Page 16 - Leadership Platform

EXAMPLE 1: My Leadership Platform

How my educational philosophy links into my leadership

My daughter’s first sentence was “The wheels on the bus go beep beep beep”.
Wrong?! Or is it? She’s learning to talk mainly by garbling so I think that was
pretty darn good. My educational philosophy is to focus on what is successful
and to improve what is not.
As a leader I want to create an environment where students are not afraid to be
wrong but are striving to be right; an environment where (as Carol Dweck put it)
they have a growth mindset, they can work on their intelligence.

Pupil centred learning

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”.
I believe Benjamin Franklin’s words are true in that my educational philosophy is
centred around pupil’s involvement. But I believe in a holistic view of education
where it doesn’t just take place in the classroom, which is why part of our
Alliance Project was focused on citizenship.

But as Middle Leaders how can we make this happen? Especially if we are working
through others and not necessarily the first point of contact for the child?
Relationships with others enable us to reach the students

Relationships with people are vital to what we are trying to achieve. I believe
that we need cultural sensitivity, which is why, despite being a Kiwi, these days I
don’t mind being referred to as an Aussie occasionally.

Emotional intelligence is paramount; that’s why I think face to face conversations
are better than email whenever possible and a phone call is number two.

Whatever?
Do my educational and leadership philosophies mean anything goes? Of course
not, and there are times when we all have to face up to courageous conversations
as a result of things not going well. I always try to use an angle that the member
of my team will appreciate. It also helps if your vision has been clear from the
outset, so that you can hopefully refer back to expectations that are clear.

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