It is also important to remember that your ability in the classroom will reflect upon whether they are willing to accept your advice. A good ‘rule of thumb’ is to be unwilling to take risks when first expressing your opinions with the head teacher. Wintle and Harrison (1999) advises that “managerial responsibility and support for the coordination of the coordinators must be made explicit” (pp. 58). So there is a need for primary schools to take measures to overcome role ambivalence. Everyone needs to be clear about your role as the ICT coordinator in measuring school performance in ICT capability. Other factors to consider include: • The school making effective coordinator policies a priority; • The time you have to do paperwork and how it will affect the degree of consultation possible and its quality; • The time you have to work alongside teachers in the classroom in order to change practice; • The time you have to see teaching and learning in parts of the school with which you are unfamiliar for your own development. (Wintle & Harrison, 1999, p.46)
The First Step
As discussed earlier in my work about ICT leadership, a policy is imperative for any successful implementation of practice. Being the ICT coordinator, you would have already designed a school ICT policy that provides benefits for lesson planning, informs teachers and students as to what is expected of them, to identify the resources needed and to inform your in-service PD planning. These principles also apply to the development and design of your whole school assessment policy. A whole school policy for the assessment, recording and reporting on ICT capability can: • • • • • •
Publicly demonstrate the school’s intentions for evaluation and reporting children’s progress; Help make a case for funding if commercial tests are needed; Give information to parents, governors and inspectors; Provide information for individual teacher planning; Aid coherence, continuity, progression and shape priorities; Assist in achieving uniformity and consistency in school decision making by helping to focus the minds of various decision making groups such as governors, the senior management team, other subject coordinators, toward common aims. (Wintle & Harrison, 1999, p.47)
A successful policy will be able to demonstrate to the public that the school can stay informed of any new developments whether technological or curricular, can make changes to the curriculum in light of these developments, will need to resource any subsequent needs and keep teaching staff up-to-date through continual professional development in ICT. For this to occur, like the school ICT policy, it needs to owned by the whole staff and describe what is actually happening in classrooms. Additionally, it will shed light on the direction the school is going with regard to the collection and use of assessment data. A well written policy for the assessment of ICT capability will publicly demonstrate what the school’s intentions are for children’s learning. As the coordinator of ICT, this is your opportunity to make this clear that your school is about increasing its students’ knowledge and understanding in ICT capability. Throughout the process of the policy’s development other benefits may arise and be of help to you. For © ICTE Solutions Australia 2018
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