Activity 5: Professional connection map

               

                 

"Middle and senior leaders are largely responsible for creating the systems and conditions in which staff and students can function effectively and in which learning can occur." 

(Lee, Kwan, and Walker, 2009).

Our Senior Leadership Team are of primary importance within our school at the moment as we await a new principal next term. 

One of our key foci is to encourage leading from the middle. Giving wider opportunities to staff to develop their leadership skills and to have the forum to suggest and, if appropriate, implement new systems and programs to grow both our staff and our learners. With this goal in mind, units have been allocated to one person within each year group team of three to be responsible for the group, to be the next step for parent contact and to put forward ideas which their team feels would add to the school climate of learning.

Our Leadership Team brings a wide variety of skills and experience to the table. We all have different passions and this makes for focussed and deep conversations. The constant start point is 'So What' for the children. Our diversity is a strength because you are challenged to rationalise your opinions and motivations. In my experience this is not always the case, as personalities can get in the way of progress. We may not always agree but the entire group can set aside themselves to have the hard conversations in a climate of mutual respect. 

We support one another through difficult situations and there is always someone to go to for advice. I personally have developed in confidence in my practice from the conversations and respect with which my opinion is received. My teaching has gained from the opportunities the SLT creates for classroom visits and PD amongst the staff. We are a professional community who are constantly looking to the future, innovative and 'daring' in trying new ways of delivering the curriculum. We constantly reflect on practice and problem solve initiatives either through to success, or are bold enough to say "that didn't work."

                 
                                               (Leading From the Middle pp. 12)

The ELM diagram shows that: 
• professional relationships based on trust are at the core of educational leadership; 
• leadership always operates within the constraints of a specific school context; 
• middle and senior leaders are actively involved in change management and problem solving.
(Leading From the Middle pp. 22)

The MindLab course has become my key learning environment over the past seven months. The tutors are supportive and challenging. However it is the conversations between our own group which has been of greatest inspiration to me. 

The MindLab July Intake Saturday Morning group has developed into a tight professional community. We are from a wide variety of schools and all in different positions. We are open in our sharing and honest in our consideration of the learning we are experiencing. We collaboratively share ideas about tasks and the implications our research have for us as educators. We are able to debate openly, as we then travel to different workplaces and we are also able to say what has been trialled and worked in those spaces.

This has made me re-evaluate my practice and to realise that in some areas I had become stagnant. They have challenged me to experiment and reflect on whether the changes were the best child centered decisions to make. We have supported each other and jointly worked out how to make the technology work for us and for our children in purposeful activities. It has prompted me to start to think innovatively, as described by Frances Valintine, as what is needed for and of the next generation. 

“At the moment, we have great pockets of genius, and 

individuals who’ve actually made a difference, but I think we need a generation of a lot more people thinking innovatively, and willing to be more pioneering." Frances Valintine

References

Lee, J., Kwan, P., & Walker, A. (2009). Vice-principalship: Their responsibility roles and

    career aspirations. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 12(2), pp.187–207. 

New Zealand Ministry of education. (2012) Leading from the Middle: educational leadership for 
    middle and senior leaders. Learning Media, pp.12-22

MindLab (2013) Interview with Frances Valintine. Retrieved from: 
     http://themindlab.com/andrew-patterson-talks-to-frances-valintine-about-a-tech-ed-initiative-for-pre-teens-set-to-launch-in-auckland/