Last school year (2022-2023) was my first year as Executive Director of Teaching and Learning at Summers-Knoll School in Ann Arbor. My position was new to the school and so was I. Due to the newness of my role, there was a suggestion to have one of our weekly newsletters feature my role and the work I am doing. Jinny, the Communications Director at the time, and I discussed what we might include in such a newsletter.
“If people are wanting to know what you’re doing, a blog would probably be a better venue,” Jinny suggested. I agreed.
Unlike the titles of “teacher” or “coach,” the title “Executive Director of Teaching & Learning” does not explicitly communicate what I do, so it’s worth unpacking.
As I wrote in my post “New Beginnings” earlier this year, I support teachers in the work of teaching and learning. Supporting teachers encompasses a wide range of responsibilities, including (but not limited to) previewing and selecting curricular resources and materials across subject areas; working alongside teachers to figure out how to optimize the use of new curricular materials; co-constructing curriculum; collaborating with homeroom teachers and specialists to vertically align coursework between grade levels and document this alignment; coordinating as well as facilitating ongoing professional development for the faculty as a whole; and working with each teacher individually to determine their particular needs (e.g., being a thought partner for instructional planning; providing observation and feedback on a particular instructional practice; incorporating content standards into project planning; analyzing assessment data and designing instruction based on that analysis; brainstorming ideas for how to identify and address individual student needs).
And what does this look like in action on a weekly basis? It changes from one week to the next depending on where we are at in the quarter. For example, last week, teachers held their first quarter parent/teacher/student conferences. In preparation for conferences, teachers completed a written assessment for each student.
This year’s assessments are significantly different (and improved) from last year’s assessments, a revision that I undertook starting in the summer, which continued into fall. Designing assessments is a dialogic and iterative process of research, drafting, revising, editing, and finalizing, which yields a final product. Each teacher and I create the assessment templates for their grade levels through our shared study of national as well as state content standards and teachers’ curricula. Prior to sending completed assessments to students’ parents, I read and review each individual assessment. Just as with any piece of writing, the process is not evident in the polished final product, and such is the nature of my role as an executive director – many aspects of my work are behind the scenes or on the sidelines.
My spouse and I recently watched The Last Dance, a documentary about Michael Jordan’s career as a basketball player with the Chicago Bulls. Through watching the documentary, I learned a lot about Michael Jordan, but I also learned a lot about other esteemed basketball players and the Chicago Bulls team’s dynamics. At the helm of the Bulls during Michael Jordan’s career was Phil Jackson, “the winningest coach in the Bull’s franchise history.” As we watched the documentary, I became increasingly interested in how Jackson’s work as a basketball coach is similar to, and different from, the work of instructional coaches.
Much like directors or choreographers in the performing arts, a coach of a team sport lives on the sidelines. A director’s work is somewhat invisible to a general audience because the attention during a performance is on the performers. Similarly, a coach’s work is hard to detect because, during a game, the spectators’ attention is on the athletes. But without a director or a coach, the group of people who comprise the ensemble or team would function very differently. This is not to say that they wouldn’t function, but how an ensemble or team functions is a direct reflection of the director/coach.
I’ve thought a lot about leadership and have participated as a fellow in several fellowships focused on leadership: Michigan State University’s Lilly Fellowship (2020-21), The Witness Institute Fellowship (2022-23), and Washtenaw County’s Champions for Change Fellowship (2022-23). Through these fellowships, I’ve thought about leadership through different lenses: galvanizing change within educational systems; moral leadership; and fostering racial justice and equity through our work as leaders within our communities. As leaders, one of the greatest influences within a collective, an ensemble, or a team is who we are – what we bring from our experiences and backgrounds – and how we foster and sustain collaboration. As such, one of the constants in conscious leadership is self-reflection and discernment.
Leaders are constantly making decisions about which various pieces of knowledge, research, and/or resources to leverage in any given circumstance to take informed action and provide guidance and support toward shared goals and a shared vision.
The work of Margaret Wheatley, a scholar of leadership, is one place I turn for insight and inspiration relative to leadership. In her book, Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, she writes:
“Seeing the interplay between system dynamics and individuals is a dance of discovery that requires several iterations between the whole and its parts. We expand our vision to see the whole, then narrow our gaze to peer intently into individual moments. With each iteration, we see more of the whole, and gain new understandings about individual elements. […] We keep dancing between the two levels, bringing the sensitivities and information gleaned from one level to help us understand the other. If we hold awareness of the whole as we study the part, and understand the part in its relationship to the whole, profound new insights become available” (Wheatley, 2006, p. 143).
Leadership, directing, coaching – it is a dance, a seemingly invisible one, taking place on the sidelines or in the audience or sitting among a group of teachers at the end of school day after the students have gone home. When questioning the nature of a leader’s role or work, perhaps it is best framed not as, “What are they doing?” but rather “How is what I am witnessing influenced by the leaders in this organization?”
Featured image (above): ArtMary and Carrie in the art room at SK. Photo cred: Shelby Parker