STANDARD THREE: Cultural Leadership
School executives will understand and act on the understanding of the important role a school's culture contributes to the exemplary performance of the school. School executives must support and value traditions, artifacts, symbols and positive values and norms of the school and community that result in a sense of identity and pride upon which to build a positive future. A school executive must be able to "reculture" the school if needed to align with the school's goals of improving student and adult learning and to infuse the work of the adults and students with passion, meaning, and purpose. Cultural leadership implies understanding the school as the people in it each day, how they came to their current state, and how to connect with their traditions in order to move them forward to support the school's efforts to achieve individual and collective goals.
A. Focus on Collaborative Work Environment: The school executive understands and acts on the understanding of the positive role that a collaborative environment can play in the school’s culture.
I guided the student council through creating Centennial's first Virtual Spirit Week. This reignited a sense of community and unity as we celebrated each day.
B. School Culture and Identity: The school executive develops and uses shared vision, values and goals to define the identity and culture of the school.
I presented tools on how to be more culturally proficient to 14 beginning teachers and their 14 mentors at a recent meeting. We discussed if one of us would take a step toward understanding each other it would spread throughout the school and impact all of our students.
C. Acknowledges Failures; Celebrates Accomplishments and Rewards: The school executive acknowledges failures and celebrates accomplishments of the school in order to define the identity, culture and performance of the school
During a year of so many challenges, we choose to celebrate as much as possible on any given day. The admin team is always working together to find opportunities to share positivity and reward the staff.
D. Efficacy and Empowerment: The school executive develops a sense of efficacy and empowerment among staff which influences the school’s identity, culture and performance.
I provided professional development on Equity: Understanding Yourself and Those Around You. We discussed how this creates a more empowered learning community. I have been compiling a resource folder to guide their journey through implicit bias, understanding, and identifying with others.