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The Work Begins
November 2003
The third in a series of journal reports from Cambodia on a new school leadership professional development project
The first Leadership Training Workshop for principals was Thursday, October 16th. I was delighted by the outcome and relieved. I worried a great deal about it in advance and my self-doubts played regularly in my head. Reaksmey, my translator, and I had been preparing for the day for a very long time and we were both nervous and anxious to begin. It was a relief to know, at the end of the day, that this was not some crazy idea, but rather one that truly made sense. It was going to work!
The dignitaries from the Ministry of Education felt it was important to welcome and thank everyone. It also is the custom to begin new ventures this way. After three quarters of an hour of welcomes we began. The workshop was held in an elementary school about 70 km from Phnom Penh, but it took about two hours to get there due to road conditions.
Oct. 16th workshop. The principals are working in small groups thinking and discussing the differences between management and leadership.
The classroom was very small and there were 51 people attending. We were able to use the classroom next door as a breakout room. The electrical cable was run from the generator near the main office about 150 meters away. The electricity powered the overhead projector, but ran out of gas twice during the day. It was torrential rain in the morning (with a slightly leaky roof) and then really hot in the afternoon. I lost 5 pounds sweating.
I decided to spend the first workshop building relationships and earning some trust as well as challenging them a bit. We worked on topics that I had learned they were comfortable with and topics that were new for them. I used strategies that they could use with their teachers. We focused at the very beginning of the workshop on their own stories and, in particular, stories of their own school experiences. They found this surprising and confusing at first (I was told later that no workshops begin that way here but that it was a good idea). After about 15 minutes, you could actually feel the shift and by the end, they really were having fun.
They were very comfortable with exploring the roadblocks to student learning. Like everybody around the world, talking about the difficulties seems to come naturally. The twist for them, however, was when I asked them to list all of the obstacles to educating ALL children. Since only 6% of the children graduate from high school, the obstacles are long in number and formidable in nature. They created a lengthy list. And, many worked hard to think about what they as school leaders were doing, or not doing, to help overcome the obstacles. Working in small groups makes it possible for them to be much more candid. Sharing in large group is very, very risky. So my morning requests for large group sharing were not very successful.
By lunchtime, with no benchmark to judge, I had no idea how it was going. Fortunately, two people, one Khmer and one Australian volunteer, whose opinions I value, told me that it was a very good beginning. So, my spirits lifted. After lunch, we explored two challenging topics: the difference between management and leadership and the notion of core values as the foundation of leadership. This was a leap because I had been warned that this was really new territory. And, indeed, it was.
Using small groups, teasing out the differences between management and leadership went well. However, being able to apply those differences by thinking of examples was quite hard. It occurs to me that moving to the application level of thinking skills is a very difficult process, one I take for granted, but one they have very limited experience with. For that matter, they have little to no experience in their own schooling with higher order thinking skills. Remember, most do not even have a high school education. And most teaching and learning in schools here is at the recall and comprehension levels only.
The final activity dealt with values. I thought I made a clear and cogent case that our values really are the foundation of our leadership. I explained what I meant by values and gave several examples of my own values and what they mean for my own leadership. I then asked them to think of their own values and share one or two with the members of their group. After what seemed like a very, very long time of blank stares and complete silence, I asked Sarik, the Khmer central office person from Takeo Province for help. He said, "I think there are two problems, one in translation and one in experience. The word values that we use here in Cambodia refers to the price or cost or worth of something. And the way you mean it is rarely discussed. But it needs to be discussed!" So, for the next fifteen minutes, Reaksmey, my translator, Sarik and Nick, the Australian volunteer engaged them in a very lively conversation in Khmer about what values are and that, in fact, all of them had them. It was a magical moment. I did not understand what was being said, but I sure felt the energy in the room as the light bulbs went on and people really "got it". We concluded with the "Core Values" activity from The Center For Ethical Leadership that I often do in the US and it was very, very powerful. And so we ended on a very upbeat note.
Since the workshop, I have been visiting the principals at their schools in the three provinces. I spend a half-day in each of the schools. It has been a wonderful opportunity to build relationship and trust and for both the principal and I to learn together. They are so hungry to learn and so willing to engage in conversation. The visits to schools begin sometime between 4 or 5 am, depending on how far we have to travel. If we are traveling from Phnom Penh to Kampot Province, for example, we need lots of time. Highway 3 is very bad right now. The rainy season does wonderful things for the rice but horrible things to the roads, so going 40 km can take over an hour. The back roads can be even worse. Typically, Kim (the driver), Reaksmey (the translator) and I arrive around 8 am at the first school. The farther out in the countryside, the stranger it seems to the children to have a car arrive with two Khmer men and one tall, white, bald and bearded "old" man. As we get out, they stare quite wonderingly at this strange scene.
The principal, Nob Samnang, at Ang Rokar School in Takeo Province is the taller of the two Khmer men. The other man is a deputy chief (asst. supt.) of the local school district who had come to greet me. Of course, I am the white guy.
Within a minute or two, the principal comes out to greet us, along with any other folks who want to participate in the conversation with the foreigner. We typically look at the grounds of the school for a brief period, and then go to the office for conversation. After about an hour and a half, we tour the school and then return for more discussion. The whole process takes about four hours. The conversations vary in depth and complexity depending on the background and motivation of the principal. Most are enthusiastic and highly motivated, but not so knowledgeable about the implications of leadership. Many are very skilled managers. The school environment is clean and beautiful, the books are ordered, reports completed on time, schedules made efficiently etc. A few really are "natural" leaders. The way they are inspires people. None of the principals, however, have had the opportunity to think about, read about, or discuss the practice of leadership. So, most all of them participate in the conversations with great zeal.
Teacher, Ang Rokar School in Takeo Province.
I always begin by asking them if they would be willing to tell me their story. I am interested both in their own personal story and in the story of their school. As in most places, it is a wonderful way to build relationship quickly. We have met each other in the workshops, but these face-to-face encounters prove to be a powerful way to really come to know each other. I ask questions about their families, the other significant people in their lives, their career steps etc. Those who were alive during the Khmer Rouge time, have stories that are hard to talk about and difficult to hear. I am amazed at the different ways people approach this part of their life story. Some pass over it very quickly, others speak in great detail. For the ones who were adults during that time, it almost always brings tears. And I sit and listen as deeply and respectfully as I can. I am aware that nothing in my life can really help me understand the horror of that time. I am always left in awe at the resiliency of the human spirit.
Many of the questions that I ask are extensions of the workshop. We discuss the parts of the workshop that they did not understand too well. We discuss the article that they are reading for the next workshop. I try to help them personalize what it is they do that is real leadership. What are their actions and ways of being that truly inspire children and adults? We talk about their core values and how they translate them into practice. And I ask about their hopes for the future of their school (vision) and for the future of education in Cambodia.
Shoes at the library door
Many of the principals are discouraged by how little teachers get paid and how this influences their motivation to teach well and improve their practice. How do you motivate or inspire people making $25 a month and must have additional jobs to survive? These are hard conversations because I am not sure I have any answers either. If any of you have some thoughts about this, I really, really would appreciate hearing from you. Life at the survival level requires some ways of leading that I know about, but so much that I don't. Often I feel quite inadequate. And, at other times, what I know about leadership practice is just what they think will work. Every day, at every school, I learn more how to help. I probably will get really good at it just in time to leave!
Kids playing a jumping game using attached rubber bands as the line to jump over. I first saw this game on the playgrounds of schools where I was principal in the early 80's. It was brought to the US, I think, by the refugee children from Cambodia, Viet Nam and Laos.
They have questions for me about teacher supervision, about gaining resources and about other parts of the workshop. When the end of the conversation arrives, it feels like we just began. We schedule the next visit and then Kim, Reaksmey and I leave for the next school. The process in the afternoon is similar. If we are far away from Phnom Penh, we spend the night at a guesthouse and visit two more schools the next day. We may be gone from Phnom Penh for two to three days at a time. This schedule of workshops and school visits will continue through April 2004. After that, I may do similar work with urban principals serving very poor communities in Phnom Penh. But that is not a "sure thing. "
The principal (Ngin Thou) and some of his staff at Trang Ko School in Kampot Province. The principal is the shortest one. The taller young man in the back is my translator, Kim Reaksmey, and the rice paddies behind them completely surround the school. (remember that in Cambodian names, the first name is the family name, our last name).
I would love your feedback. My purpose in writing this journal is both an opportunity to put thoughts and feelings in writing, and the opportunity to get advice, counsel, and suggestions from readers. So, as I said earlier, if anyone is reading this and has a few words, I would really appreciate hearing from you.
You may email John Morefield at jmore44@yahoo.com.
© November 2003 New Horizons for Learning
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