A new job, whether it’s an internal transfer, a fresh project or a new school, comes with a lot of learning; there’s new connections to make, networks to build, different cultures to navigate and skill gaps to address. The pressure is on for fast moves and quick wins, and it’s all too easy to over promise and forget about it. How can you stay on track and live up to your personal pledges?
More than five years since my first Head Teacher role in Penang, Malaysia, I have proudly delivered on the promises that I made in my first term in 2016. Clear goals and accountability, relentless energy and optimism, and consistent approach in everything we did may have contributed to my sprouting silver hairs and multiple laughter lines, but it also helped me stay on track and deliver on what I pledged.
Below are the highlights on how I executed my promises.
Following several onboarding conversations and observations, I made a public promise to our community in order for our school to gain momentum and make the progress it had the potential to.
I promised to:
- bring stability to leadership
- raise standards of learning through teacher development
- increase parental engagement
Why Promise?
Sounds easy to make a promise, right?
Promises are personal and promises build trust. Many of us also feel disappointment in ourselves if we fail to deliver, but a public promise makes us truly accountable. The next five and a half years was the hard part as the journey got under way, and as I stayed true to my commitment.
My promises were part of a long-term vision and broken down into a series of bite-size goals to achieve in collaboration with the team. Making the goals visual to everyone through various channels, as well as measurable, meant that sharing the small wins along the journey enhanced levels of trust, engagement and productivity. In turn, this proved to satisfy the progress towards those bigger promises!
How To Execute Your Promise
But how do you keep your promise?
Here I share several takeaway examples of how we kept those promises.
Bring stability to leadership
Transparency – I wanted to lead with openness, integrity and honesty about how we were going to grow together and ‘get better.’ It was clear from conversations that the school had been coasting for a while, and attention was needed to enhance our reputation.
Transparent leadership enhances levels of trust. Survey and community feedback gave some hard hitting truths but gave focus. Input from leaders, and the first school improvement plan was created and we all owned it. We needed behaviours, systems, and practices with student-focus modelled, tweaked or created, clear job descriptions for colleagues to set expectations, and reflective two-way conversations with a balance of challenge and kindness to build connections and set expectations of the journey ahead.
Human beings naturally have concerns about change. Always a skeptic or two who will know they won’t be there for the long haul, but all part of the longer vision of stability in leadership. Honest and open conversations mean decisions can be made about whether they are on the bus, or not.
Clear goals and accountability, relentless energy and optimism, and a consistent approach in everything we did helped us achieve results. Student numbers and stakeholder satisfaction increased, international school accreditation plaque was hung on the wall, teacher retention hit record levels, exam results went up.
We were gaining stability at each level of leadership.
Raise standards of learning through teacher development
Invest in your people – teachers are our most valuable resource and central to school improvement and we know that when high-quality learning takes place then students will make optimal progress.
A bespoke, personalised CPD programme should be an integral part of a school’s culture. As in any school there is a continuum of experience, knowledge, drive and ambition across your team. A significant budget was also available for external courses deemed appropriate through the exam boards, we also had teachers traveling across the country to specific face-to-face courses, and collaboration events through our schools group sharing best practice.
Own it – it is a rewarding challenge to devise an in-house programme, to have your experienced teachers and leaders build confidence to step up and set the tone for others, it was incredible to watch the passion for learning unfold. There are teachers taking ownership over their PD, so ask them what they want, provide choice and let those who can, lead their own learning.
It’s been trial and error but we are in a place where learning is supportive, collaborative and self-reflective. Our development of quality self-reflection is still developing and will take more time to master, but we are on the right track. Low stakes, high impact.
Embedding a change in culture takes time. It also needs the right people, in the right place with the heart and passion for student learning. Open door, peer to peer learning visits, coaching and reflection, it is all about every single one of us getting better.
Increase parental engagement
Behaviour change – relationships needed building, the quality and frequency of parent-teacher communication had to be better. Timely parent contact is always appreciated, the good, the bad and the ugly – enhancing trust and confidence about what happens in school. Experienced leaders modelled meetings and phone calls, documented conversations and followed up with promised actions. Tables turned and teachers took initiative to make those all important positive connections and develop relationships with care and kindness.
Share your goals – (and your successes!) Termly parent forums and workshops opened the school gates for parents to hear and see the processes, understand decisions and hear about the long term vision for the school and their child’s education journey. We offered several opportunities for parents to ask questions (and a chance to squash any rumours) meet leaders, and see the transformation of the school for themselves.
Seeing and hearing about the promises being met through transparent leadership raises credibility and parents and carers became a supportive, and essential part of our community. Open conversations gave insight into the challenges schools face, both internationally and locally, and has opportunity to change parent mindset and realign expectations.
As more parents invested in our mission, the largest parent association [PA] our school had seen was forming. In collaboration with the school team, parents lead and supported superb annual events and now, we couldn’t do without them!
Reflect on Promises Made
Transferring to a new role, I bow out with excitement that promises have been met, but I could not have done it alone and it has taken team work and grit the whole way! Tenby Penang is ready to go to the next level. Teachers and leaders are confident and eager to get better, and focused on high-quality learning. Visitors comment on the buzz of the campus when they enter, and our reputation is getting stronger to be the school of choice in our area. It is a great place to learn.
I have stuck to the promises I made in 2016 and I continue to support our community in my new capacity as the Regional Head of Learning. It’s gone full circle as I am in the onboarding process again as I visit our nine schools across Malaysia, to listen, observe and learn from them before I make my next set of promises to support our region to get better.
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