A constant lament in schools and in workplaces in general is that there is no time – no time to implement changes, to generate new ideas, to engage in professional development or, indeed, to get on with the business of teaching.
And in the crowdedness of many schools, space is similarly at a premium. A new office is squeezed out of a broom cupboard (thus upsetting the cleaning staff); spare areas under the stairs are converted to learning spaces; big, shared staff rooms become the norm. Indeed, I have heard principals criticised for being preoccupied with bricks and mortar, when in fact their real goal was creating appropriately conducive learning and working conditions.
The time and space dilemma go hand in hand; no time to think and do; no space in which to think and do. One of the great challenges of leadership is finding creative solutions to maximise time and space. But the deeper conception of time and space is of empowerment and the provision of intellectual time and space which has a consequential enabling effect.