Education in the Spotlight
Our current Strategic Plan 2021-2025 mid-term review is off and running, and we have begun with our largest project: AEF Ruben Primary School. Ten key staff from the institution’s leadership group went off to the nearby Panari Hotel for the day, taking time away from the coal face to look up, breathe fresh air, engage with each other and reconnect with the Centre administration.
The Centre was represented by the Director, Human Resources Manager and the Programs Manager. They led a program to help the school staff reflect on their new reality in a school environment filled with stress factors, including:
An unprecedented bulging population, now exceeding 3,300 students.
Trying to manage the imposition of operating a new Junior Secondary School with no extra material facilities and only a few extra teachers.
Attempting to roll out a radical and new national Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), which began six years ago and is now impacting the very structure of a primary school that the new program was designed to leave behind when eight years of primary classes were reduced to six years only. This led to a lack of essential resources like science rooms, computer rooms, and libraries, causing students around 13-14 years to be held back.
Totally inadequate material and human resources made available to implement this new curriculum, leading to payment issues for newly appointed teachers.
Impending retirement of three senior school leaders, including the long-serving head teacher.
Rapid departure of more than ten long-term staff who obtained government jobs as Teachers Service Commission employees.
A host community living with huge economic hardships due to evaporated jobs and increased prices of essential goods and services in 2023.
Political chaos with a popular people uprising against an incredibly corrupt new government, leading to social violence and destruction.
A school that was irresponsibly removed as one of the Centre’s strategic objectives and dispatched to be a government partner by the previous Centre Director, severely rupturing trust between the Centre and the school.
Feeding vulnerable students during times of food shortage and high prices.
Loss of direction and focus by the school administration after being removed from the Centre Strategic Plan 2021-2025.
Addressing the Challenges
The Director used a system's model created by the Caplor House Team from the UK to draw the staff into a very real self-examination of who they are and challenge them to think about how they are operating in a dysfunctional manner. They were encouraged to own these weaknesses and adopt a fresh operating model featuring the value of a cohesive team characterized by inclusivity, open communication, tolerance, and respect for all staff and ideas.
The Caplor House Model
The model invited the school staff to imagine their school as a house with four rooms, each equally important in the different ways that each room and its occupants add value to the house. The house's foundations are learning, and all the rooms are unified by the roof. The staff learned to find their preferred room to make their unique contribution.
After a delicious morning tea, the Human Resources Manager used various activities to encourage the teachers to reflect on their inability to operate as a unified team. They were offered a new way to create an effective team based on real commitment, open communication, and readiness for new ideas.
The Program Manager then addressed current issues creating conflict and ineffective delivery of education services, showcasing the family room in action (one of the four rooms in the Caplor house). The gathering emphasized the seeking of relationships and teamwork while addressing issues related to emotional intelligence, core beliefs, respectful listening skills, influencing with integrity, diversity appreciation, and sensitivity to unspoken messages. Honesty and rich discourse led to the birth of several strategic measures to be implemented immediately.
Summary
When asked to write one sentence about the learning of the day, an overwhelming number of teachers mentioned the need to create a UNITED TEAM! As the bell rang out to end the day, the mood among the teachers was "The time is now, and we are the people," vowing that a new beginning beckons where compromise, communication, increased trust, honesty, teamwork, and inclusivity of people and ideas will be the WAY Forward.
By: Br. Frank O’Shea
Edits: GB
