The Older I Get The Better I Was Update and Tribute

I started teaching in 1976 and spent four years and two terms at my first school, a High School in Rowley Regis. Someone very recently posted a teaching staff photo on Facebook and it stirred some powerful emotions: I wasn't on it; I’d only just left when it was taken and in spite of my absence it’s a good photo! The colour quality is good and it captures the essence of the memory I have for my former colleagues. As is the way of things on Facebook, someone posted another photo, a black and white one of the Staff Football team: we were playing the 5^th Year (Year 11’s now) in a match that celebrated their final year in school and the restorative (albeit temporary) power of the male ego: you know, “The older I get, the better I was,” sort of thing. No one took it dreadfully seriously a light-hearted piece of “pupil engagement”.

1976 marked a time when challenges to the assumed comfort of education as a key player in developing a productive and employable workforce were raised; notably from the political left. Jim Callaghan and Shirley Williams each voiced concerns about the worth, value and relevance of what was taking place in our classrooms. In doing so they added fresh fuel to a debate that eventually led to changes that have in so many ways “wiped the smiles off the face of education.”

And there is the starkest of differences: fun. Things like this happened regularly and often:

·          Teachers running lunchtime activities (Formal)

·          Teachers running lunchtime activities (Informal)

·          “Catch Up Classes”

·          Teachers having time to socialise and build up productive relationships with the kids

·          Teachers having time to socialise and build up productive relationships with each other.

·          Whole staff social events

·          Spontaneous “stuff”

As I reflect on the journey we’ve been forced to take, it feels that we have lost some of the essence of purpose that made a job a calling. It’s hard to look at the “progress” we are alleged to have made without concluding that it has been successful largely in an unintended outcome: it has made a calling a job.

The above reflections gained an additional poignancy this week as I read (again on Facebook  about the death of a former valued colleague, Bob Ashwood. Bob was a talented teacher, a great colleague and one of the rare people whose character becomes part of “what goes on around here”: they effortlessly shape culture. The warmth and esteem in which Bob was held is clear from the response to his untimely death from the people he taught. Bob helped keep the smile on the face of education and his passing creates a reflective space that is occupied in no small measure by talent, integrity and a lightness of touch that is often only the property of professional heavyweights. His work outside of teaching is captured in this link. http://www.athleticsweekly.com/news/athletics-community-pays-tribute-to-bob-ashwood/

It feels that Bob’s life was about “a calling,” one that touched countless numbers of people from many walks of life.  

Listening and Acting On Workforce Voices

Premise


Can listening to and engaging with a workforce make a positive contribution-we believe it can as long as it is honest, authentic and can show that a "difference for the better" has emerged. We also believe that this will work in any organisation-large or small-providing the process is well managed.


Here are 3 areas for consideration

1. Principles
2. Benefits
3. Challenges

Principles of Listening to Workforce Voices:


o Mutual respect given and received between and within the workforce 
o All adults have equal worth in the workplace
o Communication is open, honest, valued and provides an exchange of ideas and views between workforce
o Investment in the future – accepting that all members of workforce are entitled to express their views about things which will affect and determine their future
o Meaningful active involvement where any decisions about workforce are made with them
o Working relationships are sustainable, effective and responsive
o Equal opportunities exist for workforce to be involved in a range of activities/development processes
o Workforce participation, involvement and voice are continually evaluated and reviewed.


Benefits of Listening to Workforce Voices:


o Gives additional information and insight into what the workforce thinks of structures/management etc
o Helps to strengthen partnerships between workforce and management
o Helps workforce members work out what is best for themselves and their colleagues
o Enables the workforce to gain better understanding of the things that really matter to colleagues
o Helps to create a listening environment
o All workforce members feel valued, respected and treated like equals
o Helps to develop reflective thinking 
o Increased confidence, self esteem and aspirations
o Enables the workforce to become more motivated to get involved in their jobs 
o Strengthens the feeling of community
o Develops teamwork
o Promotes more creative thinking
o Increases effective communication between workforce 


Challenges of Listening to Workforce Voices 


o Some of the workforce may be anxious about criticism of their work/leadership/communication skills
o Some of the workforce may be wary of the unpredictability of comments and views
o Some of the workforce may have reservations about voicing their opinions/blame culture
o Some of the workforce may worry about the loss of authority in their department
o Some of the workforce will not be prepared to accept the opinions of others
o Some of the workforce may use the opportunity to “take over” or dominate discussion areas
o Managing the initiative will call for careful planning/time constraints etc

Domestic Violence: Child, Young Person or Adult.

Domestic Violence: Child, Young Person or Adult.

Background:

We are about to embark on a launch of our development programme which can be adapted for the all employers, training organisations, schools, academies and colleges and training establishments.

If you would like to find out more about how we could work with you, here are our contact details:

enquiries@coadyconsultants.co.uk 

Telephone 0121-602-7191 (UK)

Mobile 07984409937

or of course, use the comment section on our Blog.

Domestic Violence-Awareness Raising.

Premise

In 2001 women represented 44% of the working age labour force. This figure is set to rise to 48% by 2012. In some specific areas, women will form the majority of the workforce.  It is estimated that 1:4 women will experience domestic violence from men known to them and between 1:8-1:10 will have experienced it within the last year. A woman is at her most vulnerable at the point of leaving a violent relationship.

The Programme

Our programme is drawn from a nationally recognised (Home Office Approved) format providing practical approaches and in doing so establishes:

• Domestic Violence accounts for almost 25% of violent crime
• It crosses social and cultural boundaries
• There are critical events when the targets of domestic violence are at their most vulnerable
• Teachers, Mentors and other colleagues in the Education Workforce may be confided in by parents, carers or co-workers who have been the target of Domestic Violence and are at a point where they need informed assistance
• The targets of Domestic Violence , their colleagues and managers need access to recent information, including signposting to support networks and practical steps for employers
• Misinformed actions or suggestions may exacerbate an already dangerous situation

Members of the Education Workforce are ideally placed to recognise patterns of behaviour that may suggest a child, a parent/carer or an employee is under duress. We believe that we all place worker safety, safeguarding and security at the heart of our Duty of Care to their learners, parents and employees and would wish to develop a positive approach to supporting those who are/have been the targets of domestic violence. We also recognise the impact of Domestic Violence on Learner Achievement, Parental engagement and the investment lost to organisations in terms of skills and expertise when experienced colleagues leave their jobs at short-notice either as a direct or indirect outcome of domestic violence. Our programme will enable participants to

• Acquire a working understanding of the processes targets are subjected to
• Develop overview of perpetrator behaviour
• Understand to support colleagues at the point of disclosure.

Learning Styles

• Participative.
• Presentation & Video Materials (Please note-video materials are “acted” and free from “Shock Tactics”)

Keep Calm & Carry On

T

This was a smashing little book was Christmas present from my daughter: one of those spontaneous ones (the book, not Beth) that often has a relevance beyond the original intention.

There was something of a slip in the original typing of the Title: I wrote "Keep Clam and Carry On" and whereas I have no problem with marine and freshwater bi-valves, they weren't supposed to feature here...however. "Keeping Clam" = "Keep Quiet" so maybe there's something worth thinking about here, namely the choices available to us when we can opt to speak or be quiet.

How many times do we pass on unsubstantiated gossip, partial truths, delicate pieces of information that benefit no-one and can result in great harm. When this happens, our poorly judged comment or intentional hurt has a inbuilt potential to come back and hurt us or to reduce our trustworthiness in the eyes of others.