As we returned to full time in-person learning in the Fall of 2021, together with my staff, we really focused on rebuilding student agency. Supporting our kids in taking ownership of their learning and engaging in goal setting. On Zoom and during Hybrid, we noticed our kids had become even more passive learners (and we were already struggling with this prior to COVID)! So, our question when we returned (well, actually, one of the thousands of questions we had) was - how do we re-engage our kids to be an active part of their own learning? AND what do they need to feel as though their efforts prove successful?
Shifting the to teacher piece, I, myself, wondered - how can I support my teachers in rebuilding Teacher Agency? In feeling that their efforts prove successful? Over the course of the year, teachers had to shift their practice entirely and endlessly. Once they had a hang of one platform for teaching, it was on to a new platform or model of learning. Masks, no masks, some kids in person, some on Zoom.
Once we got back in person full time in the Fall of 2021, it was a chance to take stock of where our kids were and then somehow shift to meet those vast needs. It still felt like survival. As a principal, I really didn't know how to help. Where was my own Principal Agency? The year went by and in the Spring of 2022, for 2 full school years, I felt as though I was not an effective principal.
Even shifting into the Fall of 2022, I felt a loss of Agency. What did my staff need and how could I support them? Some of my staff used COVID as an opportunity to take stock of what was important to them and took a backseat to serving on committees and hosting before/after school clubs. To be clear - I ABSOLUTELY SUPPORT THEM IN THIS! One thing I have appreciated about the pandemic was the opportunity to stop and assess where we spend our energy as humans and determining if this is what we really want from life or if adjustments need to be made.
So having said that, the landscape at our schools have changed. Priorities of our team have shifted. That tied with the political landscape of public education (I'll save CRT and SEL for another time) - how does my work impact my community? What does Principal Agency look like any more?
I have had to dig deep and go back to my roots. One of the most powerful resources I used when starting as a new administrator was Todd Whitaker's What Great Principals Do Differently.
Listed below are some of the big ideas. And WOW! There is a lot for me to work on. While I'd love to say I'm taking on all 18 at once, unfortunately, my anxiety does not allow for this. Instead I choose to focus on getting really good at one at a time. Perhaps the most important and impactful piece for me at this time is "...never forget that it is people, not programs, that determine the quality of a school."
On top of all the stress of navigating through teaching in so many different models and now addressing all the learning needs of so many kids, my staff faced (and still faces) SO many personal circumstances on top of teaching: loss of family members, physical injuries taking them out for months at a time, chronic illnesses of family members, pregnancies, new babies - you name it, we've got it!
My team is amazing. At their very core, they absolutely love kids and want to see every one of them grow and learn. These are hard times. Very hard times. I am hopeful that taking care of my team in this way will help me build a stronger sense of Agency. Leading can be hard. It can be lonely and at the end of the day, like my teachers, I am not sure that I have made an impact at all. I can only hope that going to back to my roots and taking stock of where I am with these 18 effective practices and building from there can bring back my own Principal Agency over time.
Summary of the 18 things Effective Principals Do Differently:
Amazon Link to purchase What Great Principals Do Differently
