Feature
A collective effort toward a positive education Peter Robson Director of Positive Education and Wellbeing
In recent years, we have developed a culture of learning at Carey which emphasises the importance of developing future skills for our students. As a whole-staff cohort, we particularly focus on the development of resilience, courage, knowledge, collaboration, connectedness, communication, curiosity, imagination and reflection. Together, these are what we refer to as Carey’s Attributes of a Positive Learner. There have been two occasions in Carey’s recent history where all teaching and professional support staff have had the opportunity to join together to learn about how we can develop a foundation of shared practice in creating this culture. The first of these was in April 2014 at Carey’s three-day wholestaff conference with psychologist Professor Lea Waters. In the immediate years after this conference, staff from all school sections worked on the establishment of a group of attributes, including the scope and sequence of the age and stage behaviours typical for each attribute. After some trial and error in determining the practical application, we consolidated Carey’s Attributes of a Positive Learner in 2017. The second opportunity for the 450 Carey staff to come together occurred in April this year as we spent three days looking at understanding and developing these personal attributes. It is not unique to Carey, or the education sector, to be concentrating 10 | Torch
Above: Carey’s Director of Positive Education and Wellbeing, Peter Robson, with Principal of Rooty Hill Secondary College, Christine Cawsey. on attribute development. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Economic Forum and PricewaterhouseCoopers are among those who have a specific emphasis on what we call attributes and others may call 21st century skills. Regardless of the terminology, there is an acknowledgment that continued growth in personal attributes throughout life is vital. This year’s staff conference in April, titled The Carey Collective, commenced with a range of keynotes designed to spark curiosity around Carey’s Attributes of a Positive Learner. The elective sessions offered to staff included 19-year-old conservationist Ruby Bourke looking at sustainability; UK educationalist Professor Bill Lucas
exploring work being done globally in measuring attribute growth; the Principal of Rooty Hill Secondary College, Christine Cawsey, challenging our staff to think about student agency; and Christie Whelan Browne, an actor at the centre of the #MeToo campaign, sharing her personal story of courage and resilience. A highlight of the conference was the panel of Old Carey Grammarians (OCGs), now in their 20s and 30s, reflecting on life beyond school. Staff could also tailor parts of their own conference experience through myriad workshops, including sessions run by OCG Daniel Jackson (2004) on resilience, Maria Leske from Mercer HR providing insight into building leadership, and the ABC’s Annabel Astbury’s exploration of digital education.
