Sharing Good Practice
this as a predefined expectation of the role . Are leaders , governors and governments ready to support the multifaceted role of the teacher and allow schools the autonomy and time to focus on nurturing the minds and souls of our future ?
For this to change there needs to be a move away from the cyclical short term annual school evaluations , and time and space to realign our purpose and drivers . Michael Fullan , a worldwide authority on educational reform has written a fascinating report this month entitled The Right Drivers for Whole System Success . He argues for many of the things explored in this article , a shift from academic obsession to wellbeing and learning , an emphasis on social intelligence equality and systemness .
( Fullan , 2021 )
The future is not an abstraction , it is what is happening right now , and we need to take this moment of disruption and use it as an opportunity to redefine and reshape our drivers . In the words of the famous computer scientist Alan Kay , “ the best way to predict the future , is to invent it .”
References
Christakis , N ( 2020 ) Apollo ’ s Arrow : The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live , Little , Brown Spark , New York .
Fullan , M , ( 2021 ) The Right Drivers for Whole System Success , Corwin Press , Thousand Oaks , CA .
Fullan , M , Quinn , J and McEachen , J ( 2018 ) Deep Learning : Engage the World Change the World , Corwin Press , Thousand Oaks , CA .
Luckin , R ( 2018 ) Machine Learning and Human Intelligence , UCL Institute of Education Press , London .
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development ( 2018 ) The Future of Education and Skills 2030 , OECD , Paris .
Wiliam , D ( 2020 ) ‘ Curriculum , pedagogy , assessment , in that order ’, Keynote , ASCL Annual Conference , Association of School and College Leaders , Leicester , UK
To make the human paradigm a reality , leaders need space and autonomy to spend time on long term strategic planning . This is going to take a real commitment and a new leadership paradigm from the very upper echelons . We need leaders who value listening , allow for transparency and vulnerability , who seek compassion to drive away from the fragmented ‘ bloodless ’ paradigm .
Dee Saran is the Deputy Head of Learning and Teaching at Dubai College and a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching . She is the co-founder of the UAE Research Schools Network and is passionate about creating evidence-based networks with world class universities . Her passion in developing innovative teaching , leadership pathways , research and quality CPD has driven the vision for Dubai College ' s Centre of Innovation in Learning and Teaching .
20 Term 3 Apr - Jun 2021
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