“Love is the most durable power in the world” –Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Today’s blog is the second in a series of the foundational characteristics of the New Operating System in Education. The first installment was last week and discussed hope as the first defining characteristic of the new OS of education. Three years ago, a teacher walks out…
Tag: education reform
Hope and the New Operating System of Education…4 Questions to Start Your Journey
“No ‘advanced educator’ can allow themselves to be so absorbed in the question of what a child ought to be as to exclude the discovery of what he is.” –Jane Addams A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about how the dominant operating system of education is broken. Over the next few Tuesday’s I will delve further into that…
4 Steps to Find Innovation in Your Schools
“It’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking, than think your way into a new way of acting.” Jerry Sternin This blog is meant specifically for teachers, principals and superintendents. I am beseeching all of you heroically engaged in these positions to take 15 minutes from your busy day and do what is suggested in this…
4 Mantras Superintendents Use to Give Themselves Permission to be Pioneers in Education
The duties of a superintendent can easily overwhelm a person. Most superintendents start as teachers working with students every day in their classroom. The progression from the classroom to the boardroom includes many stops along the way. In my case, I became a high school guidance counselor then a high school principal before I accepted my first superintendency. I know…
The Operating System of Education is Broken
The following is an excerpt from a forthcoming book I hope to finish this year. I also recently read a great article that reinforced my thinking on this topic. Please take the time to go to https://goo.gl/CwzLQX and read a perspective on the “achievement gap” that is thought provoking by Dr. Camika Royal. The importance of the underlying “operating system”…
2 Ways Future-Focused Superintendents create Innovation
Future-focused superintendents create habits that lead to their success. Creating a “space” where educators take the time to think about their practice and the implications for their communities is a vital aspect of a future-focused superintendent. If you are not careful, you will find yourself “ping-ponging” from one activity or crisis to another throughout the day. The opposite of this…
5 Leadership Hacks for Rural School Superintendents
Do you sometimes wonder what the “pulse” of your school district is? Have you ever been blindsided by a problem and asked yourself, “How did I miss that?”. Everyone who has been a superintendent in a rural school has asked themselves that question at some point. Incorporate the following leadership hacks into your routine and you will not have to…
How to Lead a Superintendent Book Study
Today’s post is the first installment in an intermittent series entitled “The Visionary Superintendent”. The goal of the series is to highlight practices that any superintendent can undertake to build capacity within their instructional staff and leadership team. The foundational principle is that educators must take control of the narrative of their profession and design local solutions to local problems.…