A Transformational Time for Literacy Leadership 365 Days a Year

by Pam Allyn, Author and Motivational Speaker

Recently, I visited a district to speak about my book co-authored with Dr. Ernest Morrell, Every Child a Super Reader. The district had adopted this book as a district wide book club read. I thought I would be talking to teachers and literacy coaches. I was delighted when the principals and the superintendent also attended my session. Each of them shared with me how they had read my book too and that they spearheaded a district wide follow up where the schools were incorporating the 7 Strengths, my social emotional literacy learning framework into monthly rituals and routines.

It meant a lot not only to me but to all the teachers that the administrators were at this gathering. They showed so much care and thoughtfulness for the work by showing up, by being so present and by demonstrating their work alongside teachers in the ongoing journey to create a transformational literacy climate for all students.

For an administrative leader is a literacy leader in every key respect and to make dreams become reality, a growth framework for literacy is essential. There are five major components: setting the mission, creating the vision, building the culture, building the strategy and providing the teaching team with tactics that match all of the above.

This is big work; it is legacy building work. And it is not simple work. Literacy is always relevant and always urgently important for the art and act of learning. It goes across all the hours of the school day, from the literacy block to the disciplinary literacy a student will experience in math, science and social studies classes. It is literacy too that helps our children learn music and do well in sports and later become leaders in their afterschool clubs and in work they do in other parts of their lives, and all the things they do outside of school too. It is a tool for communication, for happiness, for comfort and for love.

Let us consider each of the five aspects of literacy leadership. Here below I will share some of the key questions you can ask yourselves and your teams to build your literacy legacy.

Mission: Asking ourselves: what is the purpose of this literacy work? What is it we most want for all children? Set forth with teachers a time to gather in a retreat format to explore the deeper purpose of their own work and the work of the school and district to leave a lasting legacy for literacy. What do we want children to be able to do with literacy? What do we want this district to be remembered for?

Vision: Asking: if we could dream any literacy dream, what would it be, without any barriers? What would it take to remove any obstacles there are in reality? What does our ideal literacy environment look like? What are our deepest hopes for every child as a literacy learner?

Culture: Asking: what would it take to build a culture of belonging, curiosity, friendship, kindness, confidence, courage and hope here as literacy learners? What would we all have to do to make this happen? How can we help parents and families to participate fully in the creation of this literacy culture? What can we do to make all children comfortable to take risks, build resilience and feel engaged?

Strategy: Asking: what our 365 pathway will be to achieve our vision and our mission. Asking who are the allies we need to make this happen? Askign what the roles are for leaders, all staff, families and students. Involving and enrolling all of them in creating doable goals for literacy that everyone can achieve and see success and measurable steps forward in. Creating a strategy that is both realistic and inspiring. In other words, of course we want to achieve high test scores but a seven year old needs a strategy that takes into account his or her perspective: what kind of goal can we set for the children themselves that feels exciting and manageable in the short term?

Tactics: Asking: what are the resources and tools we will all need to implement and/or refine our strategy? What are the practical materials that will make things a lot easier for my colleagues and our students? What resources can parents and caregivers also make use of that create a synergy for our students between home and school? What kinds of ways can we make the most of summer and extended day learning so literacy continues to grow and bloom in a full 365 day model?

The world is bright for our literacy learners in this, the 21st Century. Literacy will open up their lives and their learning and their connections to others. It is the foundational tool of all learning tools and indeed of all tools for a happy life. And building the Literacy 365 Framework with these five aspects of exploration with your teams is a way of committing to all your community that the hopes and dreams of every young learner will be realized and our mission-driven work will be fulfilled.

Pam Allyn will be the closing keynote speaker at the 2019 Elementary Principals Convention taking place from October 9-11, 2019 at the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells.

She is a leading literacy expert, author, and motivational speaker. She serves as the Senior Vice President of Innovation and Development for Scholastic Education. Pam also founded LitWorld, the groundbreaking global literacy movement serving children across the United States and in more than 60 countries, pioneering game-changing initiatives including LitCamp and World Read Aloud Day.

Pam is the author of 26 books for educators, leaders and families on reading, writing, and quality learning. Her most recent book is Every Child a Super Reader, co-authored with Dr. Ernest Morrell. Other books include Your Child’s Writing Life, What To Read When and Pam Allyn’s Best Books for Boys.