Category Archives: school structures

Lilydale High School

During November I worked with the leadership team at Lilydale High School on collaboration. Some of the resources we used: https://hbr.org/2002/06/a-survival-guide-for-leaders Lilydale HS Meeting Rolling Agenda.docx http://mwalker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Inventory-of-Instructional-Initiatives.xlsx

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Why aren’t us parents seeing any benefit in smaller class sizes?

I have just responded to this post by a parent: As a parent, the Bloomfield Public School system has sold smaller class sizes as part of their narrative. The experience of my two children has been a DECREASE in group … Continue reading

Posted in Instruction, Instructional Rounds, Leadership, parenting, professional learning, school structures, Teaching | 6 Comments

Choosing Schools

Parents choosing schools based on the ‘vibe’ and community rather than test scores and fancy facilities This newspaper article attracted my attention over the weekend as it resonated with my experience as both a parent and school leader. In my … Continue reading

Posted in Family, Leadership, parenting, school, school structures | 8 Comments

School timetables are factors in lesson structures!

I have a wondering whether a school timetable influences the way instruction is planned in classrooms? Now I know the answer is obviously yes from a practical perspective but the deeper question I’m pondering is do those timetable influenced instructional decisions … Continue reading

Posted in Instruction, school, school structures, Teaching, Video Clips | 1 Comment

Extended family holidays – an opportunity or a threat to learning?

Last week I was engaged in my school’s peer review process and we tossed around a question on extended student absence from school for family travel purposes. You see extended family holidays are close to the number one reason why … Continue reading

Posted in Family, Holidays, parenting, school, school structures | 4 Comments

Are schools are at a “Tipping Point” in supplying ICT to students!

I’m writing this post to explore viewpoints on a school’s capacity to supply ICT to students – for I propose schools are at a “tipping point” in their attempts to achieve this by themselves. A little context perhaps: About 10 … Continue reading

Posted in school, school structures, Technology, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Dysfunctional Teams

Thanks to Greg Carroll, a principal in NZ, I found this clip on dysfunctional teams which seems to make some sense. We often hear about how to build teams and make productive meetings well this clips comes from the other … Continue reading

Posted in Collaborative Communities, Leadership, school structures, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The honour of presenting at Harvard

A few weeks ago we were asked to present our work on changing a school culture whilst engaging with the ‘Data Wise’ inquiry process at Harvard. It’s an honour to be invited for it acknowledges our work and commitment to … Continue reading

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Hattie on the effects of various influences on student achievement: winners and disasters.

Last week our school leadership team spent the day with Professor John Hattie from Auckland University and his team from the the Visible learning Lab.  John has published his research in a book title Visible Learning and presents at lots … Continue reading

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Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education

This is the third recent post on the direction of education in schools. In the first post I used the work of Sir Ken Robinson who gave us an outline of the history of public education and some of the challenges … Continue reading

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One to One Computing

This book takes a serious historical and international look at the “digital pencil” movement to equip every student with a computing device with wireless connection. Using an ecological perspective as an overarching framework, and drawing on their own studies and … Continue reading

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7 survival skills for 21st century classrooms and schools: post 2

After listening to Sir Ken Robinson talk about the history of education and challenge why we do things and then listen to Chris Betcher continue the challenge with a DaVinci in the classrooms – I poist so what do we … Continue reading

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think divergently – encourage a DaVinci in your class or school [this century]: Post one

Sometimes you just stumble upon a great resource that helps you to challenge your own thinking. Well here is one by a well known writer, thinker and talker… Sir Ken Robinson. This clip is one to use and challenge others thoughts – … Continue reading

Posted in flexible learning spaces, Instruction, school, school structures, Teaching, Video Clips | 3 Comments

Hard lessons for better leadership

I’ve been feeling a mixture of guilt, fatigue and overload over the past month as I grapple with work commitments and university study so the blog has gone somewhat quiet of late. But I couldn’t help notice this article by Professor … Continue reading

Posted in Industrial Issues, Instruction, Leadership, school, school structures, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Yong Zhao speaks about the limitations of test scores to define good schools

Yong Zhao a University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education at Michigan State University and international consultant to many governments talks here about the dangers of the narrow use of national test scores to define what students need. I … Continue reading

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