J.Sanders-Nelson, Spring, 2025
-rated Leadership
Working in a successful, high-achieving school with stellar standardized testing scores is hard work. Working at the very opposite end of that spectrum is even harder.An academically struggling school's leadership is often under tremendous pressure from its higher-ups. Trying to rally the team to meet expectations and raise campus scores is a daunting and delicate task. Leadership approach can either make or break the teaching team they are counting on to achieve those goals.
I believe that collective perception(1), in my opinion, is when a group of people working or living together experiences a negative shift in their environment and react to it accordingly. In a restrained environment, this could breed an atmosphere of contempt. Where does the contempt derive from? From negative comments, actions, and even emotions. Thus, if leadership presents hostile or passive-aggressive comments but then tries to follow it up with the standard “We're All in This Together” comments, the team only hears the negative. In this state of reflection and the replaying of the negative comments, corporate teamwork jargon is lost. Instead, heads turn, eye contact is made with other co-workers, and the collective perception that the leader does not believe in them is born. This perception may manifest into lackadaisical attitudes with very little motivation to do well because doubt has been cast on their abilities to bring up achievement in the first place.
Is it feasible to turn such a toxic environment around and bring the team together for the good of the students? Who, by the way, are watching and learning how adults treat each other via the leadership’s interactions with the educational team. According to Corwin Connects, "...it is critical for teachers and administrators to take time to connect with students. Students will remember the connections and connection attempts, and it will help them shape their behaviors." One way to make that connection is to demonstrate appropriate behaviors towards colleagues.
In the midst of turmoil and low morale, it is possible for leadership to reinvest in their team, but it may require inner reflection and honesty.
Have I been an honest leader?
A helpful leader
Did I blame others when I knew the initial responsibility fell on me?
I believe it's okay for a leader to backtrack and say, “Let's start over, before this gets out of hand.” If the delivery is sincere and without the “buts”:
But you all have to …
But I can't …
But you have to realize…
These are all self-preserving excuses shoddily tagged onto an apology for a mediocre leadership style. I'm no expert on leadership, and I am not currently involved in academic leadership. However, I have served under both good and strained leadership and learned a great deal from observing. I'm a classroom teacher, I love teaching my kids, I don’t mind following the curriculum, and I am a team player. Looking back, I have found that the best leadership I thrived under was humble, honest, and secure in their ability to lead. These attributes were passed on to the teaching team, and we therefore excelled. Working hard to raise and maintain academic goals came easily because, in the end, we had leadership right there in the trenches with us. Leadership has to stand with their teaching teams; they must trust and believe in them, help to develop their skills, and not look for last-minute remedies that render very little impact on students. When we teachers know that leadership is on our side, it empowers us and inspires us to be the absolute best that we can be in our classrooms.
After all, we are all in this together.