In his book, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, Charles Dickens opens with the line; ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’ No images? Click here COVID-19 - crisis or opportunity?Reflections from the team at FLS - Centre for Educational Leadership (FLS-CEL)Kia ora In his book, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, Charles Dickens opens with the line; ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’, and curiously, it was these words that popped into my mind as our ‘Team of 5 Million’ found itself entering COVID-19 alert level 4 in late March. As the initial shock of our ‘new reality’ eased, it became clear that the turmoil we were experiencing was not a passing event, and that COVID-19 was likely to be impacting our collective lives for months to come - as evident in our return to Covid alert levels 2 and 3 in recent days. In addition, it was apparent that the face-to-face facilitated leadership programmes our centre had so carefully designed for principals and senior school leaders in both New Zealand and Australia were suddenly at risk of not just being postponed, but possibly of being cancelled outright. With this realisation dawning, the words of the famous Chinese military strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu stood out; “Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems”. The problems were clear… but where were the opportunities? Over time, a way forward began to develop. Growing Great Leaders (GGL™), one of the Centre’s flagship products, was selected as the focus of our urgent redesign efforts. It was clear that simply delivering the existing programme using ZOOM was not an option. A full redesign was required involving a reimagining of the product, a review of the content and the design of a new, ZOOM-friendly, and engaging set of learning experiences. ‘GGL™online’ was born. The existing six module format was retained, and two key delivery modes were identified:
While both modes utilise similar content, and drew on an identical research base, participant activities were reconfigured to reflect the distinctly different requirements of each approach. The diagram (below) provides an overview of our synchronous ‘GGL™online’ design. A comprehensive website has also been developed by our design team to provide support and resources for programme participants. The site provides easy access to a rich array of relevant video and text resources as well as personal extension, and leadership team activities. As the development of ‘GGL™online’ has progressed, a number of principals have asked if the content of GGL™online is suitable for other leaders in their school - the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’. Additionally, CEL has begun the process of seeking CUAP accreditation of ‘GGL™online’ as a 30 point, Level 8 paper. Accreditation, once granted, will enable New Zealand based participants to have their in-depth GGL-related learning formally recognised in its own right, or as part of a pathway to a Masters qualification through the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. The Centre for Educational Leadership faces the future with confidence. We have found our ‘opportunity’ amidst the myriad of challenges inherent in the COVID-19 context, and are grateful for the encouragement and support of colleagues and clients. GGL™online is currently being rolled out in Australia in partnership with one of our major clients. We look forward to providing further updates in regard to the availability of GGL™online for New Zealand principals and their senior leaders in the near future. For further information or to find out how GGL™online might enhance your team’s leadership, please contact Donna Kerkmeester Richard Newton Programme design and facilitation |