In their 2011 report the Carnegie Corporation discussed public schools as the guardians of democracy. As students go back into the classrooms this fall, many for the first time in 18 months, our work with the public-school leaders is at the forefront of our minds. Despite a tumultuous election cycle and a focus on public sector issues in the media such as public health, the federal budget and policing, few people have asked how are schools doing civically? Are they adequately developing students who will be our next voters and civic leaders? Will they be prepared or even interested in participating in our democracy and facing the challenges ahead?
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How Public Leaders Use Organizational Learning Practices to Change the World for the Better
“Over the past 12 years, U.S. airlines have accomplished an astonishing feat: carrying more than eight billion passengers without a fatal crash. Such numbers were once unimaginable, even among the most optimistic safety experts.”
Wall Street Journal article, 4/16/21 The Airline Safety Revolution by Andy Pasztor.
This WSJ article is a tutorial in organizational learning and the practices of skilled public leaders who aspired to make the US airline industry among the safest in the world. The hard leadership work in this kind of change process is always the same, facing the current reality openly and honestly, creating the shared vision for change, engaging the essential partners, staying focused and sustaining the focus and discipline over time. The good news for all of us they did it.
Embracing the Current Reality: A Leadership Key to Achieving Greatness
This month we focus on the important role of Public Leaders to educate and gain agreement on the unvarnished facts about the current reality. A leader’s willingness to confront the current reality with co-workers and citizens is an act of respect. It is the only way to focus on the gap between where you are and where you want to go. Without this collective understanding and agreement achieving shared goals and making shared decisions is impossible.
Back to School: Innovation & Leadership in Education
Around the country this month students, teachers and administrators to go back to school and we are featuring the Leadership Matters Innovations Projects focused on making changes in schools as a result of participation in the Leadership Matters Program.
School-focused Innovation Projects from the Leadership Matters Program
Around the country this month students, teachers and administrators to go back to school and we are featuring the Leadership Matters Innovations Projects focused on making changes in schools as a result of participation in Leadership Matters.
Pawtucket School Leaders lowered student suspension rates at all levels and credited, ‘Leadership Matters RI’ as a key driver for this major success. At one Pawtucket school, the principal reported that there were 231 ‘behavior instances,’ meaning a student was disrespectful of the teacher or disruptive in class. Due to a ‘shift in the alternatives created’ there were only 15 instances reported in the first half of the following school year. In another school there were approximately 3,500 suspensions, and now it is down to 150 in that same school.