Collaboration V. Coordination Everything I am about to share with you is based on the work Dr. Hobart Harmon and Dr. Jerry Johnson are doing about this topic in rural schools and communities. In other words, the idea is not originally mine, although I have put my spin on it. When we think about “collaborating” as school leaders, what image…
I published a book in 2021 entitled School Leadership: Learner-centered leadership in times of crisis. At the time I wrote the book, the COVID crisis was in full swing, and the book was my humble attempt to help school leaders not only navigate the crisis but thrive in it. The book tells the story of a school leadership team navigating the…
School leaders must stop myopically thinking of themselves solely as instructional leaders. Instructional leadership at the Cabinet level is dead. That mindset is too narrow for the moment. We need to embrace a new frame…civic leadership. Civic leadership means recognizing that our role is not just to manage curriculum or improve test scores. It means understanding that we are one of the…
In the past few months, I’ve found myself advising several superintendents whose contracts were suddenly not renewed. This, despite leading districts with vision, professionalism, and deep community engagement. These weren’t struggling leaders. They were, by any fair measure, doing excellent work. They were learner-centered, collaborative, and committed to instructional leadership. Despite this, they were not renewed. It’s becoming increasingly clear…
On a podcast I was listening to recently, the concept of a “noble lie” was discussed. Since I don’t remember being exposed to the concept of a noble lie, I did some research…and it is fascinating. Fascinating because of the origins, but also because it made me think of the noble lies we tell ourselves in public education. In Plato’s…