What school needs to be - and what it shouldn't!

I found this interesting discussion off a link that Justine sent. (http://weblogg-ed.com/)

In it a guy called Seth Godin is interviewed about the reason public education was set up for industrialisation and why this won't give much of a future for the children of today if we don't nuture their willingness and ability to seek their own topics, question everything, and participate with others from anywhere in meaningful ways that could end up changing the world?!?  Are we at Myross Bush School on the right track with our curriculum planning and inquiry process discovery??

Key Competency workshop with Graham Watts

This was an opportunity for our leadership team to reflect on where we are at with the development of our school curriculum and how the Key Competencies will be embedded in that to reflect our attempt to ensure a localised curriculum that is intuitive to the individual needs of our students.  One that is not a 'one size fits all education' but one that will give them a glimpse of the world around them and what they are individually capable of!

The idea of developing a 'learner profile' from the question 'What is it about your students that tells you they need to become more competent learners?' will link in well (me thinks) from our essence statements for the different curriculum areas and KC's.  I see it pulling all those together and giving some life and purpose to our vision - 'From strong foundations we grow and stand tall together' - and the values that underpin it!  Your thoughts??

I also like the idea of taking those essence statements that we develop for the KC's and developing a 4 point 'rubric' to show the progression of each across the different levels and ages (under the labels Beginner, Apprentice, Practitioner, Expert).  This could also be done in each curriculum area to show was a particular type of thinker may look like in each area - eg  a scientific thinker, a social sciences thinker etc.  Your thoughts??

Principals conference - Queenstown

Firstly, thank you to the Board of Trustees for allowing me to attend the New Zealand Principal’s Conference in Queenstown.  The week was full, with both Workshops and Key Note speakers taking up the days. It was tremendous to meet with other Principal’s and I was able to catch up with old colleagues from my teaching days.  Much of the conference was centered around the concept of “Managing People and Building Relationships” and the barriers that exist within a full functioning school.  Although this on the surface sounds rather woolly, it was incredible hearing, seeing and learning about the differences that exist between individual’s makeup and points of view and in short, how we can sometimes forget  the qualities that we try to instill into children as adults - such as respect, tolerance, viewpoints and responsibilities.