Part 11: Leading in a Time of Crisis – a Conversation with Dr. Jeff Hawkins and Steve Miletto
Today on Getting Unstuck
Most of us are living in an unprecedented time. Not since World War II, have we experienced something that can literally impact every person on the planet. Getting through the COVID-19 pandemic is taking incredible resources and resourcefulness. It is also forcing us to look at one another and work with one another differently. And one place of work where that is extremely evident is in schools
What follows is one conversation in a series of conversations we’re having with educators across the country on how they are leading their schools in this time of crisis. Because these educators are extremely busy helping their schools and communities to pivot, we’ve intentionally limited these conversations to approximately 15 minutes.
It’s our hope that these conversations will provide nuggets of solid advice and emotional support to other educators on the front lines of change.
Program Note
in this episode, we hear from:
Dr. Jeff Hawkins, Executive Director of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperation, an educational service agency and
Steve Miletto, Regional Director, Heart of Georgia Regional Educational Service Agency
Both of these organizations support school districts in their region with a variety of professional development and human services.
“People crave a purpose, and they crave connectivity. The purpose we can address to a degree, but the need to connect with other human beings becomes more difficult during this particular time. Our folks are trying to build opportunities for connections. Teachers are broadcasting their lessons. And they’re taking time just to listen and talk to children in their class, and to the parents of those children in their class. And that is the best way we have to connect with folks.”
“We have to operate from a position of abundance rather than scarcity. It would be really easy for folks to say, ‘We can't meet with our kids face-to-face every day. They're not going to be in our classroom. What are we going to do?’ But the opposite of that is to say, what a wonderful opportunity and a time of crisis for us to fulfill what the children need and what their communities need.” — Dr. Jeff Hawkins
In this part, we hear from:
Dr. Jeff Hawkins, Executive Director of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperation
Listen for how schools in his region are tackling COVID-19
Focusing first on child safety.
Providing a variety of channels for students to access new content and new instruction.
Engaging parents and caregivers in project-based learning.
Addressing the social and emotional needs of children as well as their nutritional needs.
Looking deeply at the learning processes that are going on right now today, and figure out how those can transform learning after COVID-19.
Engaging kids in empathetic learning.
“Online teaching isn’t just giving a whole bunch of work. Online teaching requires us to connect with a family and make sure that their child is online when they need to be online. It’s about getting information to parents to help them understand that by having their children at home, the best things they can do is follow a schedule like their child would during the school day.”
“A lot of the discussion now is ‘Let's look forward. Let's talk about how we're going to start next year. What's going to happen if the doors are closed? How are we going to deal with that?’ A lot of it has to do with the types of training educators want to make sure happens when school is finished. So there's a little break and then ‘What are we going to do to get ready to open the doors however that looks – virtually or face-to-face?’” — Steve Miletto
In this part, we hear from:
Steve Miletto, Regional Director, Heart of Georgia Regional Educational Service Agency
Listen for how schools in his region are tackling COVID-19
Designing and implementing online lessons with the support of parents.
Finding ways to relieve the stress that faculty and ed leaders are experiencing.
Focusing the discussion on the future; what education will look like when COVID-19 is over.
Expanding collaboration with other educators across the state of Georgia.
To Connect with Jeff and Steve
Could a book on how to effectively lead change in schools be more timely?
We’re pleased to announce …
…that our book Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change is now available from Corwin Press or Amazon. If you purchase from Amazon, please consider leaving us a rating and review. Thank you!
From our publisher:
In Shifting, educators and leadership experts Kirsten Richert, Jeff Ikler and Margaret Zacchei empower educational change leaders to proactively and coherently navigate complex change in schools to achieve the desired outcomes. Using a three-part framework—Assess, Ready, Change—this book leads educators to examine a school’s imperatives and readiness for change, identity the tools and abilities required to manifest change, and take action by defining the roles and processes necessary to effectively implement both sweeping change and smaller day-to-day adjustments.