Being Open to Listen
Over the course of the last few months I have had to reflect upon our journey here at CAS throughout the last three years. So much has changed. This has been change that needed to occur and also change that was believed to be in the best interests of the students at this kura, and the community.
Funny how when you look back you forget the good things that have occured and more easily focus on some of the harder times. Taking these hard times personally is something that I am learning to let go of.
Refocusing my internal reflection to sound more like 'okay, thats happened, so what now, where are we at now'.
Last night we had a great staff meeting. Firstly, each SLT member took an aspect of it. All five of us had a role to play and the best thing was that we all had a very different way of presenting and leading discussion.
Starting with ABL was a great idea, and we often forget to add this sort of thing into meetings when we are worried about getting through enough in a short amount of time, and whether staff will engage in it or not. Well they did, and it was FUN.
There is also a lot to be said for using 'appreciation' as a way to engage staff and set the tone for meetings. Especially when what you are going to be talking about can be quite challenging and different opinions will be voiced. It was World Gratitude Day yesterday, so we were given a staff name on a piece of paper and had to write a Gratitude Note to that person. Another great way to relax staff and create a safe environment for dialogue.
The questions presented to staff last night were well-thought over by SLT. The quality and depth of information you get from staff will greatly depend on how questions are asked. SLT tweaked these from what was originally presented, so that we didn't skip a step in the inquiry process. We are currently looking at what is happening, noticing.
Q: Right now at CAS, what acts/behaviours do we see/hear/experience that are helping to create a positive school culture?
Q: In our perfect school, what acts/behaviours would we like to see/hear/experience that we recognise would further demonstrate/grow a positive school culture?
What came out of these discussions was quite powerful. I believe upon looking briefly at the uncollated answers, there are some key themes running through. There is also evidence of some great things already happening, that have been a result of a lot of hard work during the last three years - this is pleasing.
But mostly importantly, where to now.
Not just taking this information and saying 'okay, cool, move on'. But unpacking it together, going deeper into some of the key ideas, collecting further evidence to support the ideas to ensure we are being truthful to the process, and then determining what area of Building a Positive School Culture we need to prioritise and focus on first.
Example of post-its:
One of the other things I have done this year to gather staff voice is to take part in the Teaching and School Practices Survey Tool again. We first did this as a staff in 2018 and at that time only 13 teachers chose to partake. Three years later we have done it again, and this time 16 teachers chose to partake. Out of a teaching staff of around 24 full/part-timers, this was disappointing, and I do need to question why this was the case.
I wonder if they were a) too busy b) didn't think anything would come out of it anyway or c) not trusting of the system d) not feeling safe to do this (even though its anonymous or e) just didn't care (possibly in negative mindsets.
No matter what the answer is, I hope that by analysing the results and being transparent with this information, that staff will see it is useful and can provide great evidence for decision-making. I wonder if that is really the key: show that we read, evaluate and use this voice to support & help inform decision-making.
Anyway, the collation of this data was given out to staff in 2018, and I am about to give it out again. However, this time I have sent it first to SLT to wrap their heads around it. I think it will mirror a lot of the staff voice that came out of last nights hui around positive school culture.
The section on how the Principal is performing is always confronting. In 2018, I wasn't so worried, as I knew that staff didn't really understand me as a leader yet, and I had only been in the job a few months. In 2021, there is no hiding! So I read the results knowing that it is more 'real'.
This is where I completely understand that taking these results personally is the wrong thing to do. Understanding what is behind these results and digging deeper into them is the key to actually utilising them for improvement. And that is what I am going to do.
For all of the voice we are getting, I know that getting further evidence to support and also digging deeper is a crucial stage in unpacking all this data. Picking out the bits that are more surface-feature or quick fix items, also looking at other reasons that could affect answers eg. time of term it was asked, wellbeing/mood of staff overall, behaviours at school. I look forward to this challenge, and even better, we will do this as a team.
Upwards and onwards.
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Thanks for being curious too.