What I Have Learned From Todd Whitaker

Earlier in the week I read Todd Whitaker's book: What Great Teachers Do Differently: 17 Things That Matter Most. Dr. Whitaker is a professor of educational leadership at Indiana State University and a sought after guest speaker at school districts around the country. Back in the middle of October, I had the privilege of joining a group of our model teachers to hear Todd speak at Dunkerton High School. Normally I am not a big fan of the 'shotgun' approach to professional development (you know, the day long 'sit and get' model), but the opportunity to hear his message coupled with a deeper implementation of these ideas in Hudson was one that was well worth the time investment. When we returned to Hudson, one of our Model Teachers (I'll go ahead and give a shout out to Mrs. Puls here) shared some of her key takeaways from that day at an inservice for the 7-12 faculty. Thankfully, the grassroots leadership provided by Mrs. Puls made me realize that this particular workshop had some staying power. I'll credit both Dr. Whitaker and Mrs. Puls for these efforts. Clearly, Todd's message resonated enough for Mrs. Puls to see value in bringing it back to her colleagues at Hudson. As I sat and listened to Mrs. Puls recall her experience, I thought, 'Boy, I wish everyone in our district heard this message'. Perhaps that is why I picked up the book and read it.

While the intended audience of Dr. Whitaker's work is teacher and staff development, I would argue that it has a much broader appeal. The subtitle of the book suggests ''17 Things That Matter Most'. Oh, they are so applicable beyond the classroom! For example, an important concept that Todd reminds us of is that 'teachers establish clear expectations at the start of the year and follow them consistently as the year progresses'. Please allow me to explain!

Clear expectations certainly shouldn't be limited to how we go about managing a classroom! It is critically important to have clear expectations for our children at home, our employees at work, and even those we call friends. If our children are aware of our expectations and we are unwavering in those expectations, it is much easier for them to understand and meet those expectations. Likewise, it is important for our children to know that fair and consistent consequences are a critical variable in the equation. It does little good to not follow through on a consequence. Have you ever heard of a parent or a teacher saying 'if you do that one more time, then you will miss your entire recess for a week/or miss the neighbors birthday party'? The point is: say what you mean and mean what you say. Another critical point to remember about consequences is that they should never be about punishment! Whitaker uses the analogy of penalties in competitive sports. 'Rules just don't point out rule violations; they assign penalties' (p. 15). Hopefully they also teach the appropriate and correct behavior. We don't want to punish kids to hurt them, we want to administer consequences in a way that they learn from their mistake. Our real goal is to avoid a repeat of the behavior, not to 'exact revenge', as Whitaker so eloquently reminds us. 

Hopefully you notice that I italicized the word aware in the paragraph above. This week I learned a valuable lesson myself about expectations and what happens when people aren't aware of expectations. Yes, I have certain expectations about how employees go about their work here in the district! I erroneously assumed that everyone knew the expectations. What I originally thought was a failure to meet expectations in actuality was an unfortunate set of circumstances, and a set of very unclear expectations. Luckily the problem was resolved without any lasting impact, and we uncovered a weakness in communicating those expectations. Thankfully this is a problem we can solve!

Well, I could go on and provide examples and affirmation of everything Todd mentions in his book. But to do so would cover more paragraphs in this blog than you are probably interested in reading right now. Yet I will leave you with this, and I do believe this is a key theme throughout the course of this book (I'll forward this on to Dr. Whitaker and if he disagrees hopefully he will let me know). 

Respect. Great teachers, great leaders, and great parents treat everyone with respect. If we all can do this one little thing, have a little empathy for one another then surely we will have something very special. I can't remember who said this, but people may not remember what you say, but they will certainly remember what you do. All it takes is one cutting remark, one blow up to annihilate a respectful relationship. Often times the damage is irreversible and can never be undone. 

The Most Thankless Job in Education

I was appreciative of Dianna Darold's comments in her column last week. You probably also noticed the letter to the editor from the Executive Director of the School Administrators of Iowa, Dr. Roark Horn. His and Dianna's comments reminded our community the value of the principalship and thanked them for their service. October was National Principal Recognition Month. Sadly, I didn't do a very good job of giving a shout out to our building principals this past month. My lame excuse is that I think they know I appreciate them and the work they are doing. Indeed my failure further emphasizes the point that our principals often go unnoticed. An often thankless job in education, principals are usually remembered for managerial skill rather than the profound impact they have on student achievement. Most principals will tell you they are hired to be instructional leaders, but they are fired for missteps when it comes to the management of the organization.  

There are no easy jobs in education and the role of building principal is no different. The fact is, I am not certain there is a job more difficult in the field. It is not uncommon for these jobs to be fraught with conflict from the time they walk through the door of their office in the morning until they go home at night. These conflicts often bleed over into home life and may be the last thing a principal thinks of before they go to sleep at night, and the first thing they think of when they wake up in the morning. Sometimes the conflict causes interruption to to normal sleep patterns leading to exhaustion and other health problems. You see, doing the right thing is almost never easy. Plus there are plenty of folks who believe the right thing is something different than the call the principal has made. Sorting out fact from fiction in one student or employee discipline issue can consume hours of a building principals time, detracting from the primary work of the building principal: ensuring quality instruction is occurring in their classrooms so that student achievement rises.

Although dealing with conflict is a large part of the role of building leadership, it is not the reason they became principals. Principals become school leaders because they want to have an impact beyond the walls of their classroom. They have been successful teachers and want to have the same impact on a much broader scale than the classroom they previously served. Once assuming that mantle of leadership, they have a more expansive view of education and the ability to impact student learning on a much grander scale. 

We know the classroom teacher is the most influential factor on student learning. This makes sense because of the direct contact that teachers have on students in the classroom. So where does the principal fit in the influence of student learning? In a 2008 study by Kenneth Leithwood, he found the vital role principals play is second only to classroom teaching as an impact on student learning. Indeed, their is much more to the principalship than management of the building and handling student discipline.

The fact is, the principalship has become more complex in this arena of high stakes accountability, advances in technology, implementation and measurement of core academic standards, rigorous and relevant professional development, and now teacher leadership. These positions have become more collaborative and distributive in nature, forcing principals to manage multiple projects at once, while keeping the building running smoothly and ensuring students are achieving at high levels.

Next week I will return to the concept of teacher leadership and the impact that is having on learning at Hudson. Before we go there, I think it is appropriate to share one of the key findings of my research into the implementation of teacher leadership systems: as teacher leaderships systems have begun to proliferate Iowa schools, the role of the principal has become even more complex. Indeed a misconception exists that these systems will somehow make the job of principals easier. Not so!

I would argue that our teacher leadership system is functioning at a very high level. Not to diminish the impact of those serving in those vital roles, we can attribute part of this success to the role the building principal plays. This success is not limited to teacher leadership! We can point to connected learning, implementation of new curriculum(s) and teaching strategies, robust professional development, and ensuring a positive learning environment.

A lot of great stuff is happening in Hudson, and there are many people who are responsible for the success that we are having. Many folks can share, celebrate, and take credit for that success. It would be a mistake to forget the valuable contributions of Mr. Schlatter and Mr. Dieken!