Do you sometimes feel as though you’re awash in a sea of problems? They seem to be everywhere we turn and regardless of how much we try, there always seems to be a never ending supply of them. It’s interesting how most of us see only problems while some people have the great ability to look at things differently and see that what appears to be a problem isn’t or to look at something and see a solution. It’s the way we think about what we see that determines whether we see a problem or a solution, whether we see a problem or a new possibility.
John Lennon’s lyrics in “Watching the Wheels” sums this up quite nicely:
Ah, people asking questions, lost in confusion,
Well I tell them there’s no problem, only solutions.
I recently read an extraordinary book “Pink Bat: Turning Problems into Solutions” written by Michael McMillan. I don’t want to spoil your enjoyment of the book so I won’t tell you the story about the pink bat, but I do want to share with you a little of this new way of thinking about perceived problems.
McMillan tells the story about a perceived problem: The amenities were great but the elevators in a new office building were extremely slow and it became a major problem with people getting frustrated, angry and annoyed as they waited for the elevator. The building’s developer hired consultants to assess the problem and ended up with a short list of solutions which were: add a couple more banks of elevators, make the doors open and close faster, stagger business starting and ending times and have visitors come during off-hours. Everyone was so focused on the problem, no one was able to see it as a solution…. Well, almost no one.
So what was the solution to the slow elevators? Simple really: a large crowd still waits outside the elevators, but now the crowd is happy as they gaze up to look at the new video monitors that showed the latest stock market information, checking the weather and reading employee related news. The ‘pink bat’ solution was that the perceived problem became a solution. No one minds waiting for the elevators any more.
Solutions are all around us, we just have to think about things differently. Step back from the perceived problem and apply a different kind of thinking. Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree when the apple fell on his head. Rather than considering this a problem he saw it as a solution – the Universal Law of Gravitation. While most people would see the falling apple as a problem, Newton saw it as a solution.
As McMillan points out:
For every problem, there exists a solution… and at the very least .. an opportunity. But it takes an open mind to see it… and intelligence and imagination to create it….. You can live each day in a world filled with “problems” or rise each morning and embrace a world filled with unseen solutions… eager for you to find them. The decision is yours… both worlds exist. The one you choose is the one you will create.
Karon Graham
Principal CCS
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
What mothers really want....
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
What mothers really want....
View more presentations from karongraham.
What Mothers Really Want
My children are now grown up but I still get asked each year what I want for Mother's Day. While I pondered the many possible gifts in my mind - perfume, great book, cd and the like, I started to think about what I would really like .... and I hope all mums who read this agree with some of the sentiments found in the attached powerpoint. I created this for Caloundra City School's Mother's Day Assembly and I would like to acknowledge the beautiful photos from Anne Geddes.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The power of positive self belief
Student achievement in school is as much about self belief and confidence, as it is in academic endeavour and aptitude. Whether it involves preparation for NAPLAN testing or Years 3,5,7 and 9, or Queensland Core Skills Tests for Year 12, or assessment of any kind for each of the Year Levels, students need to believe that they can achieve well and have the confidence in their own ability, that comes from setting ‘learning’ goals rather than ‘performance’ goals. Learning goals requires students to practise and focus on improving their ability rather than setting a goal of achieving an ‘A’ result.
According to Bandura (1999) and other researchers, how people behave and achieve can often be better predicted by the beliefs they hold about their capabilities, what he calls self efficacy beliefs, than by what they are actually capable of accomplishing, because these self-perceptions help determine what individuals do with the knowledge and skills they have.
Researcher and author, Frank Pajaras (2003) has found that judgments of personal efficacy affect what students do by influencing the choices they make, the effort they expend, the persistence and perseverance they exert when obstacles arise, and the thought patterns and emotional reactions they experience.
A strong sense of confidence, for example, may serve students well when writing an essay because it engenders greater interest in and attention to writing, stronger effort, and greater perseverance and resiliency in the face of adversity. Confident students are also likely to feel less apprehensive and have stronger feelings of self-worth about their writing.
Clearly both teachers and parents should pay attention to students’ perceptions, because it is the perceptions that may more accurately predict students’ motivation and future academic outcomes. Working with students to point out their successes and achievements will help boost their confidence. Yes it sounds simple, but it does require ongoing reinforcement by both teachers and parents, of actual accomplishments. ‘Over the top praise’, contrary to some people’s beliefs, does not build self confidence in the student.
Student achievement, as well as their confidence and competence, improves with practice, and also by setting some clear and concise goals as well as by timely feedback on their work. Students respond more confidently to small progressive steps towards an end goal and will achieve at a higher level with this strategy. Difficult and daunting challenges tend to discourage students, de-motivating them and causing them to lose confidence in their own ability. So it’s important to build confidence over time with small successes in order for them to achieve at a higher level.
There is an excellent article on the topic of Supporting Students’ Confidence as Learners with more detailed advice, at the following URL address:
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=gD7_VSNmu7cC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA5&dq=achievement+and+confidence+of+students&source=bl&ots=nUUtMhtxHU&sig=bjOi-4Dpe9-JhT-dWFrdtS5GIZ8&hl=en&ei=64ipS6mhIZDc7AP_qyuBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CBkQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=achievement%20and%20confidence%20of%2students&f=false
Remember:
“Our aspirations are our possibilities."
(Samuel Johnson).
According to Bandura (1999) and other researchers, how people behave and achieve can often be better predicted by the beliefs they hold about their capabilities, what he calls self efficacy beliefs, than by what they are actually capable of accomplishing, because these self-perceptions help determine what individuals do with the knowledge and skills they have.
Researcher and author, Frank Pajaras (2003) has found that judgments of personal efficacy affect what students do by influencing the choices they make, the effort they expend, the persistence and perseverance they exert when obstacles arise, and the thought patterns and emotional reactions they experience.
A strong sense of confidence, for example, may serve students well when writing an essay because it engenders greater interest in and attention to writing, stronger effort, and greater perseverance and resiliency in the face of adversity. Confident students are also likely to feel less apprehensive and have stronger feelings of self-worth about their writing.
Clearly both teachers and parents should pay attention to students’ perceptions, because it is the perceptions that may more accurately predict students’ motivation and future academic outcomes. Working with students to point out their successes and achievements will help boost their confidence. Yes it sounds simple, but it does require ongoing reinforcement by both teachers and parents, of actual accomplishments. ‘Over the top praise’, contrary to some people’s beliefs, does not build self confidence in the student.
Student achievement, as well as their confidence and competence, improves with practice, and also by setting some clear and concise goals as well as by timely feedback on their work. Students respond more confidently to small progressive steps towards an end goal and will achieve at a higher level with this strategy. Difficult and daunting challenges tend to discourage students, de-motivating them and causing them to lose confidence in their own ability. So it’s important to build confidence over time with small successes in order for them to achieve at a higher level.
There is an excellent article on the topic of Supporting Students’ Confidence as Learners with more detailed advice, at the following URL address:
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=gD7_VSNmu7cC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA5&dq=achievement+and+confidence+of+students&source=bl&ots=nUUtMhtxHU&sig=bjOi-4Dpe9-JhT-dWFrdtS5GIZ8&hl=en&ei=64ipS6mhIZDc7AP_qyuBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CBkQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=achievement%20and%20confidence%20of%2students&f=false
Remember:
“Our aspirations are our possibilities."
(Samuel Johnson).
Thursday, March 18, 2010
There was a time.....
Parenting was never meant to be easy. Effective parenting takes tons of love, understanding, patience, empathy, sympathy, care, concern and firmness. Yes, firmness. Young people need boundaries and they need parents to be specific about what they can and can’t do. As someone who has three grown adult children and with over 30 years teaching young people, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to stay firm on matters of principle, moral standards, discipline and boundaries. It’s not easy and I would be the first person to admit this!
Parents are subjected to relentless pressure to give in to their children’s demands and threats. This pressure comes not only from their own children but also from family friends, other people’s children, mass advertising on television, music video clips on Saturday morning television, movies, radio shock jocks, the internet, social networking like Facebook and msn; the list is endless. The barrage and onslaught can overwhelm even the hardiest of parents.
Don’t get me wrong, I see the positives of some of these media too, but let’s face it, somewhere over recent years, momentum has swung away from the adults and parents at home and moved more towards appealing to and satisfying the needs of youth. It’s not surprising then, that young people can have an overstated opinion of their place in the world, in the scheme of things and even in the home.
Values and standards are by no means sacrosanct, yes they do change over time, but over the last twenty years there has been a worrying trend. Some battle weary parents, or parents who don’t even try to make a stand, take the line of least resistance in dealing with issues of good behaviour, appropriate standards, and boundaries. Some parents find it difficult to simply say ‘no’ to their children – ‘anything for a quiet life’ seems to be the unwritten law of the household.
There was a time:
• When parents were in charge of what happened at home
• When denying a child some material possession or ticket to an event was seen as an opportunity to teach frugality and discrimination;
• When not having or doing what everybody else was having or doing was seen as a good thing;
• When a consequence at school was followed by a consequences at home, and the teacher was always right. (Educators tell us that it is rare when a parent thanks a school administrator for imposing discipline or punishment);
• When a child would not dare to scream and shout at a parent with impunity.
As parents at CCS, you have made a deliberate choice to send your sons and daughters here for nurturing, excellence in learning opportunities and for the values, moral and ethical standards, good manners which we believe will better prepare them for the future.
At CCS we know each child well and work with you the parents to bring about the best possible outcomes for every single student. This means that we have very fair and firm expectations for all students and we do have consequences for those students who do not meet our expectations. We need your support in ensuring that the same values and standards at our school are your expectations at home.
Please contact us if you are concerned about any pressure that your son or daughter might be expressing about ‘what everyone else is doing, and why can’t they do it too.’ We will work with all parents and support you in ensuring that your son and daughter understand fair and reasonable expectations and the right of the parent to make the decision, not the child.
I give you the commitment that we, as a school community, will work with parents to instil values of good character in your son or daughter. Yes, I agree with you, effective parenting is not easy, but I ask all parents to consider the following:
• Who makes the decisions in your household?
• Are you consistent and fair in your expectations of your son or daughter?
• Are you making decisions for the right reasons or are you being worn down by constant arguments and upsets?
• Do you discuss the reasons for your decision?
Noted psychiatrist Jung once said:
If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.
(~C.G. Jung, Integration of the Personality, 1939)
Parents are subjected to relentless pressure to give in to their children’s demands and threats. This pressure comes not only from their own children but also from family friends, other people’s children, mass advertising on television, music video clips on Saturday morning television, movies, radio shock jocks, the internet, social networking like Facebook and msn; the list is endless. The barrage and onslaught can overwhelm even the hardiest of parents.
Don’t get me wrong, I see the positives of some of these media too, but let’s face it, somewhere over recent years, momentum has swung away from the adults and parents at home and moved more towards appealing to and satisfying the needs of youth. It’s not surprising then, that young people can have an overstated opinion of their place in the world, in the scheme of things and even in the home.
Values and standards are by no means sacrosanct, yes they do change over time, but over the last twenty years there has been a worrying trend. Some battle weary parents, or parents who don’t even try to make a stand, take the line of least resistance in dealing with issues of good behaviour, appropriate standards, and boundaries. Some parents find it difficult to simply say ‘no’ to their children – ‘anything for a quiet life’ seems to be the unwritten law of the household.
There was a time:
• When parents were in charge of what happened at home
• When denying a child some material possession or ticket to an event was seen as an opportunity to teach frugality and discrimination;
• When not having or doing what everybody else was having or doing was seen as a good thing;
• When a consequence at school was followed by a consequences at home, and the teacher was always right. (Educators tell us that it is rare when a parent thanks a school administrator for imposing discipline or punishment);
• When a child would not dare to scream and shout at a parent with impunity.
As parents at CCS, you have made a deliberate choice to send your sons and daughters here for nurturing, excellence in learning opportunities and for the values, moral and ethical standards, good manners which we believe will better prepare them for the future.
At CCS we know each child well and work with you the parents to bring about the best possible outcomes for every single student. This means that we have very fair and firm expectations for all students and we do have consequences for those students who do not meet our expectations. We need your support in ensuring that the same values and standards at our school are your expectations at home.
Please contact us if you are concerned about any pressure that your son or daughter might be expressing about ‘what everyone else is doing, and why can’t they do it too.’ We will work with all parents and support you in ensuring that your son and daughter understand fair and reasonable expectations and the right of the parent to make the decision, not the child.
I give you the commitment that we, as a school community, will work with parents to instil values of good character in your son or daughter. Yes, I agree with you, effective parenting is not easy, but I ask all parents to consider the following:
• Who makes the decisions in your household?
• Are you consistent and fair in your expectations of your son or daughter?
• Are you making decisions for the right reasons or are you being worn down by constant arguments and upsets?
• Do you discuss the reasons for your decision?
Noted psychiatrist Jung once said:
If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.
(~C.G. Jung, Integration of the Personality, 1939)
Living in Harmony: Is it the Impossible Dream?
Living in harmony sounds like a wonderful concept, don’t you think? Some would say: ‘too good to be true’ while others, more optimistic, believe that ‘anything is possible’. Glendinning notes that:
If we cannot envision the world we would like to live in, we cannot work towards its creation. If we cannot place ourselves in it in our imagination, we will not believe it is possible.
Living in harmony is not a dream; rather, it is something that we can all strive to achieve. We can achieve this, not only in our own home, but at school and in the wider community too. Acting on our beliefs, in effect, becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, because deep in our subconscious we either believe that something is possible or we don’t. Every word, every action is influenced by our thinking. If we believe harmony is possible then all our communication and actions will reinforce this, and if we don’t, then it is highly unlikely that we will live harmoniously.
Breaking down prejudices, developing greater global understanding, bringing people together from different faiths, or different cultures can be a powerful way to unite people of the world but of course it doesn’t guarantee harmony. Starting in our ‘own backyard’ is perhaps the surest way to start this process of mutual understanding and empathy. What is harmony anyway, if we don’t learn to accept and value differences between people?
I once believed that I really did understand what it was like for immigrants arriving in a new country and to a new school but I was wrong. Yes, very wrong. The full appreciation of what it felt like to look and sound different hit me when I made my very first trip to China. Not only did I have people pointing at me (a combination of fair colouring and being tall), I was also at a complete loss to understand what was being said to me and couldn’t speak the language. I felt different and I was different and this was very confronting at the time and reinforced the fact that being a ‘worldly’ person and travelling the world did not mean that I felt comfortable in a different country – I felt very alien. I certainly did not feel like I was part of a global village.
The idea of a ‘global village’ is an oxymoron. An oxymoron pulls together two conflicting concepts that are at odds with one another or at the simplest level – opposites, like ‘bitter sweet’. On one hand we acknowledge that the world is shrinking. Consider the time it takes to travel from one country to another, or the nanosecond it takes for communication and images to be transmitted from one side of the globe to the other. Yet, on the other hand, there still exists an incredible diversity in culture, language and beliefs, which runs counter to the village concept which embodies like culture, like beliefs and common language. Lakhdar Brahimi makes the point:
In the globalized world that is ours, maybe we are moving towards a global village, but that global village brings in a lot of different people, a lot of different ideas, lots of different backgrounds, lots of different aspirations.
We are very fortunate to have a School which values cultural diversity and embrace the different perspectives that a multicultural community brings. Tolerance, empathy and shared understanding are the key qualities that transcend all cultural differences and leads to greater harmony amongst our students, our parents and our nation. As Robert Alan says:
Cultural differences should not separate us from each other, but rather cultural diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit all of humanity.
If we cannot envision the world we would like to live in, we cannot work towards its creation. If we cannot place ourselves in it in our imagination, we will not believe it is possible.
Living in harmony is not a dream; rather, it is something that we can all strive to achieve. We can achieve this, not only in our own home, but at school and in the wider community too. Acting on our beliefs, in effect, becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, because deep in our subconscious we either believe that something is possible or we don’t. Every word, every action is influenced by our thinking. If we believe harmony is possible then all our communication and actions will reinforce this, and if we don’t, then it is highly unlikely that we will live harmoniously.
Breaking down prejudices, developing greater global understanding, bringing people together from different faiths, or different cultures can be a powerful way to unite people of the world but of course it doesn’t guarantee harmony. Starting in our ‘own backyard’ is perhaps the surest way to start this process of mutual understanding and empathy. What is harmony anyway, if we don’t learn to accept and value differences between people?
I once believed that I really did understand what it was like for immigrants arriving in a new country and to a new school but I was wrong. Yes, very wrong. The full appreciation of what it felt like to look and sound different hit me when I made my very first trip to China. Not only did I have people pointing at me (a combination of fair colouring and being tall), I was also at a complete loss to understand what was being said to me and couldn’t speak the language. I felt different and I was different and this was very confronting at the time and reinforced the fact that being a ‘worldly’ person and travelling the world did not mean that I felt comfortable in a different country – I felt very alien. I certainly did not feel like I was part of a global village.
The idea of a ‘global village’ is an oxymoron. An oxymoron pulls together two conflicting concepts that are at odds with one another or at the simplest level – opposites, like ‘bitter sweet’. On one hand we acknowledge that the world is shrinking. Consider the time it takes to travel from one country to another, or the nanosecond it takes for communication and images to be transmitted from one side of the globe to the other. Yet, on the other hand, there still exists an incredible diversity in culture, language and beliefs, which runs counter to the village concept which embodies like culture, like beliefs and common language. Lakhdar Brahimi makes the point:
In the globalized world that is ours, maybe we are moving towards a global village, but that global village brings in a lot of different people, a lot of different ideas, lots of different backgrounds, lots of different aspirations.
We are very fortunate to have a School which values cultural diversity and embrace the different perspectives that a multicultural community brings. Tolerance, empathy and shared understanding are the key qualities that transcend all cultural differences and leads to greater harmony amongst our students, our parents and our nation. As Robert Alan says:
Cultural differences should not separate us from each other, but rather cultural diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit all of humanity.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Who was your best teacher ever? What are the Special Qualities of Effective Teachers?
Who was your favourite teacher? What made this teacher such a special person in your life?
What could be more important than to see our young people grow and develop into confident, competent, capable and knowledgeable young men and women? If we think back to our own schooling, I'm sure there are teachers who still hold a very special place in our hearts. Why do memories of these teachers stay with us during our life? Maybe because they seemed to really understand us, or relate to us. Sometimes they turned our lives around and sometimes they turned our days around because they were caring, understanding and empathetic.
One of my favourite quotes, written by a dear friend, inscribed in a book called "Hugs for Teachers" is: " A teacher affects eternity, she can never tell where her influence stops."
It's so true and sometimes I think teachers forget the powerful impact and life altering effect that they can have on the boys and girls and young women and men in their charge. It goes without saying that teacher quality matters or rather the quality of the teacher matters most!
One of the best books I've come across on teacher effectiveness is a book written by James Stronge called: Qualities of Effective Teachers (2007, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development). Stronge has also written for teachers a great practical Handbook to accompany the book.
In a nutshell when we talk about teacher effectiveness, we are talking about a teacher's capacity to improve a student's learning outcomes. At the end of the day, we are looking at ensuring students are successful after school, in work, university and further study and importantly as a citizen.
According to Stronge, the important qualities of a teacher who is effective can be distilled to the following:
An effective teacher is a person who:
Principal
Caloundra City School
What could be more important than to see our young people grow and develop into confident, competent, capable and knowledgeable young men and women? If we think back to our own schooling, I'm sure there are teachers who still hold a very special place in our hearts. Why do memories of these teachers stay with us during our life? Maybe because they seemed to really understand us, or relate to us. Sometimes they turned our lives around and sometimes they turned our days around because they were caring, understanding and empathetic.
One of my favourite quotes, written by a dear friend, inscribed in a book called "Hugs for Teachers" is: " A teacher affects eternity, she can never tell where her influence stops."
It's so true and sometimes I think teachers forget the powerful impact and life altering effect that they can have on the boys and girls and young women and men in their charge. It goes without saying that teacher quality matters or rather the quality of the teacher matters most!
One of the best books I've come across on teacher effectiveness is a book written by James Stronge called: Qualities of Effective Teachers (2007, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development). Stronge has also written for teachers a great practical Handbook to accompany the book.
In a nutshell when we talk about teacher effectiveness, we are talking about a teacher's capacity to improve a student's learning outcomes. At the end of the day, we are looking at ensuring students are successful after school, in work, university and further study and importantly as a citizen.
According to Stronge, the important qualities of a teacher who is effective can be distilled to the following:
An effective teacher is a person who:
- Is Caring - someone who brings out the best in a boy or girl through encouragement and affirmation, listens, understands and knows each student very well.
- Fair and Respectful - effective teachers establish rapport and credibility with students by emphasising: Respect, Modelling appropriate behaviours, Practising respect and fairness, someone who is consistent and shows no favouritism, no gender bias and treats students equitably.
- Interacts in and beyond the classroom with students in a friendly, personal manner maintaining appropriate teacher-student structures and norms. Someone who gets involved in sporting events, concerts, cultural events, talks to students during recess and allows students to participate in decision making.
- Is Enthusiastic and Motivating - the teacher's enthusiasm for teaching, learning and expertise in their subject matter is important in supporting positive relationships with students in encouraging student achievement. Research consistently demonstrates that high levels of motivation in teachers relates to high levels of achievement in students. High levels of enthusiasm is particularly important in motivating older students. (See research by Aaronson, Barrow and Sander (2007), Teachers and student Achievement in the Chicago public high schools. Journal of Labor Economics 25, No. 1)
- Is Passionate about students, and teaching and learning - Students are very intuitive and pick up very quickly if a teacher is not interested in them, the subject or the school. A teacher should not hide her or his light under a bushell - let students know how passionate you are about them and your work.
- Attitude is everything in teaching - effective teachers exude positive attitudes about life and teaching. They believe that extra hours spent preparing and reflecting upon teaching and learning are well worth the student outcomes. They believe that all students can learn and they can help their students learn!
When we consider that the destiny of each of our student's lives can depend on how caring we are, how helpful we can be, how enthusiastic, how fair and respectful, how encouraging we are and how expert we are in our teaching and learning, how can we be anything but the very best teachers we can be?
It doesn't matter if we have been teaching for one or twenty years, we can all improve on each of these qualities. All of us can make a difference to the young people we teach.
The principles of teaching and learning, the qualities of effective teachers, are in fact the principles by which we can all live - teacher or not - we can all affect eternity of the people we come in contact with in our day to day lives.
Mother Teresa sums up the way we can choose to live our lives:
"Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier." Oh, what a better world it would be if we could live by this mantra. :)
Karon GrahamPrincipal
Caloundra City School
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