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FOREWORD:
'Good to Great to Innovate' focuses on more than classroom strategies, it clearly states the need for collaboration between whole systems and instructional leadership. Overtime the system has tried to link system goals to classroom practice by clearly stating system intent and linking it to school based professional development. As practitioners we are often challenged with trying to make links between classroom practices and reforms that are enforced upon us but end up being the "wrong drivers for whole-system reform". It will be of great interest to extend and clarify what Lyn Sharrat and Gale Harild recommend so we can continue to develop our understanding of how to use evidence based data so to move from 'good to great to innovate' in our school.
When reading the 'Forward' section by Michael Fullan, I was drawn to what he calls "the wrong drivers for whole school system reform." Michael states that teacher appraisal and instructional leadership are again missing the mark.
ReplyDeleteI agree that currently there is an emphasis on improving student success, and education as a whole, and am curious to discover what this book suggests as the possible 'right drivers for a whole school system reform.'
The first thing that strikes me in this text is the high level of unemployment for young people (aged 15 to 29). I would have thought that with the rapid advances in technology , that older people would have more likely lost touch with what is required in the workplace in terms of these skills and understandings. Perhaps they are learning on the job, or perhaps it is not these skills that are making young people "unemployable".
ReplyDeleteSecondly, the reality that we have become part of a global economy rather than an Australian economy is very valid. As educators, we need to consider the needs of this global economy and what it will require of the children we teach when they move on to participate as contributing citizens and workers. What skills, knowledge and understandings do they need to be successful in this goal? How well do we respond or even attend to global economic needs?
Just a few thoughts.....