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Innovation In Schools
I recently had the privilege of speaking with the (then) incoming new Deputy Principal of Ipswich Girls Grammar and Junior Grammar, Lynda Wall. We discussed her own career journey, her thoughts on Entrepreneurship and how we can best prepare the next generation of young leaders.
Through her journey as Dean of Studies at St Aidan’s, Lynda was heavily involved in most recent curriculum change that occurred in Qld as well as being involved in the transition to an external assessment system.
In addition to her work within schools Lynda is working on her PHD with Griffith University which she utilises an opportunity to gain insight into how a whole range of schools are transitioning systems and processes to adapt for the future.
As an education innovator and change maker, it is really important to have an understanding of education, both from a conceptual point of view, and also from a systems point of view, Lynda shared how hard this is to do whilst in the classroom, full-time teaching.
"I think it really is important sometimes to step out of what you’re doing and step back to see the big picture.
This has given me a much clearer scope of what’s important in education, not just my role as a teacher."
Watch full interview below on Vimeo.
Being tasked with leading an innovative school ( IGGS & IJGS) that will be directly impacting future generations of leaders and change makers is a big job.
I asked Lynda what she thought were the most important things we should be focussing on teaching ( in addition to the curriculum) to our young people.
Lynda has the following suggestions for some essential skills for the future:
Confidence: students need to be well spoken and able to move flexibly across a range of careers.
Ability to initiate new concepts/ideas: It's essential we build entrepreneurial capability within our students. They need to entrepreneurial in their thinking, even if they’re not in the business line.
Flexibility: Students need to know what’s going in the wider world. As the world changes fast, particularly online, students need to be able be flexible and adapt with these rapid changes.
Autonomy: We need people to be able to think, act, execute. We also need an-education system that actually reflects this need and encourages students to critically analyse and make decisions based on their data.
Digital Capability: We need everything from cyber awareness, Web3, social media coding, engineering, robotics, design and communication to empower our young people to harness all that we know from the analogue era through to .com to Web2 and now, empowering them to step into the next phase with tools, skills, confidence and direction.
Execution: It’s easy to talk……..But, it’s the follow through, having clear outcomes, something measurable and achievable will actually empower them. Confidence comes from achieving.
Communication: We need to preserve and fine tune our traditional communication skills; writing, speaking, reading and listening. We can't be dulled down by being online, we need to do the opposite.
Vulnerability: It is imperative we foster safe spaces to share experiences. The art of storytelling and sharing cultural differences needs to be welcomed to encourage and honour individual personal experience. It's essential there is a solid foundation of diversity and difference.
Personal Systems: Find out what works for you and work fiercely to protect that. Not everyone works the same way, this is an individual journey.
Leadership Mentoring: Find a great leader to learn from, then do the same for others once you have the ability to identify good people to take on the journey.
To listen to the full interview you can watch directly on Vimeo here.
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