As an election pledge, Labor announced in February and then re-announced last week that it would establish a ‘National Principals’ Academy’ in an effort to have ‘the best school system in the world’. While there are a whole range of issues here that need to be addressed, we always welcome greater focus on the important … More It takes a village, not an academy to teach a child
I am consistently asked about my views on leadership and what makes a good educational leader. It seems the more we know about leadership, the less we actually understand. Personally, I avoid the temptation to list respond by giving just another list, which in my opinion, reduces leadership to a set of qualities that seem to … More What leads my learning
There’s been discussion recently regarding the increasing demands placed on school leaders and teachers. We live in a world that demands greater accountability, transparency, productivity and performance. Education is not immune. We also have the research outlining qualities of high achieving/effective schools and the ‘high expectations’ on student and teacher performance. Parents expect their children will achieve quality … More Learning and leading
According to a recent Victorian study, many assistant principals aren’t prepared to take on the role of principal because of the associated work stress. Responding to the survey, Dennis Yarrington, president of the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA) was quoted saying that many states and territories were already looking at “innovative practices around principal development” to provide the skills and knowledge … More A new lens
As we come to end of the 2012 school year in Australia, I wanted to reflect on the work of our system of nearly 80 schools and in particular our focus for the year – learning by inquiring. This, in essence, means learning about the learner, learning about learning, and learning about teaching, in order … More Every child CAN learn
The post christmas wander through the bookshops is always enjoyable and you always pick up some great bargains. Fiction is always high on my agenda but I still browse the education, management and leadership sections looking at the latest trends. It is depressing to say that nothing really has changed except that the management paradigm … More Can we still manage in a crowd sourced world?
Thomas L Friedman writes that if Singapore has one thing to teach America, it is about relentlessly asking – what world are we living in and how do we adapt to thrive? “We’re like someone living in a hut without any insulation,” explained Tan Kong Yam, an economist. “We feel every change in the wind … More Brick houses to huts
I was interviewed last week by John Chesher from Trak Recruit – a recruitment consultancy company. The Q&A is on their blog if you’re interested in my advice to aspiring educational leaders.
Would you be in favour of a principal earning more than the Prime Minister if every child was engaged in learning; parents were satisfied and learning outcomes improving? Knowing what we know about the role of school leadership – what price do we place on it? The Guardian recently reported the annual salary of Tidemill … More The price of leadership
Good school leaders share the same qualities as good managers. They are as CK Prahalad says ‘custodians of society’s most powerful institutions’. Reading Prahalad’s column in the Jan/Feb edition of Harvard Business Review, I was struck by the timelessness of Prahalad’s notes for managers (written in 1977) and St Ignatius Loyola’s principles for leaders (written in 1500s). For … More The responsible manager
bluyonder.wordpress.com 