These support materials have been designed as bite-sized resources which can be usedwithin scheduled staff meetings. The purpose is to provide Principals with materials that canbe used with staff as an introduction to the various themes; they are not intended to bedetailed or in-depth courses. (Schools and partnerships will of-course be able to accessin-depth courses and materials from other sources, if further support is seen to benecessary.) For some of the themes, a Principals’ version and a teachers’ version have beenprovided. As stated in the Pathways document, skills, behaviours and attitudes arecentral to success.Accordingly, we strongly encourage you to use these resources to develop strongfoundations, and so give your partnership the best chance of long-term sustainability. Takethe time to work your way through them and consider which may be of use in your owncontext.
We suggest that:
● each Principal might review and reflect upon PowerPoint 1 “Developing aCollaborative Culture”, using the accompanying resource sheet to assess his/herschool’s readiness for partnership working;
● the Principals’ group might then share their reflections and assessments, identifypriorities for development and agree a common approach to developing further aclimate for successful partnership;
● individual Principals might, as part of this process, use the following PowerPointswith staff:
✔ PowerPoint 2 “Teacher Introductory Session”
✔ PowerPoint 3 “Developing a Collaborative Culture” (teachers’ version).
● the Principals’ group might then review PowerPoints 4-10, deciding which of thesemight be most pertinent within their own contexts.
These are only suggestions. You will know your own school, its strengths and the challengesyou face. Use the resources that work best for you and, of course, adapt them so that theywill meet your needs and resonate with your own staff.Finally, a thinkpiece on conflict resolution has been provided for Principals, as prompts forreflection and discussion. This has not been designed for direct use with groups of staff.
How might you develop a culture of collaboration?
Identifying the skills of collaboration.
Listen attentively, understand what they’re saying, respond and reflect.
The focus of coaching is the development of specific knowledge, skills & strategies.
Explore the main components of Emotional Intelligence.
Identify the characteristics of assertive behaviour.
Conflict is inevitable, it is also important that we recognise that it is not necessarily destructive.