Improve Your Campus by Visiting Other Campuses

In a former life I spent ten years as a high school basketball coach. As I do with my administrative position now, I took a pretty cerebral approach to coaching basketball and to running a basketball program. One of the things I did to improve was to read incessantly about basketball. In my reading, I came across a book that has had a profound influence on my professional life, not only as a coach but also as a teacher and as an administrator. This book is The Smart Take from the Strong: The Basketball Philosophy of Pete Carril by Pete Carril. In the book, the author, former Princeton University men's basketball coach Pete Carril, explains how he often took ideas from more successful or more experienced coaches and programs and incorporated those ideas in his own program. The implementation of others' good ideas, for Carril, often resulted in improvements in his team and in his program without his having to reinvent the wheel.

I believe this principle applies just as well to educational leadership as it does to coaching. I believe strongly that educational leaders at all levels of administration and at all stages of their careers should visit other campuses to seek new ideas. There is no limit to what can be found on other campuses in terms of ideas for your campus. Likewise, there is no limit to which members of your educational community can benefit from visits to other schools. Heads of school, division heads, department chairs, classroom teachers, board members, counselors, development officers... the list goes on.

When visiting other campuses, there are a few approaches one could take in terms of fact-finding. First, if you have a specific need that needs to be addressed, seek out schools that are successful in the area or areas which you desire to improve. Perhaps a quick google search can point you to the right school. If that doesn't work for you, contact your accrediting agency or other school association (i.e. SACS, SAIS, NAIS, etc.) or perhaps your (or another) state department of education. The organizations should have at least a feel for, if not firsthand knowledge of, which schools meet the criteria you seek.

Second, if you have no specific need you wish to address by visiting another campus, select a campus to visit that has a great reputation in the community, in the state, in the region or in the nation. Again, accrediting agencies and state departments of education can be great resources for finding schools. Additionally, reports such as Newsweek's "America's Top Public High Schools" or the U.S. News & World Report "America's Best High Schools 2008."

While visiting the campus, ask to meet with teachers, students, administration and even plant managers. Ask questions, take notes and observe as much as time permits. Walk the halls, sit in classes, eat in the cafeteria, observe carpool. Absorb as much as possible on your visit. You may even want to take a camera to document some of the things you see. You never know where you'll find the next big idea for your campus. It might be in the Admission's Office, it might be in the cafeteria or it might be in the science lab.

Besides picking up great ideas for your campus, visiting other campuses provides great opportunities to network, to make contacts and to find mentors in the academic world. Who couldn't use more friends, social contacts and mentors?

If time restraints and budgetary restrictions prohibit numerous campus visits, try a cyber-visit. Many schools have amazing websites that can give you an overview of curriculum, organization, etc. Another affordable alternative is a phone call or an email. Many administrators and teachers would relish the opportunity to tell you some great things about their schools. Take advantage of that.

There is no one on your campus who would not benefit from observing other campuses. I urge you to make some visits yourself and to encourage others to make campus visits. If your campus currently is excelling to such an extent that you don't need any new ideas from other good schools, please contact me immediately and I'll be on the next plane to your campus, camera and notebook in hand.

The Importance of Getting Back in the Classroom

I vividly remember sitting through education classes in college wondering how long it had been since my professors had been in a real classroom (with kids, not college students) teaching real lessons. For me, there existed a disconnect between the professors and me because I knew they were teaching me practices they had used decades ago and hadn't used since. Even as an undergrad I recognized the importance of educational leaders being in the classroom not just for observation but to stay sharp, current and credible.

After teaching for nine years, I became an administrator but I remained in the classroom part time. Once I moved out of the part-time-teacher-and-part-time-administrator role and into the role of full time administrator, I missed the classroom and I missed instruction. The desire to get back in the classroom as a teacher and not just as an observer remains strong today. I'll be making my first foray back into the classroom (for this school year) this week and I'm looking forward to it.

I believe the next generation of educational leaders must never forget the classrooms from which they came and I believe those in non-teaching leadership positions should make an effort to get back into the classroom as often as possible. Educational leaders teaching in classrooms create win-win-win situations for the kids, for the classroom teachers and for themselves.

First, kids are fascinated when the principal, dean or head of school steps into the classroom and teaches. Kids often have no idea that the best administrators once were classroom teachers in a former life. Regardless of the subject, teaching classes allows educational leaders to be seen by students as an expert in a content area, to earn a new level of respect and admiration with the kids and to relate to kids in a new way and in a new setting. It is not uncommon for students to request return visits from administrators who do guest lectures because the students are so intrigued and, therefore, engaged.

Second, teachers can identify with teachers. It is extremely difficult to follow an educational leader if that leader cannot be visualized by teachers as an excellent teacher earlier in his or her educational career. Teaching in the classroom gives educational leaders a chance to earn some credit with teachers. Furthermore, teaching in the classroom gives educational leaders the opportunity to model best practices in the classroom for young, inexperienced or struggling teachers. It's one thing to sit behind a desk and talk about pedagogy but it's quite another to get in the classroom and model pedagogy and classroom management.

Third, non-teaching educational leaders need to get back in the classroom to teach in order to be reminded of what their faculty see and do on a daily basis. Educational leaders need to see firsthand how kids have changed since they, the leaders, left the classroom years ago. Educational leaders need to experience the challenges of reaching today's digital natives who simply are wired differently than kids even ten or fifteen years ago. Educational leaders need to teach so they don't lose sight of what they should be empowering teachers to do day in and day out. Furthermore, teaching in the classroom requires the non-teaching educational leader to brush up on content he or she probably hasn't studied in years. Everyone could use a refresher once in a while.

For those administrators who are bold, daring and willing to get outside their comfort zones, I recommend teaching not only in your content area but also in classrooms outside your content area. Last year, I taught several times in my colleague's AP European History class. What a great experience for me! That was a logical choice for me because of my background in European history. However, because I have a passion for photography, I taught an AP Physics class about light and lenses last year, too. We even created a camera obscura with the class.

I challenge all educational leaders who are no longer teaching to get back in the classroom and teach ASAP.