Reading Writing Responding

During the week I was asked by the principal to represent the Middle Years (5-9) on a new ICT Committee. Although the school has invested in a lot of ICT, there has been very little explicit leadership to drive it. Often ICT was the last dot point of many on the list of responsibilities allocated to various leading teachers in the school. Instead it has been driven by leadership with a little l , those staff who have a passion and interest in the area.  The first task set for the group is to develop a three year plan. Thinking about where the school might be in three years time got me reflecting how far things have evolved in the past three years. Here are just a few changes: Collaboration and the Cloud Three years ago, staff and students were dependent on the school share drives to share resources. The only way to really collaborate was through email. As I have stated elsewhere , the problem with this is that the 'original' document often gets lost in the...

Over the past few years there seems to have been a push from some in education to make everyone a leader. There has been an effort to give power to a wider range of people, spreading leadership across the board. A part of this movement is a move from a top-down to a bottoms-up model. (See for example, such programs as Leading Teams  and Restorative Justice , both of which focus on relationships as a way changing culture.)   The two questions that come out of all these changes is 'what is leadership?' and 'can everyone really be a leader?' So, what is leadership?  Dictorary.com defines leadership as: the position or function of a leader , a person who guides or directs a group Thinking about this, there are two things that need to be addressed. Firstly, what does it mean to 'guide and direct', and secondly, what does it mean to be in a 'group'. In regards to first question, there are many ways to 'guide and direct'. Sometimes it migh...