The Dock School Leader Podcast

Why Administrators?

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Why have an administrator? What can an administrator do in terms of the relationships around the school? Steve Brubaker makes the case that administrators inhabit and manage the complex meeting place of all the people involved in a school. It’s a position of influence to be used not to lord it over others but to serve them. “Administrators exist to serve the servants,” says Steven. And schools that lack these people are hampered in their efforts to grow.

Specifically, administrators are in a position to nurture growth in these two ways:

  1. Valuing the diversity – each person with whom or for whom we labor is worthwhile, and it is one of the administrator’s primary roles to reveal and maximize that worth.
  2. Promoting the unity – helping all our people speak a common language, doing a lot of listening (which includes creating opportunities for listening), doing a lot of communicating (before, around, and during decision-making), and fostering shared experiences makes this a potent second role for an administrator.

    3. Steven develops both of those roles and also provides practical elaboration on the admin/board relationship and the admin/teacher relationship.

    Bonus: (from the discussion time in the original presentation)

    • How can you go about growing into these responsibilities as an administrator if you’re in a situation where the board currently has those responsibilities?
        1. Patience, build trust
        2. Appeal, ask to be involved/participate rather than trying to change the process
        3. Clarify, discuss job description/expectations

          4. Links

          • Administrator’s Conference: https://www.fbep.org/attend/events/administrators-conference-and-retreat/ 
          • The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick M. Lencioni: https://a.co/d/2dkE4wu

          • Doing Good Even Better by Edgar Stoesz: https://a.co/d/ilJRVb2

          • This recording was originally published on The Dock as "Loving Those We Serve": https://thedockforlearning.org/lecture/loving-those-we-serve/ 
          • More Recordings from 2017 Administrators Conference and Retreat: https://thedockforlearning.org/series/administrators-conference-and-retreat/ 
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