As a school leader, solving problems, moving initiatives forward and supporting colleagues requires difficult conversations from time to time. Reflecting further, depending on how much is going on in our respective school environments, it can appear at times the a number of difficult conversations are necessary in a short period of time. Without a doubt,... Continue Reading →
When leaders move to a new school or receive an internal promotion invariably we encounter problems to solve that instantly become our responsibility yet these problems may not be of our own making. As a result, we can be very quickly associated with the problem and needing to solve it. This is a really tough... Continue Reading →
What will happen? How will they react? How will I be viewed? These are some of the questions that will go through the minds of school leaders when faced with making courageous decisions, or engaging in difficult conversations where feedback needs to be given to a colleague. There is a genuine sense of fear, which... Continue Reading →
School leaders spend a considerable amount of their time in problem solving mode. There are those problems that leaders create ourselves through their own actions or the change initiatives that they are either leading themselves or requiring of others. Added to this, are those problems that emerge from factors beyond the control of school leaders.... Continue Reading →
One of the greatest challenges, I believe, facing school leaders today is the doom and gloom in education. There is so much material out there about what is wrong with schools and what we are not doing. We are often faced with so many problems, all of which are appear urgent, in a society where... Continue Reading →
There's so much that we can improve in our schools, the trouble is where do we start? Prioritizing the work that needs to get done in our schools is a challenge in itself, there are competing agendas depending on whose view you take - school leaders, teachers, parents and students. Even teachers, frequently, cannot reach... Continue Reading →
Going around someone in order to ensure that something gets done is not uncommon in most workplaces, including schools. Yet it can create significant issues for school culture and challenges for school leaders wherever they may be in the hierarchy of operations. People circumvent when they feel the person in front of them is blocking... Continue Reading →
In every school there are teachers who may be fabulous and make teachers who are good look quite ordinary in comparison. In so many ways it is wonderful to have committed great teachers who may go beyond the norm in delivering their classes, communicating with parents and contributing to the school as a whole. There... Continue Reading →
Ask teachers about how they feel about the parents in their school community and responses will probably be wide-ranging. We have heard of the ‘helicopter’ parents, the ‘tiger moms’ and those parents who make life for teachers, well, inconvenient. On the other hand, some teachers feel that a number of parents are not interested, have... Continue Reading →
