A National Day for All?

Today is Australia Day, a distinctly uncomfortable day for many of my country-folk who cringe at the idea of placing our National Day on the date of the arrival of European settlement. "Uncomfortable" and "cringe" are actually massive understatements. The 26th January 1788 was a day that began a long, fraught and often violent relationship between Indigenous Australians and the millions of immigrants who flooded their land. Today, reportedly sparked by a shameful comment from the Leader of the Opposition regarding the 40 year anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy opposite Parliament House (the original Occupy movement!), our Prime Minister was threatened by an enormous crowd of people and needed evacuating from a function she was attending. She was jostled, pushed and bustled into a waiting car by security officers. She lost a shoe in the process. Such is the unresolved, unreconciled depth of justifiable distrust and disgust by many Indigenous Australians.

Tomorrow I start a new job.
I say 'start' but in fact I've been there for two weeks but without most staff or any students. I'm not scared as such; I know I can do the job and I feel inspired. So there's not fear exactly, but there is this feeling. Call it natural trepidation, excitement, anticipation. I also hope I hear my alarm.

I'm not completely unknown to the school. I've worked for five years at the 'brother' school across the road. And the staff know some of what I'm about as a leader. But I wonder if they are scared? A renewed direction, a different energy. I've done this really daggy thing and bought every teacher a reflection journal. I really believe that for a school to continually improve it has to be a reflective school. Teachers (and leaders!) need to continually reflect on what they planned, what resulted, the expected and unexpected outcomes, the modifications that need to happen, and what they have learned as a result. This can form the basis for ongoing professional learning, which in turn can be a vehicle for growth via reflection. It can be exciting. I hope they are excited.