Creating school communities in which everyone is known and valued

In a blog post about Steve Jobs’ pursuit of excellence, which included a thorough understanding of his customers, Jim Knight writes, “. . . like Jobs, teachers can strive to have a deep understanding of their students’ hopes, fears, and expectations.

To that end, Knight suggests that teachers ask questions of students, and his post provides lists of possible questions based on grade level.

In my experience, people want to be known for who they are, no matter their age. That is true across the generations.

Hospice patients tell me that they want their grandchildren and even generations yet unborn to know who they were as people. Children also want to be known for who they are, for their interests and strengths, and for their overall uniqueness.

Teachers are more likely to make the effort to get to know all of their students and their families, I believe, when they feel known and valued within their school communities.

Creating school cultures in which everyone feels known and appreciated for who they are is therefore a primary responsibility of principals and teacher leaders.

The leader’s role in creating resilient schools

The January 7, 2013 issue of the New Yorker features an article (“Adaptation”) about ways that cities can adapt to climate change (unfortunately, the article is not available without a subscription). The solutions fall into two broad categories.

• “Climate proof cities” – restore wetlands; upgrade infrastructure related to power, transportation, and communication; and build gates and other barriers.

• Cultivate human resilience in the face of an adversity that will be with us for the foreseeable future.

As an example of such resilience the story describes two adjacent “hyper-segregated” communities in Chicago during a 1995 heatwave that killed 739 residents of the city.

While the communities had similar demographics, one had 33 deaths per hundred thousand residents while the other had three per thousand, which made it far safer that even most of the affluent neighborhoods in the city.

Various studies illuminated the source of this resilience in the safer neighborhood and in other settings and, as result, “. . . governments and disaster planners are recognizing the importance of social infrastructure: the people, places, and institutions that foster cohesion and support,” Eric Klinenberg, the article’s author, notes.

Resilience is also a hallmark of successful schools, particularly those that serve students in communities challenged by high levels of poverty and unimaginable tragedies.

Social networks and connections are of universal value, but they take on even greater importance when organizations are stressed.

Consequently, a major responsibility of leaders is developing school cultures that enhance the relationship-based resilience already found within schools and in their surrounding neighborhoods.

To that end, successful principals and teacher leaders promote a sense of common purpose and mutual support within classrooms and schools, form strong bonds with families and community organizations, and create or strengthen already existing teacher teams and networks.

The results of such efforts, carefully nurtured over time, prepare school communities for both anticipated challenges and the unexpected events that can affect all schools without warning.

The power of human resilience

 

Evil is powerful.

Human resilience is even more powerful.

That belief sustains me through difficult times.

And it is sustaining me now through this time of great sorrow in Newtown and far beyond.