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Hello *|FNAME|*,
Can a positive collegial relationship contribute to better teaching?
Can investing an extra 30-minutes per week in building and maintaining ONE positive relationship make your job as a leader easier?
Are you a teacher leader that believes one or more of your team members would benefit from developing a more positive learning environment for their students?
Over the Summer, my wife Barbara and I, developed a course for Minipd.com, Positive Behaviour and Relationship Management in International Schools. Barbara is the real star of this course. She starts by presenting the research on how learning environments influence student learning, and then introduces strategies to help students feel accepted and valued by their peers and teachers. The outcome she evidences is that students are more academically engaged and motivated to learn- which in turn improves academic performance and student wellbeing.
Well, what's good for the goose is just as good for the gander, or in this case teachers. In fact, in our course I demonstrate how easily teachers can develop these positive learning environments by transformatively collaborating with peers. But, collaboration is not always a concept that is greeted with open arms.
For this reason, I recommend peer mentorship. Peer mentoring promotes positive learning-focused behaviours and relationships that contribute to a transformative learning culture of excellence within a team. Best of all, you don't need a lot of training or resources to achieve this.
Decades of evidence support the notion that mentoring provides unequivocal professional enhancement and supports school improvement. You don't need to be an instructional coach or have a certificate to facilitate a mentoring relationship. All you need is to care! The most important skills of any mentor are rooted in caring; active listening, appreciative inquiry, and constructive feedback.
If you are interested in this model of collaborating with your team members then take some time to explore the resources in this newsletter. I have included information about the mentoring programs I facilitate, several articles about mentoring, and links to Peer Learning Networks where you can find peers in other schools to collaborate with.
Thank you for sharing this space with me each month and be well,
Michael
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IMPROVEMENT LEADER & LEADERSHIP MENTOR
Dr. Kan was a new Head of Department confronted with a monumental challenge. As a mentee he was given feedback and encouragement to overcome the challenge. A year later he rejoined my program as a mentor to help a more experienced colleague overcome a similar challenge.
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LEADING CHANGE
A full-year job-embedded leadership development course. A senior leader will mentor an aspiring senior leader to achieve goals contributing to whole school improvement.
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BETT ASIA LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Taking place on 11-12 October 2022 at The Athenee Hotel in Bangkok, this invited-only conference will showcase best practice and celebrate innovation from across the education technology sector under the theme ‘Education as a catalyst for change’.
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SINGAPORE SCHOOL VISITS
13-18 OCTOBER
We opened a new office in Singapore. I will be traveling to Singapore to meet and work with several schools. If you would like to meet to explore opportunities to collaborate, please this link to schedule a day and time: https://pdacademia.as.me/michael-iannini
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EARCOS LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
I will be facilitating two workshops, sharing my experience and strategies for how senior leaders can be more active in developing future leaders, as well as the data that evidences how schools can retain their best talent.
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Want to Give Your Competitors a Boost? Ignore Your Internal Talent - If you aren't finding suitable candidates internally for leadership posts then you probably aren't doing a good job developing your leaders. Mentoring programs are a great way to solve this problem.
How to Use Career Development to Drive Talent Retention - The best career development tool is Mentoring. Is there a position you want for next school year? Then start having conversations with people now about that role and find a mentor.
5 Mentorship Tips for Recruitment and Retention - Devoted and experienced mentors help lower turnover and encourage alignment with organizational values and mission.
The Resilient Educator / How to Coach Resilience in Leaders - One of the most effective mentoring relationships I observed was a Head of Department mentoring a Principal on parent engagement strategies. In their meetings, the Principal felt less alone in his job and gained important insight into what parents were communicating to staff.
Why mentorship is essential to succession planning — even for HR pros - Are you planning on leaving your school this year? if so, you should consider mentoring prospective successors, NOW! I know this may seem impossible with the way schools operate, but it doesn't have to be. Begin having these discussions now.
9 Ways Counselors Can Build Positive Relationships in School - These 9, very practical tips for developing positive relationships, are relevant for all school leaders. Being intentional and consistent in developing and maintaining positive relationships is hard work, but it pays huge dividends. For senior leaders, you not only need to establish the foundation for this type of culture in your school, but also develop the capacity of others to ensure this culture is sustained. Mentoring is the answer to this latter objective.
How Anyone can be a Mentor - Mentoring doesn't have to be complicated, it just requires some of your time and a lot of your care. Does your school have a formal mentoring program?
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ACAMIS PEER LEARNING NETWORKS
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WHOLE SCHOOL LIBRARIANS
Erin Wilson | 15:30 - 18:30 (HKT) | Sept 20, Nov 8, Mar 21
This PLN will establish a collaborative community of educators, advancing the practices of innovative librarians in our schools. Participants will focus on collaborating and sharing common professional inquiries on their practices in the role of the school librarian, diversifying collections, collaborating and co-teaching, and developing innovative library spaces.
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GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP & SERVICE-LEARNING EDUCATION (CAS)
LeeAnne Lavender | 15:30 - 18:30 (HKT) | Sept 21, Nov 23, Mar 22
This PLN will be focused around collaboration and learning to advance our practices in the realms of service learning, global citizenship education, sustainability, teaching for the Sustainable Development Goals and developing a critical, reflective and inclusive approach with our practices and programs.
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PLANNING AND EVALUATING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Ewen Bailey | 15:30 - 18:30 (HKT) | Sept 22, Nov 10, Mar 9
Professional Learning Network for Educators who lead the planning and evaluation of PD.
This PLN will establish a collaborative community of educators, advancing the practices of planning, supporting and evaluating professional development in our schools.
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STUDENT WELLBEING AND MENTAL HEALTH
Aleka Bilan | 15:30 - 18:30 (HKT) | Sept 27, Nov 22, Mar 28
This PLN will focus on building networks of professional collaboration amongst school counselors, psychologists and therapists. Our goal in this PLN is to share ideas of best practice in school counseling, consult with each other on challenges our school communities may be facing, and design a path forward towards new possibilities in student care. Please note that this PLN does not serve as a peer supervision group.
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