Like most headteachers, I suspect, anxiety is a feature of my daily existence. I don't like to say I 'suffer' from it, because I don't see myself as subject to it. I prefer to acknowledge my anxiety and believe that I can act upon it, not it upon me. This is already sounding more 'new … Continue reading Stepping outside of the now
Category: Leadership
The Curator
In one of the best moments in TV history (in my opinion), the greatest Doctor in the Doctor Who franchise, Tom Baker (also just my opinion), appears as an elderly curator of a museum. This brief scene toward the end of the epic Day of the Doctor episode depicts a moving and poignant encounter where … Continue reading The Curator
Servant Leadership: truthfulness and usefulness
"...the language used to describe servant leadership and the implied values within the approach make challenging the theory tantamount to heresy." (Minnis & Callahan, 2010) Never one to avoid controversy, I find myself mildly irritated once again by the tendency of some to endorse any superficially appealing leadership notion because it sounds worthy. I really … Continue reading Servant Leadership: truthfulness and usefulness
The Untestable Abstractions of School Improvement
There are many claims about what schools should be and how they can be improved. Most are well intentioned, if not always well informed. As a school leader, I find myself swimming in a sea of 'oughts', and drowning in intuitively appealing claims and counter-claims. Where is the life jacket? In Seymour B. Sarason's seminal … Continue reading The Untestable Abstractions of School Improvement
Memory, identity and becoming
Dr Julia Shaw is a psychological scientist specialising in memory and criminal psychology. In her book 'The Memory Illusion' she tells the story of a memorable lecture by one of her favourite professors at university. In the lecture, the professor takes a large sheet of paper and begins to fold it in half, and in … Continue reading Memory, identity and becoming
Wear sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists Whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable Than my own meandering experience Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen), 1999 Before becoming a teacher, I … Continue reading Wear sunscreen
Is memory preferable to vision?
In plotting a way out of our current confinement our ultimate ambition is normality. There are some who call for a 'new normal', or urge us to grasp the opportunity to reinvent ourselves and our institutions, but most of us would be happy with how it was, at least as a first step. For schools, … Continue reading Is memory preferable to vision?
This is my truth, tell me yours
What brings people together on the weekend in large numbers to listen, talk and reflect on education? This question was addressed more than once at the ResearchED Brum event I attended yesterday, and the Cymru event the Saturday before. There were various reasons posited, but for me the most compelling is simply the idea that … Continue reading This is my truth, tell me yours
Waiting for Ogod
27 months have passed and the phone is due to ring. I wasn't quite waiting by the phone at one o'clock on Wednesday, but I marked the passing of this moment in my mind. When no-one called, I knew we were home and dry for half term. I didn't want the call, but in another … Continue reading Waiting for Ogod
The Curse of the Specialist
Common and unusual problems I am fortunate to have had little need for medical attention in my life so far, but recently I've been able to observe the great cogs of the NHS turning (oh so slowly) for someone close to me with a rare and chronic condition. The monolithic organisation is littered with specialists … Continue reading The Curse of the Specialist
Matthew Evans 