In this Issue - Brunswick Secondary College

THE BRUNSWICK
THE BRUNSWICK
Building on our best
Our purpose at Brunswick
Secondary College is to create a
school community that enables each
of our diverse members, whether
students or staff, to become the
best possible version of themselves.
While identifying and fixing what’s
not working well is a much used
pathway to improvement, there is
evidence that a strengths-based
approach can provide a more
mobilising and transforming
route to change.
Appreciative Inquiry is a strengths-based method
that uses generative questioning and
conversation techniques to help people share their
stories about the times when they
believe that their organisation or community has
been at its best. However, this is in no way
just a warm and fuzzy sharing session. The structure
of the Appreciative Inquiry process is
designed to help participants be very precise about
what they each believe enabled this
heightened level of achievement. The conversation
that follows is an examination of what
participants specifically consider ‘made the best the
best’. The next stage involves exploring
opportunities for accentuating ‘the best’ in order to
envision and drive action toward a
better future.
Principal’s
Message
The three minute presentation by Harvard Business
School Professor, John Hayes,
http://www.youtubecomwatch?v=BqHeujLHPkw
provides a succinct overview of the Appreciative
Inquiry process. Professor Hayes’ question,
‘How can we make our best the norm?’ connects
closely with the question we often ask at BSC,
‘How do we make our best practice expected practice?’
Our interest in Appreciative Inquiry was first awakened
when Assistant Principal Alison Sanza and I
heard UK educationalist Trish Frayne give a presentation
on the topic at the NMR Principal conference in May.
We were delighted when Trish accepted our invitation
to address a BSC leadership team meeting in
August and that she is returning to follow up with
us in late October. Student Wellbeing Coordinator
Helen Lambropoulos, teachers Oki Gardner and
Clare Kavanagh, and several members of the student
leadership team also attended.
We heard that a number of major global companies
use Appreciative Inquiry. We were particularly interested
to learn about the successful use of Appreciative
Inquiry to drive change and improvement in schools
in the UK and other jurisdictions, including a few
government schools in rural Victoria.
Our first action at BSC has been to involve all staff
in an Appreciative Inquiry process that has focussed
specifically on the Review of Learning we have conducted
throughout 2011.Teachers in small groups
addressed the following topics.
1/ Share a time when you felt that our community
was at its best in relation to teaching and learning.
2/ Tell us about a time when your teaching and
learning was at its best.
3/ At the end of the day, what legacy do you want
to leave your students?
The selection of teacher legacy statements quoted
on here demonstrates the very strong commitment
our teachers have to helping students be the best
possible version of themselves, not only in their
time as students here but in their adult lives beyond
school.
At its next meeting, School Council will participate
in an Appreciative Inquiry process and discuss how
this method can potentially be used with other
parents.
In week four of this term, all Year 7- 11 students will
be participating in an Appreciative Inquiry around
the following:
1/ Share a time when your learning was at its best.
2/ How did it feel when you were learning at your best?
3/ When you leave BSC, what is the most important
thing that you will have learnt?
Having all staff and Year 7-11 students involved in
this process at the one time will be symbolic and
powerful. Our Year 12 students are so intensively
involved in exam preparation that they we will not
be required to take part in the whole school inquiry.
However, the Year 12 student leaders and those
who wish can contribute at another time.
Most importantly, all year 12 students will be
involved in an Appreciative Inquiry based special
memory activity as part of their suite of farewell and
graduation activities.
There is no question that schools are brimming with
potential. It is astounding to consider the array of
talents, skills and attributes that we already know
exist among our student, staff and parent community
and even more so, to consider the many others that
remain as yet unknown or unrealised.
Appreciative Inquiry is a way of unlocking and
mobilising this potential. It is a method for both
imagining possibilities and taking collaborative
action to create a better future.
We are excited and optimistic not only about
introducing Appreciative Inquiry this year but also
embedding it as a key change method at BSC.
Vivienne Tellefson
Principal
Teacher Legacy Statements
“Students question why, but then listen to the
answers
and grow accordingly!”
Kate Allibon,
English and Humanities Teacher
“I want every student to feel valued as a
person and have the skills to find and
follow their passion.”
Lara Alexander, English and History teacher,
and Debating Coordinator
“The ability to watch a documentary and ask:
“Why should I believe this?”
Alexandra Pierce,
History and English teacher
“For every student who I have had the
privilege of teaching to have the emotional
and intellectual skills to pursue their wildest
dreams. I would like every student to spread
the energy of empowerment and inspiration
throughout their communities, creating a
snowballing effect for generations to come.
Tony Martinson, Year 8 Coordinator
“To develop students’ sense of commitment
to the wider wide world and question what
they see and hear before accepting it
as a given.”
Lorraine Lockhart, Health and Food
teacher and Year 11 Coordinator
“I would like my students to be proud of
themselves and not need others to be proud
of them to feel good about themselves.”
Michelle O’Brien, Maths and Science
Teacher, and ASD Coordinator
“I want my students to understand that they
are connected to the world and they can
make a difference.”
Peter Runting,
Art and Visual Communication
and Design Teacher
Trish Frayne