Learning on Purpose

A unique opportunity has come my way, I am going to be acting deputy principal of my school for a term. A unique opportunity in that not many have the chance to 'taster' a role like this, not many schools will let a senior leader escape for a term! I could settle into my (temporary) predecessors shoes, and do what she does, and just hold the position in place for nine weeks, for her to walk back in to and pick up where she left off. I don't want to transform her position, but I do want to add a sense of me to it. I want to be the best leader I can be, and not just a gatekeeper. So I started reading about leadership, and educational leadership, and here's what I have learnt so far: Listen . The people around us have voices, values and opinions.  They are as much stakeholders as we are, decisions and changes will impact them first and foremost.   " Employees and subordinates long to be asked for feedback and to be heard so  ask how everyone’s getting on  on

I facilitated a professional learning session today with a group of 10 colleagues.  It is an eclectic group including a senior leader, middle managers, run of the mill teachers and one who received her full registration last week.  The session was the first in a module rotation I am offering, within the professional development framework of the school on blended learning, showcasing a smorgasbord of digital tools to support good pedagogy.  I wanted us to begin by thinking about why we do what we do, from the institutional level, down to individual lessons.  I don't want them using the digital tools I am presenting them with for the sake of using them. I started with Simon Sinek's "The Golden Circle" Clip He beautifully describes why having purpose, knowing our purpose and communicating our purpose, is  the best way to engage our learners. So I posed the question "Why do we do what we do?"  I was greeted with silence, then a quiet "was tha