REINVENTION WITH PURPOSE
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nis are correct that “ management is doing things right ; leadership is doing the right things ,” then management is all about executing , but leadership is about clarifying purpose and priorities , Covey argued in his book . To be clear , this process can and should be iterative and emergent , based on putting something into action , learning , and adjusting course .
Yet not deliberating about the end reduces educators to “ straightening deck chairs on the Titanic ,” but not ensuring that the ship isn ’ t simply headed down .
As Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe wrote in the context of education in Understanding by Design , good teachers start with the goals and how they would know if students have met them . They then backward map all the things they need to provide to get to those outcomes . The same is true for good schools .
Without having a deliberate conversation to make the purpose explicit — and be clear
“... management is all about executing , but leadership is about clarifying purpose and priorities . about people ’ s real differences — it ’ s likely that many schools will unintentionally slide back to how they operated prior to the pandemic or innovate in a way untethered from the goals they have for their students .
Schools can tackle this work in different ways . One way to create a shared vision is to engage in the common exercise of constructing a portrait of a graduate . Although the headlines from such an exercise may be roughly the same , the nuances and what it will specifically take to fulfill a school ’ s purpose will differ . That ’ s why it ’ s critical to not just make high-level statements about a school ’ s purpose , but also to make clear how you would know if your school was successful in this pursuit . What are the goals and how would you measure them ? Specificity and clarity are important .
Grosse Pointe Academy in Michigan undertook this work during the pandemic , for example . They arrived at some familiar themes — objectives around creating intellectually curious graduates who are empathetic and active listeners capable of thinking critically . Maybe most important , though , is that Grosse Pointe Academy didn ’ t just lay out platitudes for what it wants its graduates to be able to do in the future . For each area , it also clarified what those phrases didn ’ t mean so that there was greater clarity and less room for misinterpretation . For example , global citizenship is about “ understanding the wider world and his / her place in it , respecting all
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Page 28 Fall 2022 CSEE Connections