Reflection

This is an extract drawn from Chapter 6 of my 2022 book Leading Mindfully for Healthy and Successful Schools on building habits of reflection.

As senior leaders we wear a variety of hats: chaperones; bouncers; detectives who review CCTV; invigilators who monitor exams even lollypop people on crossings. All these roles are valuable but what we are paid for is strategic thinking and our ability to bring people with us. This can only come with some space. Taking time to slow down and reflect as a leader allows you to get clear on what matters. When we move fast, we do not always have the space to properly digest what the research tell us will have an impact or attend to how our school community feels. From a place of metaphorical stillness, you can more easily prioritise doing things in line with your values and the evidence, that middle path of love and knowledge.  

One of these things is to listen. Often, we are told that strong leaders are decisive. However, there is a paradox at the heart of making space for others in this way. When we open ourselves up to doubt and diversity, it actually allows us to be firmer in our conclusions. This is because we are more informed and so can make decisions from a place of knowledge. We know that we are greater than the sum of our parts, so in this slowing down we must also make time to listen.  This process is iterative, it creates the space to continue to listen, reflect, simplify and improve.   

Amongst the busyness and pressure of schools it is easy to get tempted by quick fixes or to elevate the tools (the admin, the grades) over the core work. Reflection helps bring us back what really matters and to define the long-term goals. When were guided by love and knowledge we do what is right for our communities, not what is simply going to get us a better progress 8 score. That is not to say that data and reputation are not important but they are not an end in themselves. Paperwork and data support us but they are not our work. That is educating our children. Oli Knight, takes the approach of mapping all areas of school leadership back from a five-year plan. Safe in the knowledge that you are on track, but that you cannot do everything all at once, this allows you to have the breathing space to be creative, in the moment and resist the temptation of quick fixes. Crucially though it is not the plan itself that matters but the careful thinking it enabled and the ethos it lived and breathed.  

This ethos will not develop without it being given space. It is helpful to consider how you build time in into your school culture. This starts with yourself. If you are constantly on duty and in meetings, you will have no time to reflect. If you are not reflective it is not reasonable to expect anyone else to be. It flows from your leadership.  

Reflection time must be done meaningfully or will become a yawn inducing exercise. Your team will know if you do not buy into it.  So will the students. Some schools have reframed exclusion and detention as reflection time too. This has real potential but for kids to buy into it has to be handled well, with a healthy dose of relationships in there too. Section three will consider some ways to support reflection and reconciliation at a classroom level but let us first consider the ‘few things’ a mindful school might do really well. 

Reflecting on Reflection: 

How is teaching time balanced with time to observe, reflect and plan?  

Who one your leadership team teaches? 

Does this give them enough time for their other duties as well as keeping their ‘finger on the pulse’ in terms of classroom practice?  

Is reflection time built into the meeting and CPD schedules?  

Are there meaningful opportunities for students to reflect built into the lesson, the day and the year too? 

What mechanisms do you have for gathering and acting on meaningful feedback from staff, students and the wider community?