Saturday, February 7, 2015

Pencil Personalities




We all have them in our schools.  The Pencil Personalities.  I'm not sure who crafted this nifty little image but it was based on one from www.teachers.ash.org.au.  I love it.  Hopefully the image is clear enough to read but I will attempt to explain the Pencil Metaphor in more detail below.

First we have the Leaders.  These are the driving force behind change in our schools.  The people who take the bull by the horns and jump in feet first when something new and technologically exciting comes along.  At the 'pointy end of things' as my old Principal used to say.

The Sharp Ones watch carefully to see what the early adopters have done with the technology, they take the best parts, learn from their mistakes and put lots of effort into making sure that their students have the best opportunities available to them.  The Leaders and Sharp Ones are the visionaries in your school.  They need support and time to try new things in a safe environment.  They also need time to focus and consolidate new knowledge and practices before charging onto the next adventure.  A good leader will provide the scope for these people to be creative and enthusiastic but also keep a little tension on the reigns so that they don't end up miles and miles ahead of everyone else thus creating a divide in your staff.

The Wood.  I like this one.  They would use the technology if someone would set them up with it, give them training and keep the programmes running for them.  These are the people who like to think they walk the talk, but really things would fall over if there wasn't someone in the background managing it for them.  The Wood people are usually going through first-order change, they need manuals, step-by-step instructions to help them through the change it's not so much scary as it is work.

The Ferrules are people who grasp tightly onto what they've always done.  They don't really like change and believe that traditional practice serves our students just fine thank you.

The Erasers are those people in your school who like to erase or undo the hard work done by the Leaders.  They are the ones who are stuck-in-the-mud, who don't like change because they have something to lose from changing.  They like to sabotage attempts to develop modern teaching practices and introduce new technology.  The Ferrules and Erasers have something to lose by changing from the status quo.  They are going through second-order change and need a lot of emotional support to help guide them through what to them is a scary experience.

And... the Hangers-On.  These people mean well, they like to attend Professional Development sessions and learn all the latest lingo so they can talk about it, but they never actually do anything with it.  These people need to be motivated.  They need to know the purpose and outcomes for the change.  They need a reason to want to make the leap from talking about the change to actually diving in and doing it.

So... the Pencil Personalities.  They are out there in our schools.  We all fit into one of the categories.  As leaders we need to manage the variety of personalities on our staff and help to guide everyone towards the greater goal of best practice, and provide the best opportunities for our students.

Which Pencil Personality are you??


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