet the wider expectations we have established.

Managing poor performance

If you have an underperforming staff member, and there are staff like that, then first you need to review the expectations you have around that person... do you expect them to fail? If so then it could be that they are living up to your expectations, which aren't particularly high. So you raise the bar.

There are many ways to raise the bar but ultimately we have two outcomes, they either improve or not. Some of this rests with the approach taken and this for me is where authentic leadership really comes in to play. It is suggested that people fail in the workplace for some major reasons; they need more training, this workplace is not the right fit for them or the job itself is just not the right one for them (aside from other circumstantial and motivational reasons of course). As an authentic leader how we have a conversation around expectations is vital, if the outcome is going to be one where the individual is left with their dignity as intact as possible then you need to be really mindful about how you construct this. For me it all hinges on relationships, finding a place and space where it is comfortable for them to have a conversation with you.

To be able to address the underperformance in relation to expectations that make a difference for our learners is important. To listen to the human being you are talking to and hear them is vital. I don't believe for a second this is easy at all, as a leader it can make you feel vulnerable especially when you are dealing with vulnerability in another person at the same time. That being said I don't think it is an excuse to hide behind procedure or process and forget the impact we are making on another human being. In the ideal world the other party leaves feeling heard and comfortable with the decision going forward, if they are in the wrong workplace or wrong profession they have had the opportunity to talk things through and understand it for themselves. If they are in the right place or profession but need to improve, again it has been discussed and they are now able to move forward knowing the expectations and that their leader is behind them in their development... both of these outcomes are positive for all parties and ultimately the learners benefit which is our primary focus.

Of course this isn't always the outcome despite our best efforts. We cannot control how another person will think or feel, we can only offer them the best opportunity to engage in professionally led dialogue for improvement.

Sometimes we will be faced with ethical dilemmas and the decisions we have to make are not going to be easy but we do have opportunities to do things as right as possible, and when given that chance I say go for the authentic leadership path!