The World's Game- At Ridley

An enthusiastic group of soccer players turned out Sunday for a Winter Soccer Showcase at my school, Ridley College, in St.Catharines, Ontario, Canada. This event featured current Ridley players, and selected guests from the local Niagara soccer community. Guest Coach Chris Williams (former player with Canada and Vancouver Whitecaps) had this to say about his experience at Ridley:

"Thank you again for today's session. It was a pleasure to work alongside you. A session like today provided a clear indication that fundamental instruction and overall guidance in our sport needs to be applied constantly to youth players. "

Coach Williams worked alongside Clayton Rosario (Elite Soccer Development, Ridley College Technical Instructor) and Paul O'Rourke (Director of Soccer, Ridley College) to deliver the session that was aimed at creating a healthy competitive soccer environment, and establishing the fundamentals of defensive play. Several coaches from Ridley and the Niagara soccer community were on hand to take part in the coaching workshop and were able to continue with their own professional development in the game.

The day can best be described as step in the right direction for Ridley soccer. As an international school, we are fortunate to have players from all over the world. In the soccer showcase we had players from China, Korea, Jamaica, Nigeria, Cayman Island, and of course, Canada. Soccer is one of those unique sports that travels the globe with great popularity. Its language is understood by all players regardless of ethnicity. Still, in this particular setting the importance of effective and clear communication was underscored. Like in the classroom, the fundamentals were established, refined and developed through a variety of paired and small-sided games. Although there was a range of ability, gender, and age on display for this workshop, the smiles on the faces of players and coaches alike attested to the universal nature of the game. Enjoyment for all!

Leading

The notion of leadership conjures up a myriad of possibilities. There are as many theories, seemingly, as many as there are leaders. Educational leadership is no exception. A fundamental question to ask is: If I am a leader, then who is following me? In teaching, as in many other professions, seldom do individuals lead by their own talents alone. Usually there is a strong team in place to support the leader, and the strength of the team invariably determines the strength of the organization. Our society seems to overvalue individual accomplishments, personal success stories, and the valiant efforts of the single person. There is no shortage of accounts that speak to the individual overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to lead a team or organization to greatness. It is the stuff of sports legends and business heroes. Without disparaging either, Tim Tebow and Steve Jobs readily come to mind as current examples. For the record, I am a fan of both for very different reasons.

Yet leadership, especially educational leadership, relies on the strength of teams. Coaches are only as good as the combined abilities of the players on their teams; principals and heads of school as effective as the staff assembled. It seems to me that one of the key challenges of educational leadership is the ability for the school leader to identify the collective strengths and weaknesses of the assembled staff. Through a variety of means the effective school leader will tap into, harness, encourage, support, and develop capacity in order to make a good organization even better. The reality is that the classroom dynamic is much the same. A teacher that can bring along all students is much more effective than the one who inspires only the bright lights. It stands to reason that effective 21st century school leaders will be aware of the strength of team, the importance of building capacity, and the imperative of sharing credit and success. It might not make for great headlines. It might go against the grain of societal expectations. It might even be difficult to achieve. Yet, the schools that can lead in such a way are bound to succeed in the long term. The same can be said for businesses and sports franchises too.

Leadership can be a lonely road to navigate if travelled alone. It can also be a well-trodden path if done in numbers. Leaders who intentionally bring their teams along with them- leading from either the front or the back- are more likely to enjoy the journey and the company.

New Directions

My first blog entry of 2012 is actually a carry-over from the previous year. It concerns the second day of our end-of-term professional development. In some ways though, it is fitting that the entry is dated for the new year for in this new year of 2012, as a school we will be further embarking upon our IB journey, and as far as the middle grades are concerned, we will be applying for, and hopefully implementing the Middle Years Program.

Our second day workshop specifically focussed on MYP planning. We were fortunate to be guided by a friend and colleague from an IB school in Toronto who is a trained IB workshop leader. This session was intended to be more informal and did not involve accreditation. In keeping with the themes of interconnectedness and employing technology when appropriate, the session was done over Skype. As is often the case, there was a technical glitch as we attempted to connect. Perhaps anathema in blogosphere, but I was reminded of the oft-used phrase, "To err is human, but to really screw up you need a computer."

Yet, even while we waited to the technical issues to be resolved, it was obvious that the collaborative exercises of the previous day had borne fruit. There was healthy professional dialogue centered around best teaching practices and team planning. Indeed, with only 6 hours until break of term, the entire session was both productive and positive. In short order, our connection came through and our guide (Grace) helped us to better understand the world of MYP, especially from the perspective of unit planning. Creating effective units of study was achieved in small team groups and the notion of interdisciplinary teaching was explored in a rudimentary form. It was clear from our deliberations that we were only scratching the surface in terms of our understanding of IB, but the really encouraging thing is that as a staff, we were embracing a new paradigm in terms of curriculum and team planning. The walls of individualism were breaking down, and greater team cohesion was filling the void. Indeed, it was clear that as a staff, and as a division, we were heading in a new direction.