I consider good people skills and emotional intelligence to be two of my strengths. However, as this article about Lincoln highlights, it can also be a weakness. An acute sensitivity to people's feelings can serve me well but can also make it difficult when I worry too much about hurting them. Everybody is different and sometimes people need to be given a tough message for the greater good of the group or organisation. And the truth is that those sort of people usually bounce back up far better than I ever would, so I should not always put my own fears of being knocked back on other people.
As the end of the year draws near (faster than I would wish, as it still feels like there is lots to be done), there is an inevitable sense of reflection on the past year. How it started with so much potential and how by this stage of the year it feels so full of unrealised potential.
However, as research shows (Day, 2009) teacher effectiveness over time depends on developing hopefulness and resilience. I believe the most effective way of encouraging what you want to see in others is to let them see it in you first. So my target in the next few days is to write the narrative of our school journey this year, positively framed. I'll start with this email from my co-leader: First of all, you are awesome at what you do. You have a deep passion for learning and you are a gifted educator (whether that is educating students, teachers, the Board or me). I have learned so much from you and know others have as well. I know you are a high achiever and tend to look at the big picture, but sometimes I think you miss the impact you make on this school on a daily basis. I think of Sadia, who is a brand new teacher you have spent a lot of time coaching. The effect you have made on her with training, curriculum development and mentoring will effect children for the next 25 years. The same goes for Jesse, Rex, Kara and many others. Each time we go in and see these teachers improve it is because of what you do. They in turn effect their students on a daily basis and will effect thousands of students in the future. When you add in the impact you have had on our students, the TAs and the parents you have educated the impact is massive. It is easy to get bogged down and discouraged (especially after meetings like yesterday) but I really hope you realize what you do is massive and influential and will have a lasting impact. I don't honestly know what will happen at Footprints in the future but I think their is a lot of potential and we have 350 reasons to believe we are making a difference every single day. At school, we are looking for ways in which we can help our students learn to be better problem-solvers. One of the ways in which we do this is through our Math curriculum and the way we teach it. While the national Cambodian curriculum seems to develop the students' calculation skills, it tends to teach single method approaches to solving mathematical problems.
To balance this, in the international curriculum, we try to provide children with problems that can be solved in a number of ways. That way, not only are they developing their calculation skills but they are developing skills as problem solvers, decision makers, and independent and creative learners. As an international school, serving an almost entirely Cambodian community, the decisions about what skills we want our students to develop are so much a part of what we are doing and why. These are not always easy decisions but they are important. While wanting to honour our students' cultural heritage and national culture, we also want to provide an education we feel we best serve them in their future as global citizens as well as Cambodian citizens. This article is an interesting example of how the freedom to innovate, coupled with leadership passionate about providing what is needed for the pupils they are working with, can be life changing for so many people.
Key lessons:
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2014
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