What happens when educational leaders face back-to-back crises? How do they support traumatised communities while managing their own wellbeing? Leadership coach Annette Gray takes us deep into these questions, drawing from her powerful work with school principals following the devastating Black Summer bushfires.

The principals Annette coached were carrying an extraordinary burden—not just rebuilding physically destroyed schools, but becoming the emotional anchors for entire communities. "The principal was holding everything together and they were just incredibly exhausted," she shares. One leader, facing both bushfires and floods, confessed he simply couldn't make any more decisions. The emotional toll was palpable.

This experience illuminates a critical leadership challenge: how to navigate overwhelming circumstances while supporting others. Annette's approach focuses on creating space for leaders to be heard without judgment. Rather than dispensing advice, she guides them to discover their own solutions—a coaching mindset that transforms conversations.

The distinction between coaching and advice-giving emerges as crucial for all educational leaders. When Annette's daughter, a teacher struggling with challenging classroom behaviours, encountered leaders who bombarded her with strategies she'd already tried, the approach felt dismissive rather than supportive. "Coach-like conversations" instead begin with genuine curiosity: "What do you want from this conversation? What would make a difference?"

For busy principals, Annette offers immediate, practical suggestions. Being truly present matters more than availability—"If now's not a good time, when would be?" Simple acknowledgments like this demonstrate that you value the conversation enough to give it proper attention.

Beyond individual interactions, Annette advocates for group coaching, where leaders learn from each other's experiences and develop complementary leadership styles. This collaborative approach recognises that no single leader possesses all necessary competencies—especially important in today's complex educational landscape.

Self-awareness emerges as the fundamental leadership skill. Understanding your triggers, managing your responses, and creating boundaries around difficult conversations creates the foundation for effective leadership. As Annette puts it: "How do I bring my best self, best version of me, to this conversation?"

Ready to transform your leadership conversations? Connect with Annette at annettegray.com.au or explore her YouTube channel for more insights into creating human-centred, inclusive school cultures through the power of coaching.

Links and References:

To view our Professional Learning Offerings, visit:
https://www.nswppa.org.au/professional-learning

To view our latest offerings, visit: https://www.nswppa.org.au/catalogue

From the moment children develop basic motor skills, they begin role-playing the futures they can imagine. But by upper primary school, these dreams often narrow dramatically - limited by postcodes, stereotypes, and what they see in their immediate environment. What if we could change this pattern?

Liv Penny, co-founder and CEO of Become Education, is transforming how we prepare young people for their futures. Her journey began with a profound observation: watching smart, happy classmates take dramatically different paths based solely on where they lived. This sparked a mission to ensure all children could write their stories "from the inside out" rather than having their futures determined by external circumstances.

The evidence is compelling. OECD research shows 50% of students globally aspire to just 10 occupations, with even narrower patterns at the local level. Meanwhile, 80% of 10-13 year olds think about their futures weekly, yet less than 10% say a teacher knows their aspirations. We're missing a massive opportunity to tap into natural motivation.

Become Education's approach doesn't prematurely force career decisions but instead develops the skills to explore broadly and design meaningful future pathways. Schools implementing the program report remarkable outcomes - from a 205% increase in students feeling their school cares about their future to transformative stories of previously disengaged students finding purpose and hope.

One particularly powerful story involves a disengaged student with dyslexia who discovered animation as her "happy place" through the program. With newfound purpose, she crafted a beautiful email to a Disney animator who responded with encouragement and professional advice. "She was transformed," her teachers reported through tears. "She never spoke and now she has transformed."

The impact extends beyond career readiness to improved engagement across all learning areas. As PISA data confirms, students who connect current learning to future possibilities show improvement in all learning strategies. In a world of AI and rapid change, this approach develops the uniquely human capabilities - curiosity, creativity, agency - that will remain valuable regardless of technological shifts.

Ready to help your students design futures full of possibility? Visit the Become Education website to learn how your school or cluster can implement this powerful, evidence-based approach.

Links and References:

To view our Professional Learning Offerings, visit:
https://www.nswppa.org.au/professional-learning

To view our latest offerings, visit: https://www.nswppa.org.au/catalogue

What if we reimagined education from the ground up? Dr Jason McGrath, recently returned from the OECD in Paris, takes us on a fascinating journey through global education systems that are planning decades ahead while others remain trapped in short-term thinking.

The conversation delves into how countries like Wales, Malta, and Finland are transforming education through long-term visioning—creating 20-year workforce strategies and "foresight sandpits" where stakeholders can test innovative ideas before implementation. These approaches allow educational leaders to make bold short-term decisions aligned with thoughtful long-term goals rather than implementing band-aid solutions that ultimately hinder progress.

At the heart of this transformation lies a radical rethinking of teacher professionalism. McGrath introduces the concept of "connective professionalism"—where professional identity forms through meaningful relationships with students and families rather than through isolated expertise. This shift challenges school leaders to view all decisions through the lens of "teachers as professionals," empowering staff to contribute their unique strengths. McGrath's powerful metaphor of "bamboo scaffolding" perfectly captures this approach—providing flexible, temporary support that can be removed once no longer needed, rather than building rigid structures that limit growth.

The most thought-provoking insight may be the simplest: creating space to collectively think about preferred futures. When educators move beyond immediate problems to imagine possibilities, transformative thinking emerges. For principals feeling overwhelmed by daily demands, McGrath offers practical starting points—from six-word future scenarios to exploring how different staff members might respond to potential changes.

This episode illuminates how bridging classroom innovation with system-wide policy creates "policy from the middle" rather than top-down approaches. Through examples like Ireland's "Beacons Model" and Estonia's approach to educational technology, McGrath demonstrates how teacher expertise can drive meaningful change when properly elevated and supported.

Ready to rethink what's possible in education? Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating schools that truly prepare students for tomorrow's world.

Links to Dr Jason Mcgraths work:

Dr Jason McGrath Google Scholar profile and publications, https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wbYO9v0AAAAJ&hl=en .

Links to educational and instructional leadership work

1. Dr Jason McGrath – Published works (Reseachgate.net) (home page)
2. Global Lessons, Systematic Connections, Schools' Support and Teachers' Work (OECD article)
3. OECD Education Working Papers No. 296 (OECD article)

Links and References:

To view our Professional Learning Offerings, visit:
https://www.nswppa.org.au/professional-learning

To view our latest offerings, visit: https://www.nswppa.org.au/catalogue