Educational+Leadership

//**• Outstanding capacity for visionary and exemplary leadership of a school or college.**// //**• Highly developed skills in leading and managing change including the leadership of others in the process of change**//.

The Victorian Education Department Blueprint strategies and E 5 instructional model are based around the priority areas of ‘recognising and responding to diverse student needs, building the skills of the education workforce to enhance the teaching and learning relationship and to continuously improving schools’.

The Blueprint and E 5 instructional model outlines the initiatives designed to ensure that our teachers are equipped to deliver high quality education to all young people. At a school level educational leadership is pivotal to ensure that these priority areas are effectively implemented and supported for the benefit of all stakeholders in the school community.

Managing Change requires Educational Leadership, the development and articulation of an educational vision, leading, engaging, coaching and supporting staff to develop goals and priorities that lead to improved educational outcomes for all students. Throughout this process it is important to develop shared beliefs and understandings through a strong committed team approach. As a Teaching and Learning Coach I have demonstrated this by the following: • Organising Numeracy Walks, where the whole school has a particular focus in mathematic. Two teachers visit maths classes and note down the resources, classroom environment and language used during the session. The notes taken during the walk lead the discussion of ideas and strategies they would like to incorporate into their classrooms. • Facilitating an after school meeting, where the staff analysed their schools Year 3 & 5 AIM and NAPLAN results and compared the percentage of correct responses of their school to the state. They interpreted the results and found questions for which the students struggled. They used this information to develop an action plan and to plan professional learning for the staff. • Organising and facilitating professional learning teams (PLT’s) to utilize data effectively and to provide advice on suitable assessment tools such as the ‘On Demand Test’, ‘On-line interview’ and ‘Scaffolding in Numeracy in Middle Years’ which determines assessment and monitoring needs of students mathematical learning as the focus for improvement and the starting point for professional learning. • Assisting school leaders to build their knowledge of effective maths practices and implementing sustainable change to lead professional learning by encouraging them to participate in ongoing professional learning programs within the school. • Teachers are 'life long learners' and my role as a Teaching and Learning Coach is to provide support to the teachers to ensure that this learning continues effectively and without ‘fear of change’. This requires strong leadership skills such as listening, observing, reflecting, questioning and consulting to support teachers, which I constantly use when working with in schools.

As a Cluster Educator I had an enormous responsibility to be a motivating and enthusiastic role model and leader to teachers P – 12 in the McKinnon Middle Years Reform Action Cluster (MMYRAC). I have demonstrated this by the following: • By developing clear Cluster goals and priorities, I was able to successfully drive change in the areas of - Framework for Effective Learning, Teaching & Learning, Assessment & Reporting, ICT, Community Involvement and Transition, with the support and professionalism of enthusiastic staff who also wish to experience change and to be involved with progressive educational initiatives. • Led, supported and facilitated staff to implement initiatives within the cluster and the wider community such as ‘Peer Reflection’ using the 5 day PLS Peer Coaching course and Teacher Professional Leave as the driving forces which has been used in individual schools performance and development culture. After training the peer coaches they have been able to work with individual teachers within their schools to improve the teacher being coached classroom teaching. • Supported the cluster in the state- wide pilot of the Ultranet through facilitating curriculum development and planning with VELS with school teams, organising ICT software staff training and interactive whiteboard workshops and developing transition documents for digital portfolios and electronic communication between year 6 and 7 students which improved student engagement in the classroom. • Innaugral member of the Glen Eira Primary and Secondary VELS discussion networks where we discussed and shared different VELS audit tools and unit planners used in individual schools and how schools were implementing the Principles of Learning and Teaching. The information from these networks I used to mentor teachers to implement VELS curriculum tools into their classroom. • Attended the SMR ‘Assessment and Reporting’ briefing with the McKinnon Secondary leadership team and as a member of the McKinnon curriculum committee, worked to develop the new reporting format for 2007, discussed with individual schools their Assessment and Reporting procedure in relation to the use of progression points and planning with Year level teams to develop units covering the relevant Discipline and Interdisciplinary domains. • Promoted the MMYRAC journey by presenting at Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) symposiums and interstate conferences outlining their progress and the embedding of the ‘Framework of Effective Learning’ and implementation of innovative programs. • Invited member of the ‘School User Advisory group sub committee for the Ultranet project’. Our role is to give advice and recommendations to the project team on significant policy, operational and functional matters as they arise over the next three years. • Organised and facilitated Cluster forums with principal class and representatives from each of the MMYRAC pilot schools to develop a Year 6 to Year 7 document for the student@centre. The Ultranet team developed transition documents for schools to use and the information was gathered and collated to present in recommendations. • Encouraged teachers to network and visit other school settings to observe programs in action, therefore establishing an 'openness' to observe and listen to new ideas and strategies. There is also a reaffirmation that teachers are on the 'right track' whilst noting that there is always room for improvement. • Shared my experiences and expertise in education with staff, encouraging teachers to trial ideas and strategies and share their own experiences with others. In doing so I have shared many successful teaching experiences and my enthusiasm for learning in new and different ways

Teaching and Learning was an essential part of the fabric of my work as an Innovation and Excellence Educator. I developed resources for teachers for a comprehensive range of Teaching and Learning Strategies and provided support to teachers in the implementation of these strategies. These have been used to cater for individual learning needs and have lead to improved student learning. Some of the resources include, Effective Learning Framework, Learning Styles, Graphic organisers, ICT strategies, Thinking Curriculum, Teaching and Assessment Resources from VELS,

In conducting my planning meetings, project meetings and workshops I use a variety of the above tools to introduce strategies and model best practice.

As a Teaching and learning Coach and a Cluster educator, teachers have actively seek me for advice, direction and guidance for strategies to enhance a variety of learning activities.

I was one of a team who conducted Intel Training for teachers in the McKinnon and Bentleigh Clusters. This again led to the opportunity to introduce sound pedagogical practice for teachers though comprehensive Inquiry planning, examples, modelling best practice and pedagogical discussions. This has been a highly successful program for Primary, Secondary and Special School Teachers.

Digital Portfolios also require teachers and students to use a variety of Teaching and Learning and Assessment Strategies. Digital Portfolios have engaged students in showing their learning through different mediums especially audio, photographic and video. I led the development of a comprehensive Cluster Digital Portfolio Handbook to support students and teachers in the variety of Teaching and Learning strategies that can be used to demonstrate student learning. This has required me to have a thorough knowledge of Teaching and Learning Pedagogy.

I have conducted workshops and modelled lessons for teachers on how to best use and evaluate learning outcomes of students using Multiliteracies. These have been linked closely to the Domains of Personal Learning, Information and Communication Technology, Thinking, English, Interpersonal Development and Design, Creativity and Technology.

Having worked intensely with leadership teams and teachers in the McKinnon Cluster and Springvale schools, I have come to know, understand and appreciate the workload and demands on them. The personal relationships that I have built up over time have enabled me to establish mutual trust and support with colleagues. As a result I am better able to know how and when to introduce new pedagogical ideas and concepts.

I have actively sought to improve the knowledge of teaching and learning pedagogy of teachers in the MMYRAC Cluster and myself through working with and using experts in this area.

They include: • Dr Maureen O’Rourke from the Australian Centre for Effective Partnerships who has been vital support and link in developing our Digital Portfolios. She and Kaye Fletcher have conducted a variety of workshops for teachers in the McKinnon Cluster to support their understanding of Teaching and Learning Pedagogy and Digital Portfolios. • Lynn Davie and Louise Bowe from the former e-Learning Branch who have assisted the Cluster with information related to ICT infrusture needed in schools to store students Digital Portfolio.