Time to get caught up on some blogging...About a month ago I asked for volunteers to form a committee to develop a bullying policy for our school. We did not have anything formally written. The reason for the committee was because I just could not find time to do it myself and it would help develop leadership capacity in the building, part of my personal growth plan. The committee not only came up with a policy for the school but have taken on the task of organizing bullying workshops for students, surveys to collect data on bullying, and so on. When I was first told by the committee that they wanted to do more than just develop a policy, I almost said no we just need a policy. What a mistake that would have been! It has been a great experience to see the theory around shared leadership and building leadership capacity come to life and grow beyond anything I had ever imagined in this instance. As the principal of the school, I am still kept in the loop on what the committee is planning (they haven't tossed me aside yet!) but I mostly stay out of the way or offer advice, if asked. Now to further my evil plan of developing more leadership capacity so that I can put my feet up more often (I kid, I kid), I need to come up with other areas for staff to form committees and take on a leadership role as it has been clearly evident the enthusiasm that is created in that capacity.
Until next time...KH
I would be interested in hearing the details of the bullying policy. One way I have heard of a school dealing with bullying is not allowing anyone to touch anyone else during recess. Sounds like a quick solution to a huge problem. Are you're volunteers staff or parents? Seems to be moving in a positive direction, must be the leadership.
ReplyDeleteWow, shared leadership at its finest. I am in the process of completing a paper on shared leadership for another course, so it is soooo good to hear an actual example where it worked just like the research said it could. You kid about not having to work, but the one article I read said that it can be so powerful that a school can get to the point where it feels it can function without a principal. Great news for you and your school community. probably helped that the topic was close to everyones hearts given the latest issue in your school. I too would love to hear about the outcomes and the ideas they group comes up with.
ReplyDeleteYes it has been a positive experience in shared leadership. Patty, the staff (both teachers and support staff) stepped up to design the policy, although I did present it to our School Community Council. I will have to email both you and Krisa a copy of the document. It is based on a sample document from our Ministry of Education, but the group has found the surveys from somewhere else. The plan is to survey students once this spring, then in the fall, and again in the spring of 2011 to see how things play out.
ReplyDeleteHey Kevin, I recently went to a workshop that was called "building a community of respect". It was a great workshop that focused on anti-bullying in a proactive way. It is suggested to stay away from "Don't bully" (the negative connotation) to something more positive, "Respect others". I have taken what I have learned and thought it would be valuable to get the kids involved. So far we have created respect agreements and we work on small goals within our class each week. Next year, I would like to take this outside of the classroom and make it an initiative in our school...I need to get the rest of the team on board now.
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