Culturally Responsive Administration (Part 2)

I recently read a great blog by Jon Harper (@Jonharper70bd), Did My Friends Make it Home Last Night? and I was personally challenged. Then I was introduced to, I just sued the school system that was shared with me by Andy Leiser (@AndyLeiser). My mind began to run a whole lot faster. As I reflected on what I had read,and what I had watched, I thought of the many times scholars have come into my office complaining of their experience in the classroom and I wondered how often my response unfairly encouraged them to become fish who climbs trees.

Everybody is a genius

Where we often get hung up is when we decide to determine what a genius is. What do they look like? Sound like? Act like? What do they produce? The quote and the video shared push us to think outside of those parameters and ask us to shift our minds and to see the genius in everyone, realizing it may not look as we have been previously conditioned to think. 

There is a specific student in mind when I watch this video. He has so much energy in him, he seriously does not know what to do with it. If given the opportunity he would play basketball for three hours of the school day and do stand up comedy for the next three hours of the school day. His humor is above a middle school level and his quick whit is unbelievable. Unfortunately that whit, that humor, and that energy are often what gets him sent out of class and into my office. My scholar is so wonderfully bright, but the way in which he shows his genius is seen as a disruption to the classroom. 

This young scholar is the epitome of a fish being asked to climb a tree. 

I, as an administrator, could quickly turn to his teachers and run them into the ground with frustration and disappointment that they are not meeting this scholar's needs and that they need to make massive changes in their approach... but that's been done before. I didn't choose to become an administrator to make teachers feel lousy. I went into administration to build and grow teachers who care deeply for their scholars and to increase their knowledge and skills. So as a culturally relevant administrator I need to get into the classroom more, collaborate more, and increase our building capacity to change the face of education for our students. 

It's great for me to be able to say I have read "x" number of books and follow so and so on Twitter, but if that material and information is not being shared with my staff than I am doing them a disservice. In fact if I spend my time pushing teachers and asking of teachers and even complaining from time to time, reality is...

I'm asking my teachers to be fish that can climb trees.

Teacher education and support needs to shift just as much, if not more, if we expect scholars schooling to change. We need to radically redefine how we are training, supporting, and professionally developing our teachers. More of my time needs to be spent in the classroom providing practical advice and less time speaking to a group of teachers in a "sit and get" PD session. I need to take what I learn through books, blogs, and Twitter and share it with staff as they need it. The possibility to radically redefine their own work has to be supported and encouraged by me as an administrator so that the type of education our scholars receive can be radically different. 

So, how am I doing with all of that? Not as well as I could. Not as well as my scholars and staff deserve. But, as Rita Pierson would say, I'm on the road. Meaning this work is at the forefront of my mind and pushing me to constantly improve. My hope is that my own personal push will have a lasting impact on my scholars, staff, and the community.

All of our scholars are geniuses -  it is our job as educators to help scholars see that and then flourish!