REFLECTION ON A SEEMINGLY UNRELATED TOPIC CAN LEAD TO CONSTRUCTIVE THOUGHTS ON TEACHING.
During this last week I have been struck by how my thoughts, seemingly unrelated to teaching, have led to constructive thoughts on education.
The first arose out of further thought on a project my Son- in- Law is deeply involved in called Wilya Janta. The project is taking place in Tennant Creek. It is fundamentally building a home for an Aboriginal Elder and his family. Wilya Janta means “standing strong.” The project is lead by Dr Simon Quilty, an experienced doctor who has served Aboriginal People in the NT, in both Katherine and Alice Springs. He is the brother of the noted artist Ben Quilty.
Simon formed the strong opinion that housing could be greatly improved if planning was done in conjunction with the local people who were actually going to live in the house.
This produced wonderful discussions involving the future users of the house, highlighting present problems and limitations with housing and resulting in a new design which was created around being “culturally and climate appropriate for Warumungu people and their environment.”
The house was designed so that the Aboriginal users who were in fact a local leader and his family, felt that it met their needs. The following are some of these.
- Airconditioned and well insulated. Most of us that have lived a long time in the NT will have slept in a masonry block house, trying to sleep while the western walls are quite hot at the end of the day, therefore helping heat the air.
- Solar electricity. Power is very expensive in the remote areas of the NT. Solar, with a battery, overcomes this.
- Big verandas, providing a sheltered, shaded outdoor space, are essential, because there will be regular groups of visitors.
- A well-placed area for an outdoor fire, protected from the wind, around which people can comfortably sit, is 100% necessary.
- An excellent, reliable supply of water is a must. I asked my son-in-law, who runs a Plumbing and Maintenance business which services many remote Aboriginal Communities, what the key plumbing issue was. I was expecting it to be sewerage and was surprised to find out it was supplying fresh water.
The Wilya Janta project addresses all these requirements. In addition, more detailed information can be explored on the internet under the Wilya Janta title. Obviously, to me, adequate housing is essential for young people to learn their best at school.
Decision, decision, decision is the daily Mantra for any School Principal. I think we would have all been impressed by the Nepalese Principal in the tragic event in Nepal who recognised the rapidly approaching disaster, immediately rang the school bell and evacuated his whole school in minutes to high ground, saving all of his 1600 pupils. Instant decision needed; no time to deeply analyse - just act and get it right! Not everyone is capable of making monumental decisions in lightning time but then not everyone is capable of being a School Principal.
In my recent excursions with the Block Grant Authority I had, as I think I referred to previously, the opportunity to visit 10 schools. Knowing a number of the Principals it was not hard to identify how the capacity of the Principal was reflected in the presentation of their school. I’m sure that a well presented school ultimately has a really positive effect on students, their desire to be at school and their learning.
In the last few days, I have seen on TV news reports commenting on concerns about student behaviour. Like most news reports they were short and superficial but had the capacity to light a fire perhaps where none exists. However, I’m sure there are some challenges with behaviour in most schools and have always been thus. I started teaching in 1974 in a Victorian Country Tech School and there were plenty of challenging behaviours there. However, students did receive a sound education. What the articles should present as a matter of importance is the vital role played by school culture and the immense value of the Principal in modelling this. Culture is a hard concept to fully understand, but if it is lived and demonstrated it will catch on.
Each day there are a host of things a Principal must undertake, some planned and some unplanned but needing immediate attention. Sometimes the day ends up as a blur, one thing after another with many surprises. I was lucky as I spent my 30 years assisted by a PA. “You need to hurry because you have an interview in ten minutes.” A good PA is a life saver and is dedicated to making a Principal as productive as possible. Usually, they have a good capacity to say, “no, later or tomorrow” and are impervious to the glares that may follow. But I am also aware that Principals in some small schools don’t have this support. However, in the chaos of the day a Principal is likely to have the need to genuinely listen. When this need is there, there can be no looking away, no glancing at watches, no “can I just take this call?”; it is so important to concentrate on the person at hand. It is essential that a good Principal gains the reputation of being a good, active listener. Listening should play an important part in a school’s culture.
The school day can be so busy and complicated. Deadlines, Decisions, Creative thinking, Problem solving and Problem solving again, staying calm in spite of this and never losing it in front of Parent, Staff or Student. The Job of Principal is super challenging, but I am glad that it formed much of my career.
Written by Chris Tudor
