The Indigo Schools Framework

Transforming potential into performance, lasting excellence and a new future.

Six Phases of School Evolution

 

  • The Six Phases describe the evolution of a school from an industrial model of education to future-ready. The phases allow you to pinpoint exactly where your school is now, and what interventions are needed to realise a new and exciting future of student progress, achievement and realisation of potential.

  • The evolution of your school is characterised by continuous improvement, which manifests in two forms: incremental improvement and  transformation. Transformation disrupts current practices and displaces or absorbs them in a new way of operating that is exponentially better for your students, staff and community.

  • We teach you how to recognise and nurture the high-performing teachers and teams who will drive the evolution of your school. Learn how to effectively guide and support staff with energy and ambition into seasoned professionals who are stable in a crisis.

 

A school is a live operating system, more like a living organism than a mechanical model. Each part is critical to the health of the system, and a problem in any one part detracts from the health of the whole.

Five Levels of Work

Five levels of problem-solving and decision-making complexity exist within a school, and these are based on the most important problems that must be solved and decisions made in each. 

Your role as a leader is to guide your school to evolve to a new future and optimise student progress and achievement. Identifying the key points of focus and the relationships between each level of work is fundamental to your success.

The five levels of work allow every member of the school community, regardless of their role, to take responsibility for the work that they perform.

Securing needs, exploring interests, leveraging potential.

Five Critical Questions

These questions align authority and accountability across all five levels of work. It is important to be as clear as possible about exactly what the outcomes to be achieved in every role and level of work are, providing clarity of purpose and direction.

  • What does my work mean?

    Is my purpose and direction clear? Is the purpose of my work and the direction I must take to get it done to a high standard clear?

  • Do I know what to do?

    Do I know what I must do to make progress towards the achievement of my objectives and results I am committed to delivering?

  • Do I know how to do it?

    Do I know how to create a pathway from where I am to where I want (or need) to be and follow it?

  • How is my performance measured?

    How is my progress tracked and how will my performance and achievements be measured?

  • How am I called to account?

    What are the outcomes of meeting, exceeding or failing to meet the standard for measuring my progress and achievements, and who must I account to for my performance?

A school’s primary focus is to create the conditions in which student progress and achievement is prioritised and optimised.

Seven Operational Dimensions

 

  • The seven operational dimensions most strongly influence the quality of a school’s offerings and services. They are interconnected and interdependent, and are essential to any healthy education and learning system.

  • This includes curriculum design, shaping and delivery of assessment, reporting and record-keeping. The seven dimensions translate the school’s values into action and a commitment to improvement as the norm in all school activities, while ensuring alignment with the school’s Mission and effecting excellence in the performance of school operations. 

  • Three dimensions that focus on inspiring a love of learning cohere in what we have dubbed the ‘Golden Triangle’. This concerns the meaning of the contribution made in each level of work, the context of the work, and the changes in it that are a key feature of continuous improvement.

The Indigo Schools Framework provides a model for how to achieve operational excellence in schools.

The Dynamic Cycle of Work

The Dynamic Cycle guides capable people to address complex problems in the world of learning and work, and in the roles they will play throughout their lives. 

  • Step 1: Analyse

    Clarify the question that will be answered, what might be done to solve the problem, and how we can get to where we can overcome it. Further progress to a solution and the outcomes that must be achieved are examined.

  • Step 2: Design a Solution

    Investigate what has been done to solve similar problems in the past. The focus then turns to designing a plan that is expected to be the best in the circumstances and situation.

  • Step 3: The Plan

    This will be used as the guide in implementing the solution and how appropriate it is in the circumstances. When problems are complex and several people are involved, the planning process often requires addressing issues such as feasibility, affordability, replicability and sustainability. 

  • Step 4: Execution

    This is closely monitored to make sure that progress is taking place on time and meeting required targets. The success of the design, plan and implementation usually leads immediately to addressing the next important problem and starting the new cycle that inevitably follows.