Strategic Direction

Developing a strategic direction as an educator means being clear about what you are trying to achieve with your students and your school. Our purpose in becoming clear about the direction in which we are trying to take our students helps us determine the strategies we then need to put in place in order to achieve this. Thomas Sergiovanni once told a wonderful story about trying to help a jellyfish cross the road which illustrates the need for a strategic direction and which is interpreted here. If you try to get the jellyfish across you will use all kinds of methods to do it. You will push, pull, kick, drag, coax etc. Along the way the jellyfish will collect all sorts of rubbish and you may need to stop occasionally to make sure you dust off and throw away what is holding it back and/or getting in the way. If you don’t do this, by the time you get to the other side you will be totally confused about what was there in the first place and what has been added, let alone where you were going and why. It may be that much of the additional matter which has been picked up is actually a nuisance rather than adding any value. Finally, because this is a complex exercise, if you do not keep your eye on the general area you would like to land, you may find yourself some way down the road far from where you actually wanted to be.

While establishing a strategic direction and becoming clear about our purpose, this does not preclude us from retaining flexibility in what we do and our capacity to respond to opportunities. Like explorers of all types before us when we are moving in territory which is not too clear, we need to keep our eye on landmarks that do provide the strategic direction, while at the same time making our own maps. As teachers we don’t only need strategic direction these days, we also need to be cartographers. Hence Educational Cartography, a term coined by Professor Rosemary Wray is a further way of taking our journey as educators.

257 (C) Creating Resilient Educators

Healthy Learners, Schools and Communities

Below is a list of belief statements which may assist your school in the determination of where priorities need to be placed.

• Families, community agencies and governments are responsible for ensuring that all children enter schools ready to learn. Schools must be readied to facilitate each child’s learning and development.

• Each child’s learning and well-being are influenced by interactions among the family, school, and surrounding community.

• There are relationships among social problems such as child abuse, truancy, school drop-outs, substance abuse and behavioural disorders; these problems require integrated interventions aimed at root causes.

• Because effective schools require family support systems, schools must be family-friendly educational communities, serving and supporting families, neighbourhoods and communities.

• Effective schools are health-enhancing schools, which contribute to healthy communities and vice versa.

• In addition to the health of children, it is important to assess and enhance the health of schools and communities.

• Student, family, and community well-being are outcomes of equal importance to student’s academic achievements.

• Children, adults and families have the right to equality of condition and treatment; they also have the right to be different in their lifestyle choices.

• New linkages are required among educators and other human service professionals, necessitating school-linked services and interprofessional education programs.

• Schools and school-linked services build from the strengths of individuals and families in a noblame, no judgement environment and with democratised service delivery systems.

• Since schools cannot do it all, nor can they do it alone, “partnerships” among them and universities, community agencies, business and corporations must be developed and maintained.

258 (C) Creating Resilient Educators

Characteristics of Healthy Schools

• Individuals and groups are engaged in continuous inquiry into ways to improve the school and its components.

• The learning climate for students is one of high expectation without threats.

• Every student has an adult advocate.

• There is an agreed-upon, posted and practiced purpose statement with commitments to the learning, development and well-being of every student.

• There is an agreed-upon, posted and practiced ethical-moral code for teaching and educational practice.

• Decision-making in the school involves parents and community; it is localised, site-based and democratic.

• The school grounds and facilities are drug-, alcohol- and violence-free zones.

• Comprehensive health promotion programming, emphasising life skills education for adults and students alike, is embedded in the school’s curriculum and culture.

• Family-friendly, consumer-responsive social and health services for students and families are readily available on ,or near, school sites.

• Safe, quiet space for students are available on school sites. There is demonstrable pride in the appearance and maintenance of school facilities.

• Accessible and attractive spaces are provided for parent groups and social-health service professionals.

• There is student-initiated social support and a student governance system; students feel a sense of belonging and community

• There are links with business and industry, evidenced in the curriculum, in mentoring and occupational counselling, vocational education, apprenticeships and other such programming.

• Students’ aspirations and understandings drive curriculum and instruction, teachers’ roles, and teacher-student interactions.

• Heterogeneous groupings of students rely upon collaborative learning strategies and are facilitated by teams of teachers.

• Co-curricular programs are offered in the arts, sports exercise, and in student club-related areas.

• Multiculturalism is a source of pride; there is a philosophy and practice of inclusion and acceptance.

259 (C) Creating Resilient Educators

• Risk-taking by students and teachers is encouraged.

• Schools are not just student-centred; they invest themselves in the continuing learning and professional development, renewal, empowerment and well-being of staff and parents.

• Life-enabling education is prized over life adjustment education; special attention is paid to the ways in which schools and learning may improve family and community life.

• Assessment and grading practices are authentic, developmentally appropriate, and aligned with curriculum and pedagogy

• The creation, development, and maintenance of educational communities is prized and exemplary communities are visible in it.

• Leaders from school and community collaborate in identifying, and acting upon, root causes that facilitate and constrain children’s learning, development and well-being.

• Schools are cost-effective because of resource-sharing, human services and family collaborations and de-categorised funding streams.

260 (C) Creating Resilient Educators