As someone who thinks constantly and deeply about working class politics, I entered PLI with more of a macro level leadership approach to social justice. What I discovered these past months is that it is as important to have a solid understanding of how to orient the micro-politics of a school site toward shared leadership and democratic decision making. Schools are their own ecosystems but this does not mean they must reproduce the kind  hierarchical boss vs. worker dynamic (administrator vs. teacher dynamic) so common in most workplaces.  I have also  learned that  making space for workers to engage in dialogue and discussions about topics fundamental to learning is an essential component of  social justice leadership. Topics like collectively defining learning, success, the purpose of schooling etc. are the foundation to co-creating a more expansive vision of education with school stakeholders. Before PLI, I did not ever think about the importance of engaging in group conversations with other educators on such topics, but now I see they are very important for cultivating a social justice culture at a school site. 

For the last three years my leadership development has mostly been limited to labor organizing. Since being in PLI, I have found that there are many parallels between labor organizing and equitable leadership. The leadership skills I have cultivated as a UTLA chapter chair at my site have centered on building relational trust amongst other workers because this is essential for building buy-in and involvement in union campaigns. In this role I have learned to facilitate meetings, organize parent meetings and school pickets. My involvement in UTLA had kept me very busy and left me with little time to devote to other school leadership opportunities. PLI , however, helped me to confidently transfer the leadership skills I had developed as a labor organizer to the reciprocal learning partnership project I facilitated as part of my direct field work experience. Asking folks to participate in my leadership project and CALAPA assignments taught me to be less afraid of working with other folks at my school. I learned that school change requires teamwork not siloed labor by individuals acting alone. As a result of this year, I have become more confident applying my leadership skills outside of labor organizing. I have become more attune to the nuances that come with working with other adults and the importance of considering the multiple perspectives and positionalities of those I work with. 

My leadership project largely focuses on working with parents, something I had done before, but not very well. While building relational trust with other teachers is important, my direct field work has illuminated the importance of also cultivating parent partnerships and family agency at a school. Parents have ideas and the ability to exercise leadership at school sites as well. Interrogating how to create an environment that cultivates leadership not only in teachers and students, but also parents have become central questions that have helped me to understand what skills are required of a social justice oriented school leader.

My perspective on leadership has not changed much since starting PLI, except I have learned that it is important to center dialogue with school stakeholders to arrive at school solutions that minimize marginalization and promote equity. Prior to applying to PLI, I had taken a salary point class to learn about Teacher Powered School. This course, taught by an assistant principal at my school,  really set me up to understand the social justice principles central to  PLI and I am thankful that it gave me a background on alternative models for structuring schools more democratically. Though PLI did not necessarily change my perspective on democratic leadership, it has enhanced my understanding of what it takes to lead collectively and what would be the initial considerations for establishing a social justice culture as an administrator on a new school site. I am leaving PLI firmly believing that leadership is a collective endeavor, not an individual one. Leadership does not mean making decisions alone but sharing power and creating an environment and encourages all stakeholders to be leaders as well.  

For me, this whole experience was challenging and at times I was not sure that I would be able to complete all that was asked of me. I have always had a hard time asking my co-workers for favors, knowing that so many have a lot going on and other roles at this school. My PLI assignments forced me to put myself out there and ask my work colleagues to collaborate and was pleasantly surprised by how many of them were interested and willing to work together. As I mentioned in my leadership write-up this year was particularly fraught at my school site as the end of Covid Funding has led to the elimination of many positions and co-workers getting displaced. This really made it hard to recruit Folks for my RLP project because so many of my original members were affected. At a time when their job security was so uncertain, I could not ask them to do more.

A big success of my efforts I think was re-establishing in person group meetings between teachers and families at our school. The pandemic put a halt to teacher collaboration with parents but my work this year has illuminated that parents really long for informal opportunities to be in communion with each other and other school stakeholders. As a result of my RLP, the school social workers and I have begun to establish an informal parent support group that we hope to continue developing in the years to come. Although our turnout has been low, we are hopeful that our group will be another way to welcome and support parents. We also hope that eventually, this group will evolve into being a parent led one that operates autonomously.

Although I am wrapping up my coursework, I do not feel that my PLI journey is over and I very much look forward to continuing to grow via the FORUM group that meets monthly. This coming year I am taking on the role of Instructional Lead Teacher which has a three year term. This will be space in which I can put into practice more concretely all that I have learned in PLI. To be honest, I am nervous about taking on this role because I wish for my grade level team to take our collaborative efforts to the next level but I look forward to serving my school community in this new role nonetheless. I have also committed to being a COTSEN Foundation Fellow for the next two years and I am very excited to learn and improve my classroom practices with the help of my school’s Instructional Coach. I think this experience will definitely help more deeply understand how to approach Instructional Coaching and I know I will learn a great deal from observing my school’s Instructional Coach. I think in terms of labor organizing, I am trying to establish structures and systems that will enable  shared leadership in my UTLA chapter, something I didn’t understand before PLI. 

Given the current climate in LAUSD, I do not think I will have the opportunity to utilize my administrative credential in a formal capacity. I do see myself as eventually taking on the role of Assistant Principal one day, but not before working for many years as some kind of coordinator. Before then, I hope to continue growing my leadership in the areas of collaboration, democratic decision making, instructional coaching and parent engagement.