Changing the educational landscape on a global scale.

 

What are Outwarding/Inward Facing Leaders?

Are you already on twitter, already blog, connect through linked in, network through events?

You’re probably already on the way to becoming an Outie

And conversely,

In, out, in, out, shake it all about.

What are you? An innie or outtie… Most school leaders I have met are innies; however, there is real value in being more balanced.
Before you read on, caution is advised here,  as innies will always see themselves as doing the real work and outies as politics players. Outies normally think innies are bad social citizens and insular in their nature.

Creating Your Collecive

10 Patel points if you can name all 7 leaders. Answers at the end.

How many of the above leaders are innies/outies and how do you know?

I’d say the only 2 (in part) are Emily Davisson and Che Guevara. The rest are almost complete outties.

How did they Change the World!

“All leaders are dissidents”

This rebellious trait is fundamental to all leadership. I’d argue that all teachers have this as a tenet of their core purpose; We are all in this for some level of egalitarianism, restoring the balance, for the young people we serve.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi did not preach non-violent civil disobedience to millions of Indians. He just inspired his vision in numerous others who did this work for him.

The Story of how my Arches Collapsed

About 4 years ago I read about the “one for one” vision. In fact I went out and bought 10+ pairs. I wore them everywhere, I mean everywhere, even to school.

Picture me in a 3 piece suit and a pair of TOMS.

Obviously, people questioned me on my choice of footwear I simply relayed the TOMS’ vision. Completely unconscious to the fact, I had indeed become a member of the TOMS collective.

My Vision

“Teacher self efficacy is the single most important factor in teacher effectiveness.

This can only to nutured in a safe and supportive environment”

This is what I firmly believe, I started thinking about the statement about a year ago. Although I haven’t synthesised it into a three-word catchphrase yet; the last 12 months have yielded additions to my collective (and I’ve joined a few too).

My vision has now evolved to focus on leadership to bring about social equity and that’s okay, all visions are dynamic.

Challenge

1. Commit to your vision.

Look deep within your soul, think about what gets you out bed on those freezing cold mornings and makes you smile as you walk through the entrance to your school.

2. Be more of a social media outie.

Get on to Twitter (make a work account if you haven’t already got one) and tweet your vision to me @MrPranPatel with the hashtag #teachingVision.

3. Be more a real-world outie.

Tell a colleague at work. Tell a peer out of work. Start telling everyone. Go to a teach meet, present at a teach meet. Start a blog…

4. Start your very own teaching revolution. 

Peace and pedagogy

 

From left to right, then top to bottom: Dr Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Mohandas K Gandhi (Mahatma), Emily Davisson, Aung San Suu Ki, Harvey Milk and Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara.