My primary purpose as an educational leader is to ensure that students are engaged in authentic learning. Classrooms that are positive, student-centered, providing student choice, and responsive to student needs give students the best chance to reach their potential. Each child can learn, and schools in which I am involved are committed fully to the success of every student.
Effective leadership must be based on principles of respect and transparency. I demonstrate leadership that is personal and responsive to needs and challenges of all stakeholders, filtering decisions through the interrogative prism of “what is best for the student(s)?”
My view of educational leadership has been influenced significantly by Carol Dweck’s book: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s book: Leveraged Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Successful Schools, John Hattie’s work on Visible Learning, Ron Ritchhart’s work on Intellectual Character and Cultures of Learning, Thomas Guskey’s work on Mastery Learning, and Jim Collins’s book Good to Great. I am a voracious reader who is constantly looking for better ways of doing things and, if necessary, disrupting the status quo. The aforementioned thinkers have this theme in common: Advancement based on principles and data.
Content knowledge is valuable, but it is declining as the central element to education. Students need to learn how to question, synthesize, evaluate, create, and analyze. These are the skills that they will be required to demonstrate for the rest of their lives. In the classroom, s/he who does the work does the learning. If the teacher is doing all the talking, problem-solving, and question asking, then the students are not fully engaged in the real work. Deep learning happens when students ask questions and participate in knowledge inquiry, discovery, and application.