Beginning With the End in Mind: Identifying Your Success Criteria for Reopening School

By Joe Schroeder, AWSA

Reopening school this fall within a global pandemic is very different from previous years in that it presents an adaptive challenge.  The unpredictability inherent within an adaptive challenge prevents us from “looking to the past” for guidance but rather requires us to “learn as we go” through the process.  Essentially, the multitude of unique logistical problems to solve within the various back-to-school scenarios this fall, which are set amid the ongoing fluidity of developments and divergent opinions on the matter make this a leadership challenge for the ages.  

So of course, it is easy for any leader to default into reactive mode.  But in a moment fraught with so much complexity and uncertainty, the purpose of this article and linked screencast video is to provide you an opportunity to be proactive in all this.  For to be sure, the reopening of school will get underway, one way or another.  That’s a given.  But 90 days in, (A) how do YOU want to be and (B) what do you want to be most evident about YOUR SCHOOL, regardless of the approach at the start? These are key variables -- and unlike so many things right now, these are two variables that you can determine!  

In a time of so much uncertainty and seeming lack of control, becoming clear on the ends you seek for the reopen might be some of the most impactful and empowering work that you can pursue.   Because these ends -- clearly identified and thoughtfully aligned to action -- position both you and your school to become better versions of yourself through the trials of this time.  In previous articles, I have written about how a consortium of state principal associations across America (including AWSA), called the School Leader Collaborative, has been working for several years to re-conceptualize how we view principal leadership with a framework called the School Leader Paradigm, or Paradigm.  Essentially, the purpose of the Paradigm is to help educational leaders become better versions of themselves so that schools get the learning leaders they need. In today’s effort, we will leverage the Paradigm to help you determine the success criteria for the reopen most appropriate for you and your school.  So, if interested, please first open up the Paradigm, then click on this video link to get underway.