I swear… to hold my teacher in this art equal to my own parents. To make him partner in my livelihood – when he is in need of money to share mine with him. To consider his family as my own brothers and to teach them this art, if they want to learn it – without fee or indenture.Hippocrates on Teachers and Teaching
Imagine if all the learners we taught could have the sentiments expressed by the quote above? To be held equal to the family members and then to share all our worldly possessions without asking for a fee! Wow! As the first group of matriculants leave the school and begin their journey on a road less familiar to them, I wonder who will need our support on this trek and who will return with praises of thanks for giving them the tools to cope and make the correct decisions along the road?
Children are like miniature adults. They are people with their own feelings, their own personalities, and their own preferences. So the question begs to be asked: How would you feel if the school governing body of our school forced you to share?
Pretend you just got a new car. It's a brand new “merc”, and all of your neighbours want to take a spin in your car. Socialism would dictate that you do not have a right to something so wonderful and that you must share with your colleagues. And oh yeah, now that you have a new car, you do not need that old one anymore. You will have to give that one away for free to a fellow teacher who does not have one.
Well, fortunately this is not a socialistic society, and if our government tried to play that game with us, we would be up in arms. We would be toi-toi-ing on the streets, yelling, "What about my rights?"
Sharing is not really a generous offer unless you do it because you want to, and forcing anyone does not help them learn to share. It only steals away the joy of giving. I would like to believe that with the school and its journey into the next year that we all look at what it is that we are willing to share with each other, the learners and the people we meet in and around the school. Share the positive moments the successes and fun stories about the learners.
Mouth marketing has always been an interest of mine and I believe in the power of verbal communication. The mathematicians would be able to work out just how many people we could reach through each one on the staff talking to 10 people about the school. I believe it is 10 to the power of 3 for every staff member if it is a positive comment and 10 to the power of 5 for a negative comment.
Have an awesome weekend!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Become a highly effective leader!
What does the future hold for you and your career at Western Cape Sport School? Most of us ponder this question from time to time… "When I get time, I'm going to get back into shape/play the piano/find someone famous ". But in reality, what we want tends to evolve and change throughout each day of our lives.
As we learn and gain experience, we find our strengths and build our skills. When we stumble, we find new ways to cope and adapt. As we find success, we extend our ambitions. And so, as we change and grow, we shape our futures. Setting personal goals is a powerful process, and I would like to use your goals for motivating change within the school to turn the original vision of the Western Cape Sport School into reality.
More than this, sharing our goals can be incredibly motivating to each other, and as you get into the habit of setting, sharing and achieving your personal goals, you'll find that your self-confidence builds and those around you develop a similar sense of accomplishment. The Western Cape Sport School’s Goals are set on a number of different levels: First we need to create the "big picture" of what we want to do with the school, and what large-scale goals we want to achieve. Secondly, we need to break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that each one of us must hit so that we can reach our shared goals. Finally, once we have a plan, we can start working to achieve it.
We start this process with discovering everyone’s “Goals”, and work down to the things we can do today to start moving towards them.
We need to develop the idea of a "boundary less organization." This means that everyone is free to brainstorm and think of ideas - instead of waiting for someone "higher up" in the bureaucracy to think of them first. As a team you have been "turned loose," and I promise to listen to ideas from anyone in the school. Everyone from the learners, to the non-educating staff, to senior managers, you have my attention - if you have something to say or a new idea that might make the school better, ‘just talk’.
Let us all stay true to our passions and what we know is right.
As we learn and gain experience, we find our strengths and build our skills. When we stumble, we find new ways to cope and adapt. As we find success, we extend our ambitions. And so, as we change and grow, we shape our futures. Setting personal goals is a powerful process, and I would like to use your goals for motivating change within the school to turn the original vision of the Western Cape Sport School into reality.
More than this, sharing our goals can be incredibly motivating to each other, and as you get into the habit of setting, sharing and achieving your personal goals, you'll find that your self-confidence builds and those around you develop a similar sense of accomplishment. The Western Cape Sport School’s Goals are set on a number of different levels: First we need to create the "big picture" of what we want to do with the school, and what large-scale goals we want to achieve. Secondly, we need to break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that each one of us must hit so that we can reach our shared goals. Finally, once we have a plan, we can start working to achieve it.
We start this process with discovering everyone’s “Goals”, and work down to the things we can do today to start moving towards them.
We need to develop the idea of a "boundary less organization." This means that everyone is free to brainstorm and think of ideas - instead of waiting for someone "higher up" in the bureaucracy to think of them first. As a team you have been "turned loose," and I promise to listen to ideas from anyone in the school. Everyone from the learners, to the non-educating staff, to senior managers, you have my attention - if you have something to say or a new idea that might make the school better, ‘just talk’.
Let us all stay true to our passions and what we know is right.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Lessons learnt from a life in learning
“There is no greater undertaking than exists in schools”(Sean Friedenthal)
Whether it is a minister or a missionary, whose position and profession exclude a certain group of people; nobody has the group of people to work with that teachers do. It is a privilege to have the involvement with people and the influence on the future that teachers do.
Habits of excellent teachers
1. Believe in people
2. Take risks on the growing edge
3. Keep learning
4. Plan thoroughly
5. Nurture your faith
6. Use findings of the latest neuroscience research
7. Reflect
How to maintain discipline in classrooms
• Create an ethos that celebrates what is good rather than just punishing what is bad.
Learners who are on the cusp of either good or bad behaviour will lean towards the side which you give most attention to (i.e. if more of your attention is on punishment of what is bad, they will lean towards that to get your attention)
• What you condone, you authorize to exist.
• What you want from kids, you have to give to them in return and more so.
How to engage young people
• Get them involved in the learning process.
• Assuming basic education (literacy and numeracy) is in place, focus more on emotional education.
Measuring success in teaching:
• In the short term, measurable results such as final marks and matric results are the only way.
• True success in teaching is measured in the thirst for further learning that you have cultivated in your students.
• An important lesson to teach kids is to imbue them with the tendency to selfless service to their community.
Lessons learned from a life in teaching:
• We need to teach children to deal with failure correctly
• Don’t move too quickly in your career to seek promotion, because this results in too much lateral movement.
• Teaching can consume you and it is important to work together with the people in your life to create some sort of balance to deal with this
• Teamwork in teaching is essential, since it builds the capacity of yourself and the entire institution.
Good education systems have:
• The best people as teachers
• Good training for teachers and principals
• Good support for mediocre students
• Good maths and science programs
An effective Governing body:
• Is supportive of the school, but not controlling.
• Involved in fundraising, but not demanding.
• Should not attempt to micro-manage a school, because this undermines everyone in a leadership position within the school
• Has a role of oversight and monitoring, not undermining.
• Puts in place a good succession plan for all leadership positions in the school to ensure a seamless takeover of duties!
Rest a little, thank you for your support!
Whether it is a minister or a missionary, whose position and profession exclude a certain group of people; nobody has the group of people to work with that teachers do. It is a privilege to have the involvement with people and the influence on the future that teachers do.
Habits of excellent teachers
1. Believe in people
2. Take risks on the growing edge
3. Keep learning
4. Plan thoroughly
5. Nurture your faith
6. Use findings of the latest neuroscience research
7. Reflect
How to maintain discipline in classrooms
• Create an ethos that celebrates what is good rather than just punishing what is bad.
Learners who are on the cusp of either good or bad behaviour will lean towards the side which you give most attention to (i.e. if more of your attention is on punishment of what is bad, they will lean towards that to get your attention)
• What you condone, you authorize to exist.
• What you want from kids, you have to give to them in return and more so.
How to engage young people
• Get them involved in the learning process.
• Assuming basic education (literacy and numeracy) is in place, focus more on emotional education.
Measuring success in teaching:
• In the short term, measurable results such as final marks and matric results are the only way.
• True success in teaching is measured in the thirst for further learning that you have cultivated in your students.
• An important lesson to teach kids is to imbue them with the tendency to selfless service to their community.
Lessons learned from a life in teaching:
• We need to teach children to deal with failure correctly
• Don’t move too quickly in your career to seek promotion, because this results in too much lateral movement.
• Teaching can consume you and it is important to work together with the people in your life to create some sort of balance to deal with this
• Teamwork in teaching is essential, since it builds the capacity of yourself and the entire institution.
Good education systems have:
• The best people as teachers
• Good training for teachers and principals
• Good support for mediocre students
• Good maths and science programs
An effective Governing body:
• Is supportive of the school, but not controlling.
• Involved in fundraising, but not demanding.
• Should not attempt to micro-manage a school, because this undermines everyone in a leadership position within the school
• Has a role of oversight and monitoring, not undermining.
• Puts in place a good succession plan for all leadership positions in the school to ensure a seamless takeover of duties!
Rest a little, thank you for your support!
Do learners really need teachers?
With the wage strike still ongoing and more than half the teaching staff exercising their right to protest at the Western Cape Sport School, I thought I might begin with a question or two today, just to get those here thinking about things. Let’s begin by asking whether the learners really do require the attention of teachers, and confinement in school, in order to learn. In other words, are teachers really necessary?
Even more radically, some news paper writers have suggested that young people may be their own best teachers. For example, they say research on the process of acquiring a language indicates that we learn, not by being taught by others, but from everyday experience – by listening to others, trying out patterns of words, and eventually discarding ones that don’t seem to work.
Teachers are ordinary but unique people who become teachers for different reasons, have different teaching objectives, and work in different circumstances, against a background of unequal educational provision.
I believe the impulse to teach is fundamentally humane and represents a desire to share what you value and to empower others. I began teaching when I was twenty-five and my students were thirteen years old. Now I’m forty-something and those youngsters are in their thirties. There’s not as much difference between forty-something and thirty, as between twenty five and twelve. I believe your students ‘catch up’ with you and quite often end up knowing more than you do. It’s wonderful to witness that continuous growth at the same time as you’re taking on another group of learners. You can see and feel your students grow, and that finally is the
reason to teach and the reward of teaching.
To all the staff at Western Cape Sport School, whether you were here or not whether you felt the need to strike or not... Your time and effort placed in educating the learners is appreciated by me and the community we serve.
Have a little break this weekend and return to the school ready to continue with the sterling work you already do.
Even more radically, some news paper writers have suggested that young people may be their own best teachers. For example, they say research on the process of acquiring a language indicates that we learn, not by being taught by others, but from everyday experience – by listening to others, trying out patterns of words, and eventually discarding ones that don’t seem to work.
Teachers are ordinary but unique people who become teachers for different reasons, have different teaching objectives, and work in different circumstances, against a background of unequal educational provision.
I believe the impulse to teach is fundamentally humane and represents a desire to share what you value and to empower others. I began teaching when I was twenty-five and my students were thirteen years old. Now I’m forty-something and those youngsters are in their thirties. There’s not as much difference between forty-something and thirty, as between twenty five and twelve. I believe your students ‘catch up’ with you and quite often end up knowing more than you do. It’s wonderful to witness that continuous growth at the same time as you’re taking on another group of learners. You can see and feel your students grow, and that finally is the
reason to teach and the reward of teaching.
To all the staff at Western Cape Sport School, whether you were here or not whether you felt the need to strike or not... Your time and effort placed in educating the learners is appreciated by me and the community we serve.
Have a little break this weekend and return to the school ready to continue with the sterling work you already do.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Quick Fix
Generally, I don't like quick fix advice, but there is a magical phrase that will erase conflict if you are genuine when you use it.
I read it recently...a simple piece of advice that said, 'When you've upset someone, don't justify yourself or argue.
Simply say, 'I'm so sorry I upset you. Would you forgive me?'
I had occasion to use it, too. I upset my sister and it really was my fault.
Normally with my sister I'm a little stubborn. I like to explain myself if I've made a mistake, or tell her she's overreacting.
But this time I didn't. I just said, 'I'm so sorry I upset you ...and I love you so much. Will you forgive me?'
After a little while she wanted to hear my explanation. I didn't have to force it on her, and she understood.
The next time you upset someone, try this approach. It's honest, and at the very least, the person you're dealing with will appreciate your vulnerability.
Of course, your tone of voice and attitude when you say this is priceless.
You need to convey a genuine humility...and attitude that you 'get' how interdependent we all are on each other...and that you're not stuck on appearing right, or looking good, or winning an argument.
Being stubborn when you're wrong or have hurt someone accidentally is easy.
But no matter how strong we THINK our stubbornness makes us appear, what it conveys low self-esteem.
A genuine, heartfelt apology takes tremendous self-acceptance. It also keeps your relationships harmonious, which makes you happy.
My question to you is, Would you rather be stubborn or happy?
Try this simple phrase the next time you make a mistake in your relationships.
You will get a positive reaction that will instantly boost your self-esteem.
All of your relationships will improve.
You'll start getting the love, appreciation, and admiration you've always wanted.
Having profoundly happy relationships really is as easy as knowing the principles of success in them.
It will raise your confidence in relationships immeasurably.
People will start responding to you differently.
You'll start getting the love, appreciation, and respect you deserve.
Success in relationships really is as easy as knowing which strategy to use with your friends and family depending on what's going on.
I read it recently...a simple piece of advice that said, 'When you've upset someone, don't justify yourself or argue.
Simply say, 'I'm so sorry I upset you. Would you forgive me?'
I had occasion to use it, too. I upset my sister and it really was my fault.
Normally with my sister I'm a little stubborn. I like to explain myself if I've made a mistake, or tell her she's overreacting.
But this time I didn't. I just said, 'I'm so sorry I upset you ...and I love you so much. Will you forgive me?'
After a little while she wanted to hear my explanation. I didn't have to force it on her, and she understood.
The next time you upset someone, try this approach. It's honest, and at the very least, the person you're dealing with will appreciate your vulnerability.
Of course, your tone of voice and attitude when you say this is priceless.
You need to convey a genuine humility...and attitude that you 'get' how interdependent we all are on each other...and that you're not stuck on appearing right, or looking good, or winning an argument.
Being stubborn when you're wrong or have hurt someone accidentally is easy.
But no matter how strong we THINK our stubbornness makes us appear, what it conveys low self-esteem.
A genuine, heartfelt apology takes tremendous self-acceptance. It also keeps your relationships harmonious, which makes you happy.
My question to you is, Would you rather be stubborn or happy?
Try this simple phrase the next time you make a mistake in your relationships.
You will get a positive reaction that will instantly boost your self-esteem.
All of your relationships will improve.
You'll start getting the love, appreciation, and admiration you've always wanted.
Having profoundly happy relationships really is as easy as knowing the principles of success in them.
It will raise your confidence in relationships immeasurably.
People will start responding to you differently.
You'll start getting the love, appreciation, and respect you deserve.
Success in relationships really is as easy as knowing which strategy to use with your friends and family depending on what's going on.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Teachers' Strike
With the wage strike still ongoing and more than half the teaching staff exercising their right to protest at the Western Cape Sport School, I thought I might begin with a question or two today, just to get those here thinking about things. Let’s begin by asking whether the learners really do require the attention of teachers, and confinement in school, in order to learn. In other words, are teachers really necessary?
Even more radically, some news paper writers have suggested that young people may be their own best teachers. For example, they say research on the process of acquiring a language indicates that we learn, not by being taught by others, but from everyday experience – by listening to others, trying out patterns of words, and eventually discarding ones that don’t seem to work.
Teachers are ordinary but unique people who become teachers for different reasons, have different teaching objectives, and work in different circumstances, against a background of unequal educational provision.
I believe the impulse to teach is fundamentally humane and represents a desire to share what you value and to empower others. I began teaching when I was twenty-five and my students were thirteen years old. Now I’m forty-something and those youngsters are in their thirties. There’s not as much difference between forty-something and thirty, as between twenty five and twelve. I believe your students ‘catch up’ with you and quite often end up knowing more than you do. It’s wonderful to witness that continuous growth at the same time as you’re taking on another group of learners. You can see and feel your students grow, and that finally is the
reason to teach and the reward of teaching.
To all the staff at Western Cape Sport School, whether you were here or not whether you felt the need to strike or not... Your time and effort placed in educating the learners is appreciated by me and the community we serve.
Even more radically, some news paper writers have suggested that young people may be their own best teachers. For example, they say research on the process of acquiring a language indicates that we learn, not by being taught by others, but from everyday experience – by listening to others, trying out patterns of words, and eventually discarding ones that don’t seem to work.
Teachers are ordinary but unique people who become teachers for different reasons, have different teaching objectives, and work in different circumstances, against a background of unequal educational provision.
I believe the impulse to teach is fundamentally humane and represents a desire to share what you value and to empower others. I began teaching when I was twenty-five and my students were thirteen years old. Now I’m forty-something and those youngsters are in their thirties. There’s not as much difference between forty-something and thirty, as between twenty five and twelve. I believe your students ‘catch up’ with you and quite often end up knowing more than you do. It’s wonderful to witness that continuous growth at the same time as you’re taking on another group of learners. You can see and feel your students grow, and that finally is the
reason to teach and the reward of teaching.
To all the staff at Western Cape Sport School, whether you were here or not whether you felt the need to strike or not... Your time and effort placed in educating the learners is appreciated by me and the community we serve.
Putting in the hours!
I went to a press conference yesterday with the coach, captain and chairman of Ajax Cape Town football club. They were asked what it would take to get more local players into the big European leagues. Straight away they said that all of their players were keen to make the step up, but that this was going to require far more hard work to be put in to get up to the required level. They felt that perhaps the work ethic was not quite there to match their ‘desire’. This got me thinking about how often we hear people in sport, as well as in business talking about how hard work eventually pays off. Now don’t get me wrong, not everyone who works hard will be successful, but very few people who don’t work hard ARE successful. Interview after interview, and biography after biography talk about how hard people have worked for their success, yet it seems that not everyone takes that advice and does the same themselves.
My view on hard work is that it gives you two vital attributes. Firstly, it gives you the increased skill, fitness, strength levels that are required in your specific field. Muscle memory improves and bodies become more susceptible to the demands of the game. Secondly, and I believe even more importantly, through increased practice, comes increased confidence. I have spoken before about how confidence stems from past positive results, as well as from preparation (which if perceived well results in feeling of readiness). There is the view that attitude determines how you prepare, and how you prepare then determines how confident you are, which then determines how well you play. Through this increased hard work that is put in, self-perception and inner dialogue becomes better and more positive. This internal dialogue reinforcing how much work you have put in and how much it will help you will begin to result in confidence. This dialogue will often only take place once you have put in those hard yards! I don’t even need to say how much confidence plays a role in performance, as everyone knows that feeling relaxed, free of fear and ready for the task at hand will improve performance.
I look at people like Morne Steyn and Jonny Wilkinson in rugby, they have been known to be the first at practice and the last to leave. Vijay Singh, a top golfer has still managed to stay at the top of his game for a long period of time due to his propensity for hours on the practice range. Tiger Woods too has been known to spend hours in the gym to get an extra edge. Even Ronaldo and Beckham, people whom you may perceive as being super-talented have been known to be some of the hardest workers on their games. They have honed their skills as best possible, but have also built up a resilience and confidence in their own games due to the knowledge that the hours put in will pay off for them when it counts. In rugby, I always say it is important to be the fittest side, but what is more important is that you know that you are the fittest side so when the game gets tight, you have a confidence in your fitness as a result of the hard work you have put in, which could result in the excellent results you desire.
Hard work therefore cannot be shirked as it is plain to see how important it is in both the skills and attributes gained physically, but also in its immense value mentally. The confidence from hard work will also only transpire if the individual is comfortable with the work they have put in and backs that up with positive dialogue. What must exist for this though- is self-motivation to put the work in. But that’s another story for another day!!
My view on hard work is that it gives you two vital attributes. Firstly, it gives you the increased skill, fitness, strength levels that are required in your specific field. Muscle memory improves and bodies become more susceptible to the demands of the game. Secondly, and I believe even more importantly, through increased practice, comes increased confidence. I have spoken before about how confidence stems from past positive results, as well as from preparation (which if perceived well results in feeling of readiness). There is the view that attitude determines how you prepare, and how you prepare then determines how confident you are, which then determines how well you play. Through this increased hard work that is put in, self-perception and inner dialogue becomes better and more positive. This internal dialogue reinforcing how much work you have put in and how much it will help you will begin to result in confidence. This dialogue will often only take place once you have put in those hard yards! I don’t even need to say how much confidence plays a role in performance, as everyone knows that feeling relaxed, free of fear and ready for the task at hand will improve performance.
I look at people like Morne Steyn and Jonny Wilkinson in rugby, they have been known to be the first at practice and the last to leave. Vijay Singh, a top golfer has still managed to stay at the top of his game for a long period of time due to his propensity for hours on the practice range. Tiger Woods too has been known to spend hours in the gym to get an extra edge. Even Ronaldo and Beckham, people whom you may perceive as being super-talented have been known to be some of the hardest workers on their games. They have honed their skills as best possible, but have also built up a resilience and confidence in their own games due to the knowledge that the hours put in will pay off for them when it counts. In rugby, I always say it is important to be the fittest side, but what is more important is that you know that you are the fittest side so when the game gets tight, you have a confidence in your fitness as a result of the hard work you have put in, which could result in the excellent results you desire.
Hard work therefore cannot be shirked as it is plain to see how important it is in both the skills and attributes gained physically, but also in its immense value mentally. The confidence from hard work will also only transpire if the individual is comfortable with the work they have put in and backs that up with positive dialogue. What must exist for this though- is self-motivation to put the work in. But that’s another story for another day!!
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