LEADERSHIP AGENDA

Date     29 0ct 2007

Topic :  Leadership Agenda DEECD Victoria by Raylene Dodds

Time  :  10.00 – 12-00

By       Rahinun Mohd. Noor

Today's new topic is about leadership agenda. It focuses on building leadership capacity. It is based on 2 models there is Effective School model and Effective Leadership model. This is one of the 7 flagship strategies to improve building leadership in Victorian School Context. Through this blueprint they developed 5 domains which can promote developmental learning framework for school leaders. These domains are technical, human, educational, symbolic and cultural. Each of this domain  leads the way for educational leaders to be effective and at the same time to   have the capabilities in managing schools effectively. This process can be done  through professional learning programs in the school.

 

Action to be taken after getting some knowledge about leadership is very simple. We are suppose to understand the models in conjunction with the developmental learning framework for school leaders.  Thus it can be applied in the education system to which it leads to situation in  improving leadership. All these  information is just to cater for the implementation of cluster schools project.

MENTOR SHADOWING

Date:  26 October 2007

Time: 9.00am – 11.00 am.

Topic 1: Mentor Shadowing by Mr. Andrew Jackson (a Former Principal)

After introducing the Australian Educational System, in theory, then we are going to practice school shadowing or mentor shadowing as part of the course program. Ten schools in Victoria State were chosen for us to go on visit during the program. The concept is very simple but it has a great impact to us as school organizers. It means we go to the schools that has been chosen nearby Monash University. The school Principas that has been chosen, becomes the mentor. They  play the role to assist the Malaysian Principals while visiting their schools in Australia.

During the visit, we are asked to make useful observations from their best professional practices, which focus on the mentor’s role. By doing this, we indirectly had a professional learning in managing schools, as what the Australian Principals do. There are some techniques of successful shadowing such as note events, write what is seen and heard, and describe the characteristics.   After being in the schools, we have to do some reflections, so that we can use all the experience, whenever suitable in our practice after going back to Malaysia.

Some of the schools that have been chosen, are being grouped together, as cluster school of their own characteristics. Most cluster schools, are group together due to the geographical factors or the nature or so called types of school. But the most effective and successful cluster school in Australia is, the cluster due to geography. It means a few schools (five or six) in one specific area, were grouped together as cluster schools, for example Wellington Secondary School. It is not restricted to the secondary schools only, but primary schools too, were included in the group of cluster school in the area.

Topic 2:  Transport and Logistic During Mentor Shadowing by Mr. Kitaro Ito

Time:  11.00 – 12-00 am.

In this session, we  are given a schedule that has already been arranged by the university, and given by Mr. Andrew. Two Principals are  to visit one school every week. The shadowing will be carried out for 6 weeks on every Tuesday. According to Mr. Kitaro, they  had arranged 4 buses for the group, each going to the specific area chosen. The bus will depart at 8.00 am in the morning, from Rusden  House, and will reach the schools around 9.00 o'clock. We will be in the school until 4.00 pm. So during the seven hours in school, we will do the shadowing. We will follow the Principal, observe the principal, or discuss anything either with the Principal or the Assistant Principal. We can also go to the class if we find that it is necessary, then in the evening, the bus will pick us up and we will reach the resident at about 4.30.  

DAY 8 – TOYOHASHI NATURE PARK

Oleh kerana kami memang bercadang untuk melawat zoo, selepas makan tengah hari lebih kurang jam 12.30, kami sudah mulakan perjalanan menuju Zoo Toyohashi. Angah tak berapa setuju nak ke zoo, kononnya tak ada apa sangat yang menarik Tapi papa berkeras nak belanja angah melawat ke zoo. Kata papa, nanti bila angah balik Malaysia, angah tak boleh cerita tentang zoo, kerana tidak pernah pun melawat zoo di Jepun. Lebih kurang setengah jam perjalanan dari Sanbongi Cho, kami selamat sampai ke tempat yang dituju.

Selepas membeli tiket, kami mulakan ekspedisi, melihat-lihat binatang seperti monyet, kambing, dan entah apa-apa lagi binatang yang hampir sama dengan binatang di Malaysia. Aneh juga binatang seperti monyet, walaupun sama dengan specis di Malaysia tapi kelihatan sedikit berbeza – hidung dan mulut kelihatan kemerahan kerana cuaca sejuk barangkali. 

Adik suka sungguh menikmati perangai penguin-penguin yang sungguh ramai di zoo itu. Macam-macam gaya yang dipamerkan. Dia sungguh teruja, dan sungguh rasa terhibur. Lastly kami join orang yang ramai-ramai – rupanya budak-budak sedang seronok bermain dengan arnab. Adik pun teruja juga nak main ngan arnab tapi semua budak-budak kecil saja yang dok pulun, tak jadilah dia nak mencelah. Kami pun menikmati suasana yang ceria itu – dengan hilai tawa anak kecil yang suka tapi takut dan geli, dan dengan tawa mak bapa yang melihat kelucuan anak-anak mereka berhadapan dengan pengalaman baru – sungguh mengasyikkan suasana petang yang dingin itu. 

Tapi suatu yang amat menarik perhatian aku ialah bagaimana orang Jepun membiasakan anak-anak, dengan amalan membasuh tangan. Ibu bapa akan mendampingi anak bermain dengan arnab, selepas itu mereka mengajar anak mereka membasuh tangan. Tempat membasuh tangan pula disediakan oleh pihak zoo – cantik sebagai decoration dan sangat praktikal pula, siap dengan cecair pembersih lagi. Tambah hebat ialah siap ada disediakan arahan dan langkah-langkah cara membasuh tangan dengan betul oleh pihak zoo. Hebat sungguh kehidupan masyarakat di negara maju, first class mentality dibentuk di mana-mana, dan semua pihak main peranan yang serius dan sungguh-sungguh.

SALAH LAYAN EMOSI ANAK

Seminggu ini banyak betul masa yang diguna pakai untuk mengurus perasaan. Banyak betul anak-anak yang rapuh perasaan mereka. Emosi mereka tidak stabil, emosi mereka terganggu, dan emosi mereka kacau. Kononnya daripada cerita ibu bapa, ada antara mereka yang murung, ada yang menangis tidak henti-henti, ada yang tidak lalu makan, ada yang berkurung dalam bilik, ada yang sakit kepala dan ada yang sampai termuntah-muntah. Semua ini gara-gara tidak dapat menerima kenyataan, keputusan mereka kurang cemerlang beranding rakan lain. Semua ini kerana terlalu mengharapkan dapat cemerlang dalam periksa. Semua ini gara-gara sistem pendidikan kita terlalu mementingkan peperiksaan, terlalu 'exam-oriented'. 

Oleh kerana itu, maka ada pelajar yang mendapat cuma 2A, merayu-rayu supaya dapat dililuskan kemasukan ke kelas aliran sains. Maka datanglah bapa memberikan pelbagai alasan agar anak dapat masuk ke kelas sains dengan alasan takut anak kecewa. Lebih teruk lagi alasannya bapa inginkan anak masuk kelas sains kerana saudara yang lain semuanya dalam aliran sains. 

Memang semua ibu bapa mahukan  yang terbaik untuk anak-anak yang dicintai. Tapi jika inilah caranya, ibu bapa lebih pentingkan cita-citanya, bukan kemampuan anaknya, dan bukan sayangkan anaknya, itulah sebabnya remaja sekarang banyak yang  mengalami tekanan emosi, atau dalam kata lain sakit emosi. Sakit emosi ini lebih teruk lagi jika anak-anak tidak dapat menerima kekurangan dirinya, dan tidak dapat mengukur kebolehan diri dengan keinginannya. Yang menjadi lebih parah lagi, apabila ibu bapa tidak berusaha menangani emosi anak yang tidak sedar diri itu. Malah ibu bapa berusaha mengukuhkan lagi perasaan anak yang songsang itu, dengan cuba mendapatkan apa yang dimimpikan anaknya, agar menjadi kenyataan.

Bayangkan kita menuntut ilmu ini dan menduduki peperiksaan ini, ibaratnya seperti dalam perlawanan lumba lari. Semua orang kuat berlari, memecahkan rekod yang sebelumnya pula, tapi yang hanya akan diberikan hadiah cuma tempat pertama, kedua dan ketiga sahaja. Tapi oleh kerana ada orang yang tidak dapat menerima kekalahan, maka kita dipaksa untuk memberikan juga hadiah kepada peserta yang dapat nombor empat, lima atau yang kesepuluh. Tidakkah ini sangat pelik, tapi inilah yang berlaku kepada ibu bapa yang sering meminta-minta untuk dimasukkan anak mereka ke kelas yang tidak mampu ditanggung oleh anak mereka.

Cuba renungkan....Apa akan jadi kepada masyarakat kita nanti?

VICTORIA EDUCATION SYSTEM

Date:  25 October 2007     Day:  Thursday     
Time:   9.00 am.  -  1.00 pm

Title :  Victoria Education System by  Assoc Prof  Lenn Cairns

Reported by: Rahinun Mohd Noor

In the class, before the lecture starts....

Australian system of education is managed by different states that have full authority on the schools under their control. One of the longest established system from the nine regions is Victoria Education System. The state schools are under the administration of the Minister Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, which pour the grants from the Federal Government. So the running of the school is done by the Principals without being interrupted by any others. 

The schools system starts with Pre-School which consist students at the age of 4 years. The second stage in school is Primary Education which starts at the age of 5 in the Preparation year. After that education starts in Year 1 until Year 6, that is from age 6 years to 11 years old.  Then Secondary Education starts from Year 7 until 10 ( 15 years old). The education which starts from Pre-School until Year 7 is a compulsory Education that Children of Australia has to undergone.

Through the development, some state schools group together as cluster of their own, where they create their own specialties in the field of innovations and excellent, in the area. This school of clusters is group together (10 to 12 schools) under one Regional Director, and assisted by Senior Education Officer (SEO), doing the mentoring to the Principals that were grouped together. The SEO is also known as “Educator” that assists in a few important fields such as global budget, besides resources, innovations and excellent practices

After getting a some knowledge, about Victoria Educational System, in Australia, our next project is to make a school review during mentor-shadowing. Each an everyone of us, will be paired up, and we are schedule to make a school visit every once a week . We are given ten school for mentor shadowing program. When we visit the schools given to us, we are ask to see the principal's job done every day. We just observe what ever the principal do and gather all the management tasks and leadership style. Then we have to  write in the report later. Besides we are suppose to review some of the innovations done by the school, that lead to the excellent of the school. 

Mr Zanal assisting the group to log on.....

In the afternoon we were brought to the Computer Lab form 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm for IT Orientation and Logging, that is given by Mr David Solly.

 

 

PROF LENN CAIRNS AND SIP

Date: 24 October 2007                          

Time : 9.00 am until  1.00 pm.

Lecture topic: Strategic Implementation Plan

Lecturer:  Assoc Prof Lenn Cairns

We were very happy to see Prof Lenn Cairns in the the class again, early in the morning. He was the one who welcomed us during the first meeting after our arrival.  He is very smart in appearance, looks very approachable, and always happy looking guy. After getting to know if we have any problem with our accommodation and internet access, he starts to discuss the topic about strategic implementation plan, which is according to him, very important to school  principals in managing the organization. 

Associate Prof Lenn Cairns before the class

 He starts by giving a general overview about strategic implementation plan (SIP), that has to be design in schools. As we know, SIP should be implemented in school, that consist of elements such as, vision, mission, and targets. He brings out some examples to prove  the importance of SIP, in  conjunction with some excellent schools in Victoria. The examples given show that some schools really excel in all aspects, when the SIP  is carefully put into consideration. And this, has a very strong connection with the school heads.

Similarly we had a very good discussion about SIP that have been practice in Malaysia. And we have our own way of writing  SIP every year. Thus it has been implemented, and it is nothing new to us about SIP anymore. As the school heads, putting up SIP could be a very good track and practice, for the goal achievements of  the schools.     

So when Lenn suggests to us the way of writing  SIP using SWOT analysis with three important elements that is, student learning, student pathway and student's engagement well-beings, we are very clear of what we are suppose to present next. Looking at the aspect of student learning he want us to emphasis on actions going to taken base on goal, targets, and implementation strategies for the students

The second aspect should be taken care of is  student pathways – We are suppose to figure out the necessities  in making student’s progress programs by looking at students transitional period after they left schools. In order to make the program beneficial to the students he wants us to take into consideration, the parent’s and staff opinions too, as this will help to ensure the validity of the programs.

Lastly, we should also consider the student's engagement well-beings, during pre-school time and early childhood education in relation with family and kindergarten, when writing SIP. This will ensure the SIP that we prepare, will give the best benefit to performance and potential development of the students.

As a summary,  We can add on a general knowledge to our strategic planning that we have already design in our school. One thing that is very interesting to look upon is looking at the student's pathways and transition which I think  we don’t really focused in our SIP. This SIP should be written by all participants and must be presented in February at IAB after we finish the course, as part of the assessment for PGCE in Monash Uni . 

After Lenns Lecture

CERITA-CERITA AWAL TAHUN

Menjadi Pengetua di sekolah ini banyak cerita yang indah, menarik dan tak akan dapat dilupakan sampai bila-bila pun. Setiap hujung tahun selepas keluar keputusan Peperiksaan UPSR dalam bulan Oktober, sekolah akan dihujani panggilan telefon bertalu-talu. Bukan itu saja pejabat Pengetua akan dikunjungai bertali arus, untuk bertanyakan soalan yang sama. Soalan yang minta dijawab dalam telefonn dan di pejabat sama semuanya; 

Nak tanya, masuk ke Bahiyah berapa A?

Macam mana nak masuk Sekolah Bahiyah?

Anak saya minat sangat nak masuk Bahiyah, tak kan seorang pun tak boleh tolong?

Saya nak tukar ke sekolah cik gu, macam mana proses nak buat?
Anak saya ni kakaknya dah sekolah di sini, jadi adik pun nak juga masuk sini, tak kan tak boleh?

Kalau saya nak masuk sekolah lain tak payahlah saya jumpa cikgu, tak bolehkah cik gu bagi pertimbangan?

Ini tidak termasuk mesej ke telefon bimbit. Dan tidak termasuk juga membawa kawan baik, sahabat handai, adik beradik dan orang kampung untuk cuba mendapat tempat di sekolah ini. Entahlah kadang-kadang pening juga dibuatnya memikirkan ramainya waris yang nak anak belajar di sini. Yang datang kebanyakannya membawa harapan besar untuk dapat diterima masuk ke sini. Dan bila diminta membuat permohonan ke PPD mereka pulang dengan hampanya. Kadang sebelum pulang sempat lagi  marah-marah kepada Pengetua yang dikatakan tidak mahu membantu.

Entahlah setiap tahun aku akan dirayu, diherdik, dimarahi, malah pernah diugut, semata-mata mau memasukkan anak ke Bahiyah. Aku sangat kasihan kepada pelajar yang terpaksa bersesak-sesak dalam kelas yang sudah tua melebihi empat puluh tahun. Sedangkan di sekolah lain jumlah pelajar cuma lebih kurang tiga puluh orang sahaja sekelas. Aku juga sangat kasihan kepada guru-guru di sekolah ku yang sangat dedikated dibebani dengan hampir lima puluh orang murid dalam kelas, sedangkan di sekolah-sekolah tertentu cuma separuh daripada itu.

Aku rasa alangkah baiknya jika jumlah pelajar dapat disamaratakan. Pelajar akan lebih selesa dan guru akan menerima beban kerja yang hampir sama. Tidaklah adil jika selalu diberikan alasan, orang suka sekolah ini. Sedangkan di sekolah lain guru-guru dapat bertugas dengan selesanya bersama 400 hingga 800 orang pelajar saja, berbanding sekolah kami sebanyak 1200 orang semuanya.

Kelihatannya seolah-olah orang tidak suka sekolah Berasrama Penuh atasu MRSM, atau Sekolah Primier, tapi sebenarnya di sekolah-sekolah tersebut, orang tidak sewenang-wenangnya boleh masuk jika tidak layak. Orang tidak boleh mengganggu sesiapa, JPN, PPD atau Pengetua, jika sekolah ini yang dikatakan bagus diberikan taraf Sekolah Primier Daerah, atau apa-apa saja taraf yang boleh. Dengan itu, tiada siapa akan semudahnya datang memohon masuk, jika kelayakan tidak cukup. Ini akan memudahkan semua pihak dan dapat membantu meningkatkan pencapaian pelajar seperti yang dicita-citakan. Ini akan dapat merealisasikan Kedah Top 5. Jika tiada perubahan yang berani barang kali cita-cita murni itu akan terkubur begitu sahaja.