From Rock-Bottom to Sky-High: Leading with Vision and Compassion

Headteacher Chris Dyson took on one of the toughest schools around—one that no one else would touch. And he found that, like with most children, the students were all capable of doing well, but they needed ways to connect with education that were fun, rewarding and which truly addressed their wellbeing. Once a centre of chaos that had 150 exclusions a year, Parklands Primary School now boasts some of the best maths scores in the country and is oversubscribed because of its great reputation.

When I applied for the role of headteacher at Parklands Primary School in South East Leeds, I was faced with the great challenge of turning around a school which had seen five headteachers come and go within the previous two years. Despite only being a deputy head, since no other teachers applied for the role, I was appointed to the position in 2015.

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      string(5661) "The promise of rain rides on the breeze that is blowing the autumn leaves into the gutters of Ingerslev Boulevard in central Aarhus, just beyond the brick façade of Frederiksbjerg School. A steady stream of young students run into the heaps to gather brittle handfuls of leaves, with the evidence of previous salvos still tangled in their hair. As they chase one another through the school’s multi-tiered playground, they traverse spheres of age and activity: Early teens in a spirited game of basketball, grade schoolers chanting along to a jump rope routine, six-year-olds inspecting the ground for noteworthy bugs. Under a cool gray sky, the clamour of play announces the school from several blocks away.The Frederiksbjerg School is perhaps the only school to have had a multifunctional Ninja Track included in its blueprints. Its design reflects an educational approach emphasising physical activity: 15,000 m2 (161,500 square feet) of interior spaces and outdoor playgrounds offer students 100 different ways to move throughout their day. The average trip between classrooms takes students up climbing walls, through Twister grids and down dual-lane sprinting tracks. A collaborative design between school administrators, Aarhus city officials and Copenhagen architecture firm Henning Larsen, Frederiksbjerg School is an experiment in education:Educational policy and physical design work in tandem to explore a more mobile, accommodating model for learning. Daily schedules and classroom layouts support a curriculum rooted in mobility, giving the school’s 960 students a greater role in determining how they learn. Here, physical form manifests pedagogical philosophy; a new approach toward creating healthier learning spaces. Movement is in the building’s DNA.Creating space for movementGathered for a morning meeting in a classroom of Frederiksbjerg School’s elementary wing, 25 pupils sit where they please. Some line up in orderly rows on stepped benches, some curl up in the classroom’s chairs. A class period lasts no more than 15 minutes, nearing the maximum time limit students can concentrate while sitting stationary. Curriculum prompts students to migrate between the communal blackboard, collaborative work tables and quiet rooms for individual study, running through a classroom purpose-built to subvert the static rows of the traditional classroom. Jette Bjørn Hansen, principal at Frederiksbjerg School, says that dismantling a stationary classroom model is a learning experience for students and teachers alike.“In a way, it’s a paradigm shift. We’re moving away from the old school model, where the teacher stands at the front and runs everything,” Hansen says. “This new structure trains the students’ independence—they know that they’re meeting back together after 20 minutes of group work, so even the younger students learn to look at the clock and keep track of their time.”Hansen serves as principal in the space she helped create. She was part of the project group that developed a pedagogical vision to guide the construction of the new Frederiksbjerg School, opened in 2016 as a replacement for the aging Sct. Annagade School. Together with other leading school administrators, city officials and input from over 50 faculty members from the old school, the project group proposed a school whose physical form allows students to engage with learning spaces on their own terms. More energy burned outside of class means less energy fuelling restless students during lectures, and versatile interior spaces allow students greater range to find their best space for learning. For Hansen, the pedagogical philosophy supporting this vision is a mix of substantiating research and common sense.“If you sit still for too long, your brain will fall asleep. It’s like a light that switches off,” Hansen says. “Moving your body is the best way to keep your brain awake – Students are better learners when they stay active, and they tend to be happier about learning.”Hansen is one of few within Frederiksbjerg School who enjoys the privilege of wearing shoes. Students’ outside shoes, boots and mobile phones are prohibited; to be stored in personal lockers throughout the day. The 960 pairs of stocking feet illustrate the way that ongoing school policy enables the fullest realisation of the school’s initial vision. Students need not pause to unlace boots before scaling the ground floor climbing wall, and can freely crawl into classrooms’ recessed windowsills without tracking dirt on the walls. Philosophy informs policy, and policy supports philosophy. The no shoes rule allows students to best engage with the school’s philosophy of motion – and, Hansen believes, acts as a social equaliser.“We saw that when the students don’t use shoes indoors, they are friendlier with one another. When you don’t get to be a tough guy in big boots or a special girl in high heels, everybody is more equal,” Hansen says.Balancing work and playA sunlit central atrium forms the nucleus of the Frederiksbjerg School’s daily activity. 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Learning Spaces

Learning in Motion

13 Mar 2020

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      string(3242) "incident at-hand, and they practice effective decision-making, often under time constraints or in the face of political pressures. Once completed, the session includes a debrief, during which they reflect on the whole process, identifying strengths and areas to be improved. Noteworthy elementsThere are two especially noteworthy elements that are emphasized during the case study experience. First, full immersion. Expert facilitators are brought in to build and set the stage, assigning specific roles to principals and asking them to act out the situation, understanding there is no substitute for first-hand experience. Second, a peer learning community is stressed above all. The facilitator’s approach assumes the most valuable expertise is found amongst the community of principals, encouraging them to draw on their own unique experiences to share insights on the particular challenge at hand. This collaborative approach is an opportunity to practice the kind of team dynamics principals rely on in their school, and equally important, it has a therapeutic effect on them. Leadership life requires a degree of isolation and involves substantial strain, which can lead to loneliness and feelings of burnout. When they emotionally invest themselves in scenarios that connect them to the challenges they face, and share their experience in a collaborative way with peers who can relate, they know they are not alone 1. Therefore these case studies not only sharpen principals’ relevant skills, they build a much needed support network. Conclusion     Decades of studies reinforce the fact that the quality of principalsvery strongly influences school performance. Darca’s ability to transformdozens of failing schools in Israel’s underserved communities, which largelyrests on the strength of its leadership empowerment, further affirms thesestudies. Principals who receive relevant training, are focused, cultivatepartnerships, and are encouraged to dream big, build the foundations forexcellence. They in turn inspire educational staff to perform at their optimallevel, with students as the ultimate beneficiaries, immersed into supportivelearning environments that engage them in and out of the classroom.Bibliography1)Ackerman, R. H., & Maslin-Ostrowski, P. (2004). The Wounded Leader and Emotional Learning in the Schoolhouse. School Leadership & Management, 24(3), 311-328.2)Dattel, L. (2019). High School Rankings: the Leading Network, and the one Dragging Behind. Israel: TheMarker.3)Goodwin, R., Cunningham, M., & Eagle, T. (2005). The Changing Role of the Secondary Administration & History, 37(1), 1–17.4)Itzhaki, L (2017). The First Year as School Principal: The Overwhelming Task and its Ramifications. Beer Sheba, Israel: Ben-Gurion University.5) Pereg, G. (2011). The Makings of a Successful Principal: A Phenomenological Research Study. Boston, Massachusetts: Northeastern University.Dr. Gil Pereg is the founding CEO of Darca Schools and previously served as principal of two prominent high schools in Israel. He has a doctorate from Northeastern University, completing his thesis on effective practices of successful principals in Israeli high schools."
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Executive Leadership

Four Key Strategies That Have Helped Principals Transform Their Schools.

17 Jan 2021

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      string(5643) "This month’s New ProductsBenQ Short-throwprojector MS612STBenQ has prepared a selectionof  short-throw projectorsdesigned for better classroommanagement.Designed with a specialaspherical lens precisely calculatedand positioned to give you large-screen projection in tight spaces,the BenQ short-throw projectormodels only need half  the projectiondistance of  traditional projectorsto project a 55” full-sized diagonalimage – without jeopardizing thepicture quality.With the projector placed in frontof  the class and well out of  students’way, teachers can teach worry-freeof  shadow disruptions. What’s more,short-throw technology means no eye-blinding projector glare in teachers’eyes.The BenQMS612ST features2500 ANSI lumenhigh brightness,5000:1 high contrastratio, HDMI and 10Wbuilt-in speaker. Thisshort-throw projectorgives you a 55” bigpicture in only 1meter.With 3D picturepresentation much in demand, BenQhas included the combination ofindustry-leading 3D technologies– DLP® Link™ and NVIDIA®3D Vision™ – turning any flatsurface into the perfect stage for 3Dpicture performance with the BenQMS612ST.Other features include:BenQ has also announced two newinteractive whiteboard projectors thatutilize BenQ’s latest SmartEco technology:the MX850UST and MW851USToffering 0.4:1 throw-ratio. 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It offers a set of  9 controlbuttons in a tic-tac-toe layout, justwhere you would expect to finda phone keypad if  the top of  theprojector were the front of  a phone.The rest of  the projector is a flatblack, with the shiny top set off  bysilver trim. The front is defined by awindow—not a lens, since no focusingis necessary. Along one side are apower connector, a proprietary inputconnector, and a standard USB portfor a USB memory key. The otherside offers a miniplug stereo output.Also worth mention are the rubberfeet on the bottom of  the case, whichhelp keep the projector from slidingaround from minor tugs on a cable.The L1 measures 1.7 by 3.3 by5.75 inches and is light enough tocarry in a shirt pocket. The caseincludes cutouts for both the projectorand the 2GB USB key that comeswith it. It doesn’t have room for thepower block, but carrying it separatelyisn’t much of  an issue. It measures just1.4 by 1.9 by 2.5 inches, not includingthe prongs.Using the L1 is straightforward.Plug in a USB key or the appropriatecable, turn the projector on, point theprojector at whatever you want to usefor a screen, and then use the menusto choose the source.The L1 comes with a 4-foot cableto connect to its proprietary port onone end and a computer VGA port onthe other. If  you’re using a USB key,it can read an assortment of  file types.The full list includes music (MP3,MP2, WAV, and OGG), video (AVI,ADF, WMV, MPG), image (BMP, JPG,PNG, and GIF), and document files(PDF and Microsoft Office 2003 and2007 formats for Word, PowerPoint,and Excel).600) resolution. The laser lightsource makes it focus free, andyou can point the projector atany surface at any distance– even a curved surface – and theimage will be in focus.The AAXA L1 Laser PicoProjector offers pico projectortechnology, combining red,green, and blue lasers withan LCOS chip, which givesthe L1 a native SVGA (800 by http://www.teachingtimes.comThis month’s New ProductsMotorola Xoom tabletThe Motorola Xoom Androidtablet has a 10.1-inch screen,and it’s as bright and sharp asany other high-end tablet. The1280×800 screen is pretty closeto a standard widescreen aspectratio, so videos can fill the wholescreen with minimal clipping.The Xoom is a little bit shorterthan the iPad in landscape mode, butthat means that when you flip theXoom to portrait mode, the screenis skinnier and taller. This is actuallyperfect for reading books or scrollingdown web pages. It’s comfortable tohold the Xoom with one hand whileyou swipe with the other, and becausethe vertical page is so tall, there’s lessswiping than on smaller screens.The Xoom has two cameras: Afront-facing, 2-megapixel camera ismeant for video conferencing andwebcam chats, while a rear-facing,5-megapixel camera is meant forshooting still photos and video.Pros:Big, widescreen display offers plentyof  room for video and for reading.Fast 1GHz processor promises greatperformance for future games andapps. Honeycomb simplifies andoptimizes the Android interface fortablets. Dual cameras and an optionalexternal keyboard make this a crediblenotebook replacement.Cons:Rear-facing speakers don’t do justice toany kind of  audio. Honeycomb seemsto have some bugs to work out. Nosupport for Adobe Flash-based content.SpecificationsCPU : Nvidia Tegra 2OS : Google Android 3.0 HoneycombCamera : Front-facing 2-megapixelcamera; rear-facing5-megapixel cameraScreen : HD, 10.1 in, 1280×800Size (WxHxD) : 168x250x13 mmPrice:"
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Digital Learning

Product Update: September

6 Oct 2011

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      string(5651) "ingredient for healthy student mindsets.For this, under-served students need to feel they are on equal grounds withtheir peers from more affluent communities. Unfortunately, they enter highschool already behind academically, and an Israeli study found that gaps arefurther stretched as families from high socioeconomic backgrounds invest anaverage monthly sum of ILS 682 (some USD 200) per student on private tutors,while students from Israel’s under-served communities receive almost no privatetutoring at all. Darca funds supplementary teacher-supervised reinforcement studyhours in order to help bridge these gaps. It also integrates the widely knownpractices associated with “growth mindset” in order to cultivate confidence(Dweck, 2006). The core principles of growth mindset offer under-servedstudents accessible evidence that “intellectual abilities are malleable and canbe improved (Wilson & Conyers, 2020).” Darca has been incorporating growth mindset into its instructional methods for over two years, and teachers report that students are putting more effort into their studies and being less cautious when it comes to facing challenges. Ultimately, under-served students need their curiosity triggered and they need to solidify the belief that through hard work, the sky is the limit. Safe and aesthetic  groundsAnother element that has been essential to the transformation ofDarca’s schools is the improved environment on school grounds. It is criticalthat students feel safe, including that they see strict and consistentadherence to safety regulations both in relation to schools’ physicalstructures and to supervision preventing violence and bullying. A school wherestudents fear bullying or suffer injuries due to careless safety hazards cannotexpect them to have adequate mental capacity left for focused learning. Beyond safety, it is important to take into account what valuesstudents internalize from how their school is maintained. For example, beforeDarca took over management of the Maxim Levy High School in Lod, “theschoolyard was littered with vodka bottles and syringes (Batito, 2019)” andstudents’ approach to their academics followed suit. Darca invested supplemental funds and as Batito (2019) observed, “Those trees, the new piano in the lobby, the light-colored wide corridors, and the shaded benches, all represent a new narrative in which vision and reality unite into an educational tale that has nothing to do with the school’s past.” Darca’s rejuvenation of the school grounds breathed renewed energy into the place. The aesthetics projected a sense of accomplishment, which was picked up by students and teachers alike. The Maxim Levy High School example is just one of many in which Darca helped strengthen schools through investing in their campuses. Philanthropic partnershipsAll these pivotal elements depend on additional funds. While additional funding is especially hard to come by in socioeconomically poor communities, it is clearly critical. It gives principals breathing room and allows them to take ownership, so they can invest in opportunities and properly respond to their schools’ dynamic needs. It funds professional development for teachers, special programming that develops healthy student mindsets and covers the expenses associated with maintaining safe and inspiring school grounds. For this reason, it is important to outline how Darca manages to supplement its schools’ budgets. Yet, under-served schools in most cases lack the resources to form these beneficial partnerships. Their staff are normally stretched too thin, barely able to attend to the most pressing matters, and the scale of an individual school’s needs does not justify opening an additional staff position for this. The scale of a school network on the other hand, managing dozens of schools with additional funding needs, justifies the investments to create a fundraising mechanism and therefore significantly increases the chances of forming funding partnerships. Darca is an excellent example of translating this blueprint intopractice. It was founded in 2010 by two prominent philanthropic foundationsworking to strengthen education in Israel’s underserved communities. Over theyears, Darca steadily grew in the number of schools it managed, and cultivatednew major strategic partnerships with leading foundations and private donorscommitted to this same cause. TThe financial implications for its schools have been remarkable. Under-served schools in Israel are normally managed either by the municipality or a private network, both of which charge overhead from the schools’ government-funding. Darca’s strategic partnerships cover the Network’s headquarter costs, so that 100% of government-funding goes directly to its schools. Furthermore, its partners contribute supplementary funds to each school equaling an average of 15% of their budget. These are the funds that allow Darca to implement the important elements and propel its previously underserved schools to become top-ranked educational institutions recognized for their distinction. ConclusionThere is significant concern across the world when it comes to narrowing gaps in education. Yet, the widespread reality is that under-served youth continue to receive an educational experience far below that of their affluent peers. It is the responsibility of leaders such as the Darca Network, achieving sustainable positive change, to share their best practices and enrich the existing conversation, so that the global education community can draw on this"
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Executive Leadership

Israeli Schools Confront An Achievement Chasm

29 Dec 2020