A Good Work Ethic?

I started work as an apprentice when I was 15 years old. The manager of the salon created a very strict work environment-being timed in the bathroom, taught how to hang the towels ‘correctly’, work day ends when the manager says. Any monetary bonuses were based on targets. It was typical practise to give the apprentice the children and men as they took longer and your percentage per client was always below the target. When I complained to my parents, they said it was developing a strong work ethic and I would be the better for it. We were always told to never quit! My dad was a hard worker and my mother too. Mum continues to keep herself busy today. 

One day my mother called the salon and was told that I was too busy to speak and that personal phone calls were not allowed. My mother (who never phoned the salon) replied, “Could you please tell Andrea that her dad has had a heart attack and was being taken to the hospital”.  The only form of empathy I received from my manager was when she said that her Dad had also had a heart attack. But I think she said this more as a way to say, it’s quite common.

After four years I got up the courage to ask my boss for a transfer. It was hard as we are always told to never quit and never give up. However, I was offered to manage another salon but it would be in a four weeks time. I was so excited! All that ‘hard work’ had paid off. The only problem was that my boss told my manager that I requested to be transferred. So for the next four weeks, my manager would make comments like, “You only have to work with me for two more weeks”.

Years later I opened my own salon and one night I ran into my previous boss. Ironically, I was told that I was the only apprentice who had not asked to be removed from working with this manager. Because I had never shared my concerns, I remained in the same context. I had hoped that my exiting that situation had caused my manager to reflect on her practise. But I also wonder if hoping was enough? Had I made it any easier for those coming through as an apprentice?

I expect many of you have worked with those who support and encourage your professional growth. Yet I expect some may have also worked with those who may also impede your success. These people- 
·      may not work as collaboratively as they could
·      may not share information or documents that make work less stressful
·      may not share your triumphs and successes but always freely share your challenges and mistakes
·      may not allow you any autonomy

And so I wonder …
·      when does your resilience create a precedent for others?
·      when should you speak up and say it’s too much?
·      how do you work with those who you believe are not promoting your success?
·      why do people act the way they do? (Insecurity, modelled & experienced behaviour)

And the questions continue...
Andrea 
@stringer_andrea

"We need gender mix in leadership. We're all stronger & wiser for it." - Peter Holmes

Yesterday on #satchatoc we had many women and some men chatting about ‘Women as Educational Leaders’. I had previously noted numerous tweets about women not being prominent in the education industry. With the support of Alma Harris and many of her colleagues, we created this chat. Our purpose was to unite and support aspiring female leaders or women in leadership roles. Could we support, mentor, coach, and encourage more women to enter leadership? What I learnt from this chat is that globally, female educators believe we should support each other more.

What impressed me yesterday were the men who joined the conversation. In my opinion they see this as an issue for all and not just women. If you think about it…many male educators could educate female students, have wives and/or daughters and therefore are invested in this conversation. This was made evident in Matt's first tweet. Here is the storify from the chat
 https://storify.com/stringer_andrea/women-as-educational-leaders-satchatoc/preview

Matt Esterman @mesterman

• @debsnet @ShiftParadigm I am the person and teacher I am because of the women, and men, in my life - everyone needs champions!
• A2 #satchatoc consistent message needs to happen for us to assert that leadership is not a thing men 'do' and women 'get to do'
• A2 #satchatoc a lot of capacity building needs to be done in men to break down old assumptions & then establish better ones together.
• A1 - supporting young women to 'lean in' on issues rather than wait until they are already in the workforce. #satchatoc

Peter Holmes @airprincipal121

• We need gender mix in leadership. We're all stronger & wiser for it. TY @TiffanySinton for your work & making such a difference. #satchatoc
• @jennyluca Leadership lies in self-belief, passion & desire to help others improve things. It's in all of us; nurture it in all. #satchatoc
• @stringer_andrea Empathy certainly develops. It's what we try to foster in kids every day. Aust needs to show more for @adamroy37 #satchatoc

Louka Parry @loukaparry

•  A10 - Women are often more reflective and continue to seek feedback over time, one advantage. Read more ln.is/businessinside… #satchatoc
• We all need to play a role in shifting ignorance and implicit sexism for women in leadership ln.is/www.youtube.co… #satchatoc

Peter J. LeBlanc @LeBlancPeter

• A6 - We make sure our classrooms & schools are free fr gender bias & sexism. We encourage & foster leadership in our young women
• A3 Men have a responsibility to speak up & against when encountering sexism, especially those in leadership positions. #satchatoc
•  A2. Ed can be an example 4 areas lacking in female leadership like the political & corporate spheres. These spheres shd pay attn! #satchatoc

Michael Graffin @mgraffin

• @EduSum very much so ... Some have been the most inspirational I've worked with #satchatoc

Stuart Kelly @stuartkellynz

• @NicoleArchard #satchatoc Excellent and relevant point now and in the future. When women, girls see other female leaders, becomes reality!
• @MelanieSSpencer #satchatoc I agree but in terms of child rearing schools should be accommodating of this or valuable staff will walk away.
• @stringer_andrea #satchatoc A5 Be visible in aspects, levels of school leadership and fight for equity through evidence and numbers.
• @jenniferabrams @bbray27 A2 - I accept joining panels or doing keynotes for the optics of women in front as much as my personal strengths - #satchatoc

Richard Olsen @richardolsen

• @jenniferabrams Maybe you downplay your strengths, while other overestimate theirs? @bbray27 #satchatoc
• A2 I think all schools and other education organisations should have diversity as an explicit goal. #satchatoc
• @CarolCampbell4 The recent DLTV conference was a fantastic example of proving women with equal time and billing as keynotes. #satchatoc 

I wanted to say ‘Thank you’ to all those who participated in #satchatoc, including the gentlemen. I am so fortunate you are in my PLN and are educating our students.

See Think Wonder

This blog post is part of the #blimage (blog-from-image) challenge recently set by Steve Wheeler and Amy Burvall. You can learn more about it on this videohttps://youtu.be/-7K8cA-Iub8. This particular image was set by @debsnet in this post.

This blog is going to be much shorter than any of my previous ones. Why? Because I don’t think I have much more to share. Over the past 6 weeks, I have shared my whole #EdVentures journey and I think sometimes you need to be still. However, @debsnet wrote and challenged me and @mesterman wrote an amazing piece, so I felt oblige to blog.

I SEE a small child playing with shards or fragments of shells. 

At first I thought, this child was trying to make a sand ball. He has probably made sand balls before but he doesn’t realise that this material doesn’t form into spheres.  

I THINK we should never assume what a child is thinking.

I THINK we should listen to the student to learn more about their thinking.

I THINK we (teachers) should also be permitted to play and learn by doing.

How do we not know that this child may like the sound of the shells cascading from his hands? How do we not know that he may like the feeling of scooping up the shells? Do we really know why he is playing with the shells? We all speak with children but how often do we listen…really listen? How often do we ask the important questions?

Sometimes teachers also have to listen to themselves. Teachers need to play too! Sometimes we have to take a chance and try something new. It may not be effective the first time (or at all) but at least you are learning, reflecting, persevering and hopefully growing as an educator. What a wonderful role model you are for your students. I watched many educators 'playing' at MaryMount when doing Design Do Discover in their vacation time. 

http://andreastringer.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/edventures-part-7-makers-at-marymount.html

I WONDER if he is getting frustrated.

I WONDER if there is a parent or adult telling him that he can’t make a sand ball with the small shells.
I WONDER what would happen if teachers played more.

Should we save time and frustration and tell our students the information or should we allow them the time to discover on their own or with their peers? My children didn’t walk or talk at the same time, why do we expect students to reach goals at certain dates or ages. Let's give students time to explore and learn both inside and outside of the classroom. 

So when you see students or educators playing or learning, instead of assuming their purpose or what they are thinking, why not question and start a conversation. When was the last time you played and learnt something new?

#EdVentures Part 9: A Community of Collaborative Coaches.

A few years ago, Steve Box came down from Brisbane to visit a few schools in Sydney. His purpose or focus was on boy’s education, PYP and also to meet some 'key' people. He visited Newington, Shore, Kings, Roseville, NBCS and Knox. You see, I will always remember Steve visiting Sydney as this was the first time I met many people in my PLN. Steve's 'key' people were also members of my PLN and it was August 2013.

Thanks to @7mrsjames for this photo

At my school in the US, for educators to be allocated a band (salary) increase, one domain required you to visit and learn from other schools and educators. It wasn’t unusual for my children’s principal to speak with me about what we were doing at San Domenico. Educators shared openly.

While talking with Cameron Paterson at ISTE this month, I shared how when I return to Australia, I wanted to continue to learn and also connect with others who are coaching or are interested in coaching. From this conversation, my school organised for me to meet with Glenn McLaughlin at Knox Grammar and Len Nixon at Barker College. What made these meetings even more valuable was that I would be Skyping with Dr Jim Knight beforehand. The power of collaborating and connecting has really resonated with me over the last six weeks.

On #satchatoc we tweet six questions to promote rich conversations. Instead of creating the six questions myself or asking Jim to generate them, I asked some members of my PLN that I highly respect- “What questions would you ask Jim about coaching?" Through Voxer, Twitter and a few phone calls, I had some strong questions to share with Jim. People ask what do I 'get out' of being a connected educator? Well, I think I just answered that question. 

So when I met with Glenn, I asked him the six questions. One point of interest was that Glenn provided another great question for our chat. I didn’t record our conversation though I wish I had. Glenn also offered to support me with my learning and extended this offer to my school. This further proves that many educators are willing to share their knowledge and their time. This is also evident with the TeachMeet movement. http://www.teachmeet.net/

That night, I also Skyped Shira Leibowitz Ph.D, who is a coach & mentor, innovator, former principal, facilitator of on-line learning, writer & editor, #educoach co-founder & co-moderator. Unfortunately Shira and I couldn’t meet in person while I was in New York, but honestly, the connection we made virtually was amazing. We talked about the presenters at Harvard, observations, evaluations and the coaching process. She also offered her support and asked me to keep her updated on my progress. Her generosity was inspiring.

So on my last day of #EdVentures, I visited Len Nixon at Barker College. Len & I spoke for a long period of time about coaching, professional development, mentoring, accreditation and much more. I also chatted with Brad Merrick about doctoral studies, passion and perseverance. We all discussed opportunities for us to learn, collaborate, grow and develop our profession. I left Barker believing I have two new friends who share the same passion for education.

Later, I thought about how we ask our students to collaborate and work on group projects, so why couldn’t we? Yes, we may be from all different schools and states but ultimately it’s our passion and interest that unite us. I thought about this tweet from Dayna on last week's #satchatoc about Professional Learning with @adambellow

Dayna Laur @daylynn

@stringer_andrea the best connections can be outside your school. You may be on a different learning arc & need a better match. #satchatoc
10:00 AM - 18 Jul 2015

So here are my thoughts-

• Couldn't we coach each other to become better coaches? 
• Use Voxer to discuss various scenarios? 
• Create a chat for coaches? (not mentioning any names)
• Organise a TeachMeet to share our experiences?
• Create..."A community of collaborative coaches"

I'll finish #EdVentures with the words that inspired my fellowship.

“No matter how well trained people are, few can sustain their best performance on their own”(Gawande, 2011).

Gratitude Journal

Glen McLaughlin & Mr Weeks (Headmaster of Knox Grammar)

Len Nixon, Brad Merrick & Mr Heath (Head of Barker College)

Dr Briony Scott (Principal of Wenona)
Jim Knight

Shira Leibowitz

My PLN- with a special thanks to-

@cpaterso @CmunroOz @Borto74 @debsnet @corisel @wholeboxndice