There is plenty of discussion about what the 21st Century means for teaching and learning, but the notion of leadership in education is also in need of close examination, which is why Dr. McLeod’s Leadership Day, Leadership Day 2009, is so intriguing to me.
Leaders are never content with their status as a leader, learner, and teacher. As John F. Kennedy said, “leadership and learning are indispensable to each other” and I believe that is a core tenant of anyone identified as a leader: a life-long learner growing deeper and broader intellectually, listening deeply, and leading through inquiry, passion, and community.
Through distributed and servant leadership, administrators keep community at the center where relationships and the collective intelligence are leveraged for success for all. As leaders, the community works towards a common vision with openness, honesty, and courage.
As John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” While these words of wisdom are timeless, the hierarchical model that still dominates public education makes words such as these void of anything more than empty promises hanging on the walls in administrative offices.
So what is needed? leader as architect? servant leadership? distributed leadership? transformational leadership? connective leadership?
All of the above but with one major twist: action, substance, and practicality that SHOW you are a transformational architect that fosters the development and growth of a model, dynamic learning community:
- Promotion and demand for deep learning, collaboration, and community
- Development and implementation of common values, principles, practices, and profiles
- Fostering innovation (risk-taking and creativity) and pushing obstacles out of the way so all can thrive
- Instilling transparency and cooperation across the organization
- Creating interdisciplinary mindsets
- Triangulating all decisions: research, theory, and practitioner narratives
- Seeking continuous improvement in teaching, students achievement, and quality of relationships
- Growing accustom to a continuous cycle of relevant change, exploration, and reflection
- Courage to challenge, question, prod, and provoke
- Balancing content knowledge, skills, and habits/dispositions
As an educator and professional, there is no greater feeling than being part of a school committed to learning, dedicated to the whole child, and determined to be a model of success in education. By motivating, connecting, and leveraging interdependently, leaders can make this a reality by bringing together the strengths of the organization to continuously stretch to new heights.
Albert Einstein stated that “to raise new questions, new problems, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination and makes real advances”. With the daily grind and political nature of leadership, too many days go by without moving creative imaginations together towards powerful, effective, and exciting advances in teaching and learning.
Education needs transformational learning architects that efficiently manage NOT quality managers that hope to maintain the elusive status quo – it simply is no longer acceptable or responsible to seek managers for instructional leadership roles. After all, organizations are either progressing or regressing.
The question for organizations: who are you hiring? The question for current leaders: are you promoting progression or regression? The question for future leaders: what type of leader will you be?
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cc licensed flickr photo by Will Lion: http://flickr.com/photos/will-lion/3122985100/
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Thanks so much for discussing this topic. There are so many thought provoking posts in the stream. I am currently an elementary school Physical Education teacher as well as serving as the lead teacher for the building. I absolutely love teaching and connecting with students, and also value the opportunities to teach and lead colleagues. I am being nudged more and more each day by my administrators and other people of influence to strongly consider the opportunity of becoming a Principal within the county. I feel like teaching in the classroom/gym everyday is what I was born to do, so I’m a little torn. I am currently a graduate student at Walden University with a specialization in Teacher Leadership. I really appreciate the insight on your blog and certainly plan to make return visits for more valuable information.
I especially like your last few questions!
Who are your hiring??
It is becoming more and more apparent to me that the change in schools — to be more vibrant, more questioning, more challenging, more “glocal” (as you have said), and just not the same old 19th century learning — is not going to happen with current staff. (At least at many of the schools which i have observed.)
Change is going to happen when new people enter the mix.
So I agree with your question — who are you hiring? and why?? Are you looking for new ideas, new blood, a new mix-up of creativity — or are you using the same guidelines for hiring that you did 20 years ago.
Good things to think.
Thank you for your post.
Jen
Ryan (and Jen), just a quick point about the hiring question…it assumes that there is great choice in hiring. That’s only true in some privileged communities. In most urban and rural communities, the pool of candidates for any given position is not very deep at all.
Jon:
It is a relevant point and much the reason I ask future leaders what they want to be. As you know, there is a shortage of administrators and I believe schools need to start building capacity in those they see as having the qualities needed to be a great leader.
Obviously, we continue to see districts that are “better off” getting the top choice of leaders. However, it does still beg the question of what even the best districts are looking for in leadership: someone to maintain the status, manage the status, or propel to new heights.
The question also remains for rural and urban schools — who exactly are you looking to hire? What is the profile of leadership that you believe to match the needs of the community?
Is it possible that education largely attracts and retains people who are not risk takers? Thus the pool from which to choose is limited from day 1. Additionally, given local control, emphasis on test scores, and parents whose vision is restricted to how they learned when they went to school, the climate for change looks pretty bleak. Yet, some few institutions have changed through a mandate to improve poor performance (i.e. change was not an option). Or they have CHOSEN to change because of a vision that originated from a critical mass or from that rare transformational leader. So what does it take to get started? Certainly a nurturing leader who supports risk taking is a n important catalyst. And a critical mass helps too. Maybe the critical mass nudges the more conservative leader to take a few calculated risks?? I’m with Jen that not many innovators reside inside schools. So maybe we need to band together, find our best spokespersons, and become a small but critical mass inside our institutions to lead the way. It sure ain’t happening without us!
Ryan, is there a shortage of administrators? There’s NOT a shortage of folks who qualify for the position (i.e. have administrative endorsement), but are you suggesting that schools are under-administered?
And, while I agree with your point about even the most well-off communities, in the current policy climate of standards and accountability, what incentive is there for a school board in a community where “outcomes” are good to hire leaders who say they want to do things differently?
You are correct — there isn’t a shortage of those that qualify for the title but I would say there is a shortage of quality administrators. There are wonderful teacher leaders that have little to no ambition for “official” leadership roles. Why?
Also, those that have gone through the process, we need to do a better job of building their skill set when they enter the field.
As for your final thought, interesting take and one I have no answer other than the thought that it takes a community to want it. The board represents the voice of the community and then you have the school community itself. Who does the hiring – not the official sign the contract but the actual hiring process to get to the recommendation? Those people have to want it and the only motivation for those that feel they are great is that complaceny is not in the best interest of anyone especially students.
Howard:
You raise excellent points that spin this conversation into quite relevant directions. I do believe education attracts those not comfortable with risks. Many teachers are former “great” students that loved school. Thus, they bring decades of values and beliefs that are not the norm for many of the students in the classroom. These teachers are future administrators so the tradition continues and as you said, the community also wants what they experienced especially if it was “good enough for me”.
Don’t get me wrong. It does works in some schools but that raises many questions about why it works in some schools.
Most important and a point that has had me rethinking some of my own thoughts is your point about getting started. I don’t want the agenda set for us but I’ve always pointed to getting the right leadership in place with the belief that the right educators are already there. Your point about the critical mass is altering my stance in the sense that maybe it takes but a VISIBLE, TRANSPARENT ripple to get started.
As long as that critical mass remains open and visible, I can see something really positive happening. My only fear is that pressure and fear leads this critical mass to close their doors and become one room schoolhouses.
As always, great thoughts!
Ryan,
You provide exciting food for thought! Innovation starts in small pockets–ripples, as you say–and is nutured and grown. One of the many jobs of a leader is to find the pockets and ripples, make them VISIBLE (your idea), and encourage/spotlight/reward on-going innovation. In a bureaucracy, though, the necessity to have SOP’s and the fear of risk-taking often extinguishes the excitement and growth of innovation. It’s hard to build critical mass under those conditions.
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