Creating More Schools isn’t the Answer to Making Them More Personal

Despite the recent attention brought to the idea of making school more personal by spending additional state monies into creating schools within schools, one needs to look at the reasons why schools are not connecting with students.

It is true that large schools have a difficult time “being personal” with students, and that specialization in some areas, namely in math and science, offers benefits to certain students.

However, there is an underlying problem within schools and education. The system has been set up to make it difficult for teachers to be authentic with their students.  In other words, for a teacher to be more personal with students, they need to find ways to connect with them.  The system has been created in a way that says, “I’m the teacher and you’re the student. I’m right and you’re not.” That mentality has been around for decades within our system and doesn’t breed students who want to have personal relationships with their teachers. 

A purposeful attempt by administrators and teachers to “be real” with their students will go along way in creating an authentic atmosphere. One way is by showing that leaders sometimes make mistakes. When administrators make a mistake, they should admit the mistake and work to correct it. Likewise, teachers should do the same. Grade the test wrong, correct it. If students aren’t clear on instructions, repeat them until they get it.

            Another way administrators and teachers can create a more personal environment for students is to paint a new picture of hope every day. Over the course of the day, by the time the picture of the school day arrives home, it will either be filled with flattering images or the canvas will be soiled with the stains of the day.

One way is to simply acknowledge students. It doesn’t have to be an invitation to discuss what you did over the summer, but a simple “Hello” when the student enters the building or classroom or passes by the hallway.

Another practical way to “be real” with students is to offer to help. At the beginning of a school year, students in large schools need GPS systems to find their classes. A friendly face of a teacher guiding them in the right direction will go a long way.

Schools must also preserve the student and family experience. High school is a great time for students to make memories that will last a lifetime, and encouraging a family environment among all members of the school will make students proud of their school. Also, the more students and their families are engaged in the school, the better the school will be. Families who are involved in the school become more invested in the school’s success.

Giving students and their families hope doesn’t cost any money, nor does it involve the creation of any new schools or academies, just some basic common sense. If you want to create schools within schools, go ahead, but before you do so, try having teachers and parents work together to do what is best for the students — the students just might buy in.

It’s ok to make mistakes…isn’t it?

Ok…just a quick pet peeve of mine.  Don’t we all make mistakes?  I mean, is this something new that people aren’t perfect?  From my recollection and deep, intense study, there was only One who was/is perfect and it is Him that those of us who call ourselves Christians follow…so why is it so hard to sometimes admit to mistakes?

I’m thinking of the teacher who makes an error on grading a test, but is bent on being right and although there is documented proof that they are wrong, the heels dig in and they fight to the death.  Or the leader who misspeaks, misappropriates or misunderstands and dies on the hill of trying to be right.  I believe it was Robert Kennedy who said “Hang a lantern on your problems.”  The idea behind that is if you make a mistake, admit it, deal with it and move on.  Trying to disprove the obvious will become difficult after awhile.

I think teachers struggle with this because they feel (unnecessarily so) that they have to be perfect for the sake of their students.  “The teacher is always right,” I remember being told as a child.  But in reality, I think students, members of a church and followers in general find something comfortable in knowing their teacher, pastor or supervisor is human as well.  I know I feel better about my golf game when I see Tiger Woods put a ball in the water (a rare occasion as of late).  We may learn from mistakes, but we grow based on how we handle them. 

Authenticity doesn’t look for perfection..it looks for real people doing real things and may times, imperfectly.

Teaching authenticity to teachers…not always easy

A few months ago I began thinking about ways to teach our strategic plan to school employees.  At the beginning of each school year, I paint a picture of what we hope the school year will be like…our school vision for the year.  It is always my hope the employees will be listening to me will hold on to every word I say…every breadth I breathe.  However, I learned quickly that is not the case.  Once the school year begins, it’s difficult to go back and retrace the years memorable and historic “first talk.”

So I began to think of other ways to link the school’s strategic plan to the employees’ behavior, whether it be in the classroom or in the hallway.  I created the Oakland Christian School University which would be used by me to teach the components of our strategic plan.  Every month, the faculty and staff meet with me (usually in small groups of 10-12) to hear how we are linking the behavior to the action.

One of the areas we have talked about recently is the idea of being authentic in the classroom with both students and parents.  We’ve talked about the fact that being authentic requires you to be bold and to come out of your comfort zone.  As we talk, there is a realization that schools could be much more effective if the adults in authority (administrators, teachers) would/could be more personal with students…authentic.

But as we talk about being authentic and real with our students and families, there is also concern that if you do so, you might open yourself up later on.  Being vulnerable isn’t easy, especially when most of us haven’t had much practice at it.  A couple of practical ways to begin learning how to be authentic is to know yourself and to know others.

Knowing yourself is about your level of confidence in your abilities.  A teacher or leader who struggles with their own competence level will have a tough time being real with their audience.  Having the ability to know your flaws upfront and to not be afraid of them will go along way toward achieving the next step.

Getting to know others and being relational with them (students, staff, etc.) is instrumental in breaking down walls that may exist without one even knowing. 

Being authentic isn’t easy, but schools would reap huge benefits from students and families if they were able to. 

Being authentic with my son

Every now and then moments come up…a time when if you could take a picture and freeze the date and time, you would.  For me, that happened recently with my five year old son, Palmer.

Several months ago he heard a country song by Rodney Atkins called “Watching You” and instantly determined this would be our song.  It’s about a son and his dad…the son watches everything the dad from cussing to praying.  Basically, the son wants to be like his dad.   His favorite line in the song is “I’m your buckaroo, I wanna be like you.”  He would sing it over and over.  This past weekend, the school that I am in leadership at held a variety talent show in which I normally sing some type of song.  I asked him if he wanted to sing with me and he immediately said, “Oh yeah dad,,,let’s do the buckaroo song.”

So we started to practice and memorize the words and then finally the big night came.  Palmer and I were closing the show and we walked on stage and started singing.  As we sang, I looked over at him and realized I was looking at a little version of me.  He’s tapping his foot…just like me.  He’s holding the mic…just like me.  He smiles, bows and says thank you, just like me.  And I wonder, am I doing anything right to make him want to be like me?  Will I be able to share my mistakes with him and teach him and will he still want to be like me?  That’s really the point to the song…the dad doesn’t have to be perfect, the son just wants to be like him…imperfection and all.

That’s really a perfect description of authenticity.  Teachers, pastors, parents all need to be able to admit mistakes and failure and teach our kids what it is like to move beyond the shortfall.  Our children, or students, or congregations will love us, maybe even more because we can be real with them.

 When we got home and I put Palmer to bed, I told him that I had had the most fun I have ever had singing.  He leaned up, gave me a hug and said, “Me too daddy, me too.”

 Here’s a look at two buddies singing together.

Super Tuesday Authentic Thoughts

This morning, as my five year old son and I were driving into school, I turned on the radio and told him that today is Super Tuesday.  I explained, the best I could what Super Tuesday meant in the world of Presidential politics.  I told him that it’s like two teams playing a basketball game…in this case Democrats and Republicans playing each other.  He asked if my guy (Mitt Romney) was running against Okabama…I told him not yet, but maybe in a few months.

It was interesting as we talked, that although he doesn’t understand primaries, caucuses and delegates, he knows we are electing a leader for our country.  He doesn’t comprehend the massive complexities of International business and of Diplomatic relations, but he does know that someone will be chosen to represent our country.  Most people are not political junkies and do not follow every move of every candidate or of every bill that goes through Congress.  They, I really believe, just want someone who will be truthful, have high moral character and integrity.  What they want is authenticity.  At least, that’s what the five year old of the country want.

A New Year for Leaders

The holiday season brings about a typical scenario fro many of us.  We begin on Thanksgiving Day and continue through New Year’s Day by consuming all of the food we can possibly find (which usually isn’t difficult).  During that same time period, we probably utter some phrase like “On January 1, or maybe the 2nd, I am going to begin my new diet.”  It is an emphatic statement with a healthy dose of truth and sincerity behind it.  But then January 1st or 2nd roles around.  The initial idea of exercising and dieting had sounded ok, but ow the day is here.  It’s put up or shut up!  For many of us, we can maybe last the first few days,  but after the excitement (if that is a good description at all) of the new diet, gym membership or exercise machine wears off, we wear down.

The New Year is also a perfect time for leaders to evaluate, or even -reevaluate where they are.  It’s a time to look in the mirror and ask yourself the question, “Am I the leader I am supposed to be?”  Are there areas in your leadership that once sounded good, but have since fallen by the wayside of New Years diets and gym memberships. 

If that is the case, pick yourself up and let’s start fresh.  2008 is now here and great things can happen if leaders wil step up and look to be great.  In any case, have a great trip to the gym and Happy New Year!

Leading with little merit

I am probably making this a bad habit, but I watched the Democratic Debate last night from Las Vegas, hoping to hear something new and different. Again, hoping to see leadership come from someones mouth.  I didn’t hear much in a way of leading, but I did hear something regarding education that I thought was very telling.

The subject of merit pay for teachers came up with the moderator Wolf Blitzer asking the a couple of the candidates whether or not they supported merit pay.  What followed was a ridiculous answer that illustrates how people view education and the hold unions have.

Full disclosure…I lead a K-12 Christian school and for years have believed that rewarding people for better performance will not only enhance instruction, but will also improve the school environment and community.  Senator Clinton made reference to rewarding the entire school, not individual teachers.  When Blitzer asked about teachers who are not doing a good job, her reply was, we need to weed them out.  By the way, it’s not that her answer was that bad, it just illustrates the lack of consistency in organizational improvement.  Teachers should be rewarded for extra work.  And those teachers who are not performing well, should be removed.  However, the public school system makes it very difficult for that to happen. 

How many other professions offer tenure so that once you achieve three to five years in the profession, you are protected until your career is over.  That doesn’t even make sense, but for some reason, we think we should protect teachers from excelling, increasing their standards and stretching themselves.  If communities saw more of that from teachers, they would be much more willing to vote on a tax increase to assist schools.  But what they hear is that teachers don’t make enough money, should be given more days off and should have better insurance.  After awhile, people get tired of hearing this.

Teachers and school employees should have the highest standards and school officials shouldn’t be afraid to ask more of them.  If we want our educational system to make a noticeable improvement, we need to set higher standards and reward those who meet those standards. 

It’s That Time of Year

Halloween is over (thank goodness) and now the Christmas music has started playing (are they playing Christmas music earlier and earlier every year).  The weather is turning, the stores have their Christmas decorations up and the holiday feel is beginning to set in.  It seems as though it is during this time of year when people really look after their fellow man.  Seems much easier to put some money in the red can as you leave the grocery store between November and December than it does in July.  But is the need much less when it is warmer?

Actually, the amount of need really isn’t the point.  Being authentic has to do with living a life consistent…all the time, holiday seasons or not.  When their is a need, the authentic leader will be there, in his or her genuine self, willing to do what is necessary. 

Just as a quick caveat…the above is where I am wanting to be.  Hopefully, a continuous look at being authentic and real will assist me on the journey. 

Looking for Leaders

It’s twenty-four hours after watching the Democrats debate in Philadelphia and am still asking the question, where were the leaders?  Don’t get me wrong, if it were the Republicans, I may be asking the same question.  What is frustrating about watching people campaigning for our nation’s top leadership post is that you find very few leadership principles in the people running for office.

People want to follow someone who will be clear and articulate a vision in which to rally around, but the nature of politics and 24 hour news cycles puts the candidates’ radar screen up every moment.  They can’t be real with the public because, to a degree, they aren’t allowed to be.  Every answer has to be perfect and if there is a slip, “Gotcha!”  That’s a tough way to find a leader.

I think people actually want to see that their leaders are real people…people who have faults and then can admit them.  That’s part of authentic leadership…I just wish we could see more of it. 

Being authentic in an unauthentic world

Does it make sense, as a leader to put yourself out there in an honest way in hopes that people will do the same?  That’s a tough question many leaders may be finding themselves asking.  An older version of leadership has the leader with all of the answers and leading in an authoritative way (probably not very effective either).  But are people drawn to that?  Maybe at first, but over the long haul, I’m not sure.

Authentic leadership means you are willing to be REAL with people   You want to hear from them and are willing to let your guard down as well.  For church leaders or people in a ministry position, this can be tough….aren’t we supposed to have the answers.  We’ve been conditioned to think and believe the leader has no failures, faults or mistakes.  The problem with that unreal ideal, is that few people will be able to relate to the leader.  I believe people are drawn to authenticity, especially in leadership.  Can there be issues with this new found transparency,,you bet.  But the overall result may produce an environment where people can be real with each other and be more effective accomplishing their goals.