Dr Dean Fink was in Sydney last week as part of the Leading Educators Around the Planet (LEAP) program. Fink co-authored ‘Sustainable Leadership‘ with Andy Hargreaves in 2005 and last year published ‘The Succession Challenge’. Leadership succession is a challenge faced by schools as well as business. Fink believes succession planning is too short-term. Rather, … More Succession management
I have always liked Stephen Covey’s pragmatic approach to leadership development. In his vodcast on ‘The Execution Gap‘, Covey admits that most organisations find it difficult to translate high-level goals into action. This is especially relevant to schools and systems as we struggle to balance the external demands and accountabilities with our core purpose – our goals. … More The execution gap
Stephen Heppell says that one of the most enjoyable aspects of his work is being able to see what schools and sectors around the world are doing and then adapt some of the great ideas to the local model. We have some exemplar systems, schools and researchers in Australia and New Zealand that are thinking critically … More Collective improvement
I am really enjoying the opportunity to engage with and capture the conversations of school leaders and teachers. The lived experience is a shared one and thanks to the nature of today’s technology, we are widening the professional conversation and sharing the wisdom of many. Dr Jennifer Fraser, principal of St Michael’s Primary has been leading school communities for thirty years – … More Learning from leaders
I’ve just finished reading Tom O’Donoghue and Simon Clarke’s ‘Leading Learning: process, themes and issues in international contexts’ – a great book for reflective practioners. O’Donoghue and Clarke map the territory for learning and leading with brief descriptions of the significant themes, trends and innovations from around the world. The real strength of this book is … More Leading learning
Michael Fullan recently addressed 100+ of our aspiring leaders in the context of leading change and learning in their schools. This was a marvellous experience for leading teachers to be exposed to someone of Fullan’s calibre – armed with research and case studies on what makes an effective school leader. It is evident that one … More The ‘f’ word
We’ve had the pleasure of welcoming Stephen Heppell back to the diocese. Stephen spent three days during the last week of term 3 at one of our secondary schools to challenge teacher thinking and deepen student engagement. It’s always engaging to hear someone as passionate as Stephen talk to teachers about the opportunities and challenges of … More Heppell Part 2
The pre-eminent Professor Viviane Robinson from the University of Auckland delivered the annual Ann D Clark lecture last week. It was a great honour to have both Viviane and Michael Fullan working with us last week. Prof. Robinson’s presentation was Five Dimensions of Effective Educational Leadership’ but perhaps I can summarise the key point in … More School is not for adults
A group of our principals recently visited Silverton Primary School in Victoria. Silverton is one of many inspiring examples of where there are clear and continuous connections between people, environment and curriculum. And where each learning space has an unambiguous purpose. As the principal Tony Bryant says, “it has taken a ten year journey of learning … More A principal perspective
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