The 5Ps - planning lessons that are fit for purpose

The ultimate purpose of any school leader, at any level, is to ensure that the pupils receive teaching of the highest quality. Some schools choose to be highly prescriptive about lesson planning but I believe that this makes teaching little more than a technical undertaking and not the imaginative, creative and exciting experience it ought to be for teachers and learners alike. Rather than providing a rigid proforma that must be followed I prefer giving teachers a framework within which they can create lessons. Starting with a sterile lesson plan sheet produces linear lessons where component B is considered after the construction of component A and so on through to the end of the lesson. The planning is linear and often the starter is set in stone by the time the main activities are planned. This can be avoided if the whole lesson is considered before a lesson plan is ever constructed.

A couple of years ago I introduced an approach I called the 5Ps. This suggested that before formally building a lesson plan teachers ought to consider 5 key areas all of which contribute to a successful lesson. The 5Ps stand for Purpose, Preparation, Pitch, Pace and Progress. For each one I ask colleagues to consider a set of questions regarding the construction of their lessons. These are:

Purpose

If a lesson is to be taught there must be a good reason for teaching it.

• What are you teaching? Why are you teaching this?
• Where does it fit into the curriculum/Schemes of Learning?
• How will it benefit the pupils?
• Will it increase knowledge, understanding or skills?
• How will you prepare the children for learning?
• How will the children know the Learning objective (give LO)?
• How will you remind the children of previous learning?
• How will the children know the Success Criteria (give SC)?

Preparation             

Are you ready to deliver the lesson?

• Do you have the right resources?
• Is the classroom fit for purpose?
• Do you need any special arrangements for the lesson?
• Are you safe (risk assessments)?
• How will you establish the appropriate atmosphere (behaviour for learning)?

Pitch     

The pitch of the lesson must ensure that all pupils can access the materials.

• Describe the type and range of differentiation required.
• Identify the range of ‘Levelness’ and what this looks like.
• Identify how extensions might be made if necessary (higher or lower).
• Are there any ‘Special Needs’ (higher, lower, vulnerable groups) and how will the needs be met?

Pace     

The pace must maintain interest and ensure learning.

• What are the activities for the lesson going to be?
• How frequently will the activities change?
• How will the pupils know the time frame for each activity?
• What ways will be used for recording such that pace is maintained?

Progress             

You and children must know that progress has been made.

• How will you know that progress has been made?
• When will pupils refer to and reflect on the Learning Objectives?
• How do you know progress has been made?
• How do the children know they have made progress?
• Will there be opportunity for peer assessment?

The first two areas, purpose and preparation, are the scene setting, contextual elements, whilst the other three provide the meat of the lesson. When these questions have been considered it is far more likely that a teacher will have a good idea of what their successful lesson should look like rather than undertaking a simple, linear lesson plan.

This approach also provides a powerful framework for lessonobservations and feedback. When I watch a lesson I tend to focus on one of pitch, pace or progress. It means that the observation can be focused whilst covering enough to be useful. In addition the feedback is couched in these terms and so observer and observed share a common vocabulary. This methodology was worth its weight in gold during a recent OFSTED where this underpinned our lesson planning. It came as no surprise that all teaching was seen to be at least good because the 5Ps cover all the bases of good lessons.

Teaching should be a creative process, feel free to use this to put some of the creativity back into your staff’s planning.

Update: please take a look at the 6th and 7th P which I describe elsewhere; hopefully they may provide the icing on the cake!

Remember your colleagues have brains as well or "why I hate ice-breakers"

Over the years I have undertaken many activities which have induced terror in me, most often as a result of altitude and the potential death-inducing effect of gravity experienced on high mountains. But nothing compares to that feeling of terror I experience whenever a course-leader utters the word "ice-breaker" resulting in a tail-spin of fear and loathing as I descend to depths of misery! Why do I hate these apparently innocuous preliminaries? There are a variety of reasons so here are just a few.

Firstly I don't want to share details of my life, loves, hobbies, achievements, failures and so on with a bunch of strangers. Then I don't want to play silly games with a bunch of other people who also don't want to play games. Thirdly, do your job; I've come here to learn something, not bugger about. And fourthly (and in this list most importantly), I have a brain, I'm a professionally and academically successful and intelligent teacher, so treat me like one.

Before I go further here's a true story. Many years ago I attended a course (no idea what on) and I ended up on a table of relatively young female teachers (this was simply luck-of-the-draw). The ice-breaker was to share our most memorable days. My table-mates were either dim-witted or genuinely nosey since they all robotically poured out fond memories of recent wedding days. Utterly disinterested in the activity, and by now the banality of my colleagues, my turn raised some eyebrows. I happily explained that my most memorable day was seeing Stoke City beat Brentford at Cardiff's Millenium Stadium in a football playoff final. They struggled to comprehend how I placed this above my own wedding day, and their collective sense of humour failed completely when I explained that it was possible I would have another wedding day but I would never get to see Stoke win a playoff final again! Ice-breakers: treat with contempt!

In my list of objections the last one is the one I want to spend a little time discussing as I believe it is at the heart of good INSET as well as at the heart of good leadership, don't forget your colleagues have brains as well! 

I have now worked in every phase of education from nursery through to Universities and what I'm about to say is an observation rather than scientific fact, but by and large I have seen more primary colleagues treated as being brainless than in the secondary phase. This may be for a raft of reasons, none of which can be properly justified but I suspect that because there are far more primary heads than secondary that it stands a good chance that there are more poor primary heads than secondary (I'm not implying that the percentage is different), and also that secondary teachers, with their subject degrees (rather than education degrees), are a tad arsier! Please don't have a go at me over this point.

Here are some tips:

Discuss, debate and justify: if you can't justify your actions you are on slippery ice. Your colleagues will see through you and be asking what book did you get that idea from. Be prepared to discuss and debate your ideas, your colleagues may not agree with you but they will respect a cogent argument, supported by theory and evidence, and with a plan in tow. You must put in the leg work. Understand your subject and be ready for counter-arguments. Before I present an idea to colleagues I always make sure I have come up with a list of negatives and have thought about these viewpoints and how I will talk them through.

Listen and adapt: do you really know it all? It isn't a particularly appealing trait and it is highly likely that there is lot more experience in front of you than you have. Acknowledge and listen to concerns, recognise that there may be a multiplicity of opinions and be prepared to incorporate ideas from the staff. This has many benefits, staff will realise you will listen, that you are treating them as professionals, that you want to share and not simply impose, and that you are also aware that you do not know everything. This is a sign of strength and not weakness.

You don't know everything: it is true, you may have been doing the job 25 years but there are things you don't know. It will do your credibility no harm to (occasionally!) admit this and to use the knowledge and experience of others. Also be prepared to admit when you are wrong or to change your mind. I have done this on several occasions especially when as a secondary trained leader I had to lead a middle school with KS2.

Appeal to colleagues on an intellectual level: they are intelligent people and they will mostly appreciate you recognising this. Explain to them the research findings, the studies and the current developments. Don't assume that they do not want to know, if you are asking someone to change their established practice you had better have a good reason for doing so!

If you are an aspiring leader then reflect on these points and try to remember any situation in which you have been treated as if you are a wiles five year old. These negative experiences are crucial in the development of good leaders, you must remember how it feels to be led badly before you can lead well. I should also add that I am far from perfect, I know I have done exactly what I'm suggesting you should not do, but I hope I have learned from my actions and that I am now a better leader for it.

At the heart of this is a concept I have discussed in an earlier posting, that of authority and power. I have claimed that authority, the true stamp of leadership, is granted to you by others, unlike power which is simply a contractual undertaking. Please click HERE to read that article.

Some of the worst leadership I have encountered has been from those who treat their colleagues as simply worker-ants, they treat them as their proletarian labourers rather than as trusted, intelligent and professional colleagues. Why is this? I only have opinions but I believe it comes down to possibly two main reasons, the first being that they are leading simply because they want to be in charge and the second because they are actually the dim-wit!

Finally I do have a confession to make. In my leadership INSET package I do use an ice-breaker, it goes something like this. "Go and grab a coffee and a biscuit and chat to your colleagues. Come back in 10 minutes."

Jelly Baby Leadership

I'm currently planning an INSET day for middle leaders with a national schools association and I was wracking my brain for a gimmick. As often happens I put it to the back of my mind and went shopping and just as I was heading into a supermarket the penny dropped, I knew what my gimmick would be, jelly babies!

Look at the picture, what do you notice? Well there are red ones, orange ones, green ones and so on. Different colours but look beyond that and what do you see? They are all basically the same. A sugary goo has been moulded to ensure that in fact they are all the same shape, all that is different is the colour. Unfortunately I feel that this is a pretty good analogy for current models of leadership training in schools, both at middle and senior level. Aspiring leaders are forced into moulds, the "colour" or contexts may be different, but basically they are all the same. For red jelly baby read secondary leader, for yellow read primary, for green read curriculum leader and so on, the colours change but they are all the same shape.

This is the what I believe has become the fundamental problem, the state-directed leadership training is designed to produce identical leaders, forcing teachers into moulds, stripping away the individual personalities of aspiring leaders and replacing them with a formula. The courses and criteria has produced a generation of generic leaders most of whom define school success in similar ways and lead by numbers. I am not dismissing the quality of these leaders, I've done one of these qualifications myself and know the right things to say! However I constantly question and have never taken these courses at face value. My worry is that many leaders simply believe all that they are told or if they don't they do toe the party line because they feel that that is what is expected.

My approach is the complete opposite to the jelly baby model. Rather than forcing the aspiring leader into a uniform mould I believe that you should identify a potential leader and mould leadership around them. We would do well to remember that leadership is a personality-centred undertaking, it is undertaken and transmitted through the personality of an individual. Given that everyone has a different personality I would suggest that this implies that everyone's approach to leadership should be different. But why? Your leadership comes into focus once your knowledge, understanding and experience has been focused through the lens of your personality. It isn't just about knowing about "delivering sustainable change" or "transformational leadership", it is about working with people, it is about understanding the needs of staff, their strengths and frailties, it is about people first. Ultimately a future leader should be moulded around their personality rather than the other way around.

Personality is akin to a lens through which leadership is projected. The lens is personal and unique to every leader. That personality is a complex and ever evolving thing. There are so many factors that form an individual's personality that I cannot do justice to it here but it is fair to say that family, values, community, experiences, health and personal history must play a part. Once again given the unique nature of everyone's experience it is little wonder that personality is unique.

Leadership training should help develop the self-knowledge of aspiring leaders and helping them realise their own potential. It shouldn't be about a core curriculum, every school is different, every teacher is different, and the corollary of these facts is that it is impossible to completely teach someone to lead. Instead leaders should understand themselves and how they fit into school structures. They should understand what motivates them, what inspires them and what their values are. They should know how to communicate these to others and when they believe what they say they become authentic and others will follow them.

The best leadership training I have undertaken has been a Master's degree. Read, reflect, synthesise, analyse and adapt. Leadership is a human pursuit, it relies on your personality, it is an intellectual pursuit and your colleagues deserve to be led by someone who has thought about leadership, it is always unique and never the same twice.

Don't be a jelly baby leader, be unique, be yourself.

Developing lesson observation skills: the key to improving teaching and learning

When I first became a Head of Physics I was handed the line management of two colleagues, a responsibility which included their performance management. Consequently I found myself having to observe lessons when I had only been teaching myself for a few years. I was handed forms and grids but to be honest I was relatively clueless. I'm eternally grateful to those I managed at the time for allowing me to continue this charade but in reality they were humouring me. By the time I hit senior leadership I believe I did know what I was doing but it wasn't until I undertook joint observations with far more experienced colleagues that I truly knew I was on the right track. It took a long time for me to reach this point and looking back on my experiences I feel that I lost many years of valuable observations simply because no-one had validated my observations or given me any guidance.

Being a good teacher doesn't necessarily make you a good observer. We believe we can teach colleagues to become better teachers but one of the key techniques by which we do this (observing lessons) is left to luck! Surely if you are going to improve teaching by observing then you ought to know what you are doing.

When I first became a head my first round of observations were conducted in pairs, to validate each others findings but also as a developmental activity for the observers.

I feel that there are two key reasons why leaders should receive training on lesson observation, firstly it is used as a core measure of performance and can be linked to pay progression, and secondly it is only through actually watching someone teach that you can constructively improve their teaching (I accept that you can improve marking and so on without watching lessons but the actual business of teaching really requires first-hand observations).

Here's how I do it.

Step 1. Find a willing volunteer who doesn't mind being observed.

Step 2. Prep your colleague. What are you looking for in the lesson? Where would you sit? When should you move? What should you note down and how?

Step 3. Off you go! Remember that your job is twofold, firstly to observe the observer and secondly to collate observations for comparison purposes after the lesson. I also like to do some  in-lesson coaching in these situations. Pointing out where to sit, when to move, what to look at and so on. A quiet word in an ear or a little note can maximise the value of the shared observation.

Step 4. After the lesson compare notes. Let your colleague kick off. If you use a framework  it is easier. I have mentioned the 5Ps many times but it really does help with lesson observations; concentrate on pitch, pace and progress and you've hit the nail on the head. See HERE for the 5Ps.
This is also a good time to give feedback on the process of observation itself.

Step 5. Now watch your colleague give feedback. This is also so important. I have written about feedback HERE but when done well it can encourage and develop good teaching.

Step 6. Again feedback on the feedback.

Who will this benefit? Middle and senior leaders, NQT mentors, student teacher mentors, teachers requiring development, in fact just about anyone! This is one of the best pieces of CPD you can deliver; invest in this and you will see the benefits.

The human side of leadership

The Hay-McBer analysis of leadership styles has been cropping up in educational leadership for a good few years. I first encountered it in the early 2000s and it is regularly encountered on current leadership programs. It aims to break leadership styles into 6 categories and analyses the way in which leaders operate according to their predominant leadership style. The 6 leadership types (according to Hay McBer) are:

• Coercive
• Authoritative
• Affiliative
• Democratic
• Pacesetting
• Coaching

The issue that I have with this is that it is all about the leader and not the leadership relationship. It is acknowledged that most leaders will display all of these at some time or another but nevertheless I believe that it is wrong to pigeon-hole leaders. At best it is overly simplistic and naively reductionist and at worst it absolves the leader from the responsibility of establishing quality relationships. “I am an authoritative leader so deal with it” seems to be the attitude. It is then the responsibility of those being led to adapt to the leader, which is wrong!

Educational leadership has a great deal to learn from leadership in the wider world of business but education has a unique set of employees, employees who are all very different. I would sooner the see a different Hay McBer analysis, where the predominant characteristic of the employee comes first. I would assert that a school is most successful when it is inclusive with its staff. No-one should feel excluded from the life of the school but if leaders feel that they can legitimise a certain way of leading because they fit the category then I fear that employees will be excluded.

So here is my radical proposal. Leaders, don’t categorise yourself at all. Embrace all leadership styles and always seek to gain greater inter-personal skills. To work out how many leadership styles you actually need apply “Whalley’s law of leadership styles” which states “the minimum number of leadership styles needed is calculated by taking the number of those you lead and multiplying it by 2”. Why the “2”? Well you need a different style for when your employee is having a good day and when they are having a bad day! You may even want to multiply by 2 again to allow you to recognise that your leadership style with any individual is determined by your state of mind as well.

Leadership is a human process based on unique interactions. Put your employees first (not yourself) and remember they are all individuals. Leadership is about relationships and if you cannot form meaningful relationships you may make a great manager but you will struggle with leadership. You may actually think you’re a great leader but what would your staff say. Have you actually got genuine authority or are you exercising power (see earlier post HERE)?

I have learned that every member of staff deserves personalised leadership if you invest in them they will invest in you and the school.  

Addition to blog (13 Sept 2016)
What could you do practically to make this happen? I reckon you could conduct 2 audits, a personal one, and one for those you lead. What are your characteristics, values, strengths and weaknesses that make you a good leader? Now do a similar thing for your team, explicitly identifying key characteristics. Given that I assert that leadership is a relationship-centred human activity, understanding personalities (including your own) must be at the heart of our activities. 

On a personal level I have found that I have developed significantly over my leadership career, my characteristics have changed (some radically). In addition the teams I have led have all been different and so my skill-set has had to adapt to meet the needs of the team. Rather than waiting for this to happen I have actively looked at my teams and worked out how their personalities require me to lead. 

Developing middle leaders - a different perspective

I have been in leadership for over 16 years and have done all sort of CPD. I've been through courses on running science departments, managing budgets, pastoral leadership and so on but what all of these had in common was that they were trying to turn me into a technician, turn me into someone who could do a specific job, turn me into an exact copy of anyone else on the course. Unfortunately this seems not be uncommon in leadership development at any level, the aim being to produce leader clones who all operate in the same way.

I have a problem with this. Consider this; you wouldn't take 16 teachers into M&S and make all of them fit a 34" waist pair of black trousers! Maybe 1 or 2 of the them might fit but they are 16 individuals, all different, all unique. We wouldn't try to squeeze our leaders into the same garment so why on earth would we attempt to squeeze them into the same form of leadership. My belief is that you mould leadership around the leader rather than forcing a leader into a mould. Of course if you believe that leadership is simply a set of common behaviours, characteristics and attitudes then you won't agree with me, and you'll probably find yourself wondering why we can't find leaders in education. If however you're with me on this one, you will recognise that leadership is first and foremost a human process, a relationship-led structure in which individuals work with each other in certain capacities to achieve a desirable goal (in our case the education of children).

Some may want all aspiring leaders to be the same, I want exactly the opposite, I want them all to be different.

Leadership certainly has a core set of attitudes and behaviours but these have to be reimagined and practiced by the individual. A simple way of looking at it is to compare a Van Gogh and a Manet, give them the same paints and you'll get two very different pictures, both masterpieces in their own right but very different. I want our attitude to leadership development to be the same, let's give our leaders the same palette but let them paint their own picture.

An approach like this would assert that leaders are not formed but they emerge. They should use their own personalities to shape their practice rather than the personality of an author preaching a certain leadership model. A leader is more authentic if they are themselves rather than someone they are not. Leadership training should focus on behaviours, attitudes and values rather than specific processes. Encourage reflective practice where the leader is a learner rather than prescriptive practice where the leader is a transmitter of received knowledge.

So I don't think you need a course on being a Head of Maths or a Head of Year, leadership development is about incubating leadership so that when it emerges it can fill any role it encounters.

 

Dealing with staff conflict

This has appeared in my other blog Teachers' Minds Matter but as it is also about a key leadership activity I felt it was worth also publishing it here.

Possibly the most challenging incidents I have had to deal with in leadership are those when conflict erupts between staff. Conflict arises for all sorts of reasons, teaching allocations, access to resources, taking time off someone, ways in which pupils are treated and even simple animosity. Whatever the cause of the conflict it is always something that must be taken seriously, it cannot be ignored.

Conflict can have a range of consequences but additional pressure and stress are almost always inevitable. What makes conflict particularly problematic is that the stress fallout envelops far more people than simply the protagonists. It is inevitable that those trying to manage the situations (school leaders, union reps) and those close to the central actors in the piece will be effected. Conflict is a large pebble thrown into the pond, it ripples outwards and the whole pond tends to experience it in some way, shape or form. I have seen staffrooms, departments and year teams polarised and divided by conflict.

Remember that to those on either side of the conflict their perception of the situation is real (this links to an article on my leadership blog about the reality of alternative perceptions).

Conflict resolution is a skill in itself. Negotiating with conflicting parties to reach a mutually acceptable solution (for both parties and the school) is a challenge and shouldn't be taken on lightly as getting it wrong can have dire consequences. It is for this reason that conflict causes such stress for mediators. In truth, throughout my career, I have lost more sleep (real sleepless nights, not just metaphor) over this than anything else I have dealt with.

Unfortunately it is rare that anyone is truly satisfied with compromise even though it is the best that can often be hoped for. The aggrieved parties will feel that their case has been watered down and someone else has not faced the wrath they deserve. A feeling of injustice is almost always inevitable in these cases.

Some tips for those handling conflict
When handling conflict it is important to do your homework beforehand. Establish facts and opinions, liaise with union reps, work out end goals . If you are a union rep, recognise that the outcome will probably need to be a compromise. Most importantly give your colleagues the opportunity to "save face". Personal and professional pride are at the heart of conflict and an affront to these can strike a mortal blow. You must ensure that all of those involved can walk the corridors with heads held high.

Don't forget yourself in all of this. Take time to think over the case before the meetings. Visualise the meetings you will have and play a game of chess in your head. Work out the openings, the middle game and the acceptable endings. Do not go into a meeting which you haven't planned out in this way. There is always the chance that things will take an unexpected turn but mentally you will be ready if you have played out a range of scenarios. Remember that you must resolve the issue in the best interests of the school as well as the individuals but always be conscious of the emotional impact on the protagonists. Be reassuring, be conciliatory, be a peacemaker, be a counsellor.

Some tips for those at the centre of the conflict
This can be the most stressful part of a teacher's career, that period of time when you are at loggerheads with a colleague. Seek guidance but do so wisely. Close friends are not always the best listeners, they may tell you what you want to hear but not necessarily what you need to hear. I have always made sure that I knew who I could trust and turn to at times of conflict in any school I've worked in. Even as a head I have made sure I had one person whose discretion was assured, who would listen, console and counsel but not judge. Often this will be a union rep. The best union reps have these attributes (and if they don't they shouldn't be reps!).

If you can abstract yourself from the situation. Attempt to see multiple perspectives even if you don't agree with them, and more importantly attempt to empathise with your colleague. After all emotional well-being is not about content, its about feelings.

Beyond school seek counsel and friendship, relax and take your mind off conflict. Put yourself first!

In conclusion I can say that there is no guaranteed approach to effective conflict management. Everyone is unique, every situation is different. But remember that tomorrow is a new day and that someone is out there ready to look out for you.

Teachers' Minds Matter

I've just started a new blog on teachers and mental health. Given that the focus of this blog is leadership and I felt that a separate blog would be more appropriate. My intention is to raise awareness of mental health issues within the education community to both support teachers and those who have to manage colleagues with mental health conditions.

Unlike this blog it is likely that the new one will have lots of small items rather than more extended discussions, however we shall see.

Over time please visit and I would welcome your ideas.

If children's education matters, then teachers matter, and if teachers matter then so do their minds.

teachersminds.blogspot.com
 

When 2+2=5 and everyone is right: managing conflicting perceptions

Bear with me on this one. I’m going to start with a diversion into science education but there is a reason as I believe what applies to children learning science also applies to leaders dealing with teachers. (If you want to avoid the details skip straight to the pudding in the last paragraph!)

As a science teacher I have always been interested in how children learn science and make sense of the world. There is evidence to suggest that children are capable of holding two (at a minimum) views of the world at any time, one being that taught in school and the other being the “folk” science from home, family and the community. Often these are at odds. I have had several experiences of where children have told me that their views are correct because their grandmothers told them it was the case, and that all we do in school science is add a veneer of knowledge which is regurgitated for tests and promptly forgotten for the rest of life. However the science educationist, Ros Driver, recognised that this cycle is breakable if science teachers create moments of cognitive conflict where a child experiences a phenomena that is so contrary to their folk science interpretation that they are forced to abandon this is favour of the mainstream science view. A great example is when children believe that a 1kg mass will fall more quickly than a 100g mass, and it is only when simultaneously released masses hit the floor at the same time that their understanding begins to change. This is known as the constructivist model of science learning.

The key points here are that the child’s version of science is real to them even if it  is totally at odds with the scientific orthodoxy (and before you ask I believe it is highly unlikely that the child’s view is the right one!), and the second is that cognitive conflict is a potential (and powerful) mechanism in shifting perceptions.

Now let’s get back to school leadership. I am sure I exasperate my team with my conviction that everyone believes they can be right and that this should be taken seriously. I know that doesn’t appear to make sense but if someone comes to you and claims they are doing more work than someone else then just telling them they don’t won’t change anything. In fact if you just tell them they are mistaken they may end up thinking that you are dismissive towards and now not only do they do more work than anyone else but also their head or line manager doesn’t care.

Our colleagues’ perceptions are real, they may not be objectively true, but as they are believed then their subjective truth is all important. Perceptions are shaped through a range of lenses, personality, emotions, current outlook on life, relationships with others, and so on. Misunderstandings find their origins in this; an objective truth is subjectively processed by individuals and often internalised in very different ways. Problems arise when the personalised interpretations are diametrically opposite and conflict is inevitable. In all of this we have to assume that all parties are acting in good faith and with integrity; the water is muddied significantly when lies are told.

So how to promote change then? Many only change when their views are shown to be demonstrably wrong. You need to engineer cognitive conflict. Simply correcting someone may only add a veneer of leader-directed “truth” without replacing or even just modifying underlying views. You may need to collect and present evidence, you may need to allow someone to observe a lesson, look at someone else’s books, go to another school for day, and if it is a significant issue it may require a significant action. Nevertheless if you want a fundamental shift then you will not achieve with simply correcting someone.

To cut a long story short. If you want to change the mind of an intelligent professional make sure your approach is better than simply correcting them. Acknowledge their concern, understand their perspective, find and present evidence to the contrary and lead them towards the interpretation that the evidence suggests. Even then this process must be personalized; do not assume that the process is generic, it must be tailored to meet the needs of the individual. This takes a lot longer than telling someone they are wrong but it is worth it. It also shows that you care (if you don't care then you're in the wrong game). Most people can cope with being wrong, mistaken or whatever, and will sooner or later accept the evidence, but what they won’t take is being called stupid.

Meeting, pre-meetings and bulletins

There are very few leaders in schools who won’t tell you, regardless of how long they have been doing the job that they are not constantly learning. The learning process is varied, reading, courses and so on, but still the most effective for me is reflecting on my mistakes. This may seem like a trivial topic to discuss but it is actually at the core of my current business and one that as you progress through leadership becomes increasingly important, that topic is meetings.

No-one ever taught me how to run meetings or how to get the most out of them so I have spent a lot of meeting time over the last 15 years wasting my time, the time of others and basically getting it wrong. I’m not claiming I’ve got it completely right yet but I’m doing it better than I ever have and achieving far more in less time.

To start with decide what your meeting is for. If it is simply information dissemination then you do need to ask yourself if that actually requires a meeting? Is your team blessed with the ability to read? If so take advantage of that skill! The sarcasm is aimed at myself because I can recognise that I have wasted a lot of time (and had a lot of time wasted by others) through meetings that are simply information sessions.

Since joining a new school I have changed the way I do my job. Whilst I have always met with members of my senior team I have now formalised this; I have set agendas and fixed time windows but the key element is what I do with the information. These meetings are very specific and linked to each colleague’s operational role, problems are discussed and priorities are identified. This is the forum to filter the noise and highlight what needs discussing with the whole team. I now produce a weekly SLT bulletin with set sections for each member of the team. This goes out before the SLT meeting, contains the key information and I highlight any matter that needs discussing. Whilst it takes time to produce the bulletin I suspect it is no more than the time wasted with information sharing in a meeting. A consequence is that colleagues recognise that their time is used far more productively and the important strategic discussions can take place. By identifying the discussion areas before the meeting also ensures that colleagues are prepared. You are also directing the discussion points and ensuring that time is not devoted to discussions that may be of no interest to some of the participants. One other point is that the bulletin is an excellent record and certainly reduces the load created by writing minutes.

 

Now looking back on my career I can see how I could have used this approach at middle leadership level. I have been a subject and faculty leader as well as a pastoral leader.  Pastoral leaders could meet up for 10 minutes every week with individual members of their team and run through key points. Collating these into a weekly pastoral bulletin (year groups or phases) will give an excellent overview of key information, waste less time and produce an excellent written record. Faculty and subject leaders should consider the same approach. I spent years as a Head of Science and in that time I could have saved huge amounts of time by meeting with the heads of subjects and collating their findings and deciding on the discussion points.

Some of you reading this (if you have got this far) may be thinking that the previous 600 words have been an exercise in stating the obvious but had someone held the obvious up to me 15 years ago I suspect my life may have been a little easier.

The Power of Pause

When I started thinking about this post I went straight to Google and started looking for quotes about “haste” and “patience”. I realised that I could quickly fill pages with pretty superficial aphorisms without getting to the heart of the matter. This is simple in teaching and leadership patience is definitely more productive than haste. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when I have to respond immediately, either in the classroom or the office, but these moments are rare. We do not “pause for thought” when a child has his hands around the throat of another child but when we are responding to a complaint, a staffing dispute, a change to the curriculum (for example), we do tend to have time.

Think about a Q&A in the classroom. A research study from a few years ago showed that the average “wait time” between asking a question and taking an answer was under a second. When observing lessons I look at this myself and it is still often the case that many teachers don’t wait long enough. The problem is that half of your class are being excluded from the activity because they are possibly still processing the question by the time someone else has answered it. I reached the point where if after waiting 5 seconds only half the hands went up then I’d rephrase the question and wait again. It may seem time consuming but it gave children the time to think, and in that time it increased the chance that they would get it right rather than feel pressurised to give a rapid answer that is wrong.

We are no different when a colleague asks you a question or brings a problem to your attention. Whilst it is unlikely that you will be asked “what is the name of the group of substances that we use to determine whether an unknown chemical is an acid or an alkali” you will get questions and problems thrown at you that require responses. You may think you have the answer, you may believe you are infallible, you may believe that you are wise and experienced and that “wrong” is not part of your professional profile. If that’s the case get out of leadership and enter politics. Otherwise consider the following.

The first tip is… WAIT! You do not know everything and getting it wrong in a split second is likely to do considerably more damage. Count to 10, or maybe 50. Lean back on your chair, look out of the window, whistle a little tune, but wait. Now multi-task whilst counting. When we take a decision in leadership we are having to weigh up a diverse range of issues. For instance a very simple problem which may provoke a knee-jerk reaction may raise a multitude of questions:

• Do you actually need to act?
• Do I need to consult?
• Is there more than one possible solution?
• Who will be affected?
• What are the possible consequences of your decision?
• How will colleagues, parents, children, governors react?
• Will the solution absorb resources (time, money and so on)?
• Is your solution legal?

There are sure to be more but this is a simple snap-shot of what you should be asking whenever you take decisions.

I now tell colleagues that I do pause, I do reflect and that they will have to wait. They know this before they come through the door. That way my ego isn’t at risk by thinking that my colleagues may perceive that I’m a little slow on the uptake! They also understand the way that I work and so the way I will consider their issue. They actually know that not only will I attempt not to get it wrong but that their problem is worth taking time over.

It is true that over time you will recognise that some problems will be similar to those which you have dealt with before and so finding a solution is made easier, but it is still likely to be unique and so will require and deserve attention.

It takes time to process ideas and formulate a response. We are all different and our processing time is different (and this is not about IQ), if we are in a race to make decisions then those who process quickly will come first but how often can we not wait five minutes to get it right? No-one will remember you as the school leader you made the right decisions in a split second or in 5 minutes, but you will be remembered as the impetuous fool whose knee-jerk reactions did more harm than good.

So here’s my pithy aphorism: Act in haste, make mistakes. Take your time, it should be fine.

Pick your shot: How cricket can help you make smarter leadership choices

Life as a school leader is marked by the need to constantly make decisions, the results of which can make or break a career. I liken this to the experience of a cricketer and this is a good place to start when considering decision-making in school leadership. Whilst not a perfect match the following analogy is worth considering. If you know absolutely nothing about cricket then I apologise for what may be totally unintelligible, otherwise stick with this and hopefully you’ll see the point.

It could be argued that the job of a batsman is to make runs but even before this the main job is not to lose his wicket. In cricket any delivery that is coming straight at your wicket must be played, however it can be played in two ways, either simply fending off the ball or hitting it to score runs. The analogy with school leadership is that there are some tasks that you have no choice about playing, these are the must-do tasks which cannot be avoided. Such tasks could include exam entries, exam analysis, schemes of work, curriculum statements, and so on. Other tasks may come your way that you don’t have to undertake, these are the shots you simply don’t have to play but there are three likely outcomes. Going for a big hit at a wayward ball may have several different outcomes, the ball may sail away over the boundary, you may simply miss the ball and look a little foolish or you may smack the ball skyward and get caught.

Here’s an exercise for you to undertake. Consider your role and list as many of the leadership/management tasks and decisions you undertake (including those you have to do and the additional tasks that you don’t actually have to). Now assign them to the following cricket analogies according to how you have responded up to now:

The shots you have to play

• Defending your wicket (not playing a shot, just stopping the ball knocking your stumps over).
• Defending your wicket but playing a shot (whether going for a single or the boundary).
• Have you ever been clean bowled?

The shots you don’t have to play

• Belting the ball over the boundary.
• Clipping the ball and being caught out.
• Flailing at the ball, missing and looking foolish.

A little story. In my first Head of Science role I decided that we had to have a drive on “science in society”. I got up in front of my department and espoused the virtues of the undertaking and genuinely believed that we should put this a long way up our list of priorities. So I expected everyone to produce worksheets, create opportunities to talk about applicable science and then put their findings in a shared file. When I got to the end of the year our results had improved (though not massively) and so I went to the file and found that the only work that was in it came from me. Though I still firmly believe in teaching science in an applied and relevant way I probably went about the wrong way, created loads of work for myself and ended up just looking a little foolish in front of my department. Which shot did I play?

So to summarise. Before you undertake a task decide whether you have to play the shot at all. When you’ve decided that ask yourself what type of shot you are going to play. Will you go for the boundary or just play defensively? Have you developed the skills and confidence to play a risky shot that may end in disaster?

The 6th P - Principles

Elsewhere in this blog you will find me espousing the 5Ps as a model for developing and planning lessons. I would like to add another please!

For some time I have placed values and character at the heart of my educational practice but only this morning recognised that there was a fundamental shortcoming in my 5Ps approach. Where did this blinding revelation come from? This morning I had the privilege of listening to Professor Bill Lucas (look him up and buy “Expansive Education” or “Educating Ruby”) and he was talking about a “split screen” approach when teaching, not only thinking about content but the character trait you also want to develop. This got me thinking, I had in my own teaching thought about the content and the thinking skills but never previously thought about explicitly planning for character traits or values. I realised that this should be easy to achieve yet could have a profound impact.

What would this require? In the simplest form it may simply be stating along with the learning objectives that “today we will also be developing our understanding of empathy” because the lesson would naturally do this anyway. The difference then being the explicit statement of intention and then hopefully an appraisal after the activity of how well the trait had been understood and developed. It may be more complex; the school may be focusing on a specific value that week, for example “unity”. You may need to adapt an activity to promote the activity and so would require more effort. I accept that this would take a little more but I believe that if you commit time and effort to developing character and values then it is more likely that a pupil will be successful in the long run.

And so back to the title. I already had 5Ps and so I really had to have another “P”, after all “5Ps and a V” would never do. Consequently I thought that “Principles” was close enough to summarise my intention and maintain the alliteration. So if you have found the 5Ps useful I would ask you to add the 6^th.

As with the others I would suggest that you consider some questions before constructing your lesson.

• What are our core traits or values?
• Does the topic lend itself to the development of a particular trait?
• Is there a particular trait I want to develop and can I adapt my tasks to reinforce this?
• How will I communicate and model the trait?
• How can I tailor my activities to allow the development of the trait?
• How will I know that pupils have understood my intentions and the trait I wish to develop?

And so now the 6Ps look like this:

Stating the obvious: get a notebook!

Some of the articles I’ve posted so far have been a little theoretical or abstract. From time to time I’ll be posting a “stating the obvious” article. So if you do find this obvious I’m sorry for wasting your time, otherwise I hope this is useful.

This may sound trivial but it isn’t, keep records. Get yourself a notebook, use it and be seen to use it. One of the problems with leadership is that the further you rise and the greater the challenges then the more balls you have to keep in the air at the same time. You will have some great ideas, you will have numerous meetings, you will hear things, you will read articles and spot resources, you will deal with difficult colleagues, parents and children, in short you will be inundated with crucial information and you are only human. I’ve been a head of department, a head of year, a union rep, an assistant head and a head and throughout each of these posts I have kept records (well at least after my first year of leadership - read on!).

Let’s start with a negative reason why you should have a notebook. When I first became a head of department a wily old deputy head told me to write down all the conversations I had, or at least those directly impacting on my job. This all felt a little too paranoid for me and so I ignored the advice. That same year I had a raft of problems with a Newly Qualified Teacher. I naively thought that my memory and integrity would be sufficient evidence in dealing with the issues but sadly that was not the case. The problem was of course that I assumed that the first problem with this member of staff would be the last. It was trivial and on its own was probably not noteworthy but two or three of these incidents later on I wish I’d noted them all down so that I had a clear evidence trail. This would have then made tackling the problem considerably easier. My advice, make a dated note of even trivia just in case you need to use it. You never know when you will need a conversation that starts with “we spoke about this on the …”.

There’s also a key psychological element to using a notebook as a running record. Your colleagues will soon realise that you do keep records and that even if your memory is flawed your records are not and that you can refer back to the notes.

This has worked to my advantage on several occasions. A member of my staff reminded me of a conversation from the previous year regarding a “promise” I had made about a future opportunity as if promotion would be guaranteed. My notes, though brief, from that meeting reflected the assurance that I would look at things but that was the extent of the promise. In a another instance a I had made notes from a series of meetings regarding our staffing structure and being able to keep referring back to concerns raised on certain dates or promises made was helpful.

So what goes in my notebook?

• Ideas and reflections
• Notes from meetings
• Pieces of information such as data, websites, addresses and so on
• Events
• Phone calls
• Plans for the future

Basically everything that impacts on my job!

Another little tip to consider. If you have dealt with a particularly difficult situation which may come back to sting you then make sure that you have shared this information with a trusted colleague. When this has happened I have signed my notes and had my colleague sign them as well.

I have experimented with different notebooks for different purposes, one for daily reflections and ideas, another for dealings with colleagues, another for phonecalls, but in the end I have found that a single book suits my needs better. I now have a collection of these acting as a log of thoughts and deeds for the last umpteen years. When leaving my last post I was able to copy pages of my notes for my successor as a commentary on key activities I had undertaken over the past couple of years.

I realise that this is not very deep but it matters. Value your notebook, protect your notebook, because there are times when your notebook is your only friend!

Personality matters (don't forget to be yourself)

A great deal of recent leadership training seems more interested in creating leader-clones rather than working with diverse and talented teachers to develop them into leaders. Rather than exploiting differences and individual personalities there appears to be a belief than every leader can be shoe-horned into a one-size-fits-all model of leadership. Whilst we emphasise the importance of personalised learning for our pupils in light of the fact they are all different we appear to be in a world in which we do the opposite with school leaders. Lists of standards and competencies attempt to distil school leadership into a set of tasks and behaviours that anyone can do irrespective of personality. This is clearly errant nonsense! Just as learners are all so different, so are leaders and we must develop being highly self-aware of our own personalities if we are to be successful.

Over the years I have worked with many colleagues aspiring to various levels of leadership; where they have been successful they have made leadership work for them through the lens of their own personality rather than blindly following standards and competencies. My current leadership team are diverse, we are all very different and often approach situations in very different ways, not because we haven’t got a clue but because we are different people. Consider the “under-performing teacher”; there is no doubt a coping-by-numbers approach to this but in that your personality and the relationship you already have will not be mentioned. It will tell you to state the issue clearly and concisely before moving on to another impersonal statement. That’s not for me! I need to approach the situation differently, treating every teacher as an individual and approaching issues in a way that I know are likely to succeed. With some it is a case of stating the fact that things aren’t going well and I’m not happy, whereas with others there is a more reflective approach. Ultimately each interaction is different and that ensures that issues are resolved, relationships are maintained and children benefit. The way I go about this is unique, as is the approach of every decent school leader, because they all know that they have to do it their way, with their personality and through their relationships.

By the time you get to headship the chances are that you’ve been in leadership for some time and so should have a very good idea about your own personality and how you operate. However if you are just starting out on the leadership path then this is unlikely to be the case and you need to do something about it. If you don’t you’ll be found out quickly and will struggle to gain the respect you need to have the authority required to do your job. I’ve got two routes to suggest, the first is simple, read a few books on leadership. Don’t just read one book or else you stand a chance of becoming the one-dimensional leader that I have bemoaned above. Get different perspectives on leadership from different authors, but at all times ask yourself how it will work for you. The second is quicker than ploughing through texts, and potentially more profound. We have all been led and no doubt moaned about those who have done the leading; this is where I start.

Try this exercise. Firstly make a list of those who have led you and in what capacity. For me it would contain heads of department, pastoral heads, senior leaders and some heads. Primary colleagues possibly see the leadership of their heads more than secondary colleagues. I’ve worked in some very large secondary schools where I rarely saw the head, even more rarely spoke to him or her and often had little idea of what they did or how they led. Now for each one lists the positive and negative traits that influenced your relationship with that leader and how they led. You may experience a little conflict here as you may not have liked the leader personally but they may have been successful (personality versus process). When you’ve done this put together the positive traits which you feel you possess, the positive traits you need to develop and then the traits which had a negative impact. There’s your starting point for leadership, not a list of tasks but a list of traits. No one ever won over a body of staff with a CV and a list of competencies!

In a coming article I will give you a couple of examples from my own career and reflect on how these have changed the way I lead.

Authority versus Leadership: who says you're in charge?

The central thesis of this posting may not quite fit with dictionary definitions but I do believe a personal reflection on this topic is crucial in establishing your leadership whether of a department, a phase or a whole school. This posting is all about authority and power, and how I believe (or by redefining them) they are very different. I don’t want to get bogged down in semantics and I hope that you will see beyond any frailty in literal definitions and see that this is an important topic on which school leaders should reflect if they are to gain the respect of those they lead.

It should firstly be stated that leadership is a very personal thing. I have found that much leadership training has a fundamental flaw, it attempts to squeeze a broad range of diverse individuals into a narrow set of beliefs and definitions. The problem I have with this is that I believe leadership is hard enough without having to become something or someone you’re not. I also believe that a great deal of leadership training is actually management training and is more concerned with processes than relationships.

Schools need leaders and teachers should not be put off leadership because they perceive that their personality is at odds with the current paradigm of school leadership.

                                                     

Assuming you have made the leap into leadership it is important that you decide how you are going to go about doing the job and this is when a reflection on “authority” and “power” is timely. The way in which I have defined these (though potentially at odds with dictionaries) is all about perception. I have tabulated some of the differences between these styles (as I define them).

At the heart of the difference is how authority and power are achieved. Anyone can have authority and that is because this is in the gift of your colleagues. It is an idea at the idealistic edges of politics, the concept that those who lead us are our representatives and only have authority because of our vote. To the best of my knowledge school leaders are not products of a democratic system (which is probably a very good thing!); this actually makes leadership harder. The best way to have someone come with you on a journey is for them to want to come on that journey, they want to be led and they grant you the authority to lead them.  

Authority	Power
Granted by those you lead	Granted by those above you
Not contractual, can be exercised by anyone	Contractual, you are given the right to act in certain ways
About respect and relationships	About position and control
Sustainable	Hard to maintain
Sharing of responsibility	Responsibility rooted in position
Leadership	Management

I’m sure we have all experienced school leaders who fit into these definitions. Ask yourself which type you preferred being led by and why? Have you worked for someone who exerted power and had no authority? Have you worked in a school where the staff have essentially downed tools and just down what was on their contracts because of the school leadership? Reflect on your own personality; are you confident enough to exercise authority or do you need to exert power?

Gaining power is easy compared to being granted authority. Your contract gives you power but your staff grant you authority. For the former you need to impress at interview whilst for the latter you need to impress far more people on a daily basis. Authority comes from respect, respect comes from leading with compassion and intelligence. Listen to your colleagues, value their ideas and experiences, recognise that you don’t know everything and that others may have better ideas than you, lead by example, work longer and harder, and show you truly care for your staff, your pupils and your school. Gaining authority is hard work and is not achieved over night, however stick with it and you will have success.

In my current school I am particularly proud to see young and relatively inexperienced colleagues exercising authority. They have no contractual power but by virtue of their ability, dedication and professionalism they are respected by their colleagues and are able to lead. This can happen if you establish a culture of authority rather than power. This is where it really pays dividends as others step up to the challenge and this can (and should) take some of the pressure off you.

It is far easier to exercise power when you have authority, when your staff respect you, have faith in you and follow your lead. In reality this is a continuum; there are times when we do have to exert power but I have always found that being granted authority by my colleagues has produced far better outcomes and a happier school than would be achieved by exerting power over them.