It’s an interesting era in our schools. It can be easy to believe the sky is falling depending on where you get your news. But there are beacons of great things happening in our schools all the time. And our task as school and community leaders is to build a school culture that teachers and students want to live in every day and have maximum impact. An atmosphere where people feel like they can’t miss school, because they can’t miss out on what interesting learning might happen today! We all hope to make everyone around us better…and this can only be done in a safe, thriving, happy (but always pursuing growth) culture. We can do this.
How, you ask? We close the gap between what we say is most important and what we are doing:
Engaging work…what humans do quite naturally is, if it’s work, they try to figure out how to do less. When it’s art…we want to do more. If we want our students and teachers to be passionate about their work in our schools and communities, following a script is part of the recipe, but not enough. We must create an environment conducive to problem solving and relevance…it has to matter to them. Play is frequently the display of creative energy. Take your work seriously, but not yourself. This doesn’t mean there isn’t the grind of hard work, or necessary tasks that simply aren’t much fun…but we can always choose how we do the work. I’ve been in education nearly 30 years now, and I have found that most teachers and students want some freedom to be themselves, serve a higher purpose, own their work, contribute, and find joy in each day.
Be present and share your stories. School has changed from the days of our youth, and longing for yesteryear or Mayberry won’t help us meet the needs of kids and community. There is always urgent and pressing work. But it’s nearly impossible to be a great school if we can’t be present in the moment and attentive to the needs of kids. This goes for all parts of our lives. Remember – students, teachers, and employees have lives outside of school, and like anyone reading this, they all have passions, struggles, victories and defeats. The world needs more people confident enough to share pieces of themselves with others, and more compassion for others. Don’t miss out on the activities and accomplishments of your own families. Families will be better for it and are a powerful example to be followed by our young people.
Recognize great effort, achievement, and compassion for others. A big part of our mission is to develop Pioneers who exemplify great effort, achievement, integrity, compassion, and are problem solvers. One key to the development of young people is when community-minded adults recognize their worth and development potential. The praise or recognition from others goes a long way toward young people becoming the people they are intended to be. Celebrate publicly as well. Clare Public Schools recognizes an MVP monthly, Educator and Support Employees of the Year, and call out courageous behaviors for recognition. We also have student advisory groups who help to inform the improvement of our schools.
Leadership is infinite, and it is for everyone. Be a leader who chooses to embrace change, but in manageable bites…Focus. All students and teachers WANT to achieve. That makes it our responsibility to provide opportunities and learning that will grow their skills, gifts, talents, and passions. This involves purposeful information gathering from my staff, and planning to provide for those needs. Transformational change often happens one conversation at a time. We have to nurture the idea that young people and our entire community can become all we are intended to be.
Encourage Dreams. Students and teachers don’t lie awake dreaming about following orders and complying. Obedience, for our kids and our staff, is not the path to an exceptional learning culture. Yes, everyone has a boss, and there are many valuable rules and guidelines. But thriving communities understand what school is for! Developing students and a staff that can cooperate is far more important than developing people who can comply. Communities are part “collecting” talent…but we’re exceptional when we lead by “connecting” talent. We recognize, reward, and grow from leaders who are persistent, creative problem solvers. Fitting in is a short-term strategy…we want leaders (young and experienced) who will s-t-r-e-t-c-h us, have a growth mindset, and understand that standing out is a long-term strategy.
The entire district and community benefits from our collective efforts. Everyone has a vested interest in making Clare a great place to live and learn!