Good day to our ACEL WA Community
This edition of our monthly WA newsletter will contain a guest article from one of our ACEL WA Branch Executives on the power of emotional connection in education, followed by a report on our Breakfast with the Minister and sector leaders event that was held in February, plus a glimpse ahead at upcoming ACEL events in WA over the next few months. I hope to see you at some of these events.
The Power of Emotional Connection
By Dr Ray Boyd, Principal, Dayton Primary School
Schools, by their very nature, involve interacting with people. Therefore, if you don’t like people, then a school is not an environment that you should choose to work in, given the level of interactions that occur every day. Interactions occur between colleagues, teachers and parents, and teachers and students. They vary from simple interactions, such as a greeting, through to more complex interactions around teaching and learning. What makes these interactions complex however is that they are all, in most cases, connected to emotions. It is our emotions that then guide us towards either an attraction or aversion to something or someone.
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Breakfast with the Minister Report
Bright and early on Thursday the 22nd of February 65 WA educators met for breakfast to engage in conversation around the challenges and opportunities for education in Western Australia in 2024. What a wonderful way to kick off our 2024 professional learning season with the Minister for Education, the Hon Dr Tony Buti MLA, initiating the conversation. That was after our MC, Branch Executive member, Gary Racey, warmed us all up with networking activities prompting us to imagine how education could be represented as an emoji and food metaphors for our emotional states.
We were joined by a panel of WA’s education system leaders: Lisa Rodgers, Director General, Department of Education, Wayne Bull, Executive Director of Catholic Education Western Australia, and Chris Massey, Executive Director, Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia.
Minister Tony Buti spoke about the persistent need to pursue a vision where all students experience school as an opportunity to fulfil their potential. He saw inclusion as an important ongoing focus for education.
Lisa Rodgers highlighted that “red tape” and solutions to it remain an issue in education, and advocated for the need to focus on evidence-based approaches to the art of teaching in complex classrooms.
Wayne Bull recognised that as education becomes more complex, so does leadership. He saw opportunities for overcoming challenges of teacher workload through the use of AI and other technologies. He also reminded us of the intensely human nature of education when sharing a story of how school leaders opened up their school for the asylum seekers unexpectedly arriving in Beagle Bay.
Chris Massey noted that we are still focused on content but must explore how students apply content better. A narrow focus on ATAR alone would not prepare students for the complexity of the future. He reminded us of the importance of capabilities like creativity and problem-solving skills to fully prepare young people for the challenges of the future.
Thought-provoking discussions ensued, delving into a variety of topics including curriculum innovation, broadening our conception of assessment, the potential of technology to transform education, challenges of teacher workforce reform and ensuring equity and inclusion for all. All system leaders recognised that education was at a challenging but exciting transition point that required committed leadership that touched hearts, taught minds and nurtured futures.
I love the questions generated by the event for some of our participants:
Things to ponder (by Shannon Armitage):
✨ How can we rethink our conception of a classroom?
✨ Is AI a tool for addressing teachers’ administrative burden?
✨ What does learning look like for a student now?
✨ Are we brave enough to teach for student potential rather than what universities might want?
Questions I am pondering (by Mystrie Monck):
⭐ How might we support every student to reach their potential?
⭐ How might we collaborate to support teachers to teach well?
⭐ How might we embed opportunities within the school day to grow necessary attributes in ourselves and learners?
⭐ How might we nurture the next generation of humans to manage the complexities of their futures?
Upcoming Events
Leading Innovation in Education Network meetings
Our first Leading Innovation in Education Network meeting for the year is taking place on Friday the 8th of March (12pm – 2pm) at Scotch College, Swanbourne. We once again have a great line-up of speakers form different phases, sectors and systems of education.
Speakers:
- Cara Fugill, Head of Scotch Global, Scotch College
- Karen Duncan, Principal and Julian Thrupp, Deputy Principal, Harrisdale Primary School
- Krystal Skelin, Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning, Servite College
- Dr Sarah Wells & Simon Fittock, Education Consultants, AISWA
The purpose of the Network is to create opportunities for educators from different systems, sectors and contexts who are interested in leading innovation in education to share practice and learn from and with each other. So please join us for our next network meeting. Attendance is free, but please book your place so we know numbers for catering.
Dr Lyn Sharratt – From Numbers to Faces
Join us for a seminar with education expert Dr. Lyn Sharratt from The University of Toronto on Tuesday the 26th of March from 3.30pm – 5.30pm at Notre Dame University in Fremantle to discover how to turn overwhelming data into actionable insights that can transform your system, school, or classroom. Lyn coined the phrase “putting faces on data” to combat the dehumanising effect that numbers could inadvertently have on educational discourse. In this workshop she will consider how “Putting FACES on Data” is achieved in four areas by system, network, school and classroom leaders in order to create a culture of learning, empowerment, and continuous improvement. Please book your place for this workshop here. Lyn is a great friend of ACEL and we welcome her back to Western Australia.
Educational Leadership Book Club
We are currently reading Viviane Robinson’s book “Virtuous Educational Leadership: Doing the Right Work the Right Way” and will discuss it in Perth on the 11th of April from 10.00am – 12pm. Anyone is welcome to book club. Just order yourself a copy of the book here, read part (or all) of the book before we meet (or listen to an e-book or author podcast) and join us for some collegial conversation during the school holidays. Book Club is also a free event, but please register here so that we know numbers for catering.
Leading Data-Informed Change with Dr Selena Fisk
On Friday the 17th of May the amazing Dr Selena Fisk (the absolute queen of data and a lovely person to boot) will be running a half-day workshop in Perth on “Leading Data-Informed Change” in Osborne Park. This leadership workshop will establish the importance of teams using data to analyse the impact of their work on student learning outcomes. Please join us for the workshop from 12.30pm – 3.30pm and/or a post-workshop networking event from 3.45pm – 4.45pm for some informal conversations with Selena and other ACEL members.
I look forward to seeing you at future ACEL WA events.
Mathilda Joubert
ACEL WA Branch President