Part 8: Leading in a Time of Crisis – a Conversation with Superintendent / co-Principal Vic Goddard
“I think this is going to change education – the education landscape – for lots of us. Lots of things that we got hung up on doing it a certain way, we can’t now can’t do, so we’re looking for new ways.”
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, here in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K..
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 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.
co-Principal Vic Goddard
In this episode we hear from:
Vic Goddard: CEO of the Educational Trust and co-principal, Passmores Academy,
Chelmsford, UK
Listen for:
How Vic and his team are making sure they are taking care of the basic needs of their most vulnerable populations of students and families.
The importance of reaching out to leverage local resources to meet their goal of supporting the most vulnerable.
The need to provide clarity - clear direction for the faculty – and to engage them in problem solving.
How it’s important to provide the educational resources, but have realistic expectations about what can be accomplished.
“I haven’t gotten any great ideas. Any idea I’ve got I stole from somebody else, or it was an imperfect solution to begin with. And so I have to say to staff, ‘I’ve got an imperfect solution to a problem. How do we make it perfect? How do we make it closer to perfect?’ So that communication of the challenge to others is really important.”
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.