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It’s not the right time yet … but will it ever be?

It’s not the right time yet … but will it ever be?
I’ll start exercising on Monday.
I’ll enrol in that yoga course once the kids leave home.
I’ll start a family when we’re financially secure.
I can’t begin my diet until I get Christmas out of the way.
I’ve got so much admin to do that I can’t focus on what really matters at school.Like all good mantras, if we just say these things often enough and with enough conviction, they become true.

Like a dog waiting at the window for an owner to return “because then everything will be alright”, too often in schools we’re forgetting the immense power that we have to effect change right now.

It’s ironic too, that we are quick to chastise students who espouse any self-limiting beliefs and yet perhaps we should occasionally look at where they might be learning these unproductive slogans.  Could it, at least partially, be from us?Do we really need to wait for government/department/board/CEO/Principal approval before we can effect change?  Is there potentially a shift in practice, an innovative idea or a collaborative project that I could embark on that would make things a whole lot better without having to have it land on me from above?

Abraham Lincoln said that “Things come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle”.  I’d contend that waiting for a hierarchically led education revolution is what Lincoln was warning us about.  We need more hustle in our schools … about what really matters.  To compensate, could we generate a little less hustle around those things that don’t?  Could we?

What’s needed now more than ever is for Teachers and Principals to sow the seeds of a much-needed revolution at the grass roots.  We need schools to emerge through great practice initiatives together and then to allow a local member or CEO to take credit for it – and then to endorse its scaling.

You see, revolutions in education are unlikley to come from those who need them to be popular.  The next great education revolution begins with one school, who’s practicitioners stand strongly enough in their expertise to withstand criticism, setbacks and unpopularity.  Could that be your school?  Could that be you?  Could your rebellious streak be the only missing ingredient?

Free WEBINAR – Inclusive Schools

The most common metaphor we hear at Real Schools is that teaching these days is like spinning plates – there’s just so much to do! And while we all know that good work, like teaching, probably should be taxing – there’s something making the job of keeping those plates intact harder than ever before.

It’s diversity. It’s one thing to implement a program or even to just teach well with a homogenous class – but that class just doesn’t exist any more. Increasingly, your students are arriving with ESL backgrounds, with the effects of trauma, with ASD traits, with other behavioural challenges and with learning difficulties.

 

 

 

Inclusive-Schools

 

 

 

While we know inclusivity matters – the challenge is HOW, given the immense challenge of student diversity.Meeting this challenge requires expertise and it’s why we’re bringing Jodie Green, a former Principal and Student Services System Leader, in to guest host this webinar. Jodie’s practical knowledge in this space is simply unsurpassed.

In this webinar, Jodie will unpack:

  • What great practice looks like in a truly inclusive school.
  • Clearly defining inclusivity and diversity for today’s teacher.
  • The most effective inclusive practices to deploy across the school.
  • The leadership imperative of inclusivity.
  • Our school inclusivity journey so far and the future ahead of us.
In the end, you’ll leave this webinar capable of developing your school’s unique response to your own community’s unique circumstances. This is about the key realisation that there is no blue print for inclusive education – but the most important thing is that there are some clearly identifiable principles at work which underpin the structure, organisation and practices of the school its ethos and its relationship with its surrounding communities.This Real Schools Webinar is aimed at Teachers, School Leaders, Administrators and Teachers of all phases of learning – you’d be crazy to miss it!