Upwards and Onwards…

The school year is halfway done and I have taught more than 100 days of in person school. I never thought this would be an achievement. But amidst the uncertainty of the pandemic, every little success is worth celebrating.

Today, I am also celebrating my decision to be the Assistant Department Head for our math department. This position for me is an exploration into the kind of leader I want to be. Do I want to be a department head, a dean, a principal, a math coach, teach other teachers or none of the above?

With the support of my department head, I have gone into classrooms to improve my coaching skills, I have mentored new teachers, and most importantly, they have made me a part of the decision-making process about the future vision and pathway for our department and school.

One such opportunity presented itself a few days ago, when my department head wanted my take about a problem they noticed, what they are doing about it and how I would approach it.

Our school, and our department, has been moving towards more and more multi-level classrooms to promote equity, ease of movement and more student-centered learning. In the process, we are noticing that some students were being left behind, they were not performing well in classes and on state exams and consequentially, some of them were disengaging and dropping out of school. My department head decided to investigate the cause for this. They reached out to Special Education department and, together, the two departments reached out to the middle schools feeding into our high school.

Throughout this investigation, they figured out that some of our freshmen students, despite our best efforts, were not being supported in the best possible way and we had no way of identifying them till it was too late. They gathered data from the past few years and after a thorough analysis of the problem, they approached the principal. The principal not only agreed with them but also pointed out that this seems to be a systemic problem which needs a policy-based solution on the district level. He set up a meeting with all the stakeholders where my department head would be presenting this problem and then they would work towards finding a solution.

This is where I come in. My department head shared their work so far with me and wanted my analysis and feedback on the next steps. I pointed out some key details they could add into the presentation, like the history of multi-level in our department. I also asked questions which I thought their audience might have. Most importantly, I helped them focus on the big picture. To me, this seemed like a district level problem which would need a district level solution. I pointed out to them that they should have a solution in their back pocket (in case someone asks) but helped them see that the solution should not be a school-based solution. I was confident that the solution they propose should be a district level solution involving people from all grade levels as administrators from all grade level were at this meeting.

I also pointed out that they should keep in mind what they want to get out of this meeting. I understand that the objective is to present the problem, but I suggested that they should also think about how to guide the conversation to get to a solution. It is very easy to lose track of the objective when multiple people are involved. Finally, I recommended keeping the conversation away from nitty gritty details of curriculum and focus on the big picture impact of the problem they had uncovered.

I hope my feedback and suggestions were useful to them but this whole conversation was extremely useful for me as well. I got an insight into their process of analyzing a problem and working towards a solution. I also understood how and when to reach out to the administration, what information I should have with me before I reach out to them and how to best present my argument. It was an insight into the workings of our school at the highest level.

This experience, and many more like these, are strengthening my resolve to keep improving my leadership skills so that I can make meaningful contribution towards making our school and community more equitable for all students.