School as Leadership Darkroom: Developing Leaders #Savmp
So, for the SAVMP program, the weekly blogging topic (#5, but only my second), that George has assigned is as follows:“For this week’s topic, I want you to think about how you develop leadership in your buildings/work. How do you promote others to lead? This is important to focus on whether we try to “control” our people, or “unleash” their talents. What are some of the things that you do that make this happen?”This year, as I have been focusing a bit on growing teacher leadership, I have (re-)learned two lessons about developing leadership.
Lesson one started about more than one year ago. A teacher, we’ll call her Gladys, asked me if she should apply for the newly vacated position of Director of Curriculum for the district. Wow! Sure. Gladys is a great teacher with a fairly wide-ranging teaching experience. She’d proved willing and able to take on some building and district leadership roles. Go for it. But, wait. If Gladys were to go to central office, then she would be here. Not sure I liked the sound of that. I kept my reservations to myself and encouraged her to apply. More qualified applicants came forward and Gladys did not get the job. We dodged that one – this time.
That brings us to this past June. Upon the sudden departure of another district principal, the