Great leaders in schools are not unlike the great leaders of industry, small businesses and non-profits. There have been countless studies and books written about the most successful leadership tactics and tendencies, all of which reach similar conclusions about the best practices in leading and managing that we all know and have studied for decades. Similar studies exist that outline the best practices for teachers, the intricacies of great pedagogy that master teachers drop into their lessons in a seamless array of thises and thats that inspire children to grow at impressive rates. Those instructional best practices for teachers have made their way onto countless checklists and frameworks that principals use to monitor teacher growth.
Still, here’s the thing. If we already know what makes a great teacher and if we’re all using the same checklists, then why are not all teachers great? If we already know the elements of highly engaging, rigorous lessons and if we have provided all teachers with the same frameworks for years, then why are not all teachers highly effective? Though we have all read the same books and taken the same trainings, we know full well that some teachers are just better than others.
Instructional Leadership: Beyond the Book Study
Let me be clear that I have been in hundreds of classrooms over many years and have watched curiously as teachers review the same research and try as they might to employ the same tactics. Still, some are just better at it than others. So why is that? As leaders, we tell ourselves that our less-than-effective teachers are simply not employing the right strategies on the list and, while that is probably true, we must ponder something that is equally alarming. Maybe our best teachers never needed the list to begin with. I can’t help but wonder what good is it to have a list of strategies (or a framework) if our worst teachers aren’t using it and our best teachers never needed it to begin with. Yikes! This posits a deeper dilemma about whether our best teachers have some special skills that are simply not on the list at all. Maybe our best teachers know something that we don’t know. I am certain that they do.
I bring this up because the same can be said for our strongest instructional leaders in any school or school district. Let me ask you to consider your most recent book study or maybe a book study that you or your district leaders are leading right now. If every leader in your school or district is reading the same book and participating in the same trainings, then why do some find more success than others in employing those strategies? Why do we have some instructional leaders who are clearly “all-stars,” while others cannot make the starting lineup and are left to grumble on the bench? Maybe the all-stars know something that we don’t know. Maybe the all-stars didn’t need the book study. Maybe they could have written the book themselves. I am certain that they could.
Instructional Leadership Requires Instructional Focus
One credible theory is that our best leaders can focus better than others. This argument is cogently provided by Daniel Goldman in his book Focus, The Hidden Driver of Excellence. Of course, we all know Goldman as the author of Emotional Intelligence and many other great books. In Focus, Goldman opens with the story of a house detective who is carefully watching customers fleeting about a Manhattan department store. The detective’s job is to watch for shoplifters and rabble-rousers with a precision akin to a secret agent. The detective skillfully tunes out the noise, the elevator music and the chatter that reverbs throughout store. He tunes out the noise so can he can tune into the things that matter, the customer’s hands at the jewelry counter or the designer bags that a group of teenagers just carried into the dressing room. There is simply too much at stake to focus on everything happening in the hustle and bustle of a downtown department store. He must keep his focus on the one thing that matters.
I submit to you that this is the very skill that I encounter when I interact with all-star instructional leaders. These leaders are just as busy as the rest of us, but somehow they have the ability and courage to tune out the noise. They are busy, but not overwhelmed. They are efficient at juggling their emails, phone calls and meetings so they can get back to the task at hand. I am not sure if they are better managers of their calendars, but they are certainly excellent managers of their time. They appear to keep their focus downfield on the only goal that matters, improving student learning, even as the fans are booing from the stands and the tacklers are closing in on them, tugging at their jerseys.
The first challenge of instructional leadership is knowing great instruction when you see it. The second is leading others in such a way that the only possible result is improved instruction and learning, all the while tuning out the noise and distractions that surround them (from district deadlines to unread emails). Most leaders are consumed by the weight of this task, while others seem undaunted in prioritizing the things that will move the needle and ignoring the things that won’t. Most leaders who don’t spend enough time on improving instruction might be sent to another book study or training.
But maybe we’re all missing something.
Maybe they don’t focus enough on instructional leadership because they lack instructional knowledge and that causes them to avoid a topic that is uncomfortable for them or creates blind spots that leave them unaware of how to prioritize instruction over operations. Maybe they avoid instructional leadership altogether by tuning into the noise, or blaming the noise for their struggles.
In turn, maybe they lack instructional focus and that leaves them tired and unsure of what to do next.
Maybe this is something that our best instructional leaders know that the rest of us don’t. I am certain that they do.
