They Are Outstanding Teachers, But Can They Lead?

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How often have we heard the expression “he was such an amazing teacher that the school board promoted him out of the classroom to become our new head of school or principal.”

Although many outstanding teachers whether they be rabbeim, morot, or secular teachers may have leadership potential qualities, do their successful teaching accomplishments, skills and styles necessarily truly prepare them for serious high quality day school/yeshiva senior leadership posts?

This question is not rhetorical, but rather one that begs a series of critically important questions and challenges.

Throughout my tenure as a principal, head of school, teacher or consultant, I have witnessed a wide array of school leadership positions which were occupied by experienced teachers with very limited day school/yeshiva leadership or senior administrative experiences or exposure.

This observation is not a critique or a one-off comment or perception, but rather one which is now happening more and more frequently in our institutions.

One of the primary reasons for this phenomena include the increased paucity of trained educational leadership personnel who are experienced, seasoned or up to the challenge of leading a Jewish day school or yeshiva.

There are many who posit that excellent teaching requires and demands a level of instructional leadership in the classroom which can cross-over into whole-school administration. Yet, there are others (me included) who are of the opinion that leading a 21st century school requires a very specific set of skills, exposure, and expertise – many of which can almost never be attained via exclusive classroom exposure or instruction.

Having said that, there will always be teachers who represent exceptions to this understanding. As a result, they move seamlessly  from classroom teaching to senior c-suite administration. These are true exceptions to the rule and usually apply to those specific teachers who have an innate and natural talent and ability to lead in the absence of formal leadership or administrative training. But, these cases are truly exceptions to the rule.

When discussing this challenge with a close colleague, he posed the following insightful question – “would an outstanding medical student in his/her third year of medical school be ready, able or qualified to become a neurosurgeon?” 

The answer to this question and its implications are obvious. A teacher may be bright, knowledgeable, experienced  (in the classroom) and even insightful. But these attributes and characteristics do not take the place of practicing in “the trenches” and confront real-time leadership issues, concerns and challenges facing our schools, their students, parents and communities.

As we know, the challenges in leading a Jewish day school or yeshiva today are far more complex than at any time in the history of education. This reality is due in large measure to the proliferation of 21st century challenges facing our students, their families and society. They include but are not limited to: the use of technology on and off campuses; developing effective and meaningful school-parent partnerships; maintaining academic standards and rigor; teacher recruitment and retention initiatives; marketing and public communications; responding to the myriad of special student needs; financial resource development and strategic planning, to name a few.

As we deep-dive into this challenge, it is imperative to accept the notion  that today’s day school and yeshiva  head of school and principal must have the skill-set, experience, expertise and knowledge in order to lead our schools with authenticity, credibility and accountability.

In addition to the need for formal training – either via a mentor, coach and/or formal education – the powerful experience of being in the school’s “drivers seat” must include a variety of hands-on and real time experience.

Having said that, what is a school to do when their are absolutely no candidates for these leadership positions.

One possible solution is for the school to “grow its own”.

This may require the establishment of a Jewish day school and yeshiva emerging leadership induction program with specialized offerings via on-campus and/or remote programming,

Schools have options of tapping into existing training programs currently being offered by local, regional or national in-service and pre-service training programs (complimented by a coach or mentor)  or by creating their own training programs via a senior training consultant.

Either way, depending upon existing human and financial resource, it is once again imperative that the emerging leader be exposed to leadership training and hands-on practice and experience.

Conclusion:

The irony of this blog is interesting to note…

Although it focuses on teachers who are promoted to school leadership posts in the absence of experience and training, the inverse is also true.

How many of our Jewish day school and yeshiva heads of school and principals posses actual hands-on teaching experience in the classroom, prior to assuming their current school leadership roles ?

Friends, at the risk of sounding overly cautious or dramatic, it is virtually impossible for a head of school or principal to be effective or even credible, in the absence of  high quality classroom teaching experience. To this end, I humbly suggests that in addition to the training and development as just outlined, it is essential that all principals and heads of school have a minimum of five years of classroom teaching experience. To be sure, it is inconceivable that a professional can lead a 21st century school and not have the experience and hands-on experience as a teacher or instructional leader.

Not unlike other professions, the Jewish day school professional leadership landscape must include serious and rigorous experience. There are no free passes. Nor should schools settle for leaders who are ill prepared to lead their schools.

Finally, reality dictates that not all Jewish day schools or yeshivot will adhere to these norms or standards. Nevertheless, we must continue to press forward in order to ensure high academic quality and standards of excellence.

The challenge here should be evident and crystal clear.

We must step-up our game as educational leaders – professional and lay –  in order to ensure that our students, their families, our faculty and community have access  to the best and most well-trained and experienced school leaders.

Any alternative should no longer be sustainable or acceptable.