Principal Thoughts

With the first term break occurring at the end of this week there is the danger to hard working Principals that they see it as irrelevant to them. As a result, some Principals feel they are obliged to keep working regardless. Sure, there is “stuff” that has to be done but into this holiday time I think it is important for Principals to set aside some genuine “R and R” time for themselves and to not feel guilty about it.

As Principal it is so valuable to have a clear, known definition of these three factors and not simple to look this up just before a board meeting. A shallow understanding is not helpful - it is essential for a principal to really engage with this and to encourage their board to as well. It is also important that staff are encouraged to be able to recognise issues and for students to be observant. It is of no value for the Principal to understand it and keep it hidden.

This excellent program was presented last week, February 27 and 28 in Darwin for both AISNT and Catholic School Leaders. The presenters were our well known Dr Stephen Brown, Managing Director of the Brown Collective and three lawyers who are partners of the noted Law Firm Colin Biggers and Paisley - Megan Kavanagh, Morgan Lane, Mathisha Panagoda. The Principal I had in 1980 had just returned from running a school in Brunei for five years. He had a global view of life and I can see him now, as he addressed the staff in a meeting, noting that we were following the United States trend into the Age of Litigation. And he was certainly right! As a new Principal it was easy to be intimidated when someone said: “Well I’m going to see a lawyer”. I quickly learnt to say: “Fine if you have to.” I knew that I would do likewise immediately.

During the weekend I came across some papers given to me ages ago by an old psychologist friend of mine. They were about Work - Related Stress, a condition faced by many in the teaching profession including Principals. I’ve added to these some considerations from my own experience. I well remember my mentor saying “Of course Chris we don’t get stressed”.

I was sitting on a large rock reflecting on the school year which was about to swing into action. I was thinking of a friend of mind who was informed by his board that “he had taken his eye off the ball.” Probably a good message to be given at a review before it is too late. It is valuable for a Principal to maintain really good relations with the Board Chair and to meet regularly with them. I had lunch with my chair most Mondays and we could explore immediate issues or drift into the world of educational philosophy which was always envigorating. But the Chair and I got to know each other well.

I am an admirer of the very talented Sculptor, Francois Augusta René Rodin. Many see him as the founder of modern sculpture. My favourite piece is “The Thinker”, which I was fortunate to see in Venice. The original casting is in the Musée Rodin in Paris. I find the sculpture to be both beautiful and thought provoking. Another of his gems is “The Cathedral”. With this Rodin has crafted two hands barely touching each other, like the entrance to a cathedral. To me the sculpture highlights the power of the human hand and promotes reflection on all the good that hands can do. It is also a fine reminder to a thinking teacher that learning by doing and thinking about it usually pays dividends.

I taught with someone years ago who had previously exited society and lived for one or two years as a hermit somewhere in the wilds of Tasmania. I guess he achieved emotionally what he wanted to achieve and on returning to society spent the rest of his life valuing community.

By the end of this week is the beginning of December. The end of the school year is in view with still much to do. Enrolments are no doubt still not finalised and there may be teachers to appoint. There may also be some last-minute resignations which are always inconvenient. I recall a resignation on Christmas Day - great Christmas Present! Sadly, he was a longer-term pioneer of the school and would be greatly missed. But there was a need to move his family interstate, and the opportunity came when it did. Not his fault, just remote circumstances and we still keep in contact.

If You Do It You Get Better At It Encouragement is A Wonderful Gift These words “wafted” into my brain at about 2.30 in the morning and in line with a presentation by Andrew Fuller, I know I am the type that, regardless of the time I MUST get up and do something about it. In this case to write it down immediately or sleep would quietly float away for the rest of the night.

“If My Thoughts Have Generated More Thoughts Than I have Achieved Something.” Here are some ideas that have wafted across my wandering mind over the last week. I went to Coolum in Queensland to meet my new Grandchild and catch up with his two young sisters and Mum and Dad. I had a wonderful time and lots of fun. There was much travel and therefore time to think. I find a plane at 35000 feet seems to help promote thought.

Our profession of teaching is vitally important to not only Australia but also the world. Society suffers if teachers and teaching is not afforded the respect that is deserved or the existence of schools and what they offer is simply taken for granted. Societies which respect their teachers benefit from this. Of course, this won’t happen if teachers are required to present a negative anti-social curriculum, but I’m excluding this situation in this presentation. Sadly, the presentation of education as a negative pursuit does exist in parts of the world today which is nothing short of devastating.

This is a question I often ask when I sit down to write my weekly Principal Thoughts. The questions buzz around - what might be important; what might be valuable; what might be helpful; what might be thought provoking? These are all questions a Principal might ask before talking with their staff. This morning I was set on an approach when I had a conversation with my brother, who is a very experienced and capable educator and as a result another variety of approaches were sown in my mind. This was highly stimulating but of course needed sorting. A principal may be a good administrator who will be appreciated. However they will also need to be a creative and inquisitive thinker. As we all know, in a school there is no shortage of stimuli for this activity.

There is no question, the position of Principal is a high pressured one often with not much relief on the horizon and the certain knowledge that demands can appear randomly at any time of the day and perhaps also at night. Usually, a Principal has to respond to these demands regardless of what else they are doing. That makes getting essential, longer-term tasks harder to complete and this can be frustrating.

I have just been down to Melbourne for “stuff” I had to do and this gave me a chance to go up to my little farm in the high country. It was beautiful as ever, though some trees had taken a battering in the tirade of high winds which swept through the South East of our nation. Other than a few fences damaged there was no other collateral damage to the farm.

The highly skilled person cutting my very untidy hair was French having only been in Australia five months. My request to her was to make me look younger, which she felt she had achieved at the end of the session.

The sun has risen well above the ranges, The morning sun now glows magic upon the waking world And spreads with care the cards across my day’s table, My canvas now awaits for the days paint to use as I am able.

This is the reply teachers may give or indeed think when reflecting on the special nature of their craft. It is about walking part of a person’s journey with them and doing the best that can be done in providing what is possible to within their own knowledge, gifts and skills to help people to move forward on their journey. And where is that? It is where they wish to go. School is likely to help create this aim.

This title may refer to the whole community or more likely to sub community that relates to a particular school. Part of a community may seek Steiner education or an Islamic school. It may seek a school exclusively for Aboriginal students or one with a mix of students. It may be one attracted to overseas exchanges, international engagement and outdoor education or another desiring a Montessori culture. It may want a Christian School. There are those that want a Lutheran education.

It is surprising to find out that Eton College was founded by King Henry VI as a Charity school to provide free education to 70 poor boys who would then go on to King’s College Cambridge. I guess Eton is one of the World’s oldest Independent schools still operating. Kings College Cambridge was also founded, in 1441, by Henry. Henry on founding Eton, provided it with a large number of endowments. Stability was always tenuous in those early times. However, King Edward 1V deposed Henry V1 as King and annulling a good number of the endowments for Eton. Nevertheless, the school survived.

The recent AISNT Leadership Forum in Alice was really valuable and the people I have spoken to felt they had gained much from it. A highlight was members being prepared to discuss openly about their situations, ideas and aspirations which lead to really rich and open discussion. Trust is a valuable factor in any group activity and that feeling was certainly in the room. I felt the sharing highlighted the wonderful variety of approaches to the meaningful education schools are providing for their particular and unique communities. It was not regulations page 1, 50 or 100 but rather as a result of ensuring the communities, which schools serve, are understood and what is offered is going to meet the needs of those communities.

I have had a couple of conversations recently about the importance of awe in our lives, focusing on that part of the definition of awe relating to wonder and not fear. “They gazed in awe at the beautiful painting” or “they were awed by the beauty of the music”. “She was in awe at the skill of the gymnast”. “He was in awe at the beauty of the desert sunrise”. “They were in awe at the skill of the sheep dogs.” “She was in awe at the power of the sea as the waves came crashing in.”

All Schools are unique in their own way - for a start they are filled with individuals who are not the same as those at another school. Of course Government Policy finds it difficult to reflect this in detail but I’m not going to write about this today.

Term 4 is about to arrive and no matter how you view it, it is always busy and pressured - day to day, recruiting, new students, budget meetings, board meetings, resource analysis and planning, planning for next year, final ceremonies such as concluding assemblies, presentation nights etc,etc.

I like to experiment with prioritising what should be given one of the prime spots on the “must do” ladder for a school. A favourite one I often think about is if I could only teach 5 things, what would they be.

Many years ago, I met an old friend at the airport. He was principal of a successful school and indeed was very good at his job. We chatted and he surprisingly said to me “If you hear of any principal’s jobs let me know. I’m starting to become bored at what I’m doing”. I was a little shocked because he had only been in the job for four years. I had been in the job for 20 years or so and still had so much to do. I can honestly say I was never bored and many principal friends of mine would have the same feeling as no doubt most of you do.