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2013/11/21

Studying Teacher-Leadership with Leading Educators in Houston

Two principals from London joined the Greater New Orleans Fellowship's School Visits Trip (SVT) to Houston this fall. 

by Beth Kobel, Vice Principal, Preston Manor School, London, UK

This year I have had the opportunity to visit inner city American schools to gather good practice happening in effective schools. Our time in Houston allowed for an opportunity to join a Leading Educators School Visits Trip (SVT) designed for their Fellows. The experience was fantastic! From the very beginning, it was clear that this was going to be a highly organized and effective three days.

At each of the schools visited, we were able to experience a variety of events including: lesson observations, meetings with teaching staff and administration, learning about their induction programs and staff development opportunities, interviewing panels of students, observing student government classes, and visiting spirit assemblies. Every school was very welcoming, highly organized, provided extensive information and answered any questions.

What was an especially valued added bonus, was visiting these schools with highly professional and enthusiastic middle leaders from New Orleans. Seeing the schools through their eyes and listening to their high level of conversation was a fantastic opportunity to learn so much about what we were observing in the context of culture.

Leading Educators has designed the SVT exceptionally well. At the end of each day their are structured opportunities to share good practice, review the evidence gathered to demonstrate various 'levers', as well as begin planning for how this practice might impact on their home schools.

There were so many practical examples to influence our practice on both individual and whole school levels. One thing that I will take away from this visit is the positive impact they are having by dedicating a significant amount of time and resources to staff development. In every school the commitment to making this a priority was evident in its culture, consistency, structure and timetable. Thank you for this opportunity - It really was inspiring!

2013/11/07

Teacher-Leaders in Ireland: Lessons on Student Leadership



Recently two of our Fellowship alumnae and our Executive Director from the Greater New Orleans region visited Ireland, touring schools and meeting with members of the N. Ireland DOE to learn about their system and the avenues for teacher-leadership. The trip was a reciprocal visit after several Irish and British teacher-leaders visited New Orleans last year as part of an exchange program facilitated by the British Counsel.

Last week, Alumna Meghan Mekita wrote some of her key observations about adult leadership in the schools she visited. Today, she follows up with this post on student leadership.

by Meghan Mekita, Leading Educators Fellow in New Orleans, Cohort 2012

While the high schools we visited taught us about adult leadership, the primary schools taught us about student leadership. At Victoria College in Belfast, students have taken over many of the jobs that adults do in our schools. Older children apply to be mentors to pre-schoolers and kindergartners. During lunch, the mentors cut food for the younger children and teach them how to sit and use their utensils properly. At recess, the older children organize games and teach younger children how to play nice.

What really made our hearts melt, though, was the idea of the ‘friendship stop’. Somewhere on the blacktop there was a stop sign that designated the location where any student could stand if they needed help finding a playmate. The older mentors would swing by, scoop them up, deliver them to a kind group of their peers, and set everyone up with a new game or activity.

Student leadership didn’t stop on the playground. Students as young as 5 were on the student council, working on environmental initiatives and fundraising for causes that they had chosen as a class. Almost every student was on a committee, allowing them to build public speaking and leadership skills from a very young age. In the older grades, these roles were expanded. A group of seniors in the attached high school applied and were selected to become prefects. As prefects, they handled duties, such as correcting uniform infractions, which teachers are normally tasked with. Our visit to Victoria College made us question our current expectations for student leadership, and start to think creatively about ways to build student leadership programs at our schools.

Shira, Julie and I felt lucky to have had this experience. We have developed relationships with several staff members at the schools we visited, and we hope that the foundation has been laid for us to continue asking questions about how their schools began the programs that we saw as well-oiled machines.

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