Admittedly, I know almost nothing about rugby. Whilst attending Oxford, I attended a few matches and attempted to understand what I was watching. One of my housemates played on the team, this friendship provided extra motivation for me to put effort into understanding the game. One notable aspect of rugby is the scrum. The scrum is like nothing I have ever seen in a sporting event before. I didn't understand how anyone could tell if they were progressing or regressing in, -cacophony in motion.
scrum: an ordered formation of players, used to restart play, in which the forwards of a team form up with arms interlocked and heads down, and push forward against a similar group from the opposing side. The ball is thrown into the scrum and the players try to gain possession of it by kicking it backward toward their own side.
The scrum is a regular part of rugby that, to a novice observer, is confusing at best. This structured interaction is not unlike the unhealthy "push-pull" struggle that is common within organizations--often with negative results. In the school setting, a faculty that regularly engages in the "win-lose" brand of decision-making will be much less agile and less able to identify and address student learning needs in a timely manner.
How to move from scrum to a Leading School
A Leading School systematically and consistently reviews student growth to identify significant learning needs. Student learning needs are addressed by matching teacher pedagogy to the needs of the students. The result is a plan for the year. The plan is dynamic enough that minor adjustments can be made throughout the school year to ensure significant student growth across the school, and can extend across years where appropriate. The goal is to plan and track student learning growth through data analysis and change in teacher practice that aligns with identified student need.
Teacher Teams: Uniting around a shared purpose
Leading Schools develop working teams that invite the involvement of all staff members through the development of meaningful goals and the delegation of important work. Effective implementation of a school improvement plan requires the full involvement of staff and a commitment to putting the Leading Schools Six Factors to work to meet goals. Every team has a lead that also sits on the School Leadership Team:
Because the six factors of Leading School and the steps necessary to tap their power are dynamic, working in teams is a natural way to approach them and to ensure that every teacher has a role and a voice in the process. Four teams, plus a Leadership Team, comprised of the chairs of the four teams, work cooperatively to formulate and implement the school improvement plan that results in significant learning gains for students within the school year. (An additional team—Transitions—is added in secondary schools and large elementary schools). Each team has distinct and overlapping responsibilities in the school improvement process. The five teams, then, are:
Professional Development
Data Collection and Evaluation
Logistics
Transitions
Leadership.
By mapping out the work of the school and assigning each member of the teaching faculty to a team, giving the team sufficient time to meet, the school faculty is able to unite around common goals and able to clearly identify their team and individual roles.
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