It is the final day of the review. Five days ago, all we knew of the school was what its website told us. Today, our internal team of assessors know their school better than anyone else in the school community. For four days, they have learned how to collect data, tell the difference between provision and impact, suppositions and evidence, what distinguishes directive, participatory and engaged classrooms, and how to review their school. By now, they have observed hundreds of lessons in classrooms, skimmed and scanned even more students’ work, talked with countless stakeholders, and forensically collected granular evidence on everything that moves and everything that doesn’t in the school on their learning walks from the moment the buses arrive in the morning to watching the exhaust fumes trail the final bus out.
Just a few days ago, our assessors put all their learning into practice in the quality dialogue. In their smaller teams of school and Adhyayan assessors, they interrogated all the evidence to agree on what good, even great, practice looks like and sometimes what could have been even better. Occasionally, an assessor is so swayed by their love for their school that they can only “see through the glass darkly”. In this school, there was no need for us to call it out; their school buddies did that by simply asking, “Where is the evidence?” As they shared their recommendations formally with their Principal, who herself had learned alongside her team for the whole of the review, we got our reward. It was the conviction that in this school, the review was the end of the beginning of a process of school self-review, and theirs’ was an unwavering commitment to keep on getting better together. Their commitment to continuous improvement is a testament to the power of determination and serves as a reminder for all of us to stay committed to our improvement journey.
There were moments this past week when collaborating with our assessor team of fellow educators at Suchitra Academy in Hyderabad on their school review was simply joyous. Many of these moments were with the school’s internal assessor teams. It’s no secret that for school leaders, participating in school reviews is a privilege and great fun. However, this school’s assessor team was truly exceptional. Their quality of evidence collection, objectivity in weighing its relevance, and courage in keeping their assessor hat firmly on their head, even when they wished they could take it off, was truly humbling. Their exceptional qualities serve as an inspiration for all of us, motivating us to strive for excellence in our roles and responsibilities.
It’s less than 24 hours since I left Hyderabad and the school review, and I am on my way to a leadership PLC. I’m on an off-road detour between Dimapur and Kohima in Nagaland to avoid the landslides that have closed the highway. We’re moving at 10 miles an hour on a mud track that gets more vertiginous and slippery the higher we climb, and for some reason, as it gets steeper, there seem to be far more vehicles coming down and moving us towards the edge. And then we turn a corner to a mountain-scape of iridescent Padi, jungled hills and distant horizons where rock and sky meet. Hyderabad and our review are less than 24 hours behind us, and a new leadership challenge awaits.
Being an assessor with Adhyayan is not half bad! Review your school and join the movement, our collective effort to improve education through self-review and continuous learning!
