Earlier today, I started writing a blog about building culture and capacity within leaders. I’ll probably post it later this week because I think there are some nuggets of knowledge that are worth sharing in the post. However, there was a shift in what I wanted to share after I watched I the news today. I thought to myself, “This is the world that our students live in.” It’s falling apart, and so many of them are getting so many different stories from home. Those stories can knock down all we’ve tried to build in our students, or they can build into the lives that we’ve tried to create for them. The road depends on the thoughts of the students’ parents….or it could depend on what we do as educators to remedy the issue.
As I sat at my computer, I thought of an article I read in the May 2017 edition of Educational Leadership magazine. The title for the month was, “Lifting School Leaders.” It was a great issue for all school leaders to read, and one article stuck out to me. It was entitled, “Tending the Fire.” Right. What you’re thinking is the same thing I thought. In the article, Elizabeth City (senior lecturer of educational leadership at Harvard) and Danique Dolly (former principal of Baltimore City Neighbor’s High School) discuss how good leaders build capacity to lead and tackle the tough issues of injustice and race. Don’t you think the issue of injustice and race is one of the things principals and educators all over the United States are battling now? Schools are where kids thrive and dwell together, and the things that happen outside the school, whether it be a neighborhood issue or political unrest, can have an impact on how the school day goes. We know it because we’ve seen it!
In the article, Principal Dolly discusses his thoughts when around the reaction to Freddie Gray, Jr.’s death. For those who are unaware, Freddy Gray was a 25-year-old African American male who was arrested and transported by police for an alleged, illegal switchblade. Gray died of a traumatic spine injury, and there was speculation that ill play was involved. The city erupted into a mass of chaos. Because his school was in Baltimore, which is where the incident happened, Principal Dolly was forced to address the situation directly. Dolly stated that he felt his greatest fear as a school leader was happening, and he noted how no fire drill or lockdown procedure could prepare any leader for the emotions that students would exhibit the following day. No fire drill or lockdown procedure could prepare him for his own emotions. His school would need someone to put the pieces back together, and he could decide to be silent, or Mr. Dolly could decide to create a learning experience that could benefit his students.
“No fire drill or lockdown procedure could prepare any leader for the emotions that students would exhibit the following day.”
Principal Dolly went on to speak to his students, and they worked together to build relationships that were diverse so people could learn from one another. The school held forums, and teachers educated students on unequitable, real-world issues. They involved the community and educated community members on practices that were unfair that had a huge impact on the lack of success and progress in their neighborhood. What Principal Dolly did, along with his staff, was make his students advocates of what was right, equitable, and fair. He tended the fire and built capacity not only in his teachers and students, but also in his community. His decision saved those who walked through the school doors, and it saved those who had any encounter with someone from Baltimore City Neighbor’s High School.
You see, a school is the place where change happens. It’s a safe environment where the world’s next leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians, teachers, etc. are made. We can’t let that slip away from us. I won’t let that slip away because it’s too important. Our students spend more time with most educators than they do with their own parents. We have to think about that. We have to be intentional in providing them with skills and knowledge that will change their lives, and we also have to show them that we love them. Given our current situation, there’s one thing I know to be true- love always drives out hate, and I’m willing to get behind the wheel and take the ride.
I have two sons, and my oldest son started Kindergarten last week. My oldest son saw some of the horrible images on television this past weekend, and I have to tend the fire that burns within him. He wants to know what’s going on, and honestly it’s a sad thing for a father to have to do with a five year old. He won’t understand everything, and it’s not for him to understand everything right now. Until that time comes, I’ll contend with the fire. All he has to know is that there are some bad people in the world, but I’ll always be his firefighter, and I’ll help prepare him and all of my students to overcome nonsense. We have to make a difference as educators, and we can’t be silent. We have to be proactive. We have to be caring. We have to lead our students in the right way. We have to…tend the fire.
With love,
Dr. G.