TL;DR:
- Agile school leaders designing plans with multiple contingency plans and keep the end in mind.
- Seek clarity in the storm and in your plans to communicate with the public.
- Embrace complexity and allow cognitive elasticity to support team decisions, rather than relying on traditional approaches and what worked in the past.
“This is about identifying the direction you and the team want to steer the ship
in the middle of the storm. This will tell you which waves to wait out and
which ones to use in order to go further, faster.”
H.V. MacArthur
Leading In Times of Uncertainty
The Calm Before The Storm
In mid-March of 2020, school districts across the United States began adjusting the school schedule and learning environment. Due to a global pandemic, several schools closed for two weeks, believing that the storm would calm and school could resume after spring break. Some schools shifted to online learning, while other schools continued with a traditional schedule.
This is not the first time that schools have closed in the United States. Unfortunately, school districts and communities have experienced school closure due to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, forest fires, snow storms, emergencies, and tragedies. As teachers and administrators prepare for the 2021-22 school year, we can learn how to become agile leaders and support students and families.
Reopening Schools
As parents, teachers, principals, city leaders, and superintendents began to plan for reopening schools in the fall of 2020, there were several things to consider. Each community had its own emergency response plan and each superintendent understood the budget, health guidelines, and recommendations from their state and local leaders.
Parents were counting on school leaders to reopen schools with choices for families, such as virtual school, a modified school day, smaller class sizes, or plans to close school and pivot to online learning. Leading during uncertain times creates a new set of challenges for teachers and administrators.
Clarity in School Leadership
During a crisis, co-workers, staff, parents, and students seek clarity. It is difficult to provide complete clarity when you are in uncharted waters. “While you can’t predict what’s coming with perfect certainty, you can develop much more clarity than you might imagine about what you could and should become, create a plan to live into it, and then set it into motion” (Johnson & Suskewicz, 2020).
As school leaders prepared for the first semester of the school year, most leaders planned to pivot from Plan A to Plan B. It would have been unwise to only have two plans for reopening schools. While it may be difficult to provide clarity about every step, school and district leaders helped families and staff see the big picture. Clarity will help all stakeholders adapt to the changing winds.
Complexity in School Leadership
One of the challenges for teachers and leaders is leading during uncertainty. For nearly fifty years, the first day of school has looked familiar. Teachers welcome students with open arms. Kindergarten parents drop their child off for the first day of school. Some schools have a red carpet and welcome students back to school with fist bumps and high fives from the faculty.
Team building games help students get to know their peers. Small group, whole group, and ice-breaker activities are designed to teach back-to-school procedures and help students develop a community. Student assemblies help build school spirit and allow students to meet the mascot, teachers, principal, and learn more about their school! Simplicity is knowing what the first day of school will look like.
“One consequence of emerging complexity is that you cannot see the end from the beginning. Emerging complexity creates not one future but many” (Pascale, Milleman, & Gioja, 2001).
As school staff prepared for many futures, they identified what they were aiming for. Building relationships, teaching procedures, learning students’ names and interests, building a class community, and providing a welcoming environment are all worthy goals. While social distancing and the fact that some learners will choose to learn virtually may change the dynamic of opening day, goals will support planning. In the midst of complexity, teacher teams and administrators established a few small wins!
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Cognitive Elasticity in School Leadership
Schools take pride in their traditions. Reopening schools will require teachers and administrators to ignore some traditional back-to-school activities and rituals. In order to reopen schools, leaders need to identify new approaches. How will school staff establish relationships with students who are learning virtually and don’t come to school in a brick and mortar school on the first day? There are plenty of virtual schools in the United States that can offer lessons on building relationships with virtual students. How will schools provide a virtual Open House for families?
Keating (2018) wrote, “Having an elastic cognitive approach allows leaders to use different thinking strategies & mental frameworks.” Over the years, the best teachers I have observed embraced the following strategies: Pivot, Shift, Adapt, and Pause in the beginning, middle, and end of a lesson. Preparing for the new school year will require cognitive elasticity and agility as new waves emerge.
Conclusion
The one thing that will remain constant this school year is change. Change creates different emotions in students, staff, and families. Since March 2020, we have all experienced a storm that caused us to pause and redesign teaching and learning.
As we approach the opening week of school, agile school leaders are designing plans with multiple contingency plans. It can be frustrating developing a plan without an ‘End in Mind.’
Seek clarity in the storm and in your plans to communicate with the public.
Embrace complexity, because it is here to stay.
Finally, allow cognitive elasticity to support team decisions, rather than relying on traditional approaches and what worked in the past.
The most successful schools will lean into the changes and find innovative ways to provide students with a free and appropriate education, even during a storm.
References
Johnson, M.W. & Suskewicz, J. (2020, April 17). Leaders, Do You Have a Clear Vision for the Post-Crisis Future? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2020/04/leaders-do-you-have-a-clear-vision-for-the-post-crisis-future.
Keating, K. Three Traits of Adaptable Leaders. (2018, December 10). Association for Talent Development. Retrieved from https://www.td.org/insights/3-traits-of-adaptable-leaders.
MacArthur, H.V. (2020, March 16). Leading In Times Of Uncertainty: How To Engage Optimism And Focus When Nothing Seems Predictable. Forbes. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hvmacarthur/2020/03/16/leading-in-times-of-uncertainty-how-to-engage-optimism-and-focus-when-nothing-seems-predictable/#1dc0b62347e2.
Pascale, R.T., Milleman, M., & Gioja, L. (2001). Surfing the Edge of Chaos: The Laws of Nature and the New Laws of Business. Three Rivers Press.
About Steven Weber
Dr. Steven Weber is the Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning with Fayetteville Public Schools (AR). His areas of research include curriculum design, formative assessment, professional learning, and school leadership.
