Barry Smith - Learning about Learning

Summary of my notes from the event on Jan 17th

Keynote : Sir Robert Smith(Scottish and Southern Energy) - Smith Group

Self appointed, business and entrepreneurs group.  Interested in supporting MCMC youngsters.

Only Turkey and Mexico have worse stats  for OECD countries for NEET 16-19 year olds (35000)

Key to have college/school/business triangle of provision.

Smith group offering work experience placements, being rolled out across Scotland this year.

Using federation of small businesses, providing vocational ed opportunities and work experience for youngsters.

Keynote: Graham Hollowell

NEET Strategy Coventry & Warwickshire

Government strategy

Careful tracking

Range of voc ed programmes

Personalised support & guidance for youngsters

September Guarantee is a guarantee that every youngster who applies for a learning opportunity will get one

Early identification / indicators

Workshop 2

Glasgow’s vocational education.

All under one central group including training for work, apprenticeships etc

Special Programme for looked aftger youngsters : EVIP

Programmes include recognised qualifications like lifeguarding and CITB

Referrer (school) will decide who goes on the course, not the college or central agency group

In S4 they have an employability day, with a mock interview from an employer

Co-ordinated support plan is in place for every young person taking part in vocational courses

Opportunities:

EVIP(enhanced vocational inclusion programme)

YOUTH START

SOCCER SUCCESS

WINTER LEAVERS

Development of alternative curricula

EVIP (full-time programme)

Vocational coach

CSP

Intensive employability input

Development and recognition of soft skills(Step it up) youthlink website : (it is an evaluation tool)

Transition planning and support

Funded (until end of financial year)by external funding from Scottish Government, european funding etc

Glasgow City Council have one round of ‘corporate’ recruitment for which every youngster who is on a vocational programme is guaranteed a first level  interview and prepare for this with their vocational coach

As we are on the home stretch of SQH I am now focussing upon meeting all the elements of the standard for headship.  It has thrown up an interesting challenge for me and no doubt for other participants.  As a principal teacher of pupil support I have responsibility for managing projects but not for managing people directly, i.e. it is not part of my immediate remit and I do not conduct EDR or have any responsibility for the appointment of staff.   Obviously on a day-to-day basis, deploying excellent people management skills are essential, but this is not quite the same as having direct responsibility for staff. 

Therefore, I have been presented with a challenge is in evidencing a knowledge and understanding of the recruitment and selection process.  Yes, I have had my training and understand the theoretical aspects and possible pitfalls involved, but without actually taking part in a ‘live’ recruitment and selection process my skills remain purely theoretical.  It has become necessary to seek an opportunity through my headteacher to be involved in the appointments procedure.

There are others taking part in SQH who are in a similar position to myself, primary teachers and other PT Guidance/Pupil Support.  I have found myself asking the question, is it the right time for me to be undertaking SQH if I will have difficulty evidencing one of the fundamental aspects of the course?  I understand that the participants are selected based on both their experience and potential and perhaps part of the challenge is to ensure that you can be resourceful enough to engineer opportunities to fulfil all of the criteria.  Or maybe the course itself does not fully reflect the experience of participants from a pupil support background, where the ‘flatter’ structure can mean no direct responsibilty for managing staff until reaching the position of SMT.  The diversity of the structure of pupil support teams throughout the country means that people have a very different experience of pupil support from authority to authority.

This may feed the criticism I have heard levelled by some that the course is too heavily based in theory, too academic, and doesn’t fully prepare applicants for the reality of the job.  I have thought about this a great deal since starting the course in April ‘05 and my conculsion is that the academic rigour is fundamental to the qualification.  Headteachers are now expected to have a ‘vision’ for their school which is based on sound judgement.  I would argue that such judgement be based upon evidence from current research and academic thinking as well as the context in which he or she works.  

An unfortunate consequence of this  is the incredible expectations we have of the knowledge and abilities of the headteacher.  I say unfortunate because it can drive headteachers to work increasingly long hours to ’stay on top’ of things.  It is not possible for any person to ‘know all’ and ‘be all’ but we seem to expect this from from those charged with running schools. 

When I discuss working hours with colleagues who are on SQH, very long hours can be seen as a ‘badge of honour’ by some and this seems, in some instances, to be coming ‘from the top’.  A culture of working incredibly long hours exists in some schools and there may be a perception that progression is predicated upon fitting into this mode of working.  I do not believe this is healthy and I am glad I do not experience it in my own school.  It is one thing to have a calling and be committed to the work you do,  entirely another to be consumed by it.

However I digress from my initial point, the challenge of being fully conversant and experienced in the recruitment and selection process.  I am concerned that in becoming invoved in and R&S process it may be seen as tokenistic and may feel that way too.  But in order to fulfil the criteria for attaining the Standard for Headship it is a neccessity.  So I will seek opportunities to increase my working knowledge in this area, while having one eye on what is acceptable and reasonable in terms of my time commitment.

I also think my time of life has a significant bearing on my view.  At the moment I am in a very ‘busy’ time in terms of my home life and perhaps in a few years I’ll see things differently and want and need to commit more time to the job.

I took part in an interesting exercise on perception and diversity last night.  As part of the leadership development programme of a French Electricity Provider (EDF) we (the band in which I play) posed as waiters, serving the participants a meal before spontaneously breaking into a song, dance and African music performance. 

Afterwards we introduced ourselves to the delegates, explaining who we ‘really’ were, an Italian neuroscientist, Spanish primary teacher, American masseur, Senegalese dance and theatre instructor, Glaswegian law lecturer, Nigerian/Irish student, South African professional musician and some bloke from Airdrie.  A more diverse group you’d be hard pressed to find.

The point of the exercise was to challenge the delegate’s own stereotypical views and assumptions on who and ‘what’ we were.  It worked a treat, they were blown away!

The interesting part for me was that I learned more about the people I play music with in that one evening than I have in the past four years.  I had made certain assumptions about my friends which were based on nothing more than good old ’face value’ and most of which were totally wrong I have to admit!  It was as much of a learning experience for me as it was for anyone else I’m sure. 

It brought very clearly home to me how little I really know about those I work with.  My feeling about this is that it is a shame.  We all wear our ‘work face’ and present what is required to get things done in a professional manner, but because the job is very often so hectic we get precious little opportunity to really get to know others or allow them to get to know us.   

I know that there wil be exceptions to this rule, but ask yourself this question, how many people with whom you work do you really know? 

I don’t think not knowing your colleagues diminshes professionalism in any way but on some level I perceive(there’s that word again) it to be negative.  Without having any ‘proper’ information about someone, the mind is free to run away with it’s many stereotypes, positive or negative, to fill in the blanks, just as both I and our French delegates duly demonstrated last night.

So the long and the short of this tale is that I am committed to getting to know people a bit better!  First stop is via having the Guidance team entered in the East Lothian outdoor education staff challenge tomorrow which should be great fun!