Closing the Gap - 04/12/17

Geese uplift each other, trust and encourage each other. We can learn a lot about their leadership style!

The Sutton Trust - improving social mobility through education. The Sutton Trust commission research into education and see what can be done to close the gaps! Below is an image of how I ranked the Sutton Trust factors for developing progress. I now know that currently feedback, meta-cognition, mastery learning and homework have the largest impact (ranging from 5-8 months progress) for a relatively low cost.

Ken Robinson - reforming education. Currently we are alienating students with a production line mentality of education. We need to encourage divergent thinking and collaborative learning. 

Leadership

My strengths: approachable, communication skills, interpersonal skills and determination.

Areas to develop: analytical thinking, holding others to account, developing others and conceptual thinking, 

My leadership challenge

How can we raise the attainment of high ability boys in biology?

Focus on year 10 triple sets across both bands - 11 students.

Develop leadership skills through communicating with fellow biology teacher and instructing her to implement strategies.

Collect data at key points in the year to assess success of implemented strategies.

Introduction to Developing Leaders

04/10/2017 - Session 1

Characteristics of an effective leader:

• Inspirational
• Interpersonal skills
• Role model
• Dynamic
• Empowering
• Does the 'right' thing

Kolb learning style inventory:

• The phase of the learning cycle I most associate with is Reflective Observation - learning by reflecting.
• Observing carefully before making judgments
• Viewing issues from different perspectives
• Looking for the meaning of things
• My learning style is assimilating, in formal situations a prefer lectures, readings and time to think things through on my own. I definitely learn best in these situations. I also have aspects of the diverging learning style, in that I enjoy situations that call for generating a wide range of ideas, such as brainstorming sessions.
• To develop my accommodating learning style I need to commit myself to objectives, seek new opportunities and influence others. To develop my converging learning style I need to set goals, make decisions and create new ways of thinking.

Leadership challenge:

• Our group came up with many 'gaps' we were interested in challenging:
• Participation in extra curricular activities
• Participation in house activities
• The relationship between healthy eating and behaviour 
• Stretch and Challenge (7 --> 9) in HPA's in Science
• Comparative attainment in high achievers in Biology, Chemistry and Physics
• I will start to think about the specific topic which interests me for my leadership challenge!