What will be your legacy?

“You are doing this not only for your children and grandchildren,” I explain to hospice patients and their families as we begin to plan a video of their life stories. “This video is for generations not yet born, those who will follow you but will never know you personally.”

The stories patients tell during the videotaping typically describe the events of their lives.

But they are also stories of legacy in which patients discuss the challenges they faced, the lessons they learned, and the wisdom they offer to future generations.

Educators also have legacies that begin to accumulate from their earliest days in the classroom or principal’s office. Sometimes we only learn of those legacies many years later when  students seek us out to tell us about the positive effect our words or actions had on their lives.

While some of our words and actions arise spontaneously in the moment, our legacies need not be totally left to chance.

We can intentionally affect our legacies by:

• Periodically reviewing the purposes and values that drew us to teaching and that may have continued to evolve since then.
• Reflecting on the extent to which our daily words and actions match those purposes and values.
• Preparing a “legacy statement” explaining the values and personal qualities we want to exemplify in our work. We can remind ourselves of our intentions each day by posting the statement in a planning book or by using digital tools. And we can further clarify and strengthen our commitment to those purposes by sharing these statements with others in the school community.

Whether we intend it or not, principals and teachers leave their mark on countless students across their careers.

By reflecting on the nature of the legacy we want to leave and by taking deliberate steps to cultivate those qualities in our lives, we are more likely at the end of careers to look back with satisfaction and to be able to articulate and offer our wisdom to those who follow.

Don’t fall into the knowing-doing gap!

Most of us know more than we do on a regular basis.

In our personal lives, we know more about a healthy diet than may be evident in what we choose to eat each day. We often know more about the value and techniques (and perhaps clothing) of exercise than we actually do exercise.

In our professional lives we are also likely to know more about leadership or about teaching than we regularly practice.

In addition, even when our intention is to learn and use new strategies, there is often a wide gap between our learning about that method and our implementation of it.

Some have called this phenomena the knowing-doing gap.

Here are several ways we can bridge that gap:

• Access prior knowledge. Before beginning a lesson good teachers usually determine what students already know about an area of study for both diagnostic and instructional purposes. Likewise, the knowing-doing gap can often be bridged by simply asking ourselves: “What do I know about this subject?” and then setting goals to do one or more of those things more consistently.

• Examine our assumptions. Sometimes we resist doing new things because they are based on assumptions that consciously or unconsciously contradict our current assumptions. For instance, we may resist new instructional practices that promise greater success for more students because of a previously unexamined belief that poverty and family background are more powerful forces than teaching methods.

• Embed learning in doing. Whenever possible, integrate the learning of new practices in situations that allow us to experience the practice firsthand, to identify implementation issues, and to consult with and receive feedback from leadership or instructional coaches.

Like most things that are important, closing the knowing-doing gap requires intention and persistence. It also requires that we recognize and celebrate the “genius” within us, a rich and readily-available resource that we can tap in a wide variety of circumstances.

The result of closing this gap will be the continuous improvement of leadership, teaching, learning, and relationships for the benefit of everyone in the school community.

 

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When we don’t pay attention, learning and relationships suffer

Learning requires attention. It only occurs when we are fully present. Understanding and learning require close attention to the development of ideas, particularly if those ideas are complex or nuanced.

Relationships also require attention. When we are not paying attention, we miss the subtleties of meaning and emotion.

Engagement is a common synonym for attention. Another is mindfulness.

Unfortunately, many people believe that it is possible to multitask—that is, to pay attention to an idea, to people, or to experiences while simultaneously paying attention to something else.

In fact, it’s not possible to pay attention to two things at the same time. While we can rapidly shift our attention back and forth, we often do so at a cost.

If the things to which we are attending are procedural (for instance, driving a car on familiar road), that cost may be minimal.

But when we multitask complex or unpredictable tasks (driving a car when an unexpected, dangerous situation suddenly arises), our performance drops and our understanding suffers. And when multitasking is habitual, our cognitive skills atrophy.

In addition, when people are one of the things we multitask, there is a cost to those relationships.

Pay close attention by:

• Acknowledging that multitasking affects our understanding, our learning, and/or our relationships.

• Turning away from computer screens or other distracting devices to give our undivided attention to the human beings in our presence.

• Removing devices from view at learning events and meetings where important ideas are being considered and decisions made, with the exception of those devices whose use is closely aligned with the purposes of the meeting. Stowing devices is not only a matter of basic courtesy to those who are speaking and to the subject at hand, but is essential to professional learning and making sound decisions. (Devices placed on one’s lap for easy viewing are not stowed.)

Just as texting while driving is distracted driving, texting, tweeting, and emailing in meetings instead of paying close attention to the subject at hand and the people in front of us could appropriately be labeled “distracted learning,” “distracted decision-making,” and “distracted relationships.”

The cost of such distractions, unfortunately, are ultimately born by students and the school community.

Improved teacher evaluation may be necessary, but it’s far from sufficient

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. – H. L. Mencken

The problems of teaching, learning, and school leadership are complex. Perhaps that is why policymakers often respond with solutions that are “clear, simple, and wrong.” Or at least wrong in part.

Recent efforts to strengthen teacher evaluation provide an example.

There’s no question that improved teacher (and principal) evaluation is desirable. Evaluation methods used in most places in recent years have done little to improve teaching, support struggling teachers, and identify and remove educators who are incompetent.

But the effects of improved processes of teacher evaluation will be minimal unless they are well integrated with:

• Well-trained classroom observers, evaluators, and peer assistance teams.

• Peer evaluation and mentoring of teachers in their first few years of employment to ensure that only competent teachers are admitted into the profession and that they begin their teaching careers on a solid footing.

• Sustained, high-quality professional learning with coaching targeted at high-priority school and school system student learning goals.

• Participation by all teachers on instructional teams that have as their primary purpose the continuous improvement of teaching and learning for all students.

• School cultures that promote innovation and experimentation and that surround all members of the school community with encouraging and helpful relationships.

• Skillful principals and teachers leaders supported by skillful system administrators.

Effective leadership at both the school and district levels will determine to what extent these elements are integrated into a coherent, high-quality program of career-long development that serves students, the school community, and the teaching profession.

Leadership 180: Speak With An Authentic Voice

We grant authority to people we perceive as “authoring” their own words and actions, people who do not speak from a script or behave in preprogrammed ways. 

—Parker Palmer

Leaders’ authentic voice is one of their most important leadership “tools.” Simply put, a leader’s voice is a clear and genuine expression of his or her intentions, ideas, beliefs, values, and emotions, a voice brought into every meeting, professional learning setting, and one-to-one interaction with teachers, parents, and students. Leaders have an authentic voice when they speak from their own heart and values rather than sounding as if they are reading from or acting out a script provided by others.

Today I will reflect on the extent to which what I really think and value on the inside is expressed to the outside world through my words and actions. I will identify ways to reduce any discrepancies I may find.

[This “meditation” is one of 180 (one for every day of the traditional school year) provided in Leadership 180: Daily Meditations on School Leadership. It is my most recent and I think best book, available as a Kindle book for $14.39, which is just 8 cents per day as a source of professional learning and encouragement in developing valuable new habits.]

 

5 ways to cultivate complex, intelligent behavior in schools

Have a simple, clear purpose which gives rise to complex, intelligent behavior, rather than complex rules and regulations that give rise to simplistic thinking and stupid behavior. –Dee Hock

One of the most important resources within school communities is the professional judgment of educators. Consequently, a touchstone of all education policy and practice is whether it enhances or diminishes professional judgment.

By professional judgment I mean an educator’s ability to synthesize and evaluate what they have learned from their experience, from professional reading and study (including research), and from the perspectives of colleagues and other members of the school community.

That synthesis is then used to make judgments, in collaboration with others, about possible courses of action based on criteria made explicit within the school community.

Professional judgment is strengthened:

1. when purposes are sufficiently clear, simple, and sustained over time so that they provide a standard for the exercise of professional judgment;

2. through reflection on the effectiveness of a course of action in achieving those purposes both in classrooms and schoolwide;

3. through professional learning processes that include rigorous intellectual activities such as close professional reading, writing, and dialogue;

4. when research is viewed as a tool to inform professional judgement rather than a mindless prescription for practice; and

5. when it is examined and developed in a professional community.

Skillful teaching and leadership are bundles of complex, intelligent behaviors, informed by complex, intelligent cognitive processes, which can only be developed when given abundant opportunities for meaningful application.

A special note: I value my readers. And because I want to extend the reach of ideas expressed in these essays, I encourage you to become a subscriber to this blog. 

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Creating school cultures with high levels of interpersonal accountability

Our promises create our lives. Our promises give life to our purposes and goals. Our promises move us into action… Life works to the degree we keep our promises. —Dave Ellis

Imagine a school in which:

• everyone spoke with candor and respect;

• agendas were on the table, not hidden;

• important conversations were conducted in meeting rooms rather than in parking lots;

• essential work was completed on time according to the agreed upon specifications; and

• meetings began and ended as scheduled with everyone present, prepared, and fully engaged.

For many educators, such a work setting would be beyond their imagination.

But cultures founded on integrity and accountability among members of the school community are attainable when leaders commit themselves to cultivating such habits in themselves and others.

In these schools: 

• interpersonal accountability replaces mandates and high-stakes testing as the primary motivating force in the continuous improvement of teaching and learning;

• teachers feel responsible to one another for the actions they take to steadily improve their work;

• teachers speak candidly about their perceptions and beliefs In team meetings and other learning and decision-making settings without fear of judgment or retribution; and

• teachers make and keep promises to one another about the actions they will take to improve the learning of all their students, in particular those students who have been unsuccessful in meeting agreed upon standards;

Leaders support the creation of such a culture by:

• consistently speaking with respect and candor;

• keeping their promises and expecting others to do the same; and

• not making promises they cannot keep simply because it is easier to say yes than it is to say no.

When leaders understand the positive energy generated through interpersonal accountability and their central role in creating it, they enable profound changes in the culture of schools.

Doing what we’ve never done

 To get what we’ve never had, we must do what we’ve never done.“ – Anonymous

While I deeply respect Anonymous, I would modify what he or she said in the following way: To create schools with high levels of learning for all students and in which all members of the school community feel supported, it is essential that leaders believe what they have not believed, understand what they have not understood, say what they have not said, and do what they haven’t done.

• Believe what they have not believed: It’s possible that one of the most difficult things for human beings to do is to surrender beliefs that no longer serve their most important purposes.

In my experience, educators are most likely to be alter their beliefs through dialogue that moves underneath the surface level of their assumptions and through experiences that perturb and eventually cause them to view the world in fresh ways.

• Understand what they have not understood: Deeper understanding usually requires more robust learning processes than those used in many school settings.

Such understandings are most likely to occur through the close reading of professional literature, writing to promote understanding, and protocol-guided activities that intensify learning.

• Say what they have not said: It means nothing if educators have changed their beliefs and deepened their understanding but don’t change what they say on a consistent basis. Saying new things always requires clarity and sometimes demands courage.

• Do what they have not done: Doing different things almost always means developing new habits. Replacing old habits with new ones requires intention, repetition, feedback, and persistence.

Taken together, those changes outline the desired outcome of leaders’ professional learning. They are essential if educators are to create schools in which all students learn at high levels and all members of the school community feel supported in fulfilling their unique responsibilities.

Learning until life’s end

We had finished. The hospice patient had told her life story and the video camera was turned off. She moved to a nearby chair where she looked out a large window at the softly falling snow.

Jean accepted a glass of wine, and I asked if I could take a seat across from her.

She had mentioned that social justice was important to her, and we talked a bit about its origins and how she continued to address it in this the 10th decade of her life.

“It’s a wonderful world when people will enjoy and share and love and care for one another,” she said.

She had mentioned earlier that she wrote poetry, and I asked about it.

She recited a two-line poem to me. I was confused about its source, and I asked if she had written it.

She said yes, and that she had done so recently. I asked her to repeat it. She recited again:

“The long, dark corridor of life narrows at the end./

And those whose ego grew too tall will have to learn to bend.”

I tell this story because I am often asked if it is possible for people who are older to learn new things. Usually the question is about teachers who are reluctant to adopt new practices.

But sometimes the question is about whether human beings can continue to learn throughout their lives.

Jean, other hospice patients, and the countless educators I’ve had the privilege to work with over decades have taught me that learning and growth are possible until the very end, whether than end is their career or their very lives.

I am very grateful for the gift of possibility and hope that they have given me.

Successful leadership requires effective management

How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply important to us, and keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves each day to be and do what really matters. –Stephen Covey

My simple definition of school leadership is creating with the school community that which does not now exist for the benefit of students.

But it’s also essential that principals and teacher leaders be able to manage, which I define as getting things done for both what now exists and for what is being created. It involves both management of self and of the complex system that is the schoolhouse.

From my experience, here are a few essential things that effective managers do:

• Effective managers are intentional. They think about what they want to accomplish today and in the future and have a fool-proof system in place for ensuring that those things get done.

• Effective managers are diligent about keeping promises both to themselves and to others. Promise keeping is a hallmark of leaders’ integrity, which, in turn, is the touchstone for trust within the school community.

• Effective managers consistently practice “next action thinking.” Meetings and learning events never conclude without clarity about what will be done next, by whom, and to what standard.

• Effective managers reserve time for quiet reflection regarding their practice and the well-being of the school community. They use this time to recall their values and goals, to consider the effectiveness of their actions, and to establish short and long-term priorities.

• Effective managers know when and how to say “no.” They consciously minimize obligations on themselves and on the school community that would distract from the achievement of important goals.

What have I missed?