6 Key Elements to Effective Leadership Effective leadership is not only essential for the success of any organisation, it is also critical for the development of its members. As a school principal, your primary responsibility is to create an environment that fosters your students’ academic, social, and emotional growth. To do this, you must lead […]

The human brain is a pattern maker. It is constantly searching for similarities and differences to keep you safe and to seek possibilities for creativity and innovation. It is helpful, when problem-solving, to be able to think back to the past and recall a similar situation and what you can use or adapt from that […]

Picture this. It is a stunning day with wall to wall sunshine and I’m at a resort on the coast of Australia. To escape the heat, I decided to go for a bushwalk. I briskly follow the undulating and winding path as I took in the scenery and listened to the bird calls. As I […]

“The senses, being the explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge.” Maria Montessori A necessary disposition for students to develop is to gather information through the senses. The senses collect information about the world and send it to the brain, and the brain uses this information to make sense of the world. Sensory […]

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” Lao Tzu I love questions that send my thinking in circles. One such dilemma is the question: Which happens first […]

There is growing talk in education circles about empowering students to be self-directed in their learning. Whilst there is much talk, the actual implementation of this takes years of scaffolding and planning, as well as a true understanding and change in the role of the teacher within the learning environment. This, of course, is an […]

Being able to take a risk is central to being able to be a learner in a classroom. Learning requires students to move from their comfort zone, the known, into the growth zone or the unknown. Yet for many this can be a scary prospect. In their extensive research, Prof. Art Costa and Dr Bena […]

Being aware of your own thoughts, strategies, feelings and actions and their effects on others is what metacognition is about. It’s about knowing what you know and don’t know. The ability to take the balcony view, to look down upon yourself and reflect on your behaviour, ask internal questions and develop mental maps and plans […]

“We have had the posters and logos up on the wall for two years and there has been no improvement.” These were the words of a Principal in Singapore after they had identified and displayed the new school values, dispositions and skills they wanted students to learn and adopt. Passively hoping students will learn such […]

Take a moment to reflect on your current students. Do some of them rush to get their work done? Is there an unwritten belief that being the first finished is better than doing their best? Do many of them put in the minimum effort instead of working towards excellence? Are you constantly seeing sloppy mistakes? […]