Most importantly, best wishes for a wonderful Second semester!!!!

A new Semester/Term has started for most and it is an opportunity for “Newness” to be profiled: New Start, New Page, New Screen, New Intentions, How to do it Better, How to be Better. The challenge of such Newness is to not do something for a day or a week but for it to add constructively on how we permanently do things. It is not good to start the term with just “where was I?” Of course, that concept of Newness can also be applied to the start of each day - “I’m going to do it better than yesterday.” This reflective but effective approach to the “NEW”, used wisely, is what Generates Constructive Progress. The introduction of the “New” without Constructive, Creative, Reflection can be disastrous so “CCR” really must be done and not avoided. Unthinking, impetuosity should be avoided. However, Inspiration should never be crushed but it is always wise to apply the “CCR” test to it.

The meaning of words is important for educators, but getting the right meaning is not always easy and the wrong meaning can lead to unfortunate action. The daily news is full of such difficulties. “Valuable Newness” can be readily tied to “CCR” and “Initiative”. Initiative is a favourite of mine and I considered it should be encouraged in Principals, Teachers and Students. So what is it?

Some Definitions worth considering are:

• The ability to judge what needs to be done and take responsible action.
• Cambridge: a new plan or process to achieve something or solve a problem.
• Oxford: a new plan for dealing with a particular problem or for achieving a particular purpose.

When training school student leaders at my weekly meetings, emphasising Initiative was a favourite of mine. You can’t be a good leader without having the capacity to take Initiative. For a number of years, I would show the senior student leaders the wonderful movie on Sir Ernest Shackleton which is loaded with relevant examples of great Leadership and use of Initiative.

In 1914 Shackleton, with a crew of 27 sailed for the Antarctic. The Expedition was termed the Imperial Trans - Antarctic Expedition. The Ship unfortunately became trapped in the Pack Ice in the Wendell Sea off Antarctica and eventually sank on the November 21, 1915. Interestingly an example of fine Leadership, Initiative and Persistence was the finding of the Endurance on March 5, 2022, nearly 107 years after she sank, by the search team Endurance 22. She lies 3009 metres deep, well preserved and is designated as a protected historic site and monument under the Antarctic Treaty System.

Back to November 1915. Shackleton and his crew drifted with the ice Northward until it began to break up. They then boarded three open lifeboats and sailed a terrible 7 days to reach the uninhabited Elephant Island. It had been 497days since any of them had set foot on land. Once there Shackleton organised the fitting out of one of the lifeboats, the “James Caird” and set sail with 5 men through the wild Antarctic waters to South Georgia where there was a whaling station, a journey of 1288 kilometers. It took them 17 gruelling days. On reaching South Georgia they crossed the treacherous mountain range, a feat lauded by modern mountaineers, before they reached the whaling station. There they set about finding a suitable rescue ship. After several failed attempts they rescued the men off Elephant Island. On 3 September 1916 all 28 men arrived in Chile - no-one was lost. This is one of the greatest examples of Leadership and Initiative the World has seen. Not to lose a person is a miracle in itself and consequently people have discussed how this could be so. Such a discussion is also valuable with students. Initiative, Determination, Creativity, Constructive Reflection.

Related to this and the role of Initiative and Leadership must have a safety valve. This is when it is time for a natural Leader to fall back into Supporting someone else “out front.” Throughout my career I have seen people who have been capable leaders but aren’t able to move into the Support role. This, in the long run, damages and limits their ability to lead. In the early 1980s I did the wonderful Bushwalking and Mountcaft Leadership Certificate, a necessary qualification if you were wanting to take students into Alpine areas.

As part of the training, we had to do a full simulated search for some lost hikers. We were each given a part to play and strict instructions not to deviate from the part allocated or it could undermine the effect of the simulation. Playing the particular part gave you a good idea on how that role should operate and therefore increased your understanding of the process. One of the participants was given the role of radio operator but he wanted to be the group leader. He was clearly peeved about it and sadly did a terrible job as radio operator. How ridiculous! He would never make a good leader because he wasn’t happy taking on a Support Role when necessary. For some reason such people see this as an affront to their character. This is not the only time I’ve seen that, and it is usually both dangerous and embarrassing. One’s role as a number 3 or number 10 can be extremely important and should be taken on willingly. When teaching a subject, I was always willing to be under the leadership of the Head of Department and doing that well was always a good example to staff. Leadership training must emphasise the importance of being lead. If you can’t be lead you will have difficulty leading.

During my career I have witnessed that not everyone has good Initiative. Such staff will do as they are required but are not able to create even when they have the licence to do so. And so it is with some students. Exercises and Encouragement to use Initiative and Creativity are therefore really valuable. Challenging staff and students with such tasks as “if I can’t do it this way, what is another way.” Good creative teaching demands such thinking because the students will likely learn in different ways.

So, the semester starts with a New Page or Screen. Profile this.

Add: New Intentions, Doing it Better, Being Better.

Make it Permanent.

Remember CCR = Constructive, Creative, Reflection

Initiative is Vital.

Set out to understand why Sir Ernest Shackleton was a great leader and saved ALL his men.

Written by Chris Tudor