Category Archives: Leadership

The Two PP’s (Police and Principals) sharing a community.

Posted on June 22, 2013 by mwalker

  This week the local police inspector gave a short speech to the principal network on what’s happening in the local community. Of course he mentioned the growing youth alcohol and drug problems, cyber bullying and sexting and family and domestic … Continue reading →

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Feedback and Instruction

Posted on June 10, 2013 by mwalker

Recently I gave a presentation for the Brisbane Catholic Education Office titled “Feedback and Instruction”. I was trying to make several points: that teacher feedback is best received in a school culture that openly advocates feedback for all, including school … Continue reading →

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Skype calls to China

Posted on May 24, 2013 by mwalker

  This week we had our first Skype conference call with Amy an English teacher at our sister school in China. It was a real buzz to talk in real-time with someone so far away from the comfort of my … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Chinese Language, Leadership, Teaching | Leave a comment

How many years do you think it takes to develop expertise in teaching?

Posted on October 5, 2012 by mwalker

Thanks to Greg Whitby for writing about Andy Hargreaves and Michel Fullan’s latest work on Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School, I particularly liked Hargreaves suggestion that it takes around eight years or 10,000 hours to develop expertise in … Continue reading →

Posted in Instruction, Leadership, Teaching | Leave a comment

Dysfunctional Teams

Posted on July 5, 2012 by mwalker

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 purpose of a school is………………

Posted on May 29, 2012 by mwalker

Last week I was working with Dr George Otero on trying to navigate through the various theories of action that underpin our work at Elsternwick. What are the connections between relational learning framework, Data Wise inquiry cycles, instructional rounds observations on task … Continue reading →

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To be a Surgeon

Posted on May 14, 2012 by mwalker

I spent the day supporting my wife going through various tests to determine the cause of blood swelling up around her left knee. The orthopaedic surgeon who had previously operated on that knee was great and concluded it was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Leadership, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

A Harvard Coach!

Posted on May 13, 2012 by mwalker

One of the great privileges Penny and I had at Harvard was the allocation of a dedicated coach (Emma) who assisted us in the preparation of our presentation and helped us determine what the next level of work. Prior to … Continue reading →

Posted in coaching, Data Wise Program, Harvard, Instruction, Leadership, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The ‘learning pit’ of Harvard: a data wise inquiry into what next!

Posted on May 10, 2012 by mwalker

We are at the end of our time at Harvard having had our presentation both acknowledged by the facility and celebrated by our American colleagues.It felt gooood! Our thinking was then sharpened over the remainder of the course to focus … Continue reading →

Posted in Data Wise Program, Harvard, Instruction, Leadership, reflections, school, Teaching, Travel | Leave a comment

Instructional Rounds restarts in 2012 in the Beachside Network

Posted on May 8, 2012 by mwalker

Earlier this month the Beachside Network of Schools Instructional Rounds group had its first ‘Round”. Thanks to the generous support of the teachers from Black Rock PS a group of principal class educators gathered to discuss instruction with a focus … Continue reading →

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Industrial Agreements for Principals

Posted on April 20, 2012 by mwalker

This week I attended a meeting for members of the Australian Federation of Principals (APF) where we heard about the progress on a log of claims to form a new industrial workplace agreement for principals across Victoria. Not wanting to … Continue reading →

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Selecting schools is not like shopping!

Posted on April 8, 2012 by mwalker

In writing my last post on community I’ve come to reflect on a phrase I used on school tours “please shop around before considering this school”. I’m wondering whether I contributed to a consumerist way of looking at education or schooling.  In saying … Continue reading →

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Meeting the Minister

Posted on April 4, 2012 by mwalker

Recently I, along with 2 colleagues, were nominated by our network of schools to meet with the Minister of Education to chat over a few concerns our colleagues wanted us to raise. We raised a number of points that he … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, school, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Leadership and Relational Learning

Posted on April 3, 2012 by mwalker

Last month we held our 3rd curriculum day on one of our strategic improvement strategies – the implementation of a relational learning framework in teaching and learning and to engage with the parent and wider community   (school are entitled to hold 4 … Continue reading →

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Having fun “joining in” – playing with the image of principal.

Posted on April 3, 2012 by mwalker

Over the past few weeks there have 2 work occassions where I felt a need to “join in”. As a general rule I don’t like dressing up in fancy dress. It’s not that I feel I have a  conservative  image of a principal … Continue reading →

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