Proffessional Conversations

Following the School Review PD @ Nossal in May, it is clear that I can't yet "talk the talk." Speaking to people within the region, and listening so intently to the presenters, there were bits and pieces that were missing for me. What does FISO mean? Education State, whats all that and how come I haven't heard too much about that before hand?
Following a conversation with my Principal, it was time to learn to 'talk the talk.' As she said, it really is another language, and there are benefits to learning the language. Parents don't want to hear the professional talk, but colleagues do, departmental visitors to the school do. If I want to aspire to leadership positions in the future, competing against much older adults who have been in the profession for longer than I've been alive, then I need to step up.
Its now time to undertake mass readings, viewings, conversations with different people, whatever I can do, to help me be a better leader. So that I can have a deeper impact on student learning, as well as my colleagues.

My first point of call, AITSL. It's an obvious one. As I read and play for some time, I find some videos.

It is nice to hear that I am already using some of this in my professional conversations. These are more to do with colleagues, rather than the lingo that I need to work on, nevertheless still helpful. 

What I like about this is the challenge aspect. I am learning to challenge my staff, in a positive way. I can't say to them, don't do that, instead do this. This just wont work. Its very similar to working with students! I can't say to them, "why would you do that? That will never work?" I need to maintain a professional relationship with them still. I need to gain the respect, the trust, its all so important. It comes down to how I say it. I can ask them "have you tried...." I can tell them an anecdotal story for something that worked with me for that class, that student or around a similar issue. I can support them reiterating the schools policy, to build their capacity as a leader and as a teacher. My perception of challenge is slowly changing to a good thing, and not something that makes ones job hard.

So now to look at the documents that I wasn't so sure about.

The Education State for Schools:
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/educationstate/launch.pdf

The FISO: (Framework for Improving Student Outcomes) This supports schools to deliver the Education State. This model below is what we looked at throughout the PD.

It was interesting to see how OSC is fairing, particularly as we are only so young. This model assists schools in their review. It highlighted to us that we need to be engaging our community a bit more. Some of the key elements within the framework we do really well. It was great positive feedback to see what we had achieved in such little time. Yes, there are some things that we need to be working on, but Rome wasn't built in a day! We have a clear vision at OSC, and partaking in this review, weather it be formal or now, will be of great benefit to us. I know I will continue conversation with Michaela around this as we move through the year.