Integrating vulnerability and reflective practices in educational leadership: A framework for professional growth
Written by: Chris Passey
7 min read
CHRIS PASSEY FCCT, DEPUTY HEAD, KIMICHI SCHOOL; CO-FOUNDER, EDUPULSE, UK
Introduction
It is likely that leaders may find themselves in reflective and overly critical moods, where they’ve been confronted by their own failings and shortcomings either through being called out for it or through their own decoding of a situation that they knew they should have handled better. But how can you make these moments meaningful enough to learn from them and to increase a sense of professionalism?
In this article, I will argue that, perhaps, instead of taking all our individual errors as disconnected moments in time, related only by virtue of our making them, leaders should be considering them in the light of meaningful assimilation. If we take a previous error as relevant and existing knowledge and place our latest mistake in the position of new information, then leaders should be able to create new meaning and learn from their mistakes (Cottingham, 2023). By investigating how others view
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