SELF –EVALUATION MATTERS!

“Vision without action is merely a dream;

Action without vision is a nightmare;

Vision with action can change the world.” 

Japanese Proverb

I suppose I have been a critical, reflective learner all my life. All the best colleagues reflect on the quality of their work. They do this as professionals who are responsible for the quality of their work and for the achievements and personal and social development of the young people they teach, and as members of the team, which is responsible for the overall quality of educational provision.
That is why it isn’t OFSTED or raw data that really matters although they provide part of the evidence. The key to success is self-evaluation and at the heart of self-evaluation are three questions:
1.     Where are we now?
2.     Where do we want to be?
3.     How do we get there?

Excellent schools focus these questions on teaching and learning, because teaching and learning is at the heart of an excellent school because teaching and learning is its core business.

Importantly too many teachers believe that the essence of this crazy profession is autonomy. The essence of our profession is teamwork, communication, collaboration and learning what works and what doesn’t. So self-evaluation also involves groups of colleagues reflecting on their work together. They can do this in a number of ways by:
1.     commenting on each other’s work, for example plans and assessments;
2.     engaging in cooperative teaching and discussion; and
3.     visiting each other’s classrooms to see how particular developments are going;
4.     experiencing different methods of teaching to learn what works.

“Too many teachers think that if they had more time, more resources and more space they could make a difference. The last thing most teachers need is more.. ..they need different!”

John Hattie

This process of self evaluation is probably the most important professional activity we do and it works best when colleagues have a shared understanding of what a great lesson looks like, and what a great school looks like and understands that we are all searching . This often stems from a shared understanding and an agreed view of what the school should be like in the future… a 2020 vision! This can be supported by a great self-evaluation toolkit like Bluewave Swift, which was developed by teachers and colleagues in Leeds.

A shared vision doesn’t come easily and to develop a shared vision, a school community must engage with all its partners and stakeholders in clarifying and agreeing the values and principles that lie at the heart of everything it does. It also needs to agree how these values and principles will influence all aspects of its work, the curriculum, the learning environment, the ethos of the school and the way that everyone is included and how they relate to each other: demonstrating the principles and values in action.

These develop beautiful systems and intelligent accountability that underpins learning leadership at all levels:
1.     in the classroom;
2.     within groups and teams;
3.     as leaders within departments, faculties and stages;
4.     as senior managers; or
5.     as the headteacher ultimately accountable for the day to day management of everything which goes on in the school.
6.     as the governing body ultimately accountable for the strategic leadership and direction of the school.

Fundamentally and importantly, this creates a learning community!