I am planning on attending an Edcamp for leadership next week, which has caused me to reflect upon my administrator/teacher experiences of the past. There was once a time in education, not too long ago, that all discussions about education were led and controlled by those who led and controlled the very schools in which education took place. Building, or district administrators could pretty much control the flow of education information based on their personal education philosophies, as well as their exposure to the latest education ideas and methodology available to them. What was relevant and what was status quo? What was progressive education philosophy, and what was fad or trend? We counted on administrators to lead the way in informing us. That was in fact part of why they were hired and held their positions, to direct the educators below them. That was all part of the system.
This would work very well, as long as the administrator stayed informed, relevant, and was opened to sharing with a faculty open to that direction. This of course was the shiny side of the coin. The other side offered an irrelevant administrator steeped in the past centuries of education and leading the faculty to make no waves in an atmosphere of status quo.
In my career I served under both types of administrators. I thrived under the relevant and struggled with the supporters of status quo. One constant in education however, is that the career lifespan of most administrators is usually short. They move on in order to move up, so waiting them out became the desired answer for the bad, and the dreaded end for the good.
The problem for educators was in not knowing what was good and what was bad. Getting to the outside world of education conferences and collaboration did not come easily to teachers. It was expensive and periodic. Teachers were needed in the classroom, which limited their conference availability. This strengthened the teacher reliance on administrator leadership. There was very little transparency as we have come to know and appreciate it today.
Social Media today has changed this dynamic. An idea in education may come from any educator, regardless of title. Ideas are considered on their own merit and not just by who put the idea forward. Of course it does help if thought leaders support an idea. The point is that the thought leaders are teachers as well as administrators, and authors. It is the open collaboration, and transparency of ideas that test their viability. Teachers and administrators can openly question and discuss things on a scale never before afforded to us. We are not limited to the successes and failures of our own buildings, but we can sample responses and results on a national or even global scale.
This places greater pressure on the leadership in education to maintain relevance if they are to lead educators who now have the ability at anytime to call on experts and question authority. Administrators need to better reflect on ideas and involve a more informed faculty in decision-making. They should also keep in mind that the same collaboration of education ideas works equally well in publicly sharing accomplishments and failures. We all need to strive to be better in order to create and maintain positive digital personas based on our accomplishments and positive interactions with other educators. Our world has become much more transparent and in many ways much more democratic. We need more educators exercising their participation in this process.
What a GREAT article!! I truly hope my new administrator becomes a connected one who values everyone’s ideas. Maintain relevance!
Very thought provoking – calls to mind something Larry Ferlazzo wrote in a 2012 post about the 8 things great teachers do, think, say (applies to edleaders as well – though, as you correctly point out in this post, leadership isn’t tied to title) – “Power is not a finite pie.” The more we share and the more inclusive/transparent we all are about our practice (teachers, admin, etc.) the more we empower a culture of trust, respect, healthy conflict. E.g., by sharing these things, we are not “giving up” power – we’re adding to the power of the collective.
David Culberhouse also posted recently about “hoarders” – a mindset that is counterintuitive to good leadership (schoolwide and in the classroom) but still a problem that keeps all of us from staying relevant and being the best we can be for the sake of all students. Thank you!
[…] I am planning on attending an Edcamp for leadership next week, which has caused me to reflect upon my administrator/teacher experiences of the past. There was once a time in education, not too long… […]
Finding every single word of this post truly meaningful. I’m on the edge between being a teacher and a principal (should start on the admin side in few weeks) and I’ll print this post to be on my new office wall to never forget the need to stay connected and to value the connectedness and contribution of my educators stuff to-be. Also will share it with some colleagues (both teachers and principals) to spread the effect. Hope you don’t mind if this will happen in far-away and world-irrelevant Italy… 😉
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A welcome post – revolutionary ideas come from the most unsuspecting places.. Breaking the link between the status quo and resistance to change is where the challenge lies.
Indeed, distributed and transformational leadership is critical to schools / education, given the context, challenges we face and political landscape. A word of caution, I would never presume to put all of the teachers (at varying places in their careers, at varying and dynamic levels of development, w/ valuable and varying belief systems and values) I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside and support over the span of my career, into two categories, status quo / relevant or otherwise. I find this type of categorizing very limiting to understanding the complex work of teaching, learning and leading in our schools.
Thanks so much for sharing such insight into the new definition of leadership in education. One of the things I’ve most appreciated about social media- mostly Twitter- is that it has become a conduit for sharing and receiving ideas with inspiring educators: administrators, directors, and classroom teachers. We have a new superintendent and I was excited to see he is on Twitter! By this, he’s modeling relevance and encouraging educators in our district to be a part of this awesome opportunity to learn from and with our global community of educators.
[…] This applies not just to the senior leadership team but to every single unit within the school, from the English department to facilities and premises. For many head teachers team-building is all about getting relationships right and is a crucial first step to achieving their overall vision and ambitions for their schools. It's not just a matter of appointing the right staff to the right jobs. It's about developing good relations between the leadership, staff, pupils, parents and wider community. Connectedness and Transparency in Leadership | My Island View. […]