“We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed but to those who have differed.” Charles Caleb Colton Over the past few days I’ve seen a lot of conversation generated as a result of the recently released paper from Dr Michael Johnson of the New Zealand Initiative titled No Evidence, No Evaluation, No Exit , subtitled “Lessons from the “Modern Learning Environments” Experiment.” Of course, headlines like this are always bound to attract attention – which is why they are so constructed. They’re intended to be provocative, challenging and position-taking. This, it may be argued, is what … Continue reading Acting on evidence

“Just believe in yourself, and you will realize that even those small steps taken in the right direction can produce great results.” Dr Prem Jagyasi In my previous post I introduced the idea of three dimensions to help educators and school leaders think about the characteristics of resilient schools. In this post I want to expand on these little more and introduce some questions that may be used to guide further thinking. The three dimensions are: Each dimension is explained in summary in the sections below, and then introducing the three characteristics within each of them. The culture of an … Continue reading Characteristics of Resilient Schools

“Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organisation is transformed – the culture reflects the realities of people working together everyday.” Frances Hesselbein When considering the characteristics of resilient schools it is useful to consider the three dimensions illustrated below. This will ensure that school leaders and others involved in the transformation process focus across all areas of a school’s activity, and not just on one particular thing. For example, during the lockdown and beyond we’ve seen lots of emphasis on providing technology for students at home, teachers working in teams to ensure … Continue reading Achieving resilience

The crises facing our world are complex and ever-evolving. The consequences, whether from conflict, natural hazards, climate change, or epidemics, are severe for many sectors and societies. Education is no exception: effects might include the destruction of school infrastructure, a reduction in the number of teachers, an increase in gender disparities, or overall system dysfunction. UNESCO – Crisis-sensitive education planning The impact of both incremental threats such as climate change as well as sudden and pervasive disruptions like COVID-19 is affecting all aspects of our lives – including education. A recent Mckinsey report highlights how these sorts of disruptions are becoming more … Continue reading Resilience in Education

“At this exact moment I say we sit tight and assess.” Meryl Streep in ‘Don’t Look Up’ One of the things that being laid low with COVID does is provide the opportunity to catch up with watching a few movies or TV series. For me, it was an opportunity to watch the film Don’t Look Up, featuring a high profile cast, including Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio. If you haven’t seen it the trailer below provides a taste of the plot… Regardless of what your view of the artistic merits of the movie are, it does highlight an important message … Continue reading Don’t look up!

“It is the absolute duty of educators to look forward in an informed and balanced way to a future very different from the past; one that, though they may not themselves experience it fully, their students undoubtedly will.” Valerie Hannon and Anthony McKay, 2021 in Five Signposts for the Future of Educational Leadership I received quite a bit of feedback after my previous post about how we prepare for and respond to disruption in our education system. Some were appreciative of the perspectives I shared and the links provided, while a few expressed skepticism about what they felt I was … Continue reading Leading in uncertainty