Standard Three: Cultural Leadership
School executives will understand and act on the understanding of the important role a school’s culture contributes to the exemplary performance of the school. School executives must support and value the traditions, artifacts, symbols and positive values and norms of the school and community that result in a sense of identity and pride upon which to build a positive future. A school executive must be able to “re-culture” the school if needed to align with school’s goals of improving student and adult learning and to infuse the work of the adults and students with passion, meaning and purpose. Cultural leadership implies understanding the school as the people in it each day, how they came to their current state, and how to connect with their traditions in order to move them forward to support the school’s efforts to achieve individual and collective goals.
3A. Focus on Collaborative Work Environment
The school executive understand and acts on the understanding of the positive role that a collaborative work environment can play in the school's culture.
Providing Collaboration Time
Sharing Resources with Teachers
I focused on instructional leadership by sharing resources with teachers that could be used to develop engaging lessons. I also led PLCs with a focus on alignment of curriculum and instruction to maximize student learning. To the left are emails I sent to our ELA department following a PLC I facilitated where we discussed strategies that allow students to better identify and demonstrate mastery of the skills/concepts being taught. I was able to share resources and best practices from my own experience as an English teacher. This allowed me to show teachers my commitment to focus on learning, teaching, curriculum, instruction and assessment. |
3B. School Culture and Identity
The school executive develops and uses shared vision, values and goals to define the identity and culture of the school.
Trauma-Informed School Interview
As a principal resident, I sought ways to maximize and promote our school's collective mission of "learning for all, whatever it takes." Due to our Resilience Team work, I was interviewed by a reporter from WUNC (an affiliate of National Public Radio, Inc.). I shared with the reporter highlights of the things we had done at Pattillo to become a more trauma-informed school. This interview garnered a lot of public press for our school and was even shared by our superintendent at a District Leadership Team meeting as a special recognition. It also led to further opportunities for me to share with other school leaders and advocates my reflections on Pattillo's culture of equity.
Email Received from School Leader
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My Feedback to the School Leader
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Harambee Celebrations
Harambee is a Swahili term which means "let's all pull together." I promoted our school culture by coordinating multiple Harambee Celebrations, including securing guest speakers from the community. These celebrations incorporated student and staff recognitions, inspirational videos, as well as guest speakers who challenged our students and staff with inspirational messages on the power of literacy, unity, and diversity, etc. These events are in direct relation to our School Improvement Strategic Goal #3 which calls for utilizing whole-school activities to provide "a collaborative, inclusive, welcoming, and safe school environment that promotes respect for all students to ensure successful learning opportunities."
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3C. Acknowledges Failures; Celebrates Accomplishments and Rewards
The school executive acknowledges failures and celebrates accomplishments of the school in order to define the identity, culture and performance of the school.
A Simple "Thank You" Goes a Long Way
I believe an effective school administrator improves school culture through celebrating and acknowledging the contributions of others within his or her school. During my residency, I was intentional in expressing gratitude toward our staff and recognizing individual and collective contributions toward our goal of "learning for all." I wrote hand-written thank you notes, gave food and candy to staff, and often expressed how grateful and honored I was to work with adults who care for our students. In the artifacts below are a note I gave to a teacher thanking her after I completed one of her formal evaluations, which I did for every teacher after doing an evaluation (below left) and an email I received from a teacher who was appreciative of a card I had given her (right).
Staff Potluck
This year, Pattillo has focused on advocating self-care to our staff. This was birthed out of the research our Resilience Team did and the survey data we collected at the beginning of the school year where many of our staff members identified experiencing feelings of burnout. To combat this, we implemented a system where teachers tracked instances where they did a self-care activity. I organized a Thanksgiving Staff Potluck to celebrate the holiday season as well as our staff surpassing our goal of filling up our “Self-Care Thermometer."
District-Wide Employee of the Month Recognitions
Each month, Edgecombe County Public Schools selects an "Employee of the Month" who embodies the spirit of our district's vision and values. Each school is responsible for nominating an employee and one is selected to be recognized each month at the Board of Education meeting. Our administrative team each took turns writing and submitting recommendations throughout the year. I was first in our rotation to write a submission. My nomination was chosen and read at a Board of Education meeting. Though only in her first year at our school, our well-deserving Digital Literacy Coach was acknowledged as the district's first Employee of the Month for the school year.
3D. Efficacy and Empowerment
The school executive develops a sense of efficacy and empowerment among staff which influences the school's identity, culture, and performance.
Star Teacher Spotlight
Each month, Pattillo recognizes a "Star Teacher" who goes above and beyond for his or her students. To help further build a sense of efficacy and empowerment among staff, I implemented a "Star Teacher Spotlight" for the employee that is selected each month. At first, I designed and created a flyer each month that included the teacher answering questions about themselves (see artifact below to the left). To bring an even greater awareness to the recognition, I started creating spotlight videos that are played in front of the entire school at our Harambee celebrations (see artifact below to the right).
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Teacher Efficacy
One of my teachers expressed a desire to create a lesson on "poverty" that would be taught throughout the whole school. I was able to meet with this teacher and help her develop her thoughts around what this lesson would entail and how it could be effectively planned. After we came up with a lesson and resources, we implemented it into a homeroom activity that the whole school completed. I was intentional in giving the teacher, not myself, credit for creating the lesson when I shared it with staff.