Accountability in Schools - Where is it?

When we talk about accountability in schools, the conversation ends too quickly. I’m referring to following timelines, data and results, how we talk to each other, missing meetings, poor presentation, following the planners, working for yourself and not the team.

I absolutely believe that a strong culture comes from goal setting, building relationships and a strong curriculum. My concern is that we get lost in the culture ……..

The notion that NAPLAN is a one off test and therefore not a true reflection of a students ability is nonsense. This is language used by education bureaucrats, politicians and commentators to calm the public in the week of the assessments and the same rhetoric appears when the results come out later in the year.

In 20 years of analysing the results, I never saw one student …….

Mark McKelson - Leadership Consultant

There is too much negativity about our work, something needs to change.  Yes, there is stress! Yes, there is pressure! Yes, parents can be unreasonable! But at the end of the day, whether we are principal, teacher or an integration aide, aren’t these the things we deal with every day?

Mark McKelson - Leadership Consultant

This is the question no one asks! How often does a staff member come to you with an issue about a student, parent or teacher and you give them great advice and it backfires? I was a glutton for punishment in my early days. I just about worked out the wrong way to say everything in my first few years as a leader. I wouldn’t be where I am now without the support of a mentor who guided me through those difficult professional conversations.

Mark McKelson - Leadership Consultant

Put yourself in this situation: You start at the new school in term four, the leadership team you inherit is retiring or requesting to step down and the budget doesn’t allow you to recruit externally.  There is a feeling of hopelessness among the staff and they are wondering where is this new principal going to take us. These are the types of situations you need to be prepared for when you step into the principal role.  If you start thinking and planning now, you will be more confident when your time comes.

Mark McKelson - Leadership Consultant

When I look back at my first year as principal I laugh at how much of a control freak I must have been. I had to be in every meeting, read over every communication, process and policy.  They said I was micro-managing them and i probably was.  I wanted to improve the results, develop the staff, improve the facilities, apply for grants and everything else.   I was working twelve to fourteen hours a day and it wasn’t sustainable. Your people are your key resource and you need to spend the majority of your time investing in their development. You need them to do the groundwork and you support them along the journey. Along the way something changed, it didn’t happen overnight but when I looked back two years later, my workload had reduced significantly.

Mark McKelson - Leadership Consultant

We all remember our first day as principal. The Principal Radar is in overdrive. From the second you walk in the front door, to your first interactions with staff, how do the students react, looking at the condition of the facilities, the presentation of the classrooms and most importantly taking note of staff room dynamics. You are friendly but you don’t want to make friends, who will you be able to trust? Who is going to come on board? Who are going to be the barriers to change? The school council and region had set a mandate for me to transform this school. The staff had no idea of the tsunami of change to come.