Tag : teachers

If I was interviewing for teaching staff…

ByDanH October 30, 2014 2 Education / Leadership

Recently I was chatting to a principal about what we would look for in potential staff members if we had the opportunity to build a school from scratch. I scribbled down some notes, and later copied them onto my Tablet. I tweeted it out on my #DoodlesByDan tag and within about 2 hours it had been retweeted over 100 times. It’s by far the most prolific response I’ve had to any of my tweets. Recently I was asked, if I […]

When teachers say they’ve not heard of Sir Ken

ByDanH October 15, 2013 0 Change / Education / Leadership / Tech & Social Media

A couple of weeks ago, I asked a room full of Australian teachers if they’d heard of Sir Ken Robinson. One person tentatively raised their hand – and even then, he didn’t seem too sure. I was seriously taken aback, not least because I use Sir Ken’s name in some of my promotional material! Dan has appeared alongside the likes of… But it got me thinking… these teachers really haven’t even heard of him? And just to be clear, I’m not […]

The problem with professional learning

ByDanH August 28, 2013 0 Education / Engagement & Motivation / Leadership

I love getting feedback. After each speaking engagement or facilitated workshop, I seek feedback from those who attended and from those who engaged me for the gig. I enjoy receiving positive feedback (obviously) but it’s the feedback that suggests improvements, or points to flaws in my delivery that push me to be better at what I do. Having said that… I do tend to bristle at the types of feedback that are along the lines of: Teachers want something they […]

Shut Up & Think!

ByDanH May 29, 2013 0 Change / Education

I joined Twitter over three years ago. One of the first educators I followed was @cpaterso – or Cameron Paterson, as I’m assuming it says on his passport. His then-bio appealed to me. It was something along the lines of hating grades and – I think in the metaphorical rather than literal sense – wanting to “blow up school.” Since then I’ve enjoyed his thoughts on education, and had the pleasure of working with him and some of the staff at […]

Buying into NAPLAN Stress

ByDanH May 14, 2013 0 Education / Wellbeing

I wrote this for my weekly Generation Next column. According to Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald, “Stuffed toys that help children deal with ‘difficult emotions’ are being spruiked as a means to ‘assist with the stress of NAPLAN.’” As an aside, it does seem ironic that the PR firm pushing these toys is called Evil Twin. Now, I understand that Year 12 students get stressed over HSC or VCE examinations. After all these are what they have been playing for since the Game of School […]

Teachers protesting to GET BACK INTO school…

ByDanH April 11, 2013 0 Education

So there I was on Monday, enjoying my first morning in Copenhagen when I stumbled across a protest taking place outside the Danish Parliament. A group of teachers were protesting what is known as “The Lockout.” Essentially – and I think this is right – based on my conversations with the teachers protesting and press reports… The Danish system allows for a review of working conditions every two years. The latest review has seen the leaders decide that teachers will […]

Do other schools think more of you than your own?

ByDanH December 4, 2012 0 Engagement & Motivation / Leadership

When I’m in schools, I always recognise that the teachers I’m working with are the experts on their school. As well as being expert educators, they understand the idiosyncrasies of their colleagues, leaders, students and wider community. However, what I’m finding more and more is that within schools, teacher “expertise” is often not recognised outside of their perceived domain. In other words, teachers limit ourselves and each other by our job title. We are there to teach our subject(s), do […]

What do you expect?

ByDanH July 30, 2012 0 Education

For the most part, I believe that kids tend to rise or fall based on the expectations of the adults in their life. Last year, I was reminded of the book, ‘Pygmalion in the Classroom’ when I attended a workshop by James Nottingham. The book describes an experiment carried out in a US elementary school to test this “expectation” hypothesis. In the experiment, Rosenthal and Jacobson tested the intelligence of all of the students at an elementary school. Then, they randomly […]

What could leaders learn from Rugby League?

ByDanH July 22, 2012 0 Education / Engagement & Motivation / Leadership

I’d imagine a few things would come to mind if I asked this question to a room of teachers. Some of the answers, I’m sure would be pretty funny – if a little inappropriate. However, yesterday I was reading this article by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter FitzSimons, discussing the merits of Des Hasler’s coaching techniques over those of his counterparts in the NRL. Towards the end of his piece, FitzSimons makes this point: There are two ways of coaching […]

What’s Wrong With the Juvenile Justice System?

ByDanH May 4, 2012 0 Social Justice / Youth

Originally posted on The ABC Drum. In the wake of two teenagers being shot by police in Kings Cross, The Sydney Morning Herald has been running a series of articles focusing on the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system. The facts presented by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics within the articles are startling. As a result of a ten year study, the Bureau report that domestic violence cases involving 10 – 17 year-olds have increased by 167 per cent, while other violent crime, […]

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