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.

Above: Past student panel: (L–R) Anthea Tsaousis (2013), Jordan Barr (2011), Kristian Jaksch (2012), Judy Anderson (2007) and Adrian Maciburko (2005).

‘The Carey Collective was a further step helping to align what is valued at Carey with what is valued in the world beyond school.’

Given the breadth and depth of information, it was important to give staff a chance to breathe, reflect and share. This was created through the Homebase groups, each with around 18 staff. On each of the three days, staff shared their wisdom, insights and questions within these smaller groups, generating a curiosity to know more while forging close connections across school sections. After two days of input from outside presenters, the final day offered time for our own staff to courageously step up as vendors at our Carey Marketplace. Rather than selling anything at the Marketplace, 30 staff volunteers were invited to set up a stall in the Quad where they could explain to the rest of the roaming staff how they had applied the Carey Attributes to their students’ learning or in their own lives. Over many years, staff from all areas had been practising the theory, so this provided a time to showcase our own talent. We believed that Carey staff would readily generate a vibrant marketplace, and we were not wrong. Following the Marketplace, the Carey Collective culminated with a whole-staff session run by the Director of Unstuck Learning, Chris Harte. The purpose of this final session was to lead staff to engage in conversations with each other around Carey’s Attributes of a Positive Learner. It was intended to familiarise staff with ways to best approach conversations with students about the Attributes. The end of the conference was the beginning of the dialogue we will cultivate with each other and our students. The Carey Collective was a further step helping to align what is valued at Carey with what is valued in the world beyond school.