Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success (Joyce Brothers)

 

Declan Rice

She puts her faith in the moment - outsiders (Suede)

The Mojo magazine covermount CD that is
next to my device as I typed this post.
Seemed appropriate for this one.

Cultish (Amanda Montell) continues to fascinate me in its look at how words, jargon and language use can create a specific world of insiders and outsiders.

Every school I've been in has had its own language, including a plethora of acronyms. When I worked for OneSchool Global they even had to publish a dictionary of acronyms for the induction of new staff. The dictionary also had its own acronym.

I'm joining a new staff in early 2026 and I'm sure there will be a lot of language/ acronyms/ jargon terms that I will need to learn, and use, to move from outsider to insider.

Induction takes place at the end of January and I'm looking forward to it immensely.

It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret (Jackie Joyner-Kersee)

I used the title quote about this time last year. It's relevant again as I look forward to joining a new school for 2026.

To help prepare, I'm reading a few texts that I'll be using next term. Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell is the book I brought with me to my in-law's place for Christmas in New Plymouth.

It's interesting on a few fronts, having just read a book about NZ cult Gloriavale, having worked in Plymouth Brethren schools, and being about to work in another special character school.

It's also interesting to consider the wider applications of cults in other contexts - including a political one, and how language influences actions. Montell - “Totalitarian leaders can’t hope to gain or maintain power without using language to till a psychological schism between their followers and everyone else.”  

I'm looking forward to having some meaty discussions around this with my new students.

Failure is not the opposite of success; it's part of success (Arianna Huffington)

 

Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash

Oh, teachers are my lessons done? I cannot do another one (Leonard Cohen)

Boys are trying enough to human patience, goodness knows! but girls are infinitely more so, especially to nervous gentlemen, with tyrannical tempers, and no more talent for teaching than Dr. Blimber.

Louisa May Alcott in Little Women

Meditate often on the swiftness with which all that exists and is coming into being is swept by us and carried away (Marcus Aurelius)

Photo by Georg Eiermann on Unsplash

Change is constant.

Recently, I heard a friend say, "I hate change".

To me, that is like saying, "I hate life", because change is constant. To get upset by change is to wrongly assume that stability is possible.

Schools are incredibly unstable places - every period is different, the students are different each day (not just behaviourally, but physically, and academically). The periods change at the end of every hour. There's a change-over and a new set of students arrives. Every day is different. In schools people come and people go constantly. Every year staff come and go, every student advances to a new year level. We are in a constant state of flux in a school.

No man steps in the same river twice (Heraclitus) - because the river has changed and so has the man.

I am in the process of a change to a new school. I am mindful that every school is different. I embrace that idea and I am excited by the prospect of having to learn new ways, meet new people, teach new students. That gives me a strong sense of purpose.

Some of my students and colleagues may have struggled to understand why I have changed schools. I loved my job, why would I change?

My former head of department said in his farewell speech to me that - at this point, "Warren has earned the right to go and do whatever he wants to".

I embrace the idea that everything is change, and in the end, it doesn't really matter because I can't control change. Yes, I made a conscious decision and applied to a different school, but I didn't control the outcome. Events have conspired to indicate that the time is right to change to a different place.

At this point, it feels right to go with that flow.

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe (Marilyn vos Savant)

Photo by tito pixel on Unsplash

Next year I am taking the Purdzilla Show across town to a new school - Iona College.

I am very aware that scrutiny will be high (plenty of first impressions) and the need for relationship building will be at the forefront of my thoughts once again. 

I will also be observing, careful not to weigh in with my opinions too quickly. No one likes a clever Trevor, do they?

The above quote from Marilyn vos Savant is spot on - I will be studying, definitely, but mostly I will be observing the culture; looking for all of those unspoken rules that underlie what is done around a school.

It will be fascinating to compare the Woodford Way to the Iona Way. I was introduced to the concept of 'Sits' recently - this is the name for the year level common rooms at Iona. Fabulous. I'll be keen to observe how they operate.

My antennae will be on high twitch mode in my first weeks of next term as I begin my induction into the Iona Way.