Monday 31 July 2017

Lead like a Pirate


I have just finished reading Disobedient Teaching by Welby Ings, where the author talked about the transformative powers that teachers who think and act have, to now reading Lead Like A Prirate where the authors in the opening chapter talks about passion and how that makes schools come alive. Both books talk about people and how they are the most important thing, not National Standards and testing, it is people.  I have chosen Promt 1 to reflect on as it is about people, myself and everyone in our school.

Prompt #1 Choose one of the passions that Beth and Shelley share (pg 5/6) and reflect on it. Do you share the passion with them? Why? Why not?


'We are passionate about instilling the belief that every educator has the power and the ability to help students - even the students whom others have written off - accomplish amazing things!

As a Catholic Educator I believe that the students 'whom others have written off' are the ones we should be looking out for.  Catholic school were orginally set up for this purpose and we need to get back to this as we have a lot to offer these students.  
This can be the hard path to take, as from personal experience a lot of people question why you are allowing them into your school.  
My passion is around ensuring everyone gets a quality education and a great start to life.  I am paasionate about making sure these children have a great experience so they know that there is always some there for them and hopefully later on in life they see the Church as a caring safe place they can turn too.

So in summing up I do share the passion Beth and Shelley have and I believe we have to give the students who everyone else writes off a go. 

I will finish with this Maori proverb,

He aha te mea nui o te ao
What is the most important thing in the world?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
It is the people, it is the people, it is the people

7 comments:

  1. We don't know the effect we are having on our Tamariki... particularly when things are not going to script I find great consolation knowing that my reactions will water the seed of faith that we have planted.

    As a school leader we get to do that on two levels. To inspire our teachers... to support them, to hold them accountable, to be compassionate, to give them something to aspire towards... and in doing this we are tilling the soil for the seed of faith to be sewn. Then in our brief but important time with the students we get to fertilise the seed further...

    Anyway - seeds metaphor taken too far! Long and short - I agree - we need to give everyone a chance - as we can make a difference in everyones life!

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  2. Hi Graeme!
    I like this because if you don't have a passion for something in teaching, "Why are you there?". One of the things that I like at the moment is that I get to do things that I like doing unconstrained by timetables and the demands of the school's curriculum structure.

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    Replies
    1. If you can get a copy of the book it is a good read.

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  3. Great post Graeme - thanks for joining the blog hop! Reading through the #LeadLAP posts shows we all share the passion that Relationships are key.

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  4. Kia ora Graeme. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree that people are the most important things in a school. Constant assessment and testing does not grow passion or develop life long learners. People who are passionate about children and wellbeing will ensure positive learning outcomes for all!

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  5. I feel like you are sharing my story here Graeme!! So nice to see that I am not alone. It is so difficult at times when others cannot see the potential in our challenging students, or in fact the difference that we can make for these students. I am VERY passionate about this - even when it meant that a number of parents were against my decisions. Brilliant reflection - I am looking forward to reading more!

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    1. Thanks for your comments, we have to fight the fight for these children. Good to know that there is someone else in the same corner.

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