As educators, we are all committed to leading for equity and excellence, which sometimes can feel like an overwhelming enterprise. We are rightfully concerned about the impact--emotionally, physically, and academically--on our students and our entire school communities. Yet, in the midst of the turmoil and uncertainty, we find opportunities: opportunities to recommit to and continue the work of equity and excellence we strive for always, and opportunities to discover, create and innovate in response to the current situation in ways that will help us better serve our students not just now, but in the future. At LLA, we are here to support and collaborate with school and district leaders spearheading these efforts every day.
As Dr. Theresa Perry has written about the purpose of learning in the African-American tradition: “You pursued learning because this is how you asserted yourself as a free person, how you claimed your humanity. You pursued learning so you could work for racial uplift, for the liberation of your people. You pursued education so you could prepare yourself to lead your people.”
To guide school leaders, Lynch Leadership Academy suggests that the following mindframes and guiding principles should drive our collective approach:
Root yourself in your moral imperative: In these times of unprecedented uncertainty, school leaders will undoubtedly face challenging decisions where the best path forward might be unclear or unknown, and in which there are competing ideas or priorities. Leaders should anchor their decisions to reflect their deeply-held values and unwavering commitment to equity.
Lead with empathy and awareness: Families, teachers, and students look for leadership in times of uncertainty. It is often tempting to take action to demonstrate leadership. Yet it is perhaps more important to listen carefully to others’ needs, feelings, and concerns and ask important questions to understand diverse perspectives. You are exercising leadership when you listen with empathy even if it is not a conventional leadership behavior in crisis. It is also important to be aware of yourself, to know your triggers and blindspots, and to respond rather than react to pressure from others to provide certainty in a time of ambiguity. Especially in these challenging times, taking care of others in your community with empathy and generosity of spirit is an aspect of effective leadership.
Foster the intellectual genius in every student: Now, as always, it is critical for leaders, teachers and other community members to maintain high belief in students and to focus on learning and thinking as the most important tasks of a school. First, leaders must strive to take every possible step to ensure equitable access to learning for all students. Then, even in virtual space, it is possible to acknowledge and treat students as apprentice intellectuals who are capable of making meaning of complex ideas and who can achieve at high levels in their academic work. Sparking and responding to students’ curiosity and wonder is one avenue we can take to ensure students feel known and valued.
Seek opportunity and think flexibly: A number of schools led by alumni from our Fellowship have found that remote learning has been an opportunity to collaborate in new and different ways with students, families, and faculty. Alumni have found that it is possible to foster deep collaboration around the nature of student learning, the role of the teacher and families in the learning of students and assessing learning for mastery. Most school improvement and change efforts require people to work together in new ways and so there are opportunities to rethink how time is used for collaboration, to reconsider the problems that need to be solved to improve the learning of all students, and to reimagine how to build communities committed to partnerships with families. Discoveries and innovations made now can have exponential benefit as we move forward together.