Blogs

Learning To Fight Back - 30 April 2013

Andrew Fuller describes truly resilient kids as being those "who grow through the cracks in the concrete.  In other words, they thrive despite all of the risks and all the disadvantages that see the odds stacked firmly against them.  In the videoblog below, I explain a little about how the problem manifests in our schools and a lot of what we can do about it. Read More

The Toughest 5% - 08 April 2013

My blog today is about how we need to be more focussed and more deliberate if we really want to get somewhere with the students who absorb the largets percentage of our time and effort.   Read More

I Tried That & It Didn't Work - 02 April 2013

No more is it ok for teachers and schools to say "I tried that and it didn't work" when they've gone to the significant trouble of thinking through a new strategy for our toughtest students.  This short videoblog unpacks just what happens when we try something and why our persistence and faith in our practice is critical to genuine behavioural improvement. Read More

What's in a School's Culture? - 05 March 2013

My video-blog this week takes us 'back to basics' about School Culture.  Exactly what is it?? Read More

DIY Teacher Respect - 25 February 2013

I posted this pic on my Facebook page last week because I was struck in such a simple way by the unity shown by thousands of Victorian teachers looking for a better deal.  It's a powerful image - and one that made me regret that as a society, we don't pay enough respect or money to our teachers.  We simply don't seem to value the art of teaching or the joy of school learning like we used to - and that certainly leaves us... Read More

The Great Violent Opportunity - 12 February 2013

My video blog this week focuses on the violence being increasingly perpetrated by young people - not only in schools, but in their homes against the very people who love and care for them.  What's gone wrong and what are the first steps forward.Read the highly relevant article by Farrah Tomazin in Melbourne's 'The Age' that inspired this video by Read More

Dennis Danuto ... and leading the culture of your school! - 06 February 2013

Do you remember this scene from the classic Australian film "The Castle?"Well, believe it if you will, but Dennis Danuto has a lot to teach us about establishing the culture of your school.  And if the culture of a school is so important, why do we find it so awkward to define that culture?  Check out our latest video blog below for my take on School Cultures and your challenge to focus on it in 2013? Read More

2013 - a VIDEOBLOG ... What does it take? - 21 January 2013

My first ever video blog is about what great teachers do at the start of a school year.  And the part we all have to play in supporting them.I'd love to read your thoughts below or also on Twitter using the... Read More

Kids as Clients - 14 January 2013

I saw this great pic today on the Teaching Resources facebook page.  It reminded me that today's kids are more savvy as consumers than they've ever been before.  They know themselves, they have intimate knowledge of their Teachers and they are skilled in tapping into the art of what makes people tick.  They're hard to keep up with!Of course, these skills are... Read More

2013 - It's Yours! - 08 January 2013

Welcome to my first blog of 2013!I'd like to use it to send out a challenge to all of my teacher readers.  There are many tough aspects to teaching and some of them are out of your control.  We'd all like more done about the societal status of teachers, the pay of teachers, the conditions of teachers, the unreasonable demands of teachers and the accountability of teachers.But imagine for a moment... Read More

So now what? - 31 December 2012

I always think it wise to examine an emotional, public issue a couple of weeks after the event.  And there's little doubt that the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the US struck an emotional chord with folk across the world.But now that it isn't dominating every news bulletin and our own understandable outrage isn't overwhelming our thinking - what exactly needs to be done?  What's the right action to take to prevent... Read More

A Coat Hanger & A Can Of Beer - 11 December 2012

I saw a conversation on the Channel 10 program 'The Project' last night about an emerging competitiveness amongst parents in regard to the gifts that our students are giving their children's teachers.They've missed the point ... and it made me a teeny bit sad that this was newsworthy.  How material have we become in our society?Despite the certainty that your child has likely provided his/her teacher with... Read More

Eat The Horse - 03 December 2012

A word of warning - the loyal vegetarians in my readership are not going to be delighted by this week's blog.  I write today from Kazakhstan.  I'm delighted to be here to speak at the Narbeyev Intellectual Schools national conference this week on the topic of how we should train our pre and post service Teachers and School Leaders.  I'm out of my comfort zone too - and going for a walk in the -15degC... Read More

And heeere's ... NAPLAN! - 27 November 2012

I found it fascinating to watch the NAPLAN debate again emerge this week through such articles as this from Jewel Topsfield at The Age.  It's a debate worth having and the stats are compelling.Broadly, and much like schools themselves, everyone has an opinion on NAPLAN.  Most can place themselves along the continuum somewhere between... Read More

The Race To The Bottoms? - 19 November 2012

Schoolies is on - this we know.  We know it because the current affairs programs and tabloid columnists have latched on to another opportunity to either outrage those who don't parent teenagers or petrify those who do.But what's the truth about schoolies?  Having not thrown myself into the Gold Coast, Byron Bay or Bali scene recently, what the hell would I know?!Is it just a bunch of kids expressing their... Read More

Cashing in on Teacher Performance - 12 November 2012

At this time of year, our teachers are getting tired.  They are sitting up late into evenings writing reports.  They knew it was coming.  It's just that the monumental task didn't arrive at the expense of any other responsibilities.  Our best teachers don't moan about the critical need to communicate with parents about their child's achievements.But Principals and parents alike need to acknowledge the strain of an... Read More

Where's my outrage? - 05 November 2012

I'm not going to defend a decision to ban hugging in schools.  I disagree with it, but ...When I was in Grade 2, a mate and I stuck paper clips in the electric socket at the back of our classroom.  It gave me a nasty little shock and a globe in the classroom blew.  But the worst shock came when my horrible teacher (who wasn't really horrible at all) made me miss my PE class because of it.  I loved PE.When... Read More

Build It & They Will Come - 29 October 2012

Great leaders don't destroy.  With everything they have they resist the urge and the pressures to damage good people, to erode trust with continually changing agendas, to move the goalposts, to undervalue relationships, to discredit their own human resources and to put their best contributors on negative career pathways.Great leaders simplify.  They de-clutter the landscape, they make the mission clear, they mobilise positively... Read More

Maybe Katy Perry Has Education Right! - 22 October 2012

I've included two very interesting and polarising links for educators and leaders in this blog.The first is an article from the Melbourne Herald-Sun titled "Teachers Get An F For Spelling".  It's a response to a survey somebody did of just 480 people who were randomly asked to assess the general spelling skills of teachers.... Read More

The Burden Of Thinking - 15 October 2012

I had the pleasure of sitting through an inspired speech by Professor Erica McWilliam at the ACEL Conference in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago.Erica spoke with passion about how we have gone through a period of being so timid as leaders in schools that we have absolved all of our influence on the system as a whole.  One comment that she made rang in my ears well after the day, that "Policy makers have now unburdened School Leaders from thinking... Read More

Right-brain School Leadership - 08 October 2012

I had the privilege of attending the ACEL 2012 Conference in Brisbane last week.  Part of the experience was a remote keynote by the world-acclaimed thinking and motivation writer, Dan Pink.Dan is simply a highly engaging individual with a unique awareness of the human condition.  It's a scarce awareness among today's leaders.  Dan spoke about our approach to school reform and a tendency to choose left-brain responses -... Read More

Teaching The Language Of Revenge - 01 October 2012

There are some questions that are easy to answer NO to.Do we want our children to grow up angry?  No.Do we want our children to be vengeful, lacking in resilience and over-reactive to everything that offends them?  No.Do we want our children exposed to role models who condone violence, incivility and humiliation as a way to solve problems?  No.There have been... Read More

Silver Bullets Always Misfire - 17 September 2012

We need to stop looking for silver bullets when it comes to student behaviour.Far too often, we are fooled by a media driven need to do simply one thing or another when it comes to improving behaviour in our schools.  So far the plethora of attempts has included zero tolerance, suspension, teacher accountability, individual plans, alternate school arrangements, blaming/naming/shaming parents, and the list just keeps growing. Read More

Said No Teacher Ever - 10 September 2012

Twitter has had some incredibly bad press in Australia in the last couple of weeks with the stories behind Charlotte Dawson and Robbie Farah.  This has highlighting that Twitter is a wonderful vehicle to be able to bully others in a faceless and unaccountable way ...... Read More

Lead Your School Like A General - 04 September 2012

Without hesitation, my favourite quote on leadership was by the renowned US General Norman Schwarzkopf who said "Leadership is a combination of strategy and character.  If you must be without one, be without the strategy."Now, here's a man whose actions and decisions determine the lives of those he leads.  And still, he understood that what he decided in the heat of battle was far less important than who he was.  People... Read More

Inspiring Our Teachers - 29 August 2012

I loved my job as a School Principal.  It wasn't love in the sense that we were the perfect school, with impervious harmony and world-leading student learning outcomes.  It was hard work - and the satisfaction came primarily from a strong feeling that I was genuinely empowering my staff to be the best they can be.Some leaders seem to think the "big chair" comes with a crippling ultimatum on whether to be a... Read More

A Teacher Improvement Revolution - 20 August 2012

I was thrilled to read a short article by Tony Mackay (Chairman - Australian Institute for Teaching & School Leadership) published in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning.The central reason for my joy is that the CULTURE of our schools is now on the national agenda.  For too long we've engaged in... Read More

Grassroots school reform - 14 August 2012

I have a theory that we're sometimes a little hard on our politicians - bear with me!When it comes to Education Policy the gulf between making a positive difference and popularity is becoming wider and wider.  This can manifest as a complete standstill in progress while other innovation inclined industries dart past our schools into new and compelling futures.My belief is that we've drifted past a tipping point in our... Read More

Bullying rears its ugly head again - 06 August 2012

I've watched keenly the re-emergence of bullying onto our national agenda this week as the new US documentary "Bully" gains traction ahead of its pending cinema release.The Sunrise program have long championed the eradication of bullying in our schools and the documentary clearly had an impact on presenter, Melissa Doyle.  Still, I found a little irony in this story... Read More

Schools, Plumbers and Public Opinion - 30 July 2012

I've long advocated to people that the greatest difficulty schools face in engineering change is public opinion.  You see, we've ALL been to school and therefore feel entitled to an equal share of the debate on what makes a good school and indeed what constitutes a bad one.  We've used the system and are therefore qualified to enter the debate, as experts, about it ... right?My metaphor for explaining the folly in this is that... Read More

The Elephant In Your Room - 24 July 2012

What’s the elephant in your headspace? What’s holding you back? What would professionally embarrass you beyond tolerance should it be exposed?  Expose it anyway. I speak to too many talented and passionate Assistant Principals, Senior Teachers, HODs and Classroom Teachers who place a glass ceiling above themselves.  They believe they can’t be a successful Principal because they know nothing about governance... Read More

Mission Irrelevant - 16 July 2012

Does your school have an Ethos?Does it have a Mission Statement?Are they the same thing and/or does it matter?These are important questions for Teachers and School Leaders because Ethos is NOT the same thing as your Mission Statement.  A Mission Statement is a declaration of intent.  To some extent, it's easy.  Mission Statements are aspirational and few schools are held to... Read More

Tyrannosaurus Prin - 09 July 2012

I read an article with great interest in The Age this morning by Jewel Topsfield.  It's a well constructed analysis of a condition in our schools which is both alarming and inevitable.Alarming in that our school systems are increasingly finding it difficult to source remarkable people (to the point of ANY people) to take on the honour of being... Read More

The Time Poor Principal - 02 July 2012

The school holidays are on in most parts of the country this week.  Most would think that should manifest as a quiet time for folk like me who provide service in schools.  After all, shouldn't all Principals be off in Bali sipping mohitos and wondering if the lovely lady giving them a foot massage on the beach really is about to say "Beautiful driver, beautiful brake foot"?Funny.  I've been on the phone and email to Principals... Read More

The Teacher/Holiday Debate - 26 June 2012

Anyone involved in education has been sucked into the vortex of the barbecue argument about whether teachers receive too many holidays.For me, the silly bit is that we teachers typically enter this argument with facts about time spent on writing reports, preparing programs/lessons, other arduous administrative demands and estimates on the percentage of holidays that good teachers still go into school.  This isn't why teachers deserve a... Read More

Getting in trouble twice - 18 June 2012

Remember when you were young and a carefree student at school?  Well, of course, you weren't completely carefree.  Things were a little tougher back then.  After all, being at school was risky.  Step out of line and perhaps corporal punishment was still freely employed ... and then your parents would find out.  Getting in trouble at school usually meant getting in trouble at home too - there was a lot at stake for the youthful... Read More

My Dog Ate It - 11 June 2012

Wherever I work these days, I'm asked many questions about having the honour of opening a new school as it's inaugural Principal.  Those in the NT will know that the most controversial path I chose on this trip was in regard to the Homework Policy I initiated.Very quickly, our new school found itself on the front page of the NT News and within days the... Read More

10 Ways To Survive Report Writing - 04 June 2012

Now is Report Writing Season in Australian schools.  You know ... that time of year when every teacher you know is posting on Facebook about late nights and wasted weekends slaving away over the keyboard.It's a genuinely stressful time for teachers and school leaders.  These are official documents, but they are also a reflection of the work and time invested in moving our students forward - some more fruitfully than others. Read More

Our kids' futures sailing into the distance. - 28 May 2012

We've come a long way in schooling.  Institutionalised education has been a powerful force for good for generations.And the challenges continue to mount.  As we work our way through an information age and an explosion in digital technologies we are at the very edge of a transformation in schools the likes of which has never been seen.  Largely, we're ready and certainly well capable.  We're good at change. Read More

Scorpions, spiders and NAPLAN - 21 May 2012

Congratulations and well done to all of my teacher friends who have survived the week known as "NAPLAN week" on the Australian educational landscape.NAPLAN - the National Assessment Program Literacy And Numeracy - presents an interesting dilemma for schools and we need to understand it a little better.  That is, we need to enquire a little further than the unceasing list of extreme views presented on "current affairs" programs during this... Read More

The Right Timing - 14 May 2012

Time Magazine opened a global can of worms this week in running a front page depicting a Mother breastfeeding her 3-year-old son.  It was a provocative picture, deliberately chosen to inflame one of society's most contentious debates.  It worked!  Time Magazine was worldwide news and lounge rooms, cafes and current affairs programs have all hosted opinions about the "right" time to stop breast feeding.  But my blog this week isn't... Read More

The good old days - 09 May 2012

I've never been one for lamenting days gone by.  I think it's based on a somewhat irrational fear that I'll slowly develop into one of the grumpy old guys on "The Muppets" who criticise every single act.  My favourite was when Statler commented "Hey, they ain't half bad." To which Waldorf quipped "You're right.  They're ALL bad".  Quality viewing!My preference is to place an honesty lens over our... Read More

Schooling 101 - with Robbie Williams! - 30 April 2012

I believe that we need to empower our schools and teachers to focus on relationship building as core business.  These positive relationships can then be exponentially leveraged for improved student learning.  The problem is two-fold when systems and Governments do otherwise: We distract really fantastic teachers from doing what they are genuinely skilled and talented in doing - teaching! We attract poor... Read More

I tried that and it didn't work - 23 April 2012

There's been some handy research in recent years about the stresses that teachers experience.  Some of the results have been conflicting and about the only thing we can say with certainty is that being a teacher in today's society is often a stressful calling.  That's ok - nothing so worthwhile would be easy.However, the common emerging thread is that Student Behaviour is often the most significant stress-inducing factor.... Read More

The Ancient Imperative of Education - 16 April 2012

I did some reading on the weekend about the history of education and schooling through the ages and the various empires of the times - stay with me here, I'm not about to go all Socrates on Plato on your Monday morning!  In some regard, it was a little depressing to see how little distance we've travelled in terms of Governments simply manipulating schools to suit a political ambition.After all the Spartans and the Greeks... Read More

What really counts in leading a school? - 09 April 2012

I recently read the results of an international survey of 43 highly successful School Principals.  The aim of the survey was to take their perspective of what the most important qualities, behaviours and actions are to run a truly effective school.  I'd suggest that's a worthwhile piece of research.  Before I provide the Top 10, I'd ask you to think for a moment about how we can measure the effectiveness of... Read More

Collaborate or perish - 02 April 2012

I've posted below a wonderful YouTube clip that has done the email rounds recently.  It's a remarkable cover of the Gotye/Kimbra tune "Somebody That I Used To Know" by a dangerously talented Canadian group called Walk Off The Earth.The power in a message going so successfully viral on a worldwide scale is not that these are gifted people who are in the same place.  It's that collaboration achieves far... Read More

What matters, matters now - 28 March 2012

Those who know me will be well aware of my love of all things sport.  I'm a traditionalist and my passion for everything remotely cricket or AFL related knows no bounds.As such, I watched the events surrounding the unfortunate passing of Jim Stynes in this last week with interest ... and with the occasional tear in my eye.  There were some incredibly heart-warming tributes paid to Jim and his is surely the most remarkable story to be... Read More

Shock tactics and bullying - 19 March 2012

I read a heartfelt article in the Herald Sun a few weeks ago about a young girl named Catherine Bernard.  Tragically, Catherine took her own life at the tender age of seventeen, after succumbing to bullying on Facebook.The article speaks of a potential "road toll style" campaign with an accompanying slogan such as "Bullying Kills".... Read More

#Kony2012 and the education caper - 12 March 2012

I've read with interest the incredible public response to the #Kony2012 campaign over the last week or so.  When the youtube clip came to my attention, I watched the video on YouTube and gave myself a few minutes of reflection to consider if it was something that I wanted to support, and how.I decided that I would.  I "liked" the video on... Read More

The Honeymoon Is Over - 05 March 2012

If you are a teacher, you are now at a time of the year where the novelty and beautiful unfamiliarity of the school year has just about worn off.  Students who seemed to have turned over a new leaf are suddenly showing their "true colours", the bliss painted upon them by a long holiday has washed away and you're starting to get your first rolling of eyes and mumbled complaints about established routines that were perfectly ok just a few weeks ago. Read More

Five Ways To Lead From The Classroom - 27 February 2012

Classroom teachers often forget that they are leaders on almost every aspect of their work.  Simply by being the critical and most influential factor in the classroom, they are leading our young people towards their own moral and intellectual capacities.When teachers view themselves as leaders then the by-products can be extraordinary and can improve whole schools ... and even whole systems.... Read More

A glance in the mirror - 20 February 2012

Great teachers and great school leaders know how to reflect with balance.They do this by disregarding their ego.This way they acheive balance and accuracy in their reflection.When we reflect on what went right or wrong from a defensive point of view we find excessive fault in student behaviour, parent indifference and the lack of support from our leaders.  We blame.... Read More

The Simple Case For Co-Teaching - 06 February 2012

"Change that emanates from teachers lasts until they find a better way” -- Roland Barth- Improving Schools From Within Here’s a few interesting facts for School Leaders to consider as a group: * Teachers learn best from seeing other great teachers... Read More

Gamechanging - 30 January 2012

Like many of you, I began work today with a slightly more Monday feel than usual due to watching the Mens' Final of the Australian Open Tennis into the wee hours.  What a match it was!  Novak Djokovic was incredible to find physical reserves that just didn't seem to be there - as those with a sporting penchant would have heard before "Sometimes when you can't get up, you just have to get up". I was equally... Read More

2012 - If it is to be it is up to me! - 23 January 2012

"What office is there which involves more responsibility, which requires more qualifications, and which ought, therefore, to be more honourable than teaching?"-- Harriet Martineau It's a fabulous quote,... Read More

Changing glasses - 16 January 2012

On a long road trip recently I took the opportunity to listen to an audio book which was an abridged version of the world renowned "7 Habits Of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey.  One particular point that Covey made really rang with me and I think has a direct link to the critical work that School Leaders do every day.Covey spoke about how it's very difficult for anybody to improve or change performance without... Read More

Influence by example - and dirty words - 08 January 2012

Happy New Year!A couple of things happened to me during a lovely Victorian Christmas break that made me reflect on the powerful influence that all of us - and I'm talking about parents and teachers here - have over the young people in our care.Firstly, I was on the train to the MCG for the Boxing Day Test Match.  It's a trip that I'd completed countless times in my younger days and before our family moved to... Read More

Good as new - 12 December 2011

I thought I'd use this week's blog to spruik an approach that I've long been an advocate for in our schools - Restorative Practices.  For those don't know, Restorative Practices (specifically the MacKillop Model) is all about accelerating the moral growth of our students.  This way our kids learn to experience the shame of wrongdoing and for them to then handle it in an appropriate way.  Over time, the kids learn to do the... Read More

Survival or revival? - 05 December 2011

Let's be honest for a moment here.  Working in a school at this time of year is tough.  Of course, there are various reasons for this and most connect strongly to that feeling of running out of petrol in the tank.  We've been writing reports, we've been organising end-of-year events, we're cleaning up classrooms, we're planning for 2012 and so on.  And then the toughest... Read More

Oh-woah ... The Power and The Passion! - 28 November 2011

I thought I might take a different tack in prompting some thought leadership among our school leaders this week by looking for a moment at the politics of education.This week, I was delighted to read an article in Brisbane's Courier Mail outlining the Federal School Education Minister Peter Garrett's... Read More

The Importance Of How - 20 November 2011

A few months ago now, I presented a TED Talk in Darwin titled "The Importance Of How".  It was all about my experience of opening a brand new school and my revelation that it wasn't as important WHAT I decided to do, but far more important HOW I delivered my messages.  It was all about whether I had created a moral leadership vision that people... Read More

Visioning and Technology - 13 November 2011

I've been doing some interesting reading lately in the ed-space and decided it was time I caught up with the acclaimed "Disrupting Class" by Clayton M. Christensen.  It's a fascinating and challenging piece of work about how educational institutions across the world have squandered the use of computers and technology.  Christensen's contention is basically that we have not used computers to change instruction and... Read More

Going with your gut! - 06 November 2011

Leaders face many interesting dilemmas in contemporary schools.  Am I an instructional leader or a transformational leader? Am I an uncompromising agitator or a solid corporate citizen?  No matter the choices that we make along the way here we are becoming increasingly accountable for them and for the results that must be generated through them. Read More

Bullying - reactions or results? - 31 October 2011

Bullying has probably been the number one “hot issue” in Australian schools over the last ten years.  After all, we see morning and current affairs television shows making a big deal of it and declaring crusades against it on a regular basis.  It’s everywhere!  Our outcry over isolated instances of violence or abuse by one student over another is hard to ignore and easy to... Read More

Learning Cultures & Sausages! - 24 October 2011

How do you measure a learning culture? It’s such an intangible and abstract reality that this is perhaps the very reason we often fail to pay direct attention to it. It seems strange doesn’t it – that we all know exactly how important the culture of a learning organization is yet we do little to strategise to improve or even overhaul it? We fall for the trap of simply allowing it to happen and sometimes to spiral out of control.If I had a superpower I may just choose to be able to eavesdrop on the barbecues of family members in my school community. (I acknowledge... Read More

Defeating our Data Demons - 04 October 2011

I'd like to suggest that we stop using the word data in schools.  It's a controversial angle to take as, after all, data is the buzz word in the education world at the moment.  Politicians love it, Corporate Leaders are immersed in it, School Leaders are accountable for it and Teachers are often distracted or even frightened by it.  The problem is that we're slowly twisting the definition... Read More

Formula 1 School Leadership - 04 September 2011

The question I'm asked most often about the privilege of being Principal at a brand new school is "Where did you start?".  I guess that's because it's one thing to commence a Principalship in an existing school where the vision is established and all of the operational aspects that comprise any school day have already been tended to.  In this circumstance, there still might be a significant change agenda to... Read More

Performance Review ... tick! - 03 August 2011

Why is it that Performance Review for those of us who work in schools is so often annual?  It’s an interesting quirk of our profession that we differentiate the learning program every day for our students to cater for their individual needs and interests.  But for ourselves, we allocate 30 minutes every 12 months to our own learning plans.   There are some inherent dangers and... Read More

What is a school culture?? - 04 July 2011

In his acclaimed book The Way We're Working Isn't Working, Tony Schwartz tells us ... "In it's 2007 study of 90,000 employees in eighteen countries, Towers Perrin found that the single highest driver of engagement was whether or not senior management was perceived to be sincerely interested in employees' wellbeing.  An organization's reputation as a great place to work was the highest driver of retention; second was the satisfaction of employees with the organisation's people... Read More