- "This We Believe," National Middle School Association
"Courageous, collaborative leadership" is one of the most obvious elements of the middle school model. At the same time, it is an elusive concept, hard to pin down. Jim Paterson says in his featured online article from NMSA's publication "Middle Ground" (which can be read at http://www.nmsa.org/services/middle_ground/mg_feb2005.htm), "There isn't a single shining example that defines it, exemplifies it, or provides the perfect model." Perhaps, just as one's life is ultimately defined by the sum of one's actions, courageous, collaborative leadership can best be defined by a series of examples.
On the MiddleWeb listserv recently, listmembers have been sharing "points of joy" - small but significant moments from each of our days. Two dominant themes have been running through these postings: times when they see their students taking control of their own learning and pushing forward out of a sense of internal motivation, and times when former students they never knew they touched return to let them know what a difference they made. Such teachers are almost invariably the ones who have the courage to reflect on their own practices and make changes where needed, and ultimately to live by their convictions, even in the face of criticism. They truly reflect what Jim Paterson calls "the essence of educators."
At Stoneleigh-Burnham, the fact that we are a girls school by design infuses every aspect of the school. The importance of connectedness to girls and woman can lead to a different leadership style than the traditional model, one that values a wealth of voices and input. This may happen at an administrative level, as when Martha Shepardson-Killam created an "Enrollment Committee" of over a dozen people to plan for the new middle school program, or at the classroom level, when a teacher asks a class what is the significance of a passage with genuine interest in the students' responses and not as a tool to bring students to a pre-determined answer. Of course, there needs to be some check, for collaboration without direction can lead to chaos, as in the wry observation that "A platypus is a duck designed by a committee." Leadership does require keeping a school and all its members on track, true to the mission of the community. In the case of Stoneleigh-Burnham's middle school program, it means remaining true to all 14 principles of "This We Believe," especially as they lead to the development of confidence, competence, and connectedness.
