Blog

The Product Of Your Decisions

25 Apr 2023

She was highly intelligent, a leader, had been a chief examiner and more, but she could not get a promotion to the next level.

In desperation, she sought a CV Writer to develop her application for a senior leadership role. Armed with a new product she tried for job after job. After numerous rejections, and negative feedback from panels, including her own school, her hopes sank, like a crocodile in muddy water.

When I analysed her product, several glaring issues were as jarring as the titanic on its fatal voyage.

The CV suited an industry and not educational setting. It was illustrated using borders, photograph, and had poor use of space. It did not separate responsibilities from achievements.

It sent smoke signals to a panel, in an educational setting, that it lacked knowledge of reasonable expectations of an Educational CV and Job Application.

Stephen Covey describes it aptly: “I am not a product of my circumstances; I am a product of my decisions”.

Deciding who to help you write your application is a difficult choice. There are traps where advertisements describe companies’ writers as being “the best”, “the no.1”. Advertisements claim they have helped thousands of successful applicants with miraculous success rates.

My reaction? Hyperbole!

I would put trust in Thomas Edison who wrote: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work”.

Make your choice using your own research:

Don’t place blind faith in reviews, by unknown clients, where you don’t know the reviewer.
Use word-of-mouth to identify someone that they, or others know, to be outstanding.
The writer or coach should have first-hand experience of having worked in the education setting.
Learn what the process is in which you will be involved.
Price is not a reliable factor as it depends on work involved. Less work translates into low price.

The service I offer each client, lets them benefit from critical analysis, that enables us to build on a foundation that assures high achievement. Comprehensive research is closely aligned to planning. The client can see copious research, where there is no chicanery. Not Google reviews, but major awards, and actual verifiable success, over 23 years is available. I can be contacted on shannonq@bigpond.net.au If you think someone needs my service, send them this Blog, and refer to my website, so they can make an independent decision.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Graduates With "TEACH" Can Lead

22 Apr 2023

Graduates come with diverse experiences, skills, knowledge, expectations, beliefs, and talents.

They are Asian, EAL/D, from business, women with school-aged children or college graduates.

The stereotypical, deficit, impression is that, as a group, they lack experience, need ongoing support from staff or have undeveloped skills.

The Australian Professional Standard for Teachers (APSfT) shows the transition phases from Graduate, through Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher, using differentiating terms like “demonstrates knowledge” (Graduate teachers) to “flexible and effective repertoire…” (Highly Accomplished) or “lead colleagues to select” (Lead Teacher). It is easy, for the casual mentor, to view all graduates as part of a stereotypical career wagon-train, that has the unintended consequence of hobbling an innovative, creative, and future-focused graduate, of which there are many.

In my career coaching, that is highly targeted, scaffolded, real-life-focused, and career-directed, graduates perform at the High Performing or Lead levels, of the APSfT scale, in presenting their experience to a potential employer.

The original concept, that I developed, working with graduates, and more experienced teachers, opens their eyes to attributes they have modelled to lead processes, research, evaluate how students learn, and meet the needs of students with diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. These are some “Lead” teacher attributes.

My key helps them reflect, and unlock high-achieving goals, something Asian parents expect of their children, that leads them to emulate “lead” attributes rather than lower expectations for “graduate” teachers.

My unique process embeds TEACH scaffold elements, be it graduate or proficient teacher.

T is for Timely and Targeted action using all the Tools at your disposal. E is for Enterprise, bringing new knowledge to your school. A is for the inspirational Attitude that you model for students, staff, and parents. C is for Collaboration, as you work with teams to overcome Challenges. H is for the High Impact Teaching Skills that you encourage staff, parents, and students to embed.

Research into 21 st century skills, Beyond the 3 Rs, and parent surveys, show the importance of nurturing technology, global skills, analytical skills, lifelong learning, communication, teamwork, personal and social competence. One principal remarked: “This in not one more thing to do. This is a better way of doing what we already do”.

Dr AB Willard Daggett summed it up when he said: “What students need to succeed in the 21st century is an education that is both academically rigorous and “real-world” relevant”.

Graduate teachers bring many of these 21 st century skills experiences with them. I led a graduate teacher to become a Level 3 Classroom Teacher in her first attempt, graduate teachers to win permanent positions, Asian teachers being rejected from schools to win coveted positions, and an Asian mother to win her first full-time job, in a school, after many rejections.

I show them how to bring out the leader in them.

If you are a graduate, proficient, high-performing or lead teacher, that needs to be recognised for the talents and attributes that you have, you need to contact me on shannonq@bigpond.net.au to bring out your hidden leadership.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

You Can't Be What You Can't See

22 Apr 2023

The facts speak for themselves.

Figures from the Australian Council of Educational Research show that in Australia females hold 65% of leadership positions in primary schools and 48% in secondary schools. In primary schools 81% and secondary 51%, respectively, hold teaching positions. According to the Global Education Monitoring Report 55% of women are primary principals (80% female teachers) and 40% are secondary principals (60% female teachers) in OECD countries.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are greatly under-represented in schools with 1.2% teachers compared to 5% student cohort according to Teacher Magazine and the More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers Initiative. Workforce data shows that ATSI people are significantly under-represented in teaching and leadership roles.

Similarly, a report in the Sydney Morning Herald reports Professor Ken Cruickshank, from the Sydney Institute for Community Languages Education (SICLE), citing 6000 Asian teacher aspirants being “locked out” of the system.

The Asian Society’s Taskforce report stated that the Asian Australian community stands at 12% of the Australian population, yet members remain virtually absent in top leadership positions. The Australian Human Rights Commission, in 2018, found 97% of CEOs to be Anglo-Celtic.

These three groups have different needs and agendas. However, there are some factors, reports that I have studied, show common elements affecting all groups. They show lack of cultural awareness of each group’s needs, need for appropriate training in leaders to change stereotypical attitudes, providing opportunities to enhance each group’s outcomes, identifying appropriate mentors, slow progress to address issues, and insufficient evidence of promoting leaders, that are empowered to make a difference in the outcomes, of these groups.

In the case of Asian-Australians, numerous reports like the Australia in the Asian Century Australian Government White Paper, various reports on stereotypes of Asians, Bamboo Ceiling, Model Minority and Bittersweet success, among others, call for change in the recruitment and selection process for Asian-Australians.

I have personal experience, recently, of an Asian Australian PhD experienced teacher, having won prestigious awards, annually, for several schools, in state-wide competition, was not shortlisted for a leadership role in her school. Another, serving teacher, with recent deputy principal and principal’s experience, in several schools, was not selected as classroom teacher for a local school. Surveys of Asian-Australians cite that significant proportions
claim the following: a “glass ceiling” remains a barrier, use of non-English names is 67% less likely to be considered for leadership and pronunciation that is not standard Australian is viewed negatively.

The ATSI final report made 14 recommendations, to enhance significant under-representation in schools, of ATSI teachers and leaders. Strategies to increase leadership opportunities involve providing mentoring, targeting early career ATSI. I believe that we can make a difference by including ATSI people in leading projects, encourage more ATSI students to consider teaching as a career choice and provide richer cultural experience for all students.

There is considerable research and information about advancing women as female leaders. The factors that I mentioned before are critical. A report cites several key elements that impact negatively on women advancing in leadership. 46% of female teachers will have an interruption to their career (men 76%). Fewer women (6%) are likely to volunteer for a leadership role, in the next three years, (men 24%). The National School Leadership Institute highlighted the “current lack of women in educational leadership, particularly in school principal positions”. Given this element, NESLI concluded it would be difficult to find mentors.

Given these factors, how can Asian, ATSI and female students experience leadership role models, if we don’t take positive action, personally, to change it?

How can children be what they can’t see? Make it the dawn of a new day.

I am passionate about promoting people from these three groups, within the scope of my services. I have done so, very successfully, for three decades. My service offers outstanding support, targeted coaching, customised benefits, and research that enable these three groups to fast-track their careers.

I can be contacted on shannonq@bigpond.net.au for my service.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

The Career Ladder - Climbing Beyond Level 3 Teacher

20 Apr 2023

A challenging question I get asked by many Level 3 Classroom Teachers is how do I progress from here to gain a promotional position?

This has gained momentum over the last three years, with over 800 schools in the WA government education system, being required to follow the WA Future Leaders Framework policy, to identify potential leaders. The surge towards demonstrating leadership acumen is super charged by a plethora of
organisations inviting people to develop leadership potential and acumen.

Many Level 3 Classroom Teachers realise, after they obtain their new status, through an intense two-part process, that it leads to increased responsibilities, and small increment in pay. They must change direction to progress to Head of Learning Area, deputy principal or associate principal.

Level 3 Classroom Teachers tell me that they feel they have reached a dead-end in the promotion ladder, with no structured, alternative career path, except to be a masterclass classroom teacher. Dr. Ben Jenkins, 2016 , identified it as an aspect that needed consideration, in research he conducted, published in Learning First, commission by the WA Education Department for aspirant leaders.

Level 3 Classroom Teachers, that want to benefit from being a master-class teacher, and achieve an acting or substantive role, access me for individual, customised career service, that is specific to their needs. Each Level 3 can access:

A critical, professional review of their achievements.
Unique guidance on experiences that are relevant to the future role.
Practical support to model leadership attributes specific to the role.
Personal, research-based, high-quality coaching.
Presenting a case where heads of learning areas or deputy principals are in the mix.

My unique experience of having personally coached, mentored, and guided Level 3 Classroom Teachers, for three decades, to successfully climb the ladder, or navigate loopholes, provides unique insights. This Blog can be read on Lionel Cranenburgh – LinkedIn.

I can be contacted on shannonq@bigpond.net.au if you want to access my service.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Starting Over (Part II)

18 Apr 2023

I am often sought by prospective applicants who want to transition from the government education system to the independent school systems.

My guidelines are based on experience of having worked in independent schools and colleges and guided many to transition to the independent school system, at all levels.

I coach teachers in the critical differences between the systems.

A key element is commitment to religious beliefs, culture or values, that are Anglican, Catholic or another denomination. How does a teacher present this aspect, when he or she has worked in a government school, that does not advocate faith-based beliefs?

A key element, in my process, is to coach teachers on how to address this requirement. I have studied the Bible and show teachers how they can align their expertise to its values and advice.

Another key difference, between the systems, is the range of criteria to be addressed in the independent school system.

To adjust to the independent school system, requires the researched selection of detail, that fits the culture, ethos, and values, of a particular school or
college. It requires an engaging approach, personal “voice” and style of presentation, that are quite dissimilar to the government process.

The most effective process is carefully customised. The personality, achievements and attributes of the individual, are seen as contributing to the strategic goals of the independent school. Logic, and persuasion, must blend in a persuasive way, that appeals to head and heart.

My process shows how it can be done. I can be contacted on shannonq@bigpond.net.au.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Breaking The Colour Ceiling (Part II)

11 Apr 2023

While system directions in Western Australia state that we need to create more leadership opportunities for EAL/D people, serious questions remain to be asked.

Why do we need it? How will we do it?

The first question is easier to answer than the second.

ABS, and other sources, show that in Western Australia 32% of the population was born overseas, mostly in India, China, and Africa. Australia is one of the most culturally diverse countries, with one SBS report stating we have people from 200 countries, speaking 300 languages.

As an Asian-Australian, and before that, Asian-British person, I mentored, coached, and professionally guided people from Africa, India, Vietnam, Singapore Malaysia, China, Japan, Islamabad, and Saudi Arabia to gain leadership roles in Western Australia’s government, Catholic, and independent education systems.

My aspirants speak Hindi, Urdu, Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Malayalam, some speaking several languages reflecting their linguistic ability.

My research into Australian and UK experiences, based on Professor Shamit Sagar’s UK study Bittersweet Success, Professor Ken Cruickshank’s work in the Sydney Institute for Community Languages Education (SICLE), and analysis of my own EAL/D case studies research in Western Australia, for over a decade, enable me to use highly effective strategies, that have guided EAL/D teachers to become leaders.

My approach is based on four key factors: targeted research into the organisation and its expectations, working as a team, identifying evidence of leadership, showing how to apply it to match system and individual school’s needs.

Research by Professor Cruickshank shows that the current process is “over-complicated” with EAL/D aspirant leaders having a “lack of information, not knowing where to go” and what to do.

I use the AM/PM Model, with each client, where we (AM) examine our “audience”, its needs, and how to communicate through the written “medium”. I coach my aspirant leader to see herself/himself as the (PM) “presenter,” reflect on what information we communicate and whether our “message” is clear.

The process incorporates contemporary pedagogies of visible learning (I do We do You do), higher-order thinking skills, with each person, using questioning, explicit instruction, examples, and modelling.

Evidence from schools in WA, like some other Australian states, shows that we need more leaders in schools that are bilingual, and bicultural, reflecting the multicultural communities in which we live.

To ensure that we support these leaders, the system needs to adopt relational, strategic, and systemic attributes. There is room for a greater percentage of EAL/D leaders, especially women, to climb what is characterised as the “snowy white peaks” of principal, regional directors, and senior leadership.

Greater diversity in the most senior positions is a matter of fairness and diversity.

If you want to find out more about how you can advance your career as a leader, I can be contacted by emailing shannonq@bigpond.net.au and talking to me on what we can do.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Breaking The Colour Ceiling (Part I)

10 Apr 2023

My exciting research, over a decade, into how to increase the diversity of our education workforce, focused on addressing the unique needs of Asian teachers and those aspiring to be leaders.

The study impacts not only current strategic intent of the WA Education Department, Catholic and independent school systems, but is of national importance, considering the increased multicultural population of Australia. One report suggests that Australia has culturally and linguistically diverse people, speaking more than 300 languages with Chinese and Indian cultures being the largest cultural groups.

If not managed effectively, using data, it will negatively impact Asian women that opt for teaching as a career. It reduces the ability to address an impending teacher shortage with older teachers retiring. Reports suggest that fewer university students are opting for teaching which reduces the pipeline to teaching in schools.

The study, by me, an Asian-Australian, and before that, Asian-British, involved 11 Asian teachers, from Western Australia, using a case study approach. It was unique, and exciting, where the researcher was an integral part in being the service provider, to make a difference in the outcome.

Part 1 of Breaking the Colour Ceiling focuses on elements needed by Asian teachers to be successful in obtaining jobs in schools in Western Australia, or when seeking to move from one school to another. Eight of the applicants were secondary teachers and three from primary backgrounds. Four had primary and secondary experience. Part II in this two-part series, examines elements needed for Asian teachers to be selected, as leaders, through merit-selection, to positions of principal, deputy principal, or associate principal.

My grounded research (unpublished) examined relevant professional experience, achievements, qualifications, awards, leadership attributes, oral, written communication, and other elements, that would make them competitive, as a candidate for the position of teacher in the school that had advertised the vacancy. The sectors in which these teachers served, is confidential, to protect the identity of the case studies.

My research led me to analyse the Australian National University Black Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) Department Report, the ANU’s response to the 2021 Racism Report, the Racism: No Way 2000 by the then Governor-General, Sir William Dean, and cutting-edge work being done by the Sydney Institute for Community Languages Education (SICLE) with its partners, the Western Sydney University, and the Australian Catholic University.

This was supported by interviews, with each case study, that involved their perceptions of success criteria, and why they were unsuccessful. I analysed written, general, and specific feedback, offered by schools, when it was obtained, or oral feedback to the applicants. In some cases, feedback was not sought by the applicant for personal reasons.

There were cases when the general feedback, for what the school wanted, was a summary of everything that the applicant had already addressed in their application. It is difficult to explain, and could be assumed that personal viewpoints, or other elements, led to the panel’s choice. It is a panel’s prerogative, operating within the bounds of equity, procedural fairness, and the school’s espoused needs, to make a personal choice.

Key elements, that emerged from my decade-long study, identified aspects that Asian, and ethnically and linguistically diverse teachers, need to consider when preparing to be successful in winning a teaching job. They are:

Awareness that stereotypical views about Asians may cloud a panel member’s judgement and create bias.
Pronunciation of English words, or language, that does not agree with Standard Australian English, may negatively influence a panel member’s decision.
Overseas experience, from Asian countries, may be considered less relevant to local experience, that is easier to verify.
Pedagogies and experience in China and India are very different to Australian expectations.
Pre-agreed notions of the “ideal” candidate could mean that a panel has pre-selected the successful applicant.

Two recent cases were where a graduate teacher, was preferred to an experienced Asian teacher, with primary and secondary experience, that had served for a period of six months, in the local secondary school, in country WA that advertised for a teacher. In another case, an Asian teacher, with a doctorate, several published journal articles and history of students winning numerous state awards over years, in several schools, was not short-listed for interview as head of her learning area, in the school, where she had served for several years.

What the system can do to enhance ethnic peoples’ chances, using national and international research, are as follows:

All selection panels should have a non-white representative on it to ensure fairness.
Targets to be set, and ethnic monitoring conducted, to monitor progress towards the targets in relation to Asian teacher appointments.
Cases where Asians of exceptional merit, have been overlooked by a panel, should be subject to rigorous enquiry, by an investigator.
Schools and panels need mandatory training in Asia Literacy to ensure that there is greater knowledge of the value of cultural diversity.

What an Asian teacher, or culturally diverse person, could do:

Bilingual teachers need to enrol in courses where they can improve their spoken English.
Form networks that can bring you to the attention of senior management in target schools.
Develop an understanding of what constitutes an outstanding application.
Show how you apply contemporary pedagogy and achieve remarkable results.

The outcome of working with the 11 applicants was that 9 of them won placements, two in the top-four ranked schools in WA. All three contenders for Master-class teacher (Level 3 Classroom Teacher in WA) were successful, where less than 10 percent of applicants get appointed in their first attempt.

If you are a teacher, and want to find out more about how you can advance your career, I can be contacted by emailing shannonq@bigpond.net.au and talking to me on what we can do.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Should We End The Legacy Approach In Choosing Leaders? (Part II)

7 Apr 2023

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership report, Preparing future leaders, 2015, into identifying and nurturing talent, had this to say: “Feedback from consultation indicated that in many cases leadership was seen as a type of inheritance, and by simply ‘doing time’ in a school, long-serving teachers felt entitled to move into the leadership role”.

Research by Jensen et al, Learning First, 2016, AITSL, Watterston and other researchers, identified major flaws in the system of succession management, that can be addressed at a system level.

What is mentioned here, applies on a national basis, too, as similar issues may exist in different Australian states, including the Catholic and independent systems.

Jensen et al, in a study commissioned by the Education Department of WA, found that in WA, across the system, succession planning was “limited and ad hoc”. There was little formal succession planning. “Filling vacancies regularly takes precedent over identifying talent”.

Women, including EAL/D women, are seriously under-represented in principal positions, in Australia, that has been the case for five plus decades in WA, where I have first-hand experience.

Jensen’s report suggests a very important point that schools would do well to heed. He says: “The system needs to be supported by its school leaders, and in turn should offer them opportunities to see the bigger picture… This distributes quality leadership across a system”.

It needs to be mentioned, unequivocally, that the Education Department of WA, has actively taken positive steps, for several years, acclaimed through affirmative feedback from principals, to implement the recommendations of the Jensen report. All schools need to align succession planning to these praiseworthy system elements, that have made the WA Education Department an outstanding leader in Australia in this area, acknowledged by Jensen.

“In truth, the development of this WA leadership strategy is cutting edge, not just nationally but across the globe.” (Jensen, Learning First, Western Australia school leadership strategy, pp 3, 2016).

Schools would do well to follow the WA Education Department’s lead, and take a systematic, standards-based, transparent approach, identify and nurture talent, match learning to the aspirant’s career stage, use evidence-based programs for impact and evaluate programs, as AITSL recommends.

We can end the “legacy approach” if we:

Take a carefully, planned, comprehensive approach, where we work with the system, to ensure that we have suitably trained aspirants available, from which to merit-select, for future school and systemic needs.
Raise the status and attractiveness of the principal’s position to counteract current negative communication about the role being publicised across Australia.
Examine ways of creating collaborative responsibility across government, Catholic and independent sectors, to encourage greater support for aspirants and cross-sector collaboration.
Identify leaders early, and provide suitable support to advance their careers, that are fair, equitable, align to system policies and values. These need to be established, through clear and widely agreed guidelines, of what to look for in aspiring leaders.
Engage a group of Women in Leadership roles to advise where there is an imbalance of women in leadership positions.
Create a structured career development process where aspirants are trained in instructional leadership, interpersonal skills and later, in management skills.

Watterston, B, The Environmental Scan, outlined effective components of principal preparation activities. These include features like evidence-based programs aligned to standards; collective responsibility to support a leadership pipeline; well-prepared aspirants; rigorous application process; gathering explicit evidence on experiences and opportunities that impact a leader’s skills.

Challenging? Yes.

Better than the legacy approach to succession management?

You decide.

I can be contacted on shannonq@bigpond.net.au if you need help with your career.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Guiding Complex Conversations

25 Mar 2023

What happens when a staff member makes allegations, in an email sent to several parties, that accuses a colleague of unprofessional conduct, which the injured party claims is untrue?

I used my specialisation in resolving conflict in schools, as a trained national mediator over 16 years, to help find an alternative to court action, over the injured party lodging a workplace defamation charge.

My expertise was sought to mediate in a case, in Western Australia, where there was possibility of litigation, costing the loser tens of thousands of dollars, for defamation, loss of reputation of the school in the community, and unspeakable pain.

The parties did not want to speak to each other.

The process that I used is research-based and structured to resolve conflict encouraging two-way communication very effectively.

My questions established what happened and where their information came from? This involved examining the defamer’s intentions. I did it by asking each party what they had contributed to the problem.

A critical question, that I posed, was most important in leading the conversation. What do you need to resolve this situation? Why do you need it? It led each party to reflect on their experience, and intentions, in what they did. It forged a path through rivers of emotions flowing through participants’ minds.

The question: Is this the best option you can find to address the issue and achieve your purpose? The questions enabled each party to seek alternative solutions that they had not done before. They had allowed their personalities, emotions, and sense of identity to block productive reasoning.

To advance the mediation further it was necessary to have the parties work as partners to solve the problem. At times I had to work independently with each to generate options.

The process required me to unravel how the parties had arrived at this point. I had to address the difference between fact, perception, blame, accusations about the other party’s feeling, and other distractions. These were like clouds that obscured the light.

Having each party invent options that addressed their interests was a powerful way of generating consensus. They agreed to meet and select the best options guided by me.

The outcomes were amazing as the parties saw each other in a new light. It saved each party thousands of dollars in legal fees and, most important, by-passed the tsunami of adverse gossip and feeling of loss of identity.

If you need me to mediate in a school-based dispute resolution situation I can be contacted through lionelcranenburgh.com.au and shannonq@bigpond.net.au

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Talking About Time

14 Mar 2023

The woman sounded nervous on the phone as she told me that she wanted to apply for a teaching job but wasn’t sure that she had the experience. This is a typical fear that I hear expressed on numerous occasions.

I discussed her fears, and it came down to the fact that she had experienced a break in teaching to bring up children. What I learned, through empathic interaction, was that she had tried for several jobs without success, had received little, or no constructive feedback from schools to which she had applied, and didn’t know what to do.

The uncertainties fall into basically four elements. The acronym AM/PM is a guide to use. AM: Your “audience” and the “medium” through which you communicate. PM: You as the “presenter” and the “message” that you send.

In talking to people, who seek my help to win jobs that involve considerable competition, I ask them: Did you try to establish the needs of your “audience”? I model how it is done.

When presenting information, through the “medium” you select, did you ensure that you understood your audience’s needs? If it is an interview, how did you use a slide or video to engage them?

As a presenter of information, did you give sufficient information to show how you catered to their expectations?

When presenting your information to the reader, as a “message”, did you make it clear what you wanted to communicate? How could you do it well?

The woman was elated. She realised that there was much more to writing than she had imagined. The acronym gave her a fresh approach where she could engage in changing her mindset.

It was time for change.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Put The Fun Back Into School

8 Mar 2023

I hate the music, cause every time I hear that same old tune, can’t sing to it
John Paul Young, I Hate the Music

For two decades our schools have experienced an unrelenting wave of bureaucratic policies, comparative data analysis, and system-requirements for annual reporting. There is a systemic expectation for reporting against explicit criteria in a regimented way. NAPLAN, OLNA, ATAR, and SIS data are celebrated before the statistics altar and quoted like mantras.

Public-school reviews faithfully publish the ICSEA of every school in WA. Regardless of justification, the data ensures that anyone reading it, understands that the school is in a low or high socio-economic area. I know that I sent my children to a low ICSEA school and lived all my life in low ICSEA communities.

Let me declare an interest at the outset. I was the child that went to six schools, with a total of six years education, and no schooling for six years. I began school at seven. I grew up, in what the world described as “a third-world country”.

Debra Evans, writing in her article, “We Want Our Young People to flourish: High Expectations are important, but at what expense?” makes an impassioned case to engage children in meaningful educational pursuits. Her cry, “we need high expectations …but we need to allow our people to be creative, curious and to flourish,” is a keynote of her argument, and music to the ears of parents and children.

The late Edward De Bono, (Six Thinking Hats), who I interviewed, sounded a clarion call. “Schools waste two-thirds of the talent in society and the universities sterilise the rest”. Rigid thinking, and an obsession with testing, his research shows, led many children to leave school thinking that they were stupid. Many were good thinkers who made successes of their lives.

I meet many former students, who lack confidence that they carry throughout their lives. I believe that rather than teaching children to absorb information schools should teach them to think creatively.

Some researchers suggest that our system was built for the industrial revolution, not the digital revolution. It may be overstating the case; however, estimates that 50% of jobs today, will be automated, is a trumpet call for change.

Educators are leaving in record numbers, burdened under the statistical weight of a soulless, hollow regime. Experience, and research, show that mastery learning comes when students teach students. We need to prize individuality over conformity, encourage creativity, trial-and-error. Stop the “sound of mucus” where teachers are judged by robot-like conformity to bureaucratic bandwidths.

My friend couldn’t pass school examinations. He loved music. He went to the UK, and produced a no. 1 world hit: “Kung Fu Fighting” that topped the US and UK charts. He is listed as one of the top 35 music producers of all time.

Let the music play in our schools.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Teachers: Barriers to Belonging

25 Feb 2023

“Full of sound and fury signifying nothing”. Shakespeare, Macbeth.

Claims and counterclaims by politicians, unions, and journalists, drown the voices of principals and teachers, who have seen the teacher shortage unfold over decades.

In multiple roles at tertiary, school, central office, and regional offices, over five decades, I have heard the voices of teachers and principals disregarded by their superiors, and ministers, until the problem reaches crisis mode.

Research by Monash University found workload stress, disrespect by society, administrative expectations, and reduced support for managing students with complex behavioural challenges to be recurring themes. Education researchers, in a national survey in 2022, of 5000 teachers, found that 80% reported a sense of belonging to teaching 20% said they planned to leave in five years.

The Varkey research (see my BLOG Breaking the Culture Barrier, lionelcranenburgh.com.au highlights how Australian teachers are not as highly regarded as their Asian counterparts). Having taught at Indian and WA schools, universities and TAFE, my perception, that teaching is not highly regarded as a career choice in Australia, concurs with the Varkey research and supports Australian teachers’ and principals’ perceptions.

Ask a member of the public about teachers’ workload and the standard response will be that teachers get about 12 weeks holidays! However, Rebecca Collie, professor of educational psychology, University of NSW, attributes workload to an increase in administrative tasks, accountability requirements, routine tasks, form filling, playground duties and expensive ways of deploying the teaching workforce.

Another much-quoted statistic is that Australian teachers are among the fifth-highest paid in the world. Research by the Grattan Institute shows that on-entry teachers are paid higher than other professions early-entry level salaries. However, ABS data shows that after a few years, less than 5% of teachers earn over $156,000 compared to engineers 35%, law 45% and medicine 80%.

Performance pay, is a sticking point, with some unions and state governments, with Dominic Perrottet and NSW Education Minister making an election promise that would enable master-class teachers to earn $152,000 according to some reports. However, a researcher, from the Australian Catholic university, that has studied performance pay in Australia and the US claims that US research shows there is no evidence that performance pay increases students’ scores on standardised tests. Introducing performance pay fairly may pose logistical and ethical problems, the research suggested. One model that the Grattan Institute cites for consideration is the Singapore master-teacher model.

We need to switch our focus on universities to see what they can do to reduce drop-out rates by university students that complete the course and fail to pass the mandatory literacy and numeracy test.

The problem of simply appointing more teachers, can increase the “mismatch” of teachers to subjects that research shows has contributed to the teacher shortage. Simply putting another, under-qualified teacher, before a mathematics class, will exacerbate the problem, as one senior teacher told me today.

Principals are being asked to resolve a recruitment nightmare in a lose-lose situation. It is only a matter of time before staff lose interest in being a principal.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Starting Over: Moving Between Independent and Government Schools

17 Feb 2023

It’s time to spread our wings and fly,

Don’t let another day go by,

It’ll be just like starting over…

John Lennon, “Starting Over”

At all stages, for a variety of reasons, teachers, and administrators, will contemplate leaving or changing sectors, from the independent school system to the government independent public school organisation or vice versa.

My experience, guiding teachers and senior administrators to make the change, and from personal experience, working in AISWA, the Catholic Education system (WA) and leading independent schools overseas, enables me to take a non-political approach that has led to guiding educators to “start over” successfully.

It is important not to get caught up in the swirling, muddy stream of who has better teachers and gets the best results, or the government’s plan to send “under-qualified teachers” into school, as this will sweep you down a path that is confusing.

The choice is for you to make as each AISWA and Catholic Independent School develops its own culture, ethos, values, and system.

If you are keen on starting over, and taking a chance at the Independent Schools Australia, research the school, speak to the Human Resources Manager, deputy principal or any member of the School Board to see if it matches what you want.

There are several important differences between government and AISWA schools. They include the range of essential and desirable criteria you will need to address, style of writing, focus on cultural, recreational pursuits, and moral purpose in the Independent Schools System.

There may be greater focus on educational philosophy about best practice in teaching, and a range of personal attributes, that the school requires you to demonstrate.

No two schools have the same selection criteria, unlike the government public school system, where all teachers are expected to address the same three criteria from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and send a CV.

For educators from AISWA, or Catholic Schools, seeking to transition to the government independent public school system, while researching the school is the same as that above, deputies and heads of learning areas will have to address four standard selection criteria. Principals address the five professional standards, and three leadership requirements, of the Australian Professional Standards for Principals, that is the same in other states of Australia. (Note: the application process for principals is currently under review for change).

While the process, with its standard criteria, appears deceptively simple, there are several traps that unsuspecting teachers and senior management can overlook. It can make the difference between being shortlisted or continually unsuccessful.

As the song says, no-one’s to blame for the difference. If you are keen to “start over” and make the change, email me on shannonq@bigpond.net.au so we can make the journey one, where, as the song says, you have grown.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Is WA's Education Department Principal Selection Placement Pilot Flying Low?

15 Jan 2023

The aim of the new trial is to be educative, effective, and transparent.

Is it?

In a bold move to change the selection process, the new system being trialled, moves from addressing five selection criteria or Practices from the Australian Professional Standard for Principals to the Principal Performance Improvement Tool (authors AITSL and the WA Education Department) having principals provide written responses on two scenarios in Stage 2. It is done in a timed exercise of three hours, at a place of the applicant’s choice.

The change to the process has reduced the time it takes to reflect, and address two selection criteria, from the PPIT. The process, in Stage 2, claims to give the applicant an opportunity to link how they would use their leadership qualities, to improve student outcomes in a specific context, as outlined in the advertised school profile.

A challenging experience that I heard, recently, from an aspirant principal, in a remote school, was that, as part of Stage 2, the applicant had to address written responses to two unseen questions in a timed exercise of two hours. People that I interviewed did not see how writing to address two questions, within tight timelines, demonstrated any leadership attribute. On the contrary, I believe that it poses the following difficulties:

Increases stress, unnecessarily, with no perceived benefit.
Poses unnecessary challenges for EAL/D aspirants where English is not the first language.
Makes it difficult for aspirants, that lack keyboard proficiency, work at a slower pace or are more reflective.

The process is a radical departure from addressing selection criteria, and writing a CV, used by the Education Departments of NSW, Victoria, and South Australia, where principals address domains from the Australian Professional Standard for Principals and the Leadership Profiles, by AITSL.

There are advantages to addressing selection criteria, as aspirant principal applicants can demonstrate written communication skills, persuasiveness, personality, interpersonal characteristics, high order thinking skills, emotive ability, logical reasoning, creative ideas, and structural organisation.

The PSPP Model has replaced a CV in Stage 1 with an online Work History. Applicants write four x 250-word career highlights, linked to the school context, focusing on three selection criteria from the Principal Performance Improvement Tool (PPIT), each in 250 words. They do four x 100-word explanations to outline why they chose each highlight. An online referee tool is used by the referee, to validate and provide a judgement on the personal attributes of interpersonal acumen and self-awareness, and three selection criteria, linked to the PPIT domains. The referee tool is used by the panel, in Stage 1, to shortlist applicants, and select those that will move to Stage 2.

One principal wrote to me in relation to a recent experience of applying for a principal’s position in a WA school.

“It was restrictive to summarise a 30-year career in a 4 short highlights in relation to (five) Domains of Practice.”

Why are applicants eliminated in Stage 1, based on their performance on three selection criteria, when those that are selected for Stage 2, get to do a total of five criteria? It is feasible, from an inclusivity perspective, that the applicants that were eliminated early, could have performed better if they had been allowed to do all the selection criteria, as is the case in NSW, Victoria, and South Australia, that use the Australian Professional Standard for Principals, as we are doing now, before changing to the WA version of the Principal Performance Improvement Tool.

A case study that I did of a principal had this to say about her experience: “I have no idea why I did not make it to Stage 2, as you can only access ‘feedback’ after Stage 2. The complexity of the application process…(makes) feedback and self-reflection key aspects in identifying elements of improvement, moving forward. I understand the concept of asking referees for feedback in relation to ‘six critical personal attributes’ through a survey but I believe this should be a personal development tool, as part of performance management, not a Job Application Process. I believe that the outcome of the process I went through demonstrated a clear unconscious bias in terms of the profile of the successful applicant…I would also question the unconscious bias of those assessing the applications in terms of existing quality and nepotism…”.

In relation to the use of six referees, a principal case study, wrote that requiring the referees to assess the six critical personal attributes, posed problems. “I had to provide 2 peers, 2 superordinates and 2 subordinates as referees to assess the six personal attributes. This was challenging given my international experiences as these referees had to have worked with me within the last 2 years. Culturally, the questions would have been misleading for some of them (referees) as they had no understanding of the process. This was disappointing …”

It begs the questions: Why do principals in WA not have to address selection criteria, or write a CV, that teachers, and all other applicants, in the WA Education Department, must do? Why could an assessment tool not have been constructed that enabled principals to address selection criteria, and do a CV, that was aligned to the domains, and leadership attributes, in one stage instead of two? I do not say that it is, but a person could wonder if one of the benefits of the system was that it was designed so assessors do not have to read much!

Jensen, in Learning First, Western Australia school leadership strategy, June 2016, did not recommend totally changing the process of addressing selection criteria, or destroying the impact of a CV, by reducing it to a mere work history. What he said was: Some principals do not believe that the current principal selection process consistently selects the most suitable candidate pp 19. What he does state is that principals with experience of several schools benefit by expanding their horizons. It is a theme in his report. A well-structured CV, better than a work history, can present an innovative, aspirant principal’s breadth and depth of strategic experience, at the systemic end of the continuum, that surely must be beneficial to panel members and aspirants.

If the aim is to strengthen the selection process, Learning First pp 19, then the following case does not support this worthy motive. It bears mentioning, that a former female Deputy Principal, from an IPS metropolitan school in WA, that I know, with experience as merit selected Deputy and Associate Principal, in two WA schools, and service as Acting Principal, including CEO, responsible for several schools in Saudi Arabia, currently holding an academic position at a Victoria University, was not shortlisted for Stage 2 of a primary principal’s role for a metropolitan school in WA. This occurred, towards the end of 2022, despite Focus 2023 suggesting that we increase the diversity of our workforce by employing …more women in leadership positions. It seems contrary to the Report’s statement What principals are saying pp 30 …principals generally had positive reports of any system leadership experiences.

The report shines a light on the need to link talent identification to succession management. It advises schools to look at who is in the current “principal pipeline” and develop a new talent and leadership strategy, so that retiring principals can be replaced. However, its suggestions are questionable. It suggests using the current role of Level 3 Classroom Teacher as a steppingstone to principalship. Some principals, Learning First, pp 39 suggested that changes should be made (to the principal selection process) …to require a folio similar (sic) to the Level 3 Classroom Teacher selection process. The report suggests, pp 19, that these roles (Level 3 Classroom Teacher) are currently being filled by mostly later career teachers. There may be an opportunity to expand the role to recognise younger exemplary teachers who may not have the same level of experience but have developed similar expertise.

I have actively had a major role, for three decades, in enabling Level 3 Classroom Teachers through the portfolio and reflective review processes, gain their new status. Some of the major themes to emerge are lack of comparability between assessors in the system; low success rates, about 35%+ each year; and low successful rates of applicants appearing for the first time in both stages of the process. Feedback, provided to each applicant, is limited to a few statements on each competency. Some applicants have tried for several years to obtain their Level 3 status. It has led many teachers, to confide in me, that they would rather apply for other leadership roles than Level 3 Classroom Teacher.

One of WA’s outstanding teachers, that has won numerous awards, was unable to win Level 3 Classroom Teacher status. He took his case, many times, to the Minister for Education and other parties. He was winner of the BHP Billiton Australia Award for Science, winner of the WA Education Department’s Excellence for Education Award, winner of the WA Department of Environment’s Environmental Award, with certificates for co-establishing Ribbons of Blue, among other awards.

The report makes two comments that, I believe, are not a solution. The first is the statement, pp 18/19 that 25% of teachers are concentrated in just 23 schools. Therefore, there is opportunity in the future selection of these teachers to be more strategic to make sure there is an excellent teacher in every school. The other (see above) is a reference to the evidence that Level 3 Classroom Teacher roles are being filled by “later career teachers”. In the case of the first statement, the author does not appear to have appreciated that each Level 3 applicant must be selected by independent panels, using indicators based on five competencies, without political considerations relating to school or region. The second comment, about appointing younger, exemplary Level 3 Classroom Teachers, may be considered ageist or discriminatory.

The opportunities, I offer, to make a difference, are suggestive, allowing for experimentation and innovation, in succession management. They are accessible for anyone that wants to enrich a system that is ready for change:

Create a pool that is identified, trained, and supported, at an early stage for principalship. It could comprise Level 3 Classroom Teachers, secondary year coordinators, managers of student service, heads of learning areas, primary deputy principals, regional and system consultants, acting deputy principals and others in acting or relieving senior roles.
Consider Asian and Aboriginal women as serious contenders for the role of principal.
Create genuine opportunities for leaders, from cross-sectoral schools, in AISWA and Catholic Education, with or without experience of the system, to be invited to be in the pool and offered targeted support.
Encourage administrators from other states to apply for senior leadership roles, including principal, and be supported.
Encourage those with quality overseas experience to be genuinely considered without discrimination.
Use technology, and regional mentors, to provide support for regional aspirants to principal positions.
Look at expertise, skills, innovation, national and international experience in selecting leaders.
Retain the current application process, that is understood nationally, and internationally, and align it to the new PPIT criteria.
Have one stage, not two, and if necessary, use two interview stages, as is done in NSW, so that aspirants and referees can perform with knowledge of a credible system and not regard the change as a West Australian bureaucratic oddity.

A shining example of a person with national and international experience, in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, that has climbed the system peak, is the current Director-General of Education, Lisa Rodgers.

We can be part of the solution. We can fly high.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Breaking The Colour Ceiling

13 Jan 2023

We are a lucky country!

For whom?

The WA Department of Education Focus 2022 urges schools to increase the diversity of its workforce by employing more culturally and linguistically diverse people.

If we believe that it will be done, without targets, monitoring, evidence, consultation, and cultural training, to create strategies that are meaningful to our “ethnic and linguistically diverse” (EALD) minorities, that are all very different, then we are indeed a “lucky country” by our own description.

As an educator whose services are sought by national Asian and Australian magazines, to write informed articles that are read by thousands of Asians, it is important, for prospective teachers and immigrants, to be seen to be fair about Australia. As company director, I have mentored many Indian teachers to become Level 3 Classroom Teachers, rising to positions of deputy principal and principal.

Breaking the colour barrier is important for Australia as we are one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. One report suggests that we have people from more than 200 countries speaking 300 languages. It is to address issues like this, that exemplary organisations, like the Scanlon Foundation, were formed to address cultural diversity.

Nearer home, the ABS census 2016, showed that 32% of the state’s population was born overseas, with a significant proportion of the increase coming from countries like Asia and Africa.

Was it luck, or other factors, that led Asian students to achieve a perfect ATAR score of 99.95 % in 2021, reported in the 2021 Perth Modern School News, under the title Top of the Class?

Before we can increase the diversity of the workforce let us see the issue through the lens of an Asian or Asian-Australian person.

The Australian National University Black Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) Department in 2022 made 16 recommendations, with # 13 The ANU should make a commitment to hiring BIPOC staff having a familiar ring to it (see Focus 2022).

The ANU’s response, to the 2021 Racism Report and BIPOC in 2022, by Professor Ian Anderson AO, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Student and University Experience, can be read on the same site. ANU established a Student Safety and Wellbeing Team to support students, conducted a review of the University’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Framework to ensure compliance and ensured that key senior staff were appointed to work with the BIPOC Officer to develop strategies and counteract discrimination.

In 2000, the then Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Dean, launched Racism: No Way with a range of worthy recommendations, to address racism in schools. Some included: making judgements based on stereotypes; making judgements about a person’s language ability according to accent, language, or cultural background; and allocating tasks to teachers according to their language and culture. Has there been a sea change over 22 years?

A report by SBS claimed that thousands of migrant teachers are struggling to get their skills recognised in Australia. The report claimed that a study, done recently of teachers in NSW community language schools, found that the great majority of those that wanted to be teachers in Australia, were unable to get into the system because they failed to meet accreditation standards by the NSW Education Standards Authority.

Now, with the help of a Master of Teaching, through the Sydney Institute for Community Languages Education (SICLE), its university partners, Western Sydney University, and the Australian Catholic University, hope is on the road.

Its aim is to offer a smooth pathway into the mainstream teaching system within Australian schools.

Some leaders of the SICLE system are reported to suggest, that bilingual and bicultural teachers bring enormous rewards, by appreciating their students’ cultural identity, inspiring them to preserve it and making a positive contribution to multicultural education.

The State School Teachers Union of WA, according to The West Australian 2022 article by Bethany Hiatt, has commissioned an independent inquiry into the state of public education. Some issues cited involve teacher shortage, graduates not going into teaching, and establishing why teachers don’t want to stay in teaching.

Perhaps, one of the reasons, is the low respect shown by some sections of the public, towards teachers, in Australia and UK schools, apart from the cursory Happy Teachers Day, compared with Asian countries.

A study commissioned by the National Economic and Social Research, in collaboration with the Varkey Foundation, found that Asian countries, with some exceptions, tend to hold teachers in much higher regard when compared to other parts of the world, reported in Asia Study International, 2019.

The top three countries were China, Malaysia, and Taiwan with Australia not in the top 10 list. The Varkey report showed that students from the top 10 list, such as China and Singapore, were also leading performers in international tests. To recognise the link between the status of teachers in society, and the performance of children in school, Varkey introduced the Global Teacher Prize to shine a light on the extraordinary work that teachers do in the world.

The survey showed incredibly high numbers of respondents from China, India and Ghana said that they would encourage their children to pursue a career in teaching.

An outstanding, balanced report, Bittersweet Success? by University of WA Professor Shamit Sagar et al, on Glass ceilings for Britain’s ethnic minorities at the top of business and the professions, should be required reading, as the research applies to the UK and Australia, with striking similarities in attitudes reflected in both countries.

I owe a debt of gratitude to research done by others, that shaped my knowledge, and include the Centre for American Progress, SSTUWA, Varkey Foundation, Professor Sagar, The West Australian, Scanlon Foundation, and Racism Report 2022.

However, schools need to ensure that data is collected, and analysis improved, on Asian recruitment and appointments, differentiation done into diverse Asian backgrounds, and promotional positions, rather than clumped into an “EALD pile”.

Other strategies could include:

Appointing Asian mentors, where applicable, to mentor Asian teachers achieve Level 3 Classroom Teacher status, Head of Learning Area, and senior roles as deputy principal, principal, or regional director.
Educating panels and appointing suitably qualified Asian advisors to sit on panels and review decisions where there are Asian applicants.
Ensuring there is an independent body appointed to monitor progress by schools.

We will be a lucky country, when an Asian teacher, with a Master of Arts degree in English, is not told, “you speak funny!”.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Diversity Matters: How Long Must Aboriginal Educators and Children Wait?

12 Jan 2023

The facts about Aboriginal educators are shocking.

The Australian Journal of Teacher Education in 2022 reported that the number of Aboriginal teachers in Australian schools remains low, with 244 teachers, 2019, in the WA Education Department, identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, or 1.2% of the total 19,786 staff employed in state government schools. There were 25,383 Aboriginal students in 2019 with the Journal reporting that there were few qualified Aboriginal teachers.

The report highlighted that the number of Aboriginal teachers graduating from universities was small. In 2019, of the 1,609,798 students enrolled in higher education degree courses, only 2,622 or 12.4% were enrolled in Education Courses (Universities Australia, 2019).

We have great Indigenous leaders like Lincoln Crowley, Queensland Indigenous Supreme Court Judge, 2022, Michael Lundberg, appointed judge of the Supreme Court, WA, son of Dr Sue Gordon AM, WA’s first Aboriginal magistrate and Professor Colleen Hayward AM, elected to the board of Mineral Resources as non-executive director. The list goes on.

Justice Crowley, a Warramunga man, is reported by the National Indigenous Times to have said that he hopes his appointment inspired First Nations people to take up the legal profession.

For two decades I have used my expertise to upskill AIEOs and Aboriginal teachers to seek career progress. Recently, I was delighted, when I supported an Aboriginal man to become principal of a primary school in WA.

This is an achievement, as national and WA figures show that very few Indigenous teachers transition to principal. WA Education Department names like Kevin O’Keefe, Principal Advisor, Aboriginal Education, Teaching and Learning, Paul Bridge, Director of Education in the Kimberley, and his principal wife Donna, are movers and shakers, with extensive first-hand Aboriginal Education and expertise, second to none.

The Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory shows that the NT has the largest proportion of Indigenous children, 42% compared to 6% nationally, compared with WA, that has 11.7% (ABS data). The review states that Indigenous teachers and principals are under-represented in the workforce.

What are some factors, on a national basis, that have caused this inability to close the gap, so that Aboriginal teachers have a career path that is attractive and seamless towards becoming principal or regional director?

They include the “Come and Go” syndrome of non-indigenous teachers to Remote Indigenous Schools in the Northern Territory; whereas Indigenous staff tend to be the “Stay, and Stay and Stay” teachers, according to The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education.

Other hurdles, cited by Jens Korff, in Barriers to Aboriginal Education, AITSL, and the ABC News: Just 1 in 100 teachers are Indigenous have been known to exist for decades and will be complex to fix. They include:

Lack of cultural awareness and Aboriginal history by teachers.
Continuity and consistency are what students crave.
Poor teaching quality – with more than 25% of Australian teachers surveyed feel that they need more professional development in Aboriginal Education.
Remote regions of Australia suffer from massive teacher shortages which are expected to worsen as older teachers retire.
Missing role models so that Aboriginal students can see there’s a path for them other than the one around them.

I have encountered WA teachers, that I have coached in career development, that aren’t willing to mention their aboriginality in job applications for positions.

Research shows that the lack of diversity in schools can have a damaging effect on students.

How important is it to increase diversity?

Researchers from Curtin University, WA, conducting research on the On Country Teacher Education: Developing a Success Program for and with Future Aboriginal Teachers quoted a local principal as saying: We do a lot of work to try and change or develop our positive reputation and perceptions in the local community…I am really hoping that come 2025, we will be able to employ them as teachers here…

Principals told the researchers, that having more Aboriginal teachers in the local school, will provide a stronger case for professionals staying to work in their communities. This means more committed staff for long-term benefits.

This is a complex issue, that I have worked with for over two decades, and seen little progress.

However, change must come.

It is up to motivated teachers, AIEOs, visionary principals, Aboriginal Elders and leaders in the Department of Education to set the pace.

All schools can accelerate the change if they:

Treat AIEOs, with respect for their cultural knowledge, using the term Aboriginal Assistant Teachers, instead of the current reference to allied professionals – a term that recognises their teaching professional status.
Establish a professional career growth plan, for AIEOs/Aboriginal Assistant Teachers, with resources, Certificate training in the Australian Qualifications Framework and Advanced Diploma or equivalent.
Establish a high status for AIEOs/Aboriginal Assistant Teachers, where they teach with teachers, some of whom are inexperienced, that promotes the independence, and inter-dependence, of each team member.
Identify aspirant leaders among AIEOs/Aboriginal Assistant Teachers, and Aboriginal teachers and provide them with whole-school, regional and system leadership roles that carry status.
Create leadership roles for AIEOs and Aboriginal teachers that recognise their expertise providing roles like those of Network Principal at their level.
Adapt the Assistant Teacher Professional Standards of the Northern Territory, to the WA context, to ensure that the skills and knowledge of AIEOs/Aboriginal Assistant Teachers are recognised, and developed, just as they are for High Performing and Lead Teachers, in the National Professional Standard for Teachers.
Use all available resources to support Aboriginal teachers attain school-based Learning Area Leadership roles and provide opportunities to be Acting Deputy Principal and Acting Principal, with mentors and coaches provided for support.
Ensure that there are more Aboriginal community members, teachers, and culturally astute educators, on selection panels, to remove “conscious or unconscious bias” in the recruitment, retention, and promotion process.

My experience, for two decades, with AIEOs, teachers and principals, has inspired me to celebrate the difference.

Like climate change, we need to act now.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Conversations That Can Change Your Career

11 Jan 2023

When the space shuttle Challenger disintegrated in space in 1986 the world was stunned.

How could the world’s best experts have let this happen?

Investigations showed that it had been caused by O-rings that had malfunctioned. Although some engineers had expressed the fear that the O-rings could malfunction in some conditions, they were afraid to speak their minds openly for fear of offending the bosses.

How often do principals, administrators and teachers fail to question authority out of fear? How often does their silence allow problems to get worse?

Author on mediation, Kerry Patterson, has this to say when people hold others accountable: If you learn to hold people accountable, in a way that solves problems, without causing new ones, you can look forward to significant and lasting change.

As a national mediator, with Resolution Institute, Australia, I use a process that has proved effective in all cases when managing numerous conflicts, over 30 years, in schools, business, health care, human resources and multi-party disputes, involving sub-standard conduct, appeals and performance.

In addition to training as a mediator with LEADR, as foundation former Vice-President, for a decade, with Fremantle Mediation Group (WA), and international relationship with Canadian Mediation organisations, I use strategies advocated by award-winning studies on mediation.

Many of the strategies that I use are based on the outstanding work, by Kerry Patterson et al, and educators would benefit from reading his wonderful books on mediation.

When working with a principal in a WA school, to address a case of sub-standard performance that was complex, where the teacher was frequently absent, I avoided the authoritative approach that had been used unsuccessfully by the school. Instead, I guided the principal to work with me using What and If strategies. We explored what he really wanted to achieve. If the principal did not want to have a critical discussion, with the staff member, what were the risks involved of not having the discussion? What were the risks of having the conversation?

In another dispute case, where a teacher was alleged to have acted inappropriately with females, the matter reached an impasse, as the alleged perpetrator believed that he was not believed by the principal. I advised, that instead of assuming the worst, the principal ask the questions: Do I see the other person as a perpetrator? Am I seeing the other person as a reasonable human being? Discussions that I held with the alleged penetrator of the offences showed that he felt he was being pre-judged by the principal. He revealed what others were not prepared to hear, that he had been abused by several females in private.

I was approached by a senior educator to mediate in a case where an experienced teacher was not complying with instructions from the leadership team, that she was expected to follow. As a mediator, in the case, I suggested that a more effective way would be to Describe the Gap by starting with the facts, describing what was expected and observed through classroom “walkthroughs”. I suggested it would be more respectful if the deputy principal ended with a question: What will it take to fix it? It led to a more successful outcome as the teacher was included in the diagnosis and made progress.

An experienced principal consulted me when he found that staff, in a Perth metropolitan senior high school, were doing sufficient to get by but under-performing. Offering incentives worked for a short time and were not sustained. Disputes were commonplace in subject areas as some staff believed that the administration was not interested in resolving underlying issues.

My advice focused on using effective motivation strategies. I advised on discussing people’s actions on how they were being viewed by others. It introduced the social implications of their actions. We helped under-performing staff to gain a perspective other than their own.

To sustain motivation, I encouraged the principal and staff jointly explore causes and contribute ideas. The process enabled the principal, and staff, to use brainstorming to address issues. Staff felt that it was authentic. They were empowered to create shared solutions that served mutual purposes in a moral way.

This is so important, that Robert Baruch Bush and Joseph Forger, in The Promise of Mediation, say, until the point is reached where parties are consciously choosing their steps, recognition is unlikely to occur or to be genuine or meaningful.

Actively seeking feedback is very important in any dispute resolution. If you reflect that you genuinely want help, you will listen honestly.

Being clear and transparent are the twin poles that support successful mediation.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Should We End The Legacy Approach In Choosing Leaders?

5 Jan 2023

A disturbing trend, in WA, is that some school leaders are using the merit selection process to overlook exemplary aspirant leaders, with outstanding credentials, from other schools or education regions, in favour of applicants from their own school.

In mentoring principals, and aspirant leaders, for three decades in WA, I have encountered this situation many times. I have seen how it works, as a counter-current, against the espoused policies of fairness, equity, diversity, and inclusion of the Education Department’s Code of Conduct and its current focus on identifying leaders.

I have heard panel members, system leaders and principals mention to me, as recently as last month, that they appoint applicants from their own school for positions over others, using it as a critical factor for appointing an aspirant leader to a leadership role at the school.

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), in conducting a review into teaching and school leadership, cites it as a current situation and condemns it in terms that are hard to misinterpret. It writes: Feedback from consultation indicated that in many cases, leadership was seen as a type of inheritance, and by simply “doing time” in a school, long-serving teachers felt entitled to move into the leadership role. This is amplified by the lack of formal methods to identify, prepare, and then promote individuals with the necessary skills for leadership.

I call this a “Legacy” System of appointing leaders as if it was part of an inheritance.

This became evident, last year, when a principal, from the country, with experience as principal in the top category, winner of numerous personal, system and national awards for his school, with evidence-based acclaim for high-level service as principal, and deputy principal, in country and metropolitan schools, trained in leadership, failed to be shortlisted for interview to the role of associate principal in a metropolitan school. The position was given to a deputy principal, at the school in a newly created role, and feedback to the principal failed to satisfy procedural fairness.

Negative impacts, that my research, and Australian researchers cite, should make principals take note, as they:

undermine a comprehensive leadership strategy by the system, WA schools and regions in autocratic ways.
disregard the important role women leaders play and maintain low percentages of females in leadership roles in comparison with men.
reduce opportunities for migrants, EAL/D aspirants, and Aboriginal people.
destroy the “pipeline” of leadership potential across the system to fill a projected leadership shortage.
create an opportunity for the wrong people to be promoted to the wrong positions.
reduce opportunities for people in leadership roles, principal and non-principal, to transition in the metropolitan region and country to Perth.
create an ad hoc system that undermines the work of school leaders keen to improve system effectiveness.

The worst thing that you can do is to do nothing. WA principal.

The clarion call of researchers like Hallinger, Day, Schleicher and Petrie, cited by Jensen in Learning First, should be a trumpet call to principals. It should awaken them to consider if their legacy approach pollutes the “pipeline” of leadership potential, Jensen’s analogy, for being consistent in career transition goals, and making it difficult for aspirant leaders, to move across the system.

They should not have eyes to see and not see; or ears to hear and not hear.

As a passionate advocate for more women in leadership roles, I have actively mentored significant numbers of women, to achieve Level 3 Classroom Teacher, deputy principal, level 3 secondary and senior principal roles. I believe that they possess some of the highest leadership capabilities, based on the Australian Professional Standard for Principals. It has been an honour to successfully support aspirant women leaders over three decades.

However, the legacy system, that is being perpetuated widely in Australia, leads to the following outcome, cited by AITSL, that does not exclude WA.

In Australia, females hold 65 percent of the leadership positions in primary schools and 48 percent of leadership positions in secondary schools. They remain much lower than the proportions of female classroom teachers at the two levels of schooling (81 and 58 percent respectively).

I have anecdotal evidence, hard data is not readily available in WA, of the percentages of Asian, Chinese, or EAL/D backgrounds, in leadership roles. However, most Asians confide in me that they feel a sense of discrimination when applying for jobs in the system.

In the case of Aboriginal people, there is an explicit statement from the Education Department, in its strategic plan, Focus 2022, that seeks to increase the diversity of its workforce by employing more Aboriginal and linguistically diverse people.

It begs the questions: What percentage of EAL/D leaders, and Aboriginal people, do we have in principal leadership roles? Is it low? If so, why is it so low?

Dr Paul Wood, Executive Director of Educational Standards at the NSW, Department of Education, explains a new strategy to employ EAL/D Leaders. In the article, Why Your School Needs an EAL/D Leader, by Shannon Myerkort, Wood says more than 650 schools participated in professional learning that created a broader professional learning community.

At Birrong School for Girls, principal Dabaja explained that the benefits for staff and students were a greater understanding of EAL/D curriculum, engagement, deeper learning, professional learning, and networking. Having more EAL/D principals is an important element in addressing the needs of a multicultural WA community.

How can the Western Australia Secondary School Executives Association and Western Australia Primary Principals’ Association play an active role in counteracting this legacy approach that perpetuates an autocratic, outdated model with multiple deficiencies?

It can be achieved in ways that support systems articulated by research. They need to be actioned, consistently, by a new generation of principals, keen to facilitate change, to ensure that succession planning is systemic and not ad hoc.

They include:

Create a succession management planning team of appointees, to work across the system, that co-plans, tracks, and collaborates in the recruitment, selection, and transition process.
Plan well in advance of vacancies, so that a pool of aspirants can be identified, that possess high-quality attributes, linked to leadership criteria, and substantiated by evidence.
Expand the referee contact list, to include more than the current line manager, and use several that have worked with the applicant.
Ensure ethical aspects are respected by all panels, in the recruitment process, by appointing an Ethics Advisor, for each school, trained in ethical processes, to oversee each panel’s process.
Give due recognition to aspirant leaders, that have achieved excellence across several schools, or regions.
Ensure that EAL/D women of talent are identified, through succession management, mentored and guided to achieve school and system level leadership roles.

There is a new brand of leader that seeks to make a mark on the system stage instead of only at a school level.

The time for change is now.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

How To Terminate With Compassion

15 Dec 2022

Terminating a probationary staff member’s employment is a painful experience.

Identifying standards, observing the probationer’s performance, analysing performance information, sharing it, providing support to the probationer, and ultimately going through the process of a contested termination, takes its toll on school leaders and staff.

The Ombudsman’s Guidelines, Western Australia, in procedural fairness, states that procedures need to be fair, have a hearing appropriate to the circumstances, show lack of bias, evidence to support a decision and impartial inquiry into the matters in dispute.

What may be overlooked is to ensure that the investigator applies procedural fairness to all parties. To do so investigators need to check facts, identify major issues, inform those involved of the main points and provide an opportunity to put their case in writing.

The best way to ensure that the decision is reliable is to inform the subject in advance of a decision, as required by the hearing rule, where the subject of the notice of termination is given a chance to reply to the allegations, and after the investigation is completed with the decision to be made.

The hearing rule gives the subject an opportunity to respond to the decision by the investigator so that the person can be given all the information they are entitled to and be aware of what is being considered by the investigator.

Although it is important to give people a reasonable time in which to hear or write their case, mentioned frequently by the ombudsman, I find that in many cases, 10 days is allocated by the investigator, which is the minimum time recommended.

This also occurred at a scheduled meeting, to hear a case of performance concerns, with people recording the meeting and observing it. The probationer was given 24 hours to attend a meeting, which is the minimum with an agenda of over a dozen items, seeking a response to them, while the teacher was teaching the day prior to the meeting.

A key element in public sector guidelines in dispute resolution, Grievance, Code of Conduct and managing sub-standard performance is the need to treat people with respect… and recognise their interests, rights, safety, and welfare (Code of Ethics, Public Sector Commission, WA 2019). The focus is on providing genuine support for the person to improve.

Avoid problems from the outset by establishing goals, process, and a timeline. The framework should include information on how the performance will be managed, explicit standards based on descriptors, measurable goals, support and assistance, evidence used to evaluate performance, goals, and a timeframe. The employee’s response from feedback should be sought, fairly considered and changes made if there are medical, or other factors, impacting on performance.

Mentoring is a critical element and, I believe, is a shared responsibility of the principal and subject of sub-standard performance. The employer should provide a suitable mentor, skilled in the employee’s field, that uses interpersonal acumen to advise, guide, model, review and provide ongoing feedback, using a variety of flexible strategies, to improve sub-standard performance.

Issues that contribute to sub-standard behaviour, cited in the Public Sector Guide for Agencies Causes of substandard performance, need to be addressed in a timely, proficient way, without bias. When the process entails a dispute with the line manager, principal and the person undergoing sub-standard review, mediation, by an independent, trained mediator is worth doing. As a trained, national mediator, and educator, with two decades of experience in alternative dispute resolution, I find many cases where principals fail to observe best practice in mediation, following a process in Fisher and Ury, Getting to Yes or The Promise of Mediation, Bush, and Folger. The process needs to involve the parties in generating feasible options, establishing common agreements, and monitoring progress, with view to establishing an acceptable agreement, where possible.

Those that have had their employment terminated can appeal to the WA Industrial Relations Commission (WAIRC) to examine whether the dismissal action was harsh, oppressive, or unfair under s.79 of the PSM Act.

Is there a right and wrong way to terminate an employee’s service? Maybe.

However, as Jodi Glickman, in Great on the Job, and Joel Peterson, Firing with Compassion, writing for the Harvard Review, state that termination is a necessary evil.

“Firing is traumatic, so empathise. Offer to be helpful,” Glickman says.

Both agree. Show humanity.

Show compassion.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Would it Pass the Pub Test?

01 Dec 2022

Two processes recently occurred, in what purports to be merit selection, in WA public schools.

The two processes involved the selection of a deputy principal and a teacher.

In the case of one school, an experienced principal, that had served in the highest category, was interviewed for a
deputy principal’s role, and asked a couple of questions, that were the same for all applicants.

The process lasted about 20 minutes to half an hour.

The principal has won several significant WA awards for personal achievement, served as deputy principal, and
principal, in schools, winning outstanding acclaim.

He is talented, trained, and skilled at interview techniques, and I have personally witnessed him perform in
interview situations.

That same week he steered his school, the only WA school, to place runner-up in a coveted national STEM
competition, where awards were presented in the Eastern States.

The outcome was that an applicant from the school was appointed to the role.

Feedback to the principal was that he was suitable but not competitive.

I do not suggest that there was wrongdoing, on the part of the panel, in any aspect of the process. However, we
need to ask, if we can use a process that is better at selecting the best person for the position, than the process that I have described.

In receiving feedback, the applicant could have received explicit criteria, to show where he performed well and
where he needed to improve.

In appointing people, for important leadership roles, is it evidence-based, to simply use only two questions to be
answered by an applicant in twenty minutes? Would it not ensure that the process was more rigorous, if there was
more than one session, with contextually different suitable tasks, designed to select the best candidate?

Teachers are required to use explicit instruction when clarifying success criteria for students. Why can’t some
principals use a more valid, fair, reliable, and explicit process to select prospective candidates for all positions?

In the case of the teacher’s position, the advertisement provided five working days, in which to apply for the
position late in November. Did the school, really want the best person for the position? Were five-days reasonable
in which to expect applicants to write a four-page application and three-page resume? Did the school consider that,
at this time of the year, it would be reasonable to give 10 days’ notice instead of five?

The pub test begs the question: What would a reasonable person consider fair?

Research by John Hattie, on formative feedback, offers sufficient guidelines to develop explicit criteria that can be used to shortlist applicants. The same explicit criteria will enable applicants to receive constructive feedback. It will also be a valuable tool to ensure that panel members base judgements on evidence rather than opinion.

Poor processes lead to a lack of trust in the selection process.

You can fool some people some of the time, but you can’t fool everyone all the time, is an age-old saying.

If you really want to win credibility, for your school, ask yourself one question:

Does it pass the pub test?

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Succession Management: Moving Ahead from Deputy Principal to Principal

01 Oct 2022

A temptation for schools, and bureaucrats, is to translate the Western Australian, Future Leaders Framework
policy, rigidly.

This may be aided, unwittingly, when Public School Review assessors, sometimes recommend schools to engage in
leadership training, according to the WA Future Leaders Framework.

The WA Public School Leadership Strategy, and other supporting documents, deserve praise for opening the door
to talent identification and development.

However, my experience, in mentoring leaders to gain positions such as Level 3 Classroom Teachers, deputy
principals, principals, associate directors and directors of education, shows that schools have an opportunity to be
innovative.

Research by Jensen into the WA school system suggests a need for aspirant leaders, like deputy principals, aspiring
to be principals, to be bold when using the guidelines of the Future Leaders Framework, as a launching pad for
succession management, and not a rigid template.

I suggest, as one principal did, for aspirant leaders to ascend the balcony, and look down at the dance floor, as a
metaphor for the need to step outside day-to-day operations.

I advocate for deputy principals to use Whitmore’s GROW Model to set Goals for learning, Reality checks,
generate Options for action and use a What is to be done, When, by Whom and summon the Will to do it.

Deputy principals, in remote or country areas, research by Jensen shows, express the view that they have limited
opportunities for face-to-face development due to distance from the metropolitan area.

My research showed that this did not stop one aspirant leader, who worked with a team, to initiate, and guide a
highly successful KindiLink project, that is operating successfully in the Kimberley. If you see a need, engage a
team to make change possible.

Opportunities exist for aspirants to seek leadership roles, as Network Leader, where a group of schools take the
lead in identifying needs, using strategic and operational leadership, to develop regional and inter-regional
programs, professional learning, and solutions.

Bastow in Talent Management Framework advocates that high potential leaders, particularly in remote and
regional schools, use their “Communities of Practice” as a source of opportunity, support and inspiration.

Mentoring is an important aspect, that an aspirant principal can use in a non-traditional way. An aspirant principal
can benefit, greatly, if the mentor or coach is not simply regarded as an “expert” but where the mentor seeks to
challenge the leader in their quest, make them think, asks questions, encourages reflection and creativity.

It would be a shame, if aspirant leaders for the position of principal, are assessed only on the six attributes outlined
in the WA Future Leaders Framework. Leaders differ in the attributes that they bring to lead change – just as people
are different from one another.

Bastow, from the Institute of Leadership, in his book, Social Entrepreneurs, based on Educational Leadership,
reviews several leaders. Each leader cites a range of attributes, like consistency, initiative, integrity,
resourcefulness, and capacity as examples of attributes that had great impact on their educational style.

I believe, like Simon Siinek, says, that if you want to create a positive impact in your journey, be reflective.

Start with “Why?”

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Winning Ways With Interviews: The Final Frontier

15 Sep 2022

Many people are very good at their jobs but hopeless at interviews.

Recent changes to the way in which educational organisations are selecting people at interviews, makes it
more challenging to appear outstanding, at an interview, and requires a broader variety of skills than
before.

However, although the interview is a key barrier to cross, I call it the final frontier, many people are
untrained in interview skills and fail to impress.

Like an untrained gymnast in a competition, they take the stage against other competitors, only to
experience a predictable outcome.

I don’t prescribe to the statement by Winston Churchill: “If you’re going through hell keep going!”
I see more hope in what writer, Chris Grosser said: “Opportunities don’t happen; you create them”.

My training program begins by giving each client a practical test, where I analyse gaps in their
performance, based on a range of criteria. It enables me to customise my training, and advice, to each
person, when closing the gaps.

I use a research-based scaffold, I have developed, based on national research, that has been tested on
hundreds of clients, individually. It is a practical guide, that clients can use to train or address most
questions, at an interview.

Perhaps, the only time that clients can witness a demonstration of interview skills, by the trainer, is when
I do it for them. It uses a Visible Learning process. Feedback, over three decades, from all clients, shows
that they find it to be a strategy having the greatest impact on them.

Feedback, according to John Hattie, as part of his research on High Impact Strategies, suggests it to be of
the greatest importance for coaching.

Clients are provided formative feedback in two forms: verbally, immediately, and through modelling.

Once again, written feedback from clients, shows that it has amazing transformative powers.

Training is always provided on an individual basis where the client is the only other person
present.

Our training provides considerable direction on:

How to address difficult questions.
How to show what you can contribute to the organisation.
Directions for making an effective presentation.
A scaffold for preparing responses to panel questions.
Opportunity to view an expert interviewer model targeted responses.

Don’t think of an interview as hell.

Consider it as a test where everyone wants you to succeed.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Make it Easier to Apply for Jobs

9 Sep 2022

Inconsistent practices, in the way that some public schools in Western Australia are recruiting teachers, and school
leaders, can be improved to assist applicants.

I have guided all levels of applicants, from teachers to Executive Directors, to gain career promotions, for over
three decades. While I applaud some practices, others leave me incredulous.

Some inconsistent practices, require teachers to address three criteria in two pages, with a resume in one page, or
deputy principals, to address four criteria, in three pages, with a resume in two pages. Other schools set no page
limits for any positions.

I have an application addressing selection criteria, that used one example for each of three criteria, in two-and half
pages, where the applicant was awarded the position.
Aspects of the interview process, that need review, are where a school invites applicants to send a video of their
teaching, to decide whether they should be shortlisted for interview.

All clients are requested to seek feedback. This causes concern when feedback fails to meet acceptable standards of
fairness, accuracy, reasonability and is not balanced. It can happen when a consultant provided written feedback,
that I saw, advising the applicant to use “s” and not “z” when spelling the word “recognise”.

Page lengths for resumes are unreasonable, when all applicants, regardless of experience, are required to submit
resumes in one page. It leaves it open to question, whether the school values the purpose of the resume, or quality
of experience, that an experienced applicant brings, over that of early service teachers, often, where the former has
inter-state, or overseas experience.

It is difficult to justify asking level 3 deputy principals, and heads of departments, to address four criteria in two
pages, and expect it to be an appropriate tool for shortlisting candidates. That is barely half a page for each
criterion, and restricts applicants, and reviewers, from gaining an effective profile of a candidate, when there can be
as many as 20-40 applicants, or more, from varying backgrounds.

Research by Dr Jensen in Learning First, the NSW and Victorian Departments of Education, feedback from
principals in Connect Communities, the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership, AITSL in its Australian
Professional Standard for Principals, the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, and my own research,
provide valuable information on the way ahead.

The NSW Department of Education’s guidelines to school leaders, to address each criterion in one-page, with key
guidelines on examples, is clear and purposeful to applicants and advertisers, and can be a guide for all positions.

It is important for the panel to read all applications instead of those short-listed by an external consultant. I have
known cases, where a consultant’s own idiosyncratic preferences, have eliminated highly credible applicants.

Greater opportunity to select referees, and expanding it from 2 to three referees, one superior, one at level and a
subordinate, would provide valuable and more comprehensive feedback.
The leadership team, in a school, has the power to review and improve its systems for the better.

Just do it.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

How to be a Level 3 Classroom Teacher if you can

8 Sep 2022

Member of the State School Teachers Association of WA

Hundreds of teachers will attempt to engage with a process, this year, that will get them Level 3 Classroom Teacher
status.

Many will spend months trying to write a portfolio and do a Reflective Review- only to find that they fail again and
again.

Only a small percentage of teachers will succeed each year.

I have observed the system since it began in the late 1980s and written more portfolios for aspirant Level 3
Classroom Teachers, than anyone else in WA. I have provided critical feedback, on portfolios, and guided
teachers, since 2002, to navigate the challenging Reflective Review process.
My focus here is on writing a competitive portfolio.

Your first step is to prepare a list of examples that show you to be a leader, coach, and guide par excellence.
Ensure that you have complex and contemporary examples to address each competency when writing the portfolio.
A simple test is to ask yourself: Do all my examples reflect current policies, planning and system directions? Are
they innovative and show creativity? Do they demonstrate leadership? Do the examples address all key phrase, in
each indicator, several times?

It is not always advisable to write your portfolio by copying one that you have read. You will find, that new
assessors will read your portfolio, with different expectations. It is best for you to select examples, using the
questions above, as a guide, or to review your work.

My experience shows that a major reason for applicants failing to succeed, in each competency, is lack of
sufficient, focused evidence, to support the claims made in each example.

It is critical that the evidence supports the claims that you make, in each example, and that it also verifies, or
substantiates, each phrase in every indicator.

The Level 3 Classroom Teacher process is time-consuming, rigorous, and uncertain.

It is a “status,” like “senior teacher,” and not a promotional position.
If you want to stay in the classroom, then the position is made for you, no matter how hard the journey that lies
ahead.

It does not guarantee promotion to Head of Department or Deputy Principal, that are also level 3 positions.

It should be, as the poet Robert Frost says, the road not taken, if you want a promotional position.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder

Winning Ways With Your CV

11 May 2022

COVID offers new career opportunities for those prepared to try.

It has nothing to do with the current unemployment rate or newly opened state borders.

What it takes is self-belief, a fresh approach to writing, and looking at your work through an employer’s eyes.

Before you write your CV and application, you need to research the company, its advertisement, corporate plan, and annual report.

It is as critical to understand the organisation’s values, and empathise with them, as it is to appreciate the lyrics and tune of a song you are about to sing in public.

If you are writing an application for a job, to accompany your CV, you should clearly identify what attributes the organisation wants, skills it considers essential, and desirable, key areas of expertise required, and outcomes it hopes applicants will demonstrate.

Like an actor preparing to play a role in a play, you need to reflect on why, how, and where you demonstrated the essential or desirable attributes the organisation wants, and the outcomes achieved.

Writing for AISWA, or the Catholic Education system, may require an applicant to address a variety of criteria that differ between schools. However, the principles of writing, that I have found to be successful, are the same for each organisation.

Make your career overview remarkable, as you would if you were writing an advertisement. Mention key points, briefly, make them eye-catching, and keep the overview to a few, memorable achievements.

People like winners. Identify several key awards, or nominations for awards, that you have received, and briefly mention them on the first page of the CV.

As a rule, I mention only a few key “responsibilities,” and cite more “achievements,” in any CV, for obvious reasons.

There are many ways to increase opportunities for getting your first job or gaining a promotion.

The most effective tool, that I use to write a winning CV, is what employers seem to want most.

Make the message simple.

Lionel Cranenburgh, Founder