How to demonstrate leadership in your school…when you’re not in a leadership position

Consider this: leadership has little to do with position. Yes it might be much easier when you’re a Head of Department or Deputy Head, but leadership is not position, title, or personal qualities. Two definitions of leadership I like say the same thing in different ways. The interesting part is that they were written decades apart.Continue reading "How to demonstrate leadership in your school…when you’re not in a leadership position"

Change a school’s culture with this small action

In the day-to-day experience of teaching, only the easy-to-implement strategies will work. There is just too much happening at any given time for big wholesale changes to stick. I’ve sat in too many uninspiring training sessions; listened to too much ineffective INSET; struggled through too many opaque policy updates – give me something simple thatContinue reading "Change a school’s culture with this small action"

Are you solution-oriented in your school?

Cynicism is easy. Especially as a teacher. There I said it. As teachers, we can tend towards a cynicism that seems unrivalled compared to other professions. Being negative about parents, exam boards, exam grades, the press, textbooks, our colleagues, senior management, and pupils themselves are common conversations in staff rooms. I like to think teachersContinue reading "Are you solution-oriented in your school?"

What does it mean to listen?

Too often we think we’re listening when we’re not. We might be: waiting to put our own point across, thinking about what we want to say, or checking our emails (I was running a meeting when a senior manager did this on his phone…yes really!) Here’s a simple action to start practising listening effectively. TheContinue reading "What does it mean to listen?"

Drive – Daniel H Pink

This insightful book challenges traditional 'carrot-and-stick' views of motivation. Pink suggests three factors affect motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy is the desire to direct our lives, mastery is wanting to get better at what's important for us, and purpose is being part of something larger than ourselves. Citing the work of Deci,

The Mom Test – Rob Fitzpatrick

This practical book is for anyone who's had an idea for a business and wants to talk to possible customers. The most useful idea for me was "you always need a list of your 3 big questions". Market research is finding out about people's needs and pain points. In reality, it's about preparting good questions,Continue reading "The Mom Test – Rob Fitzpatrick"

The Glass Bead Game – Hermann Hesse

 The Glass Bead Game is a book that works on several levels. It's in five sections and is (on the surface) about the life of one central character - told from a biographer's view. The Myers-Briggs personality test is based four dimensions (extraversion-introversion, sensing-intuition, thinking-feeling, and perceiving-judging) which originally came from Jungian psychology. Hesse wroteContinue reading "The Glass Bead Game – Hermann Hesse"

Five B: Surgery "Scribbled an arrow on my arm"

They need to be reminded which one to remove Welcome to Part Five-B! Reminder: _Men/ Young Men: seriously - learn to check your testicles regularly please - see here* _Women: get the gentlemen in your life to check their testicles regularly --- (Re)Reading List: Part Five A: Complicating Factors "I could hear him talking to himself.Continue reading "Five B: Surgery "Scribbled an arrow on my arm""