Resilient Leader

As I navigate the evolving role of the principal, it is important to remain resilient.  Criticism, defamation, and destructive forces will accompany any decision, mission, and/or direction.  Boards change, directors change, superintendents and principals change, and so forth, and this change causes both an opportunity for new and refreshing ideas and the uncomfort of changing the course(s).

I know parents, teachers, and administrators want the best for their students and their schools.  Boards want to be proud of the accomplishments and direction of the school community.  Employers and colleges want students ready to solve problems and work in teams.  Are you serving these expectations?  Do you help support ideas in which foster the development of problems solvers, critical thinkers, and collaborators?  These questions must be considered throughout the year.  Furthermore, the essential questions which guide your leadership and decision making should be obvious to the students and staff in your building.  Not because you tell them, but instead because you consistently use them to influence your decisions.

Remain resilient and steadfast to your core beliefs and mission.  Some will try to bring you down.  You are human and the criticism will impact you.  "If you want to walk fast, walk alone.  If you want to walk far, walk with others." - Burkina Faso.  Use the people around you to make sure you are in this for the entire journey.  We need you to lead and we need you to stay.  Be resilient!

Structural versus Behavioral Change

I was fortunate enough to be at a conference to hear Dr. Anthony Muhammad speak about school culture. He gave a different look on education that opens your eyes to changes we make. Many are structural changes that are purposed to change adult and child behaviors. Such as, block scheduling, dress code, common planning time, etc. All of these structural changes cannot work if we do not address the behavior of the adults and children.

Block scheduling is suppose to give students and teachers more time on task. The change agents would want the teachers to provide intervention and enrichment during the class period. But, if that is the desired outcome, was it addressed? More often, it is not. We put the structure in place and it doesn't produce the desired outcome.

Dress codes are designed to make the climate of the school more professional. A leadership group in conjunction with the community and board of education come together to make a dress code or uniform code that will increase student achievement. But, if a student is out of code, then we punish them by making them miss educational opportunities by putting them in "In-school suspension." The structure change doesn't match the desired behavioral change.

This could go on and on with examples. So, the next time you want to change a behavior be sure to analyze whether the change will get the desired behavior. Do not be afraid to address the behavior, only then will you become a change agent.