Guiding information 8.4: Preparing to practice a professional conversation

Ask your colleague to use the following guide to conduct a ‘professional conversation’ with you. He/she will need to ask some questions and respond appropriately to what you say. They will also need to move the conversation on when time runs out. You will be doing most of the talking, not your colleague. The professional conversation will last for no more than 1 hour.

Plan for a professional conversation

Introduction by the Local Leader of Learning : Welcome to this professional conversation. The aim of the conversation is to hear about the course you have been doing and some of your learning and how you have applied it in the school. It will last for no more than 1 hour. (About 2 minutes)

Leading question from the Local Leader of Learning:

Tell me what is in the portfolio you have gathered? (About 5 minutes)

Leading questions from the Local Leader of Learning on the competencies (5 minutes each):

  1. This course has obviously involved a great deal of work. Can you tell me how your working relationship with the Head Teacher has developed through this course?
  1. How has your relationship with other School Middle Level Leaders been made stronger through the course?
  1. How have you worked with others to strengthen cooperation and teamwork?
  1. What have you done to model good practice and work with others?
  1. How did you work with others to challenge and support thinking and practice to ensure continuous school development?
  1. Can you give me a few examples of when you gave appropriate and specific feedback to colleagues?
  1. Did you identify priorities with others and how did you plan to address them?
  1. Could you give me some examples of when you used data in this course for planning, monitoring and evaluation?
  1. How did you record meetings so that key points were captured for future use?
  1. How did you promote the development of learning communities through this course?

 Conclusion by the Local Leader of Learning:  Thank you for telling me about your course. It is good to know that you have learnt so much and used your learning to benefit the school and colleagues. I wish you well in the future. (About 3 minutes)