Being Vulnerable and Strong at the Same Time

by Joe Schroeder, PhD Associate Executive Director, AWSA

John Hattie (Donohoo 2016) cites collective efficacy as the variable with the highest effect size on student achievement. This makes sense because, in such a case, we have a whole faculty feeling effective—able to actually accomplish better student achievement and equitable conditions for all. But collective efficacy does not happen on its own. Such collective efficacy is a product of leaders and teachers building a particular organizational culture, what Michael Fullan describes as collaborative culture or what Jon Saphier refers to as adult professional culture (APC). A draft publication in November by Saphier makes a bold statement important to any leader wishing to have major impact on student learning: “Our learning and research, supported solidly by 40 years of school improvement work and by the research [in a bibliography of over 50 cited publications], indicates that there will be no sustainable improvement in student results and no elimination of the achievement gap until leaders and teachers succeed in building a particular organizational culture.” This article aims to briefly share key attributes of such a culture and the leadership that can develop it.

From his deep well of research and work in schools across our nation, Saphier articulates 12 Visible Practices of a Strong Adult Professional Culture (APC). You can see the full organization of the list in the short appendix at the end of this article. But here is a subset to highlight. How many of these attributes would describe your school right now?

  • Frequent teaching in the presence of other adults (i.e., public teaching)
  • Safety to take risks, be vulnerable in front of colleagues
  • Deep collaboration and deliberate design for interdependent work and joint responsibility for student results
  • Non-defensive self-examination of teaching practice in relation to student results
  • Constant use of data to re-focus teaching
  • Human environment of caring, appreciation and recognition
  • Honest, open communication and the ability to have difficult conversations
  • Environment of reflection with habits of mindful inquiry
  • Urgency and press to reach all students and do better for our disadvantaged students

As you scan through, what trends do you see? A safe, honest, and caring environment; habits of reflection, inquiry, and vulnerability; collective commitments; a deep-seated investment and follow through on reaching all students? All these are evident, for sure. But perhaps the attribute that stands out as most compelling (and challenging) is “non-defensive self-examination of teaching practice in relation to student results.” 

Let’s deconstruct this attribute to see what is involved. First, teachers in such a school are highly reflective, examining their practice and analyzing it for its impact (or not) on student learning and growth. Unfortunately, this is often not normative, ongoing practice for teachers across a full faculty. But moreover, teachers in a high-impact school are conducting such analysis in a non-defensive manner. This implies that the self-examination is actually occurring in a collaborative setting, where such non-defensive review allows for honest discussion of approaches and lessons learned to be freely shared and incorporated so that the best practices in pockets of a school ultimately become common practices across its entirety. Thus, imagine the collective impact and efficacy of your staff if “non-defensive self-examination of teaching practice in relationship to student results” was an ongoing, living and breathing reality in your school!

Certainly, it is very helpful to know what attributes of a high-impact adult professional culture look like—and having the research base and classroom experiences of someone with the stature of Jon Saphier to back up these findings is affirming for the would-be, impactful school leader. But how does one grow such a culture?

Saphier, in responding to such a question, reflects back on the greatest lesson about leadership that he has gathered in his 40 years of visiting over 6,000 K-12 classrooms in about 1,000 schools from Alaska to Maine: “The greatest leaders are vulnerable and strong at the same time. And they use those qualities to mobilize irresistible collective action.” 

Then Saphier goes on to describe these two, seemingly paradoxical, leadership attributes in such a helpful way that I thought every Wisconsin leader could benefit: 

Vulnerable does not mean weak; and strong does not mean loud or even charismatic. As Jim Collins found in Good to Great, leaders of many different personality types can be extraordinary. You can’t tell in the first meeting, or by the feel of the handshake…. 
Vulnerable means that leaders don’t pretend to know all the answers. They are open about what they don’t know and clear that they need to mobilize collective action because they can’t do it alone. They are willing to be seen as learners; in fact, they plunge in with faculty members in learning new strategies and programs. They try out with students whatever they expect the faculty to try. They share both successes and struggles openly with other staff members. Their learning stance and vulnerability make it safe for others to risk, learn, and struggle. They admit their mistakes, and they acknowledge when they are not sure what to do. But they do know which goals need to be met, and they are up-front and persistent about working on these most important goals no matter what. That is the strong part.
Strong means the leaders have core values and goals that drive all their behavior. They are public and persistent about these goals. Quietly or loudly, and usually with compelling data, they continually put the work in front of staff members and raise a sense of urgency.

 

In closing, let’s review:

  1.  We want high-impact on students for all our leadership efforts.
  2. A preponderance of research shows that there will be no sustainable improvement in student results and no elimination of the achievement gap until leaders and teachers succeed in building a particular organizational culture, which maximizes collective efficacy.
  3. A key attribute of this particular adult professional culture (ACP)—which research consistently shows leads to student impact—is “non-defensive self-examination of teaching practice in relation to student results.”
  4. The key means for leaders igniting and building such a culture in others is by first being vulnerable and strong themselves

So as we are now underway in the new year, how could this information assist you in making 2018 the most high-impact year yet? Certainly, the school administrator can’t do it all, but as detailed in this article, your leadership is the critical link—the spark that ignites the fire. Therefore, moving forward, when others reflect upon your leadership, how likely are they to view your practice as both vulnerable and strong at the same timeproviding the professional example that sets the tone and encourages similar practice by those whom you lead and serve?

Reference

Saphier, Jon. “The ‘Black Box’ of Leadership.” Unpublished Nov. 20, 2017 draft.
             Presented at the 2017 Learning Forward Annual Conference.

APPENDIX A:  Visible Practices of a Strong Adult Professional Culture

Learning Organization

1. Frequent teaching in the presence of other adults (Public Teaching)
2. Safety to take risks, be vulnerable in front of colleagues
3. Constant learning about High-Expertise Teaching

Teams and Data

4. Deep collaboration and deliberate design for interdependent work and joint responsibility for student results
5. Non-defensive self-examination of teaching practice in relation to student results
6. Constant use of data to re-focus teaching

 

Passion and Press

7. Urgency and press to reach all students and do better for our disadvantaged students
8. Commitment to implement “Smart is something you can get” in classroom practice, class structures, and school policies and procedures

 

Human, Caring Environment

9. Human environment of caring, appreciation and recognition, getting to know one another, traditions we look forward to

 

Critical Feedback

10. Demanding and high standards for development towards high expertise teaching for all teachers
11. Honest, open communication and the ability to have difficult conversations
12. Environment of reflection with habits of mindful inquiry