Thursday 6 December 2007

Connectnedness


As the HMI publication ‘Leadership for Learning’ states, the most effective establishments initiate networks and partnerships that bring significant benefits to learners. How as heads do we go about developing and sustaining the networks and partnerships (sometimes referred to as connectedness) that open up further opportunities for our schools and ourselves to grow?

I daresay that we can answer this in different ways but for me the answer must include the cultivation of a variety of networking opportunities. Visits to other schools, attendance at conferences and CPD sessions are three opportunities that spring to mind that are great for networking and sharing ideas and practices with others. A fourth opportunity I have recently found particularly useful was as the Edinburgh Secondary Heads' representative on a Working Group charged with developing guidelines for the Council on the use (or not!) of mobile phones and other digital devices in the Council's schools. I really enjoyed learning about the processes involved in policy formation at Council level but also valued the opportunity to meet and work closely with colleagues from different sectors of the council. As one of my school's 'leading learners' I have learned a lot over the past few months about myself and developed very useful personal contacts that I will want to draw on in the future.

1 comment:

Ewan McIntosh said...

I have found that, without any doubt, the most valuable, long-term and profitable contacts I have built over the past 10 years have come, mostly, in the past 18 months, through my blog, my Facebook account and the face-to-face events that sometimes come off the back of either (or both) of them. I wonder, though, how many other Head Teachers would see their blog as a valuable networking tool, harnessing contacts for the future, for events and needs as yet unknown.