I am a teacher, learner, and leader. In that order. Those are the qualifications I have for writing this blog, the sum of my instructional and leadership credentials. After 30 years serving our public school children and parents, I am well versed and somewhat accomplished at each of these things. Of course, in offering up my credentials, you might expect me to list school principal or district specialist or author or refer to those fancy degrees hanging sublimely on the wall in my office among cheap, dusty frames and yellowing parchments. For those who care about such things, you can reach out to me for a copy of my inspiring resume. It’s a real page-turner 🙂
As for me, I say that I am qualified to write this blog only because I have dedicated my life to the pursuit of teaching and learning. This is not to say that I am not proud of my academic accomplishments but let us be clear that having a title or a few letters after one’s name makes them no more a right and proper expert to write a blog about educational leadership. This is especially true for me, as I know and admire many others in my school district (and many other districts) who inspire me daily and who are among the smartest, most dedicated professionals in all the land. Each one of those friends and colleagues of mine could author a blog like this one with great success. I can only hope to honor them and the young leaders in our schools by providing some morsels of inspiration that might someday lead to improved instruction and deeper learning for our children.
I certainly do not write this blog to suggest that I have all the solutions, for I did not solve all my classroom struggles when I was a teacher nor did I solve all of my school’s problems as a principal. I suppose that I am as qualified as any because I have been and I remain a teacher and parent who knows both the joyful and grim realities of raising children amid the backdrop of complex video-game systems and even more-complex school systems, a teacher of my son and of the thousands of other sons and daughters I served in the schools in which I worked and toiled, and a learner who would know a lot less if it were not for the great and wise colleagues, poets, and prophets who have inspired my craft and continue to do so. I have much to give back to those who have helped me and this blog is one small way of honoring them by shaping our young school leaders who need all the help they can get.
