Whaddaya stand for?

To lead you need to know what you stand for. To lead you need to be able to tell people what you stand for. To lead others, they need to know what you stand for.

I stand for empowering others through teaching and learning. I stand for giving others the power to create their own story. People have the right to find and work towards what they want in life. They have the right to follow their own passion.

As a teacher I guide students to develop the knowledge, skills and abilities which lead them to uncover the thing that are really good at and really want to do. When they do this, students build confidence and then they fly...take risks, try anything, because they know I believe in them.

I want to make sure that all of the students I teach get something out of my lessons. This will vary for each student, despite there being a clear learning intention and an expectation of what I am looking for.

Some students will understand the learning intention, link the concepts together and instantly be able to teach another student. Others will barrel past the instructions and hurl themselves at the task, then link the concepts together and be able to teach another student. Other students will be oblivious entirely and be unable to explain. These students may need reteaching

Some will appear to be oblivious but at the end of the lesson be able to explain part or all of the learning intention. Another group of students will link the learning intention to something else that they already know, or synthesise two areas of learning (like patterns in fractions and multiplication times tables) with little prompting from me.

For each student the outcome may be slightly different...and I can draw professional satisfaction from each child's experience of my teaching.

In the moment of teaching, when I am with the students, if I focus on the learning of the students and not on what I need to "cover" in the curriculum it is a much more fulfilling role. It is also in these moments that ego or self consciousness departs and I no longer wonder if my colleagues think I am doing my job "right".

As a leader I support colleagues to become the best they can be. In this I hope to enable teachers empower their students. So my leadership focus reinforces what I stand for. However one difference springs to my mind - adults already know stuff. They bring a field of experience, training and knowledge, as well as fixed opinions and beliefs to all aspects of their lives. Children as learners are forgiving, adults tend to be less so. This makes the task of leading others a slightly different challenge but nonetheless worthwhile.

So while trying to lead colleagues through collaboration a range of questions streak into my thoughts. These are questions you need to have responses for in order to show that you are able to lead. These responses also need to be firm, positive and with as little hesitation as you can muster.

• If my best effort cannot support struggling students to engage or learn, why shouldn't I ask others for help?
• And what reason would others have to respond with "We all teach differently" rather than "Have you tried ....?"
• Are you an effective colleague if you don't have the time or willingness to support the endeavours of your fellow teachers?
• Does it matter if I don't get my job right all of the time?
• Does it matter if my colleagues know that? Is it ok to make mistakes?
• Is it ok to be a bystander as these mistakes occur?
• Do we give up on a trial approach just because it's in the implementation dip?
• Do we need to disrupt the teaching and learning?