I think it's important to think about why having a concept focus is important. The leadership team could probably add more to this, but I think the importance comes in consistency across the school (children having conversations about their learning with each other) and develops understanding of some quite complex things across a range of 'topics' and across the curriculum through an integrated approach.
This year our focus has been 'Change' - which was most appropriate as we embarked on the journey of our foundational year. Change is a huge concept to grasp, and across the two habitats, there has been some variation in the learning for the children. In the end though, it is evident that their understanding has changed a great deal.
At our meeting we were presented with a number of Pam Hook's Macroconcepts:
However, it's not the children I want to talk about in this post... It dawned on me, that although we, as adults, have understandings of these things - developing our ideas around these is not a silly idea. One that really struck a chord with me is 'Structure'. As I grow and develop as a teacher and leader, I believe my ideas around structure are beginning to change.
The group defining structure came up with:
Structure in my head was the traditional model of hierarchy and control. It is only as I begin to understand models of leadership that I can see that although hierarchy remains as a technicality, the relationships, and the elements of the relationships (trust, compassion, etc.) allow structure to be much more complex.
As I work through my journey of leadership, I will be keeping some focus on 'Structure' as my personal development in understanding this complex macroconcept.
What Big Questions does it leave for me?
What is the impact of structure?
Where can you find structure?
How does structure form?
What would happen if we didn't have structure?
What causes structure to form?
What are the types of structure?
Why should we have structure?
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