THE INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP PLATFORM STATEMENT

International Journal of Leadership in Education, 2010

Classroom: Bolles House 105 Time: Mon and Wed 7:00-8:15 PM Office: Bolles House 202 Student Hours: Mon 4:05-5:05 or By Appt

In​ ​ his​ ​ book,​ ​ ​ Education​ ​ for​ ​ Insurgency​ ,​ ​ Jay​ ​ Gillen​ ​ notes​ ​ that​ ​ " imagining​ ​ that​ ​ the​ ​ purposes​ ​ of​ ​ schools​ ​ are settled​ ​ is​ ​ a​ ​ way​ ​ of​ ​ hiding​ ​ the​ ​ political​ ​ role​ ​ of​ ​ young​ ​ people " ​ ​ (2014,​ ​ p.​ ​ 50).​ ​ We​ ​ might​ ​ add​ ​ to​ ​ Gillen's analysis​ ​ that​ ​ such​ ​ an​ ​ approach​ ​ also​ ​ neutralizes​ ​ the​ ​ role​ ​ of​ ​ teachers​ ​ in​ ​ paradoxical​ ​ ways—both underscoring​ ​ teacher​ ​ agency​ ​ and​ ​ denying​ ​ it​ ​ simultaneously—since​ ​ once​ ​ the​ ​ goal​ ​ of​ ​ school​ ​ is​ ​ made​ ​ clear, isn't​ ​ it​ ​ the​ ​ teacher's​ ​ job​ ​ merely​ ​ to​ ​ make​ ​ sure​ ​ that​ ​ students​ ​ reach​ ​ it?​ ​ In​ ​ other​ ​ words,​ ​ seeing​ ​ the​ ​ purposes​ ​ of schooling​ ​ as​ ​ fixed​ ​ and​ ​ unchangeable​ ​ quickly​ ​ leads​ ​ to​ ​ " imagining​ ​ that​ ​ what​ ​ remains​ ​ to​ ​ do​ ​ is​ ​ simply​ ​ the implementation​ ​ of​ ​ proven​ ​ technologies​ ​ for​ ​ the​ ​ production​ ​ of​ ​ accepted​ ​ social​ ​ purposes " ​ ​ (50). Gillen​ ​ tells​ ​ us​ ​ that​ ​ this​ ​ understanding​ ​ " misrepresents​ ​ the​ ​ sociological​ ​ and​ ​ political​ ​ problem, " ​ ​ and that​ ​ " the​ ​ problem​ ​ is​ ​ that​ ​ the​ ​ social​ ​ and​ ​ political​ ​ purposes​ ​ of​ ​ the​ ​ country​ ​ are​ ​ contested,​ ​ and​ ​ young​ ​ people are​ ​ already​ ​ participating​ ​ in​ ​ working​ ​ toward​ ​ a​ ​ settlement​ ​ of​ ​ the​ ​ contest,​ ​ even​ ​ while​ ​ their​ ​ political​ ​ role remains​ ​ unacknowledged " ​ ​ (p.​ ​ 50).​ ​ In​ ​ this​ ​ way,​ ​ too,​ ​ the​ ​ role​ ​ of​ ​ teachers​ ​ in​ ​ public​ ​ schools​ ​ is​ ​ also​ ​ contested. What​ ​ makes​ ​ a​ ​ good​ ​ teacher​ ​ and​ ​ how​ ​ should​ ​ one​ ​ approach​ ​ working​ ​ with​ ​ young​ ​ people?​ ​ The​ ​ answers​ ​ to such​ ​ questions​ ​ are​ ​ difficult,​ ​ messy,​ ​ and​ ​ filled​ ​ with​ ​ uncertainty. Yet,​ ​ suggesting​ ​ that​ ​ the​ ​ purposes​ ​ of​ ​ school​ ​ and​ ​ the​ ​ role​ ​ of​ ​ the​ ​ teacher​ ​ are​ ​ settled​ ​ is​ ​ precisely​ ​ how neoliberal​ ​ education​ ​ reformers​ ​ have​ ​ framed​ ​ the​ ​ remaking​ ​ of​ ​ public​ ​ schooling​ ​ as​ ​ a​ ​ market-driven proposition,​ ​ ignoring​ ​ the​ ​ contribution​ ​ and​ ​ potential​ ​ of​ ​ students​ ​ and​ ​ teachers​ ​ to​ ​ collaborate​ ​ as​ ​ fully​ ​ human agents​ ​ capable​ ​ of​ ​ defining​ ​ their​ ​ needs​ ​ and​ ​ interests.​ ​ This​ ​ commodification​ ​ of​ ​ education​ ​ negates​ ​ the potential​ ​ and​ ​ promise​ ​ of​ ​ public​ ​ education​ ​ by​ ​ denying​ ​ the​ ​ humanity​ ​ of​ ​ those​ ​ involved​ ​ in​ ​ this​ ​ work​ ​ and omitting​ ​ different​ ​ ways​ ​ of​ ​ knowing​ ​ and​ ​ doing.​ ​ Synonymous​ ​ with​ ​ a​ ​ discourse​ ​ of​ ​ common​ ​ sense,​ ​ the discourse​ ​ of​ ​ neoliberalism​ ​ valorizes​ ​ freedom,​ ​ choice,​ ​ efficiency,​ ​ accountability,​ ​ character,​ ​ progress​ ​ and self-​ ​ improvement​ ​ (development)​ ​ tied​ ​ to​ ​ economic​ ​ incentives​ ​ and​ ​ the​ ​ rule​ ​ of​ ​ market​ ​ forces. All​ ​ of​ ​ these​ ​ ideas,​ ​ as​ ​ David​ ​ Harvey​ ​ (2005)​ ​ argues​ ​ in​ ​ ​ A​ ​ Brief​ ​ History​ ​ of​ ​ Neoliberalism​ ,​ ​ appeal​ ​ to our​ ​ instincts​ ​ and​ ​ intuitions,​ ​ as​ ​ they​ ​ build​ ​ on​ ​ traditions​ ​ of​ ​ individual​ ​ freedom​ ​ and​ ​ dignity.​ ​ Wrapped​ ​ in​ ​ the logic​ ​ and​ ​ efficiency-speak​ ​ of​ ​ science,​ ​ technology,​ ​ and​ ​ business,​ ​ this​ ​ rhetoric​ ​ helps​ ​ to​ ​ mask​ ​ the​ ​ problems and​ ​ contradictions​ ​ inherent​ ​ in​ ​ neoliberal​ ​ policies—ones​ ​ that​ ​ reshape​ ​ the​ ​ purposes​ ​ of​ ​ public​ ​ schooling, diminish​ ​ the​ ​ work​ ​ of​ ​ teachers,​ ​ decrease​ ​ funding​ ​ for​ ​ social​ ​ services​ ​ in​ ​ urban​ ​ areas,​ ​ privatize​ ​ public schools,​ ​ and​ ​ ignore​ ​ the​ ​ political,​ ​ economic,​ ​ and​ ​ social​ ​ conditions​ ​ that​ ​ ensure​ ​ the​ ​ continued​ ​ dependency​ ​ of such​ ​ schools​ ​ and​ ​ the​ ​ surrounding​ ​ communities​ ​ on​ ​ outside​ ​ forces​ ​ in​ ​ order​ ​ to​ ​ function.The​ ​ effects​ ​ of​ ​ the

The Malta Independent, 2023

Spring Draft, 2015

An examination of how business-oriented models of education attempt to promulgate a Neoliberal ideology emphasizing entrepreneurship, 'leadership' and anti-unionism. Notions of Social Learning and Hegemony are usee to highlight ideo-utopian visions and the directed narratives needed to effect paradigm change. Principal examples come from the discourse emanating from TFA and foundations in favor of corporate education reform. Additional examples focus on how teachers and principals are depicted on TV and in films. Special attention is given to Jim Belushi's gut-wrenching portrayal of a new principal in The Principal. Belushi plays Rick Latimer, a high-school teacher with a drinking problem who is made the new principal of crime-ridden and gang-dominated Brandel High. The climax cannot be believed, but neither can the discourse of corporate reform groups. From the Introduction: The subway ads for the New York City Teaching Fellows were designed to appeal to people’s altruism and sense of idealism: “Picture their eyes lighting up when you explain electricity.” “How many lives did your last spread sheet change?” Along with the second person structure, there is also an appeal to egos, as well as tinges of elitism: “Convene the city’s future leaders. Every day.” “They’re not rocket scientists. Yet.” In trying to recruit people from other fields into education, the subtext was that a candidate’s skills in finance or law, as well as the native superiority that i is assumed to imply, make them a better pool from which to take teachers. Underlying this is a set of assumptions that diminish the complexity of teaching. An explanation is sufficient to make a child’s eyes light up. A call for teacher dedication pervaded the ads and engaged in some significant omissions. The Image of the Unproblematic Child played a crucial role; the ads seemed to suggest that that child was waiting for the one inspirational teacher to step in and give a direction to the child's latent aspirations that had, perhaps, been stifled because of their uncaring and robotic teachers. The ads played on people's desire to change the world and ignored what I had learned with great difficulty – that every class has disruptive children, some more than others, that the best laid plans are often laid waste, that reaching kids was a slow, incremental process with, at best, mixed success. The argument that the solution to our educational woes is to be bring in new, supposedly better and more dedicated teachers, has been one of the most compelling of the last few decades. Its most forceful proponents, Wendy Kopp, Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein and, now, Arne Duncan, have offered a vision of the future in which good teachers will be venerated, but not so good ones will leave or be pushed out of the profession and no teacher will have the protections of tenure, seniority and dependable pay scales. Security will be a thing of the past and in its place will be some sort of ‘merit system,’ the details and dependability of which are much in doubt, but which would come to some sort of merit rating based on a mix of results on standardized exams and subjective evaluations by administrators who have their own agendas. Thus the narrative of dedication – a narrative of how new dedicated teachers will close the achievement gaps due to socio-economic status, race and class is certainly worthy of comment. It is something we might call the Highly Effective Teacher narrative or the TFA narrative (after Teach For America). It glosses over social problems and. by pointing to new teachers as the answer, points to old teachers as the problem. As Steve Klees puts it, it is one of the “underlying refrains of the neoliberal era: schools are failures, and it is the fault of teachers.” It moves the responsibility from a set of social institutions meant to deal with the consequences of poverty –institutions which are it wants to be dismantled-- and gives the project of educating young Americans to a set of individuals who will be subject to supervisors with much greater discretionary power and will then be gauged on their effectiveness in a matter yet to be determined, but in which cost effectiveness will be a major component. I focus first on Teach for America and the discourse that developed around it as a master narrative. The goal of this narrative was to advance approaches to education that emphasized the exceptional individual as the key to a new form of national education that would rescue the public education system. At the same time, the public education system was descried as a relic of bureaucratism with socialist tendencies that served the interest of adults rather than children. In addition, we look at the struggle for the TFA message, the images of teachers on television and on film.

Current Issues in Comparative Education, 2022

In this paper, a principal and two lead teachers describe the ways their school community has reimagined the learning environment at their NYC urban, public, K-5 elementary school throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020 they were forced to immediately switch to fully remote learning, a platform they had never previously experienced. Since then, they have engaged in hybrid and now fully in person learning through a worldwide pandemic. The school community, whose focus before the pandemic was on social emotional learning and culturally responsive pedagogy, utilized those practices and the strong relationships between staff, students, and families to persevere. The pandemic disproportionately impacted communities of color, like the one this school community is located in. Other inequalities such as food insecurity, job loss, sickness, financial strain, and death impacted the community. Racial trauma and political unrest that was exacerbated during the pandemic also placed a toll on the school community. The staff, families and children of the community joined together with a mission to support one another, strengthen relationships, practice self-care, address trauma and crisis, tackle unfinished learning, and focus on celebrating the community wherever possible to find joy, survive and thrive. Brooks DeCosta et al. Current Issues in Comparative Education 72 learning our students have experienced but also the need for social, emotional, mental health and wellbeing supports, not only for the students but for the adults who care for them inside and outside of school. Through a collective and collaborative process that included surveys, virtual town hall discussions, PTA meetings, faculty meetings and student discussions, we created an approach to learning that curated our best practices and those we researched to provide a reimagined learning experience that centers the student, and resulted in an uplifting their cultural identities, allowing for joy and celebration and fostering relationship building while we addressed unfinished learning and a wide variety of individual academic needs. The idea the following sections highlight what we put in place that contributed to our students' social emotional well-being and learning. There are 3 tenets we uncovered while working as a team on the ways we would support our students. We have summarized them in the following paragraphs. Social Emotional Learning: Our inspiration In more recent years, there has been a movement towards ensuring that social emotional learning is grounded in a culturally responsive approach so as not to cause additional harm to students through the use of SEL as a method for behavior control. SEL is actually a way to encourage, not suppress effective expressions of emotions. Social emotional learning that centers culturally responsive practices allows for a deeper connection with students that connects to their identities and socio-political contexts in order to teach them SEL competencies with cultural sensitivity (McCallops, Barnes, Berte, Fenniman, Jones, Navon & Nelson, 2019). Our school leader decided, in collaboration with a lead teacher, to begin addressing the well-being concerns of our students, staff and families 10 years ago through the piloting and implementation of the RULER Approach from Yale Institute for Emotional Intelligence as a schoolwide practice and expectation. Over the years we have supplemented the SEL practices with mindful practice, Yoga and an integration of SEL with our culturally responsive instructional focus and school culture. A trailblazer in social emotional learning (SEL), physician, psychiatrist, founder, and chairman of the School Development Program (SDP) at Yale University, current Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at Yale, James Comer began his work in SEL in 1968 at Yale University. Around that time, he developed the "Comer Approach" which placed the collaboration of students, families, teachers, and administrators at the center in advancing the outcomes for students. The approach was born out of his knowledge of child development and with the community and family at the center, his approach focused on the holistic support of the students as a basis for their learning experience. The approach, which is the foundation of much of the current SEL movement, created relationships between educators, their students, and their families in the social and emotional support of the students. Under these conditions, a sense of connection and belonging is fostered. This being the ideal environment for students to thrive academically within (Roach, 2013). Goleman (1995), defines emotional intelligence as the ability to recognize and identify emotions, recognize, and regulate emotions where necessary, ultimately resulting in an ability to express them effectively which impacts their relationships and experiences with others. Camangian & Cariaga (2021) ask us, "Are we teaching individual students to manage their emotions and behaviors simply for the sake of upward mobility or are we teaching students to recognize and reclaim their emotions and relationships as fuel for political inquiry, radical healing, and social transformation (p. 16)?" In response to this question, we believe we are delivering to our students a life skill and an ownership over their

Middle School Journal, 2013

This article reports findings from a study that explores how Teach For America (TFA) alumni interpret the causes of and interventions for educational inequality, the leadership pathways for remedying inequality, and the career opportunities available to them as TFA affiliates. Analyzing data from 117 alumni interviews, we find that the majority of participants attribute the roots of educational inequality to perceived managerial shortcomings of the public school system. We also demonstrate how TFA alumni embrace largely managerial, technocratic responses to inequality. Finally, we reveal how the majority of alumni who work in education do so in privatized settings that emphasize management, entrepreneurship, and accountability. These findings contribute to the literature on school reform, the politics of educational policy and leadership, and the discourse and policy environment in which the organization is embedded.