by Perry Rettig
March 5, 202
We have been crying for leadership from our elected officials. This is true at the county board level, the common council level, and the school board level. While this op-ed piece will focus particular attention at the school board level, the issues are virtually the same at all three local levels.
Every day we hear someone say, “We need leadership in our schools.” The next time you hear someone make that pontification, please ask them to explain themselves—seriously. This is a dialogue that must take place. But instead, we belch forth the sound bite of, “We need more leadership in our schools,” and then we stand back and look like we said something noteworthy. We probably do this because we don’t really know what we mean.
If truth be known, we do have pockets of leadership trying to come forward, but as soon as that happens, we pounce on them and force them back down. We say we want change, but our actions speak the opposite. Our present models of administration are virtual management bureaucracies. That’s what we want; that’s what we ask for; and, that’s what we reward.
How did we get into such a fix? Current models of organizational administration were largely fashioned from the industrial age. They were designed for mechanical efficiency and derived directly from the classical sciences. The sciences were sound, but the application to human, dynamic organizations was faulty. Nevertheless, we have created top-down bureaucracies that, in practice, are the antithesis of efficiency. These organizations stifle creativity (the hallmark of leadership), and crush the ability to change, ultimately grinding to a halt (the unmistakable sign of pending organizational death).
Patrick Dolan, creator of The Village Partnership that was adopted by the Oshkosh Area School District, saw these problems. Why? His model requires full cooperation and trust among these three groups. Likewise, Dolan keeps the pyramid in place, but does not provide an answer for the dearth of leadership.
For the leadership that we need to emerge, we must create opportunities for it. While there is no map to get us there, three principles are crucial. The system must be reorganized. Teacher unions must change their focus. And, the community must recognize and change its role. Leadership, not management, must emerge on all three fronts.
From a system standpoint, the model must become less rigid. It’s function is to support the emerging leadership at the lowest levels possible so the system can adapt quickly and effectively. Most often, this will be at the local site level and in the classroom. Multiple levels of bureaucracy stifle creativity and slow down decision-making and change to a deadly pace. Supporting site leadership, creating networks, and keeping the mission focused should be the roles of administration. It should be noted that schools are miniature pyramid models with the same problems and needing the same solutions. Quite frankly, our school systems are so large they crush under their own weight. Smaller is better.
Teacher unions, like all unions, were formed to protect their workers from mismanagement and outright unethical management.
The community is certainly represented by the elected school board members, but is also refers to every one of us citizens. We must always value a strong foundation of managers in our school systems. However, the value-added dimension comes from the leaders. When school boards interview administrators to carry out their mission, inevitably, they look for managers. Managers, however, are hired to maintain the status quo. If we want change, we must hire leaders. When those leaders are hired, the board must allow them the time and space to lead. The board’s role is to set the mission, to hire the right people to move toward that mission, and then to support those leaders. I think those leaders might exist in our schools, but I’m not so sure they are allowed to lead. We citizens must help the board define our mission and become involved in the schools in whatever ways fit our individual capacities. Finally, turf protection keeps the status quo and will not allow the system to make necessary adaptations.
Leadership from the administration, the teachers, and the community is required for schools to change and to survive. Every one of us has a role. We must look to create opportunities for leadership to emerge; we must support those opportunities, and we must each step up to the plate.
Perry Rettig is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership in the UW Oshkosh College of Education and Human Services. He also serves as coordinator of the masters degree program. He can be reached at Rettig@uwosh.edu