Mr Bass Online

I’ve already written about how Abraham Lincoln approached people and character when it came to his leadership style.  In the next section of Donald Phillips book, he takes a look at Lincoln’s endeavors.  The first chapter in this section is entitled “Exercise a Strong Hand – Be Decisive”.  One thing that I really liked about this chapter is Lincoln’s focus on the overall picture.  As a classroom teacher I had a very narrow view of my professional world.  Yes, I was connected in a number of ways to a number of people, but basically, I was in my room, with my students, teaching my curriculum and observing the inner workings of the district as an outsider.  Because of this, I didn’t have a view of the bigger picture.  I thought I did.  I thought that I knew the goals of the district.  I thought that I had an understanding of how the entire organization worked.  I was wrong.  In my current role I have a completely different view of education as a whole.  I’m not attached to a particular school.  I’m attached to a district.  I have a different perspective and lens through which I view my work.  Lincoln’s view was that “an organization is never wisely sacrificed to avoid losing one or two small parts”.  Schools are part of a system of education and classrooms play an integral role in that system but what happens in the classroom is influenced by the greater system.  The system will break down at times but sacrificing a program or a specific unit in a course of study (I’m learning) is not (usually) a reaction but rather part of the system.  If I go back to the classroom, I hope that this lesson is not lost as I get caught up in the mound of papers and narrow focus of my classroom.

Phillip’s next chapter, “Lead by Being Led”, describes Lincoln’s attitude towards his subordinates.  His was focused on goals and let his people make decision to that end.  When all was said and done, he wanted then to say, “We did this ourselves.”  I remember a number of years ago a Modern Media class that I had just taken over from another teacher.  I had equipment and a very outdated curriculum (the text book was published in 1992 and the year was 2000). So we ditched the textbook and I attempted a more authentic learning environment.  As the projects went on, students wanted to do more and more complex projects that pushed the boundaries of my knowledge and the abilities of our equipment.  I learned a lot, but more importantly, I gave them the ability to try different things and worked with them to find solutions rather than giving them solutions that may or may not have worked.  In many cases, the solutions that they came up with were beyond what I would have come up with.  They were innovative and driven.  The project very quickly became their’s.  I was simply along for the ride.  Every now and then there were ideas that were outside the realm of reality and had to be altered to fit our needs.  What it comes down to is that my student’s led me through this project.  They were the creators of their own knowledge.  It was all very exciting and when they were done, they could absolutely say… “We did this ourselves.”

In chapter 10, “Set Goals and Be Results-Oriented”, Phillips writes of Lincoln’s drive for success.  His goal was to always keep a fire lit under his people.  Being a results-oriented person myself, I understand his desire.  However, what I find amazing for many of the great leaders out there is the stamina it takes to keep that up.  Maybe my focus is in too many places.  Maybe I’m not as driven.  Bottom line, I get tired.  Now, I feel as though I come through on my commitments, but I also have to think about (and get better about) recognizing where my attention goes.  Whenever my attention gets pulled away from a task, I need to ask myself, “Is this the best use of my time?”

Another point from this chapter has to do with a “corporate mission” for a group.  At the beginning of last year the team to which I belong created a mission statement and business plan.  We’re trying to develop a brand of which we can be proud.  I think we’re on the way.  So many organizations (schools) have a mission statement that may or may not have buy-in by all of its members.  I think that many times that’s because the mission is not revisited on a regular basis.  Lincoln continually reminded his people of the overall goal and what it took to get there.  I wonder if a simple regular reminder would increase buy-in of school mission statements.

Chapter 11 is a little more specific to industries outside of education.  Entitled, “Keep Searching Until You Find Your “Grant”,” the chapter outlines the long line of generals that Lincoln gave charge of the Army before finally getting to Grant who eventually won the war for him.  Lincoln didn’t have any predisposition to removing someone who he felt was not working out and not realizing results.  It seems that his decisions were based on results rather than emotion.  In my experience, keeping emotion out of decisions is tremendously difficult to do.  There are always biases and experiences that can cloud judgment.  Lincoln was no different, but he had the courage to take action when he felt he needed to.  This is not to say that he didn’t provide ample opportunities for improvement and support, but time needs to be given to make improvements.  Unfortunately, in the world of education and testing, time is not something that we often have.  Teachers who are new to the profession are put in classrooms and expected to perform immediately because their students must be able to have the same opportunities that students in other classes do.  I haven’t completely focused my thoughts on this (as is probably very evident) so this is a little rambling, but I think there’s a tie in there with the support that teachers in classrooms need to teach their students.

The final chapter in this section is “Encourage Innovation.”  Innovation is abundant in education.  Every day I see classes that are working on new things and solving problems with a completely different outlook.  It’s an exciting time for education with all the possibilities that are out there.  At his METC keynote, Will Richardson said that “We are doing a great job preparing our children for their current reality.”  His point was that we’re not doing a great job preparing them for their future.  He asked whether we teach our kids to write using hypertext and linking to sources around the web.  The answer from the audience was basically, “no, we are not.” But, for the most part, everyone agreed that they will probably write using hypertext at some point in their future.   How will they know how to use hypertext in their writing?  If we’re not teaching them these skills, do they just figure them out for themselves?  Lincoln looked for leaders he could learn from and who would find innovative solutions to problems.  Can we teach innovation to our students?  Maybe, can we give them opportunities to be innovative and to solve problems? Absolutely, but only if we allow them to move beyond the five-paragraph essay and give them some control over the criteria of assignments.