Thursday, October 25, 2012

Teamwork – My next Frontier in Leadership Development



Every day, in some ways, we are part of a team. In home, my wife and I are a team. In my social circle, my friends and I are a team. In school, my teachers and I are a team. Often, I hear my fellow colleagues asking the question “Will we participate in “that” activity (that involves others)?” To me, the more important question should be “Will my participation with others be successful?”

Everyone agrees that teamwork is a good thing – in fact, the phrase “a good team player” appears constantly as a desirable behavior. But I wonder how does teamwork really work? What makes a winning team? Why do some teams succeed, while others seem to go nowhere? I suppose these questions do not have simple answers. If they did, many of the great teams in sports would have more back to back championships, and list of successful companies would remain unchanged year after year.

A friend of mine pointed to the strong work ethic of the teachers in his school as one of the key to successful teamwork. But I believe that teachers in all schools are as hardworking and yet they never worked together to achieve the potential – the sum of the whole did not exceed the mere sum of individuals. Then I think of chemistry, like what one of my colleagues described about the Secondary 4 Cohort Dean team during last Thursday’s cohort dean meeting. But I myself who was part of that team could not explain how the chemistry was created – only that we knew it when we saw it.

I desire to grasp the key concepts about team building, to internalize it and putting it into practice in my new leadership role. I want to unpack the key elements about effective team building with the goal of applying it to accomplish my tasks (my life tasks, social tasks, school tasks) with my teams (at home, in my social circle and in school).

It is with this intent that I read John Maxwell’s “The 17 Indisputable laws of teamwork”. Is there any other recommendations of readings? I will also attempt to apply these laws of teamwork and evaluate how these laws will impact my teamwork skills (areas of improvement and recognize its effectiveness or discover an area of weakness that I did not know I had) and how these laws affect the success of the teams (at home, in my social circle and in school). In the end, I will select among these laws and personalize it!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

The ‘Heart’ of Education



I read of many modern day approaches to education that accord their students a say in their own education (student-centered education) so as to enable a sense of self-directedness, an approach that has been largely influenced by the works of John Dewey, Jean Piaget. At the same time, teacher directed approaches has often been criticized. In the area of values education, teaching methods have also emphasized on student-centered learning, learning through experiences and collaborative learning as opposed to more traditional methods, where teachers are often described as authoritarian and students learn without questioning. Hence, the idea of values education views the teacher as an adult who should not deliberately stamp values on our students.

Currently, there seemed to be little room within the school curriculum, other than the two periods (70 minutes) of “Pupil Development (PD)” lessons for the values education. I wonder what views are held by my fellow teachers regarding the responsibility of developing values in our students. Do they think that the two periods are sufficient to inculcate values in our students? Or should it be the parents’ responsibility to do that? Will values development be viewed by teachers as “extra” work piling on their already heavy workload?

Although there are school values (R3ICH) in place, there appears to be a growing “moral correctness” mindset in the teaching profession, as teachers do not say things that can be regarded as “branding” or “discriminatory”. In fact, teachers are generally non-judgmental in official language about students – just look at the termly remarks and in some students’ testimonials. But it may be that talk of “not deliberately stamping our values on students” or “brainwashing” that often excuses teachers from the difficult task of thinking what values they might consciously inculcate in students. Teachers who are increasingly effective in employing practical teaching skills and methods in the classroom can easily become merely “technicians” who simplify focused on teaching techniques that work. They are less interested in themes of student’s values development in academic teaching and learning. Instead of voicing about values and character issues, their main concern is of deciding what and how to teach. Even for those teachers who are more likely to adopt a values approach to teaching and learning, are they equip to engage the students in the discussions on values?

I believe that the values approach best justify our student-centric education because we teachers are engaged in the education of our children, teens, youths and young adults. Through us, by which process of educating our students what is desirable that what they should become when they leave the school. For me, this values approach lies at the ‘heart’ of education.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

My Take on “Sharpen the Saw”



My readings on Habit 7 of Public Victory: Sharpen the Saw reaffirms some of my personal processes and also provided ideas for my next stage of improvement. 

Sharpen the Saw is all about balanced renewal in all 4 dimensions of human needs – physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional. As we regularly and consistently renew ourselves in each of the 4 areas, we can create effectiveness and growth. Any dimension that is neglected will limit or create negative effect against effectives and growth. Renewal is the principle – and the process – that empowers us to move on an upward spiral of growth and change, of continuous improvement. And as we grow and develop on this upward spiral, there must be a conscious effort in the process of renewal to learn, commit and do on increasingly higher planes.

So, what does that mean to me? Before I engage myself in the process of renewal and revival, I decided to look at each of the 4 areas of human needs (physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional) – to get better picture of where I am now before I seek a meaningful and consistent progression of where I want to be in terms of renewal and revival. I used the health assessment (see link below) from the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine (HolisticBoard.org) and based on my responses to assess my physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional health. Below is the summary of my score.

 


A total score of 268 indicates good health. Now I strive to work towards the next two levels of excellent or optimal health. Area that I see I am already doing well is in the mental dimension while area such as my physical dimension is now on my to-do-list. Now that I am more self-aware, I will endeavor to think about thing(s) that I have been doing well and thing(s) that I will need to be more focused on learning, committing and doing in each of these two dimensions.


 
The Mental Dimension

My belief in the development of my mental dimension is formed from my working experience – that in today’s world, if I do not keep myself mentally sharp, then I will be in trouble. My mental stimulation comes from a variety of sources, namely readings, TV and games. My personal development is to be able to do my best in finding happiness, fulfillment and contributing to all I do. I read books, namely the 7 Habits of Effective People, The 8th Habit. By stretching my mind, I hope to grow in my mental capacities. My professional idea is to learn leadership especially in the area of education. With this idea in mind, I looked for books or articles that inform me of the concepts and content on leadership, namely Great by Choice, 5 Levels of Leadership. In addition, I also read books or articles that I may not totally agree with – I still find such books or articles valuable, especially if the contents impact my ability to think. Nevertheless, for all good readings, I find it meaningful to read and re-read them as they served as constant reminders of the good things to me.

The Physical Dimension

What is my definition of the physical dimension? To me, physical dimension will include activities that bring physical renewal, such as my actual knowledge of my health and fitness, the activities which I currently do, the amount of sleep, rest and relax I take, the food I eat and lastly my stress level. I have seen others doing brisk walking, an activity which I think I will enjoy and so will like to try. Another fun activity which I can get into is swimming, which is also as effective a work out as running or jogging with smaller risk of injury to the joints.