Archives

We Are Doing Hard Things!

May20
Before I begin the main thrust of my post today I’d like to acknowledge and thank all those educators who are going well beyond expectations this year in the many situations we find ourselves. Those pivoting to online learning again when we were so hoping to stay face to face and a special thanks of appreciation to those educators in Spec Ed classes who are now face to face in situations that might cause anxiety and stress, we want to thank you. Your work for all our students, under very difficult circumstances is not going unnoticed. Thank you.
Which brings me to a recent presentation we had from Dr. Robyne Hanley Dafoe, who presented on Everyday Resiliency.   Through the context of an incredible personal story of a life changing event Robyne shared her maxim:  I can do hard things. Five powerful words.  Yes, there is no doubt that leaders are tired, but , as Dr. Hanley Dafoe shared, exhaustion can co-exist with the ability to perform challenging tasks.  You are doing hard things!

One characteristic of being human is for our desires to come easy and instantly.  Many societal advancements and daily habits reinforce the expectation for things to happen quickly, if not immediately (e.g., fast food, Amazon Prime, Google searches…).

Doing hard things often feels, well…hard.  But this is where personal growth happens and the outcomes can be transformational. Our actions through challenge can be the catalyst for impact and change. Challenging ourselves to take on difficult tasks is where leaders come alive. Leaders have the courage and determination to do things that other may not want to do or may not have a vision for doing. Through a belief in one’s abilities we can, and do, move mountains to support the well-being, learning and safety needs of our students and school teams.

Drew Dudley also spoke to our system leaders recently and shared the following quote, “Leaders create moments that cause other people to feel as if they are better off for having interacted with you.”  There is no doubt that the heavy lifting work of leadership leaves others and ourselves better off.

At the end of our educational leadership journey, will we cherish the moments of comfort, or the moments where we worked with determination, overcame obstacles and had a positive impact on the lives of those we served?  To me the latter choice leaves me with hope and purpose knowing that I will have had impact.

Lisa Munro

Student Voice: Why Framing Their Stories is Important for our Future!

Sep3

Student VoiceI recently had the opportunity to listen to a student panel of four remarkable students. They shared some of their personal stories in the context of the complex and exciting work of equity.  Each student described their path/struggles at school and a staff member who made a positive impact in their life. Their stories helped to frame the WHY behind our need to create safe and equitable spaces in our schools and reminded us of WHO is in front of the daily decisions we make as school and system administrators. The students’ honest and optimistic messages highlighted that the actions of educators, both large and small, have impact.  In fact, the impact they had in the room that morning was almost palpable.  I personally left the meeting feeling incredibly optimistic about work of equity and inclusion in my role.

This opportunity left me reflecting on the power of student voice. Student voice is so incredibly impactful yet, after listening to the student panel, I considered that there are more ways that I could use student voice effectively in my role.  Often, student voice is heard with good intentions but converting their words into meaningful actions is where there is much room for growth.  Our realities often get in the way and daily actions are impacted by mood, bias, multiple demands for time, urgent needs, deadlines, events from our personal lives, quality of sleep or even the weather to name a few.

How can we keep students and their ideas at the centre of the decisions we make? There is no doubt that many things will influence our actions but there are ways to keep students at the forefront. Since humans are influenced by what we are most connected to, keeping students in our line of sight can help to ensure that they are at the centre of our decisions.  Consider the following:

Engage in diverse student voices. Some students naturally rise to opportunities to share their voices.   What about students who are not predisposed to typical leadership opportunities?  These are the voices we need to hear. Educators need to support students who are underrepresented in conversations by ‘lifting up’ their voices. We need to reflect on how we draw upon the voices and realities of our students to make responsive decisions in our schools because not all voices need to be heard in the traditional sense of the word.

Connect with students regularly in different settings.  As a principal it means intentionally booking time each day, even with the multiple demands for our time, to walk through the school, visit classrooms or interact with students during recess or during inter-curricular activities.  So much can be learned from students during both structured and less structured times in the day.

Invite students to participate in ‘adult’ meetings where decisions are being made on their behalf. Students can be incredible agents of change. Often they do not see the barriers that adults can see and are able to solve seemingly complex problems with the most creative and often simplest solutions. Student insights are astounding and who knows better about what a student needs than the student.Honour Student Names

Get to know students by name (and how to pronounce it correctly).  Speaking to a student by name changes the dynamic entirely and often helps to create a connection that may lead to an open dialogue. If you don’t know how to pronounce a student by name, just ask.

Get to know a student’s story. Understanding who a student is and their story is one step to building a genuine con

nection. When you are connected to a student they are more likely to engage and share their voice.

See students as School Leaders. At my most recent school many assemblies, some clubs and all morning announcements were student-led.  This cultivates student leadership and engages the student body in meaningful ways. Think of the traditional forms ways things are lead and how students can be incorporated more.

Be explicit about how their voices had impact.  Share with students – “Here is what you said…here is what we did.”  Let them know that their voices actually matter.

Surround yourself with student work. In my most recent school-based position I had a wall of the work shared with me by students. The wall was plastered with work samples as well as notes and drawing given to me by students. It was amazing the power that the rereading of a kind note can have to keep me focused on the ideas that students have shared with me through their writing.

These are just a few of the personal ways that I have stayed connected to students and plan to revisit these more frequently.  I encourage others to share the ways that they stay connected to the voice of students in their daily decisions.

I began by talking about a student panel I was fortunate enough to help host. Here are some tweets from various educators in our system who were also at that event. Their responses resonated with me and confirmed again why giving students a “voice” is so very valuable to all of us here in Thames Valley.

***********************

Susan Bruyns – Principal at Sir Arthur Currie P.S. in London Ontario – TVDSB  Follow Sue at @sbruyns

Sue Bruyns - Principal of Sir Arthur Currie PS

**********************

Riley Culhane – Associate Director of Education – TVDSB – Follow Riley at @RileyCulhane

Riley Culhane - Associate Director - TVDSB

*********************

Lisa – Follow me at @LisaMunro11

So What? Now What? Privilege as a Tool for Allyship

Feb27

The other day I found myself with some car troubles. As a result, I was required to walk a distance on a frigid winter morning to meet one of my children at their place of work to get a vehicle so I could continue on with my day. The sidewalks were completely buried in snow making the walk difficult as I tried to position my feet in the deep ruts left by the walkers who preceded me. This experience immediately gave me an alternative perspective of winter travel – with my daily access to an (almost completely) reliable vehicle, I had never considered the point of view of those without vehicles who regularly navigate snowy sidewalks and long walks to connect with public transportation in the dead of winter – an alternative point of view.
This story is a bit of a metaphor for my journey understanding privilege. My experiences in my life are my own. As such, I recognize that I do not always understand that which I have not experienced. With respect to privilege, it is something I have mostly had so, until I had the opportunity to do some professional learning, I had never really given much thought to the experiences of those without the same privileges as me– like having heat in your home – you only really think about it when the pilot goes out on your furnace.
As I began to explore more about what it means to have privilege I began to immediately appreciate the privileges in my life – I do not have to worry about my personal safety because of my ethnicity, race, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. I have never had to worry about whether or not it will be possible for me to navigate a physical space or being teased because of a disability. I am confident I know where my next meal is coming from. I do not worry about the assumptions people make about me because of my nationality, the way I dress or who I choose to love.
Although I felt appreciative of what I have been afforded as a result of my privilege, emotions such as guilt and shame began to prevail. But privilege is unearned. I have learned that having privilege does not make me a bad person. When reflecting on privilege, guilt and shame are not productive. How do I make my experiences with privilege positive?
In the past, my final thoughts (if any) in the walking scenario I shared earlier would have ended at frustration and inconvenience. My learning about privilege has helped me to approach even the most familiar situations with new found curiosity and questioning from a privilege lens. I will not claim for a even a second to deeply understand what it means to live in poverty but I now have a better understand what it might mean to have to rely on public transit and navigate uncleaned sidewalks in poor weather conditions to get to the places I need to go. I still have much to learn in my journey to understand privilege. In order to learn more and leveraging what I have been afforded in meaningful ways I am choosing to regularly challenge myself with the following questions:

How will I continue to challenge my assumptions about privilege?

How will I develop a greater understanding of privilege?

How I can make things better for those who may not have the privilege that I have?

I cannot control the privilege I have but only by how I choose to use it.

…. Lisa 

Equity, Inclusion, Privilege, Courage and I Can

Jan13

I recently read Sue Bruyns’ first blog post of 2018.  Each January, Sue selects #oneword which is to become her mantra for the coming year.  This year her one word was Courage. The word courage immediately struck a chord with me as I was thinking about what my one word choice would be.  I kept returning to her idea of courage.

In my previous role as a principal, within a school, I was comfortable sharing my passion for take risks in teaching and learning in order to be an effective instructional leader. I was comfortable blogging about topics that I had spent much of my life learning about and living on a day-to-day basis.  In my current role as a system principal I have an incredible opportunity to take learning risks in several new areas that are within the scope of my role.  Equity, inclusion and privilege are areas of learning that have ignited within me a passion and a renewed sense of hope. Even so, I have not written regularly for a very long time – not because I do not have things to say, but mostly because I have been lacking courage.

Because I feel I still have so much to learn about equity, inclusion and privilege, because of the emotional nature of the conversation, and because I am fearful of writing something that would seem presumptuous about those facing far more challenges than I ever have had,  I have paused in my writing.
My fears are:

  • Will my blog resonate with others?
  • Will I ‘get it right’?

Really, who am I to talk about equity when in reality I have far more privilege than many people that I have been so fortunate to meet and learn from in the last two years?  So what can I do?

Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan Click on the image to open the document

The recent release of Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan (2017)  highlights many commitments of our education system to support those who are marginalized through bias, systemic barriers and discrimination. This document has me reflecting deeply about what I can do to support the realization of a truly equitable society. I have decided that my entry point starts with courage.

Courage to:

  • ask questions;
  • make and admit my mistakes;
  • listen deeply;
  • learn with and from those who have experienced discrimination, bias and systemic barriers;
  • leverage my privilege to be an ally to those who do not have it.

As I continue to blog about ideas related to equity I will be transparent in my learning journey. I must acknowledge that I come from a position of considerable privilege (white, middle class, heterosexual, university educated, able-bodied). I commit to coming from a place of humility, curiosity and learning. I cannot talk about challenges that I have not experienced, but I CAN be an ally. I CAN move from bystander to up-stander and leverage my privilege to support others. I am committed to having COURAGE and sharing my learning journey.

Read more about the portfolio I am working with this year as a system principal. (Learning Supervisor)
(Click on the image to go to our website)

Also follow this Twitter feed to learn more about what we are doing throughout our Board with regard to Equity, Inclusion, Mental Health and Well-Being.  (click the image below to see and follow that Twitter feed)

Lisa Munro