The SBL who attended ResearchED Brum 2018

I attended my first researchED event yesterday when ResearchED Brum 2018 took place at Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School. It was the first time the movement/community, for that is how it styles itself, had come to Birmingham and it provided the perfect opportunity to put a toe in the water. I wasn’t sure how welcoming the …

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Are we privatising knowledge, not schools?

Much has been written about how the academisation of schools is ‘privatising education’ Every couple of weeks, the TES and Schools Week seem to feature a story where connected party transactions or CEO wage inflation are causing concern. However, there are also good examples of where the structural change of academisation has prompted a root and branch review …

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Everest: a lesson in leadership

A brief leadership story drawn from the 1996 Everest Disaster Stephen Morales wanted to use lessons from a disastrous climbing expedition in 1996 to illustrate the perils of pressing on too high, too far, too soon as NASBM transitioned to institute status. He was unable to deliver the presentation to conference as planned on the 16th November 2017 and …

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Beware of the echo chamber

A picture appeared in my Facebook feed this morning that is a timely reminder for us all to be aware of the echo chamber effect. I’ve reproduced it later in this blog. It reminded me that the views and opinions we receive via social media are, adverts aside, ones we have chosen to see. Our contacts …

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Malpractice and the Authority Gradient

An accidental discovery this weekend led me to a number of articles about the impact of  the ‘authority gradient’ in high stress, high stakes situations in both medicine and the airline industry. The authority gradient is defined as the perceived difference in status between different members of an organisation. It is a barrier to effective communication …

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Rock Star or Conductor

A leadership style is a leader’s style of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. There are many different leadership styles that can be exhibited by leaders in the political, business or other fields. Have you reflected on yours recently? When I started at my current school, I had to introduce myself to my new …

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Analyse your leadership style

I’ve been working to find some diagnostic tools around leadership styles and leadership behaviours to use with leaders and middle managers in schools. I’ve settled on the tools offered by Leadership Matters because their offer gets the balance right; a simple set of questions which result in a really good feedback report written in clear, …

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