Do you know the enemy? (Green Day)

Ryan Holiday's Ego is the Enemy forms part of my reading for the study break.

I love his work because he writes about things that make me reflect on my life as a teacher and as a leader, and life in general.

To be or to do? Which way will you go? That was a question posed by American military strategist and teacher, John Boyd.

Ryan indicates that it is a crucial question. At its heart is a question around purpose.

What is your purpose? What are you on Earth to do?

To be, or to do?

Thanks to that purpose question, the answer is obvious.

During my career (now in its 43rd year) my purpose has been reasonably consistent during those years - to do.

But, yes, there have been times when I may have chased promotion, salary and titles like Principal (Stratford High School) or District Principal (OneSchool Global).

When I applied for the Stratford job, I was desperate to return to NZ from England for family reasons. When I applied for the District Principal job, I was keen to challenge myself by helping my colleagues. 

In the end I stepped away from those kinds of high-status positions because I wanted to accomplish something else or prove something to myself.

For instance, it was an easy decision to return to classroom teaching in 2024, because that's my purpose. 

Easy because I knew what I had to do and what was important to me. To quote Joni Mitchell, "No regrets, coyote".

Late last year, that thinking (to do) meant moving to a different school as an English teacher because I wanted to improve my teaching. I still have a lot to learn about this job.

Recently at Iona College we had Browse Week. Teachers were asked to visit a couple of teachers informally during the week and observe the class and teacher for a few minutes. While there the idea was to note a couple of takeaways.

I visited three classes and instantly found things I could do to improve my own practice. That's exactly what I need.

Feel the breeze, take the weight off your feet (The Pineapple Thief)

Photo by Shlomi Platzman on Unsplash

A two-week study break at the end of the first term has kicked off with Easter weekend. Some Year 10 creative writing assignments need to be marked, and I want to plan out the next term's programmes more thoroughly than I did last term's.

The marking I want to get done asap so it doesn't hang around in my brain, but the planning can wait until the end of the break.

Aside from that - it's a case of outside chores when the autumn days allow and regular walks to get some fitness back. There are a pile of books to dip into and my turntable has been repaired so I'm energised to find some fresh vinyl to play.

Attitude is the 'little' thing that makes a big difference (Winston Churchill)

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Iona College had an open day recently. I was stationed in an English department classroom natch.

One of the DPs who was doing a walk around during the morning said to me something like - "this will be old hat for you, having been a Principal".

I laughed and agreed with him, because by that stage I'd warmed up. "Yes", I said, "I can do shmoozing".

It had taken me a while to warm up because I'm a little rusty at this sort of thing now.

By the time the afternoon shift had kicked in (and we'd got used to the flow of tour groups), I was getting into my hail-fellow-well-met stride.

Funnily enough one family remembered me from last year's open day at Hastings' Boys! I laughed and said, "Yes, I'm working the Open Day circuit."

I love it here! I love my school! It’s full of wonderful people! (Miss Honey)

Miss Jennifer Honey is an archetypal character from Roald Dahl's novel Matilda.

I've often wondered where the inspiration for this kind and nurturing character came from. Apparently, it's from Roald Dahl's own experiences and observations of his children. To have such a person as Miss Honey as your teacher is a true blessing.

How many Miss Honeys have I come across? Well, only one stands out in my memory from my own schooling. Mrs. Alexander at Royal Oak Primary was fantastic. Sadly though, I can't now picture her.

In terms of how many I've met during my own teaching career - there have been many more (but somehow, not enough).

Luckily for the girls at Iona College, there are a couple of Miss Honeys on the staff. I'm in awe at their genuine niceness, kindness, compassion and empathy. 

They certainly inspire me, and I'm sure they inspire the girls.

I discovered I always have choices and sometimes it's only a choice of attitude (Judith M. Knowlton)

Watching the Formula 1 show on Netflix, Drive to Survive, is always interesting for the contrasting leadership styles of the team principals.

The episode I watched last night (Season 8, episode 2 - Strictly Business) showed the stark contrast between how two teams at the back of the field do their thing.

Flavio Briatore is the Ming the Merciless figure/ team principal at Alpine F1 Team, while Jonathan Wheatley of Kick Sauber is the nice guy who rules via relentless positivity.

Flavio ruthlessly fires Aussie rookie driver Jack Doohan, while Jonathan nurtures and supports his rookie Gabriel Bortoleto. The drivers emerge from their meeting with Flavio grim faced while it's all smiles at Kick Sauber.

Guess which team emerges with a successful result at the end of the episode?

Success doesn't come to you, you go to it (Marva Collins)

Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash

Another duty day has come and gone and as I said to a senior manager today - I'm learning from my earlier whoopsies! 

The lunch duty is a tad stressful - especially if you don't quite know which half of the school is on the first sitting, and which is on the second. That was the situation today. It's fluid, so there's an innate need to adapt and walk towards success. Literally, in my case - as I need to keep walking along the corridor to check progress with kitchen staff.

The girls are delightful - full of energy and good-hearted banter, but they do keep me on my toes.

We're dealing with teenagers, after all, so they are bound to test me out. They've been at the school for years and they know all the wrinkles, I've been there eight weeks. Still, I'm learning.

I gave my colleague, Anna, who was doing her duty in the dining hall (my duty is letting the students into the dining hall in an orderly fashion) a fist pump after we'd finished. Even though it's testing and stressful, it feels like a win when things go according to plan.

Success doesn't come to you, you go to it (Marva Collins).

Maybe all you need is both feet on the ground (The Lemon Twigs)

At 1,000 pages long, it's taken a while, but I have just finished the David McCullough biography of Harry S. Truman, simply called Truman.

What a bargain it was - costing a dollar from that book shop in Santa Rosa (the origin story is here). It's an extraordinary biography that delivers majestically throughout and yes, I misted up during the last three pages as McCullough recounts events of December 26, 1972 - Truman's final days.

The summing up of Truman in these last pages of the biography really affected me. 

Here are some extracts:

He did require to be loved. He did not expect to be followed blindly. Congressional opposition never struck him as subversive, nor did he regard his critics as traitors. He never whined.

He walked around Washington every morning - it was safe then. He met reporters frequently as a matter of course, and did not blame them for his failures. he did not use the office as a club or a shield, or a hiding place.

(Mary McGrory in the Washington Star)

The contrast to the times we now live in, with a narcissistic spoilt child in the White House couldn't be starker.

The last word should go to David McCullough:

Ambitious by nature, he was never torn by ambition, never tried to appear as something he was not. He stood for common sense, common decency. he spoke the common tongue.

He held to the old guidelines: work hard, do your best, speak the truth, assume no airs, trust in God, have no fear.