Saturday 6 November 2021

Society of 100 Principals for 100 Principles in a school

 

Is it a "10% change" or a "+10% change" that you would want to drive in a school as a leader?


It was a great afternoon today , being a part of the leadership community from various parts of China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou  and also from Hong Kong and Vancouver. It is good to see leaders come together to make a collective impact in the education sector here in China. 


Of the various thoughts that I heard from many of them, what I resonated with is the need to have a balance between what we think education is and what students need , what parents need from us a school and what University admission needs is. 

Defining success in a school as a community of stake holders is very important in my opinion. Starting from the board of governers, parents , University counsellors to students and teachers - all need to have a common voice as to what they mean by student success. 

"In our hand is "how" side of it and not " what" side of it"  as quoted by a fellow leader Shankar ? I agree that we can make changes in the how side of it and be disruptive ....by building trust part of it from parents. Parents need to understand the context of the school and know the "how" the school does to take the student to the top University. As leaders we can impact the climate of the school. 

Reflecting on what we discussed, our school context has an IB curriculum to set up top standards of teaching and learning . However "how" we do it as a school and gain the "trust" of all the stake holders is "a constructive disruption" or "innovation" that we need to do. 

Richard left us with some guiding thoughts - 

  • So what principle can we bring back as a Principal to drive a "10% change" or even "+10% change" in the chinese context.
  • Whom do you want to bring into this team ?
  • Who else is missing in this dream team ?  How can we make this team smarter, more precise and more impactful?
  • Can we prepare for a new movement in the society ? 

 Looking forward to the next meet. Surely excited and ignited.