leading from the middle

became a middle school head after working for more than a decade in upper schools. My initial exposure to lower and middle schoolers was as an administrator at a summer program for gifted and talented students. In that role, I discovered that I liked working with this population of students as much as I liked working with upper schoolers. But since making the switch, I've also come to see the value of the switch itself Shifting from an upper school division to a middle school division has not only given me an opportunity to fully examine teaching and learning through a different lens, it has also revealed to me some unintentional divides that exist in many school cultures especially the lack of interaction among divisions that limits the exchange of practitioner knowledge between teachers at different levels.
BY GRAY SMITH
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In short, I've come to appreciate the value of a full-spectrum view. I've also come to see how important it is to strengthen the middle school perspective through greater collaboration and shared leadership. The value, of course, is directly felt in a middle school, but sharing professional experience across divisions is effective for establishing a cohesive and synergistic academic environment.

Bolstering the Middle School Perspective

I have heard it said that, "upper school teachers love their subjects... middle school and lower school teachers love their students." While this is a generalization, in my experience, there is some truth to it. I have deeply enjoyed the opportunity to immerse myself in a middle school where, I have found, the all-important link between joy and learning is strong. In many

upper schools, by contrast, I've seen how this link can become rusted over during what is too often described as "the grind" toward college admissions. Leading a middle school has given me pause to remember what the best teaching looks like: creative and student-centered. Good middle schools, before all else, instill in students that all-important sense that their teachers care about them and want them to succeed. What too many middle schools don't do, however, is feel confident that they have something to contribute to the entire school. Where I am the middle school head, we hold a monthly full-faculty meeting, including teachers from both the middle and upper schools (we do not have a lower division). One ofthe main attractions at these forums is when a teacher or a team of teachers presents an effective lesson, strategy.

or assessment. When I began my post, upper school teachers had nearly always made such presentations. Middle school teachers expressed a sense of nervousness about presenting, even when they had terrific material. The sentiment seemed to be that the upper school should lead and the middle school should follow, even when the middle division had new and innovative ideas and tactics. In my work observing classes, I witnessed impressive daily feats of teaching from the middle school teachers and I found myself strongly encouraging them to lead a presentation, but at first only one teacher volunteered. This teacher did a great job, but I believed we needed more to step forward and I realized it was going to take more than my personal efforts at persuasion. This was a matter of confidence, trust, and school history. I knew the middle school had a rich
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culture of teaching and, through some lesson-study workshops, we uncovered a wealth of in-house expertise and determined that the teachers liked, and were excited about, learning from and working with each other. Based on this finding, I decided to replace our typical division meeting dme, which consisted of "housekeeping" chores and administrative checkups, with intra-divisional workshops for teacher learning. Besides, I reasoned, the middle school faculty meets three times a week or more in "chambers" and also

progressive and creative lessons found in the teachers' repertoires in order to get the teachers talking to each other about how they meet the needs of their students, and especially to cultivate the teaching pracdces of our new teachers. We were already in the process of revising the school curriculum, and my hope was that the workshops would illuminate the fine work done in the middle school and build a collective confidence in sharing what we do with the school at large. What were the results?

research. The resulting projects were displayed in the school library; students who created the projects stood by their work and presented their findings in shifts to other students and teachers. The way these projects were displayed in the library made them very public. Upper school teachers and students using the library could not help but see what the middle schoolers had done, and many stopped to listen to the presentations.

Leveraging the Strengths and Wisdom of Teachers

The sense that the middle school was on to something and that we had a significant contribution to make to the teaching and learning that happens in the school at large was palpable. Yes, the teachers did present at a full faculty meeting and it was a hit. From a leadership perspective, this experience was a case study demonstrating that the more a leader recognizes the teachers who share his or her division as intellectuals, treats them as such, and offers them chances to share in the division's educational leadership, the more those teachers will be likely to think about, partner, and innovate to design meaningful learning experiences. In later weeks, I would hear that teachers emulated the design of the workshops with their students, seeking their expertise and prior knowledge about topics from Shakespeare to geology a trickle-down effect exemplifying how, when the division's leader partners with teachers, the teachers are likely to do the same with their students. Additionally, the workshops showed the larger school community the practice of purposefully setting aside time to explore the intellectual side of teaching, its "art" and "craft" of practice that happens every day in a private school. For me, this process is far superior to those professional development settings in which teaching is discussed as a systematic process and facilitated by speakers who are experts in university-based teaching theory, but who often do not have a wealth of classroom experience.

In later weeks, I would hear that teachers emulated the design of the workshops with their students, seeking their expertise and prior knowledge about topics from Shakespeare to geology

a trickle-down effect
exemplifying how, when the division's leader partners with teachers, the teachers are likely to do the same with their students.
in grade-level meetings, which provide ample time for housekeeping. We could spend our division time more wisely and purposefully. By partnering with the school learning specialist and the academic dean, we were able to draw up five workshops that included discussion on topics like formative assessment, differentiation, and inquiry-based instruction. Because the teachers seemed to glean insight and depth of understanding from lesson study, it played a central role as well. The external goals ofthe workshops were to explore some ofthe 52
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Strategies and expertise that may have only been used or known by one or two teachers were shared with the larger group and, once shared, used in partnership to craft new lessons stronger than the sum of their parts. For example, a science teacher, an English teacher, and a librarian teamed up to teach eighth-grade science students about waves. The students were allowed to choose and investigate the aspects of waves that they wished as long as they adhered to some very definite guidelines for their

The next iteration of faculty workshops will be done in the form of "practitioner" research, or a teacher's inquiry into his or her own practice. I plan to relinquish more administrative control over how teachers learn to be better at what they do and I will instead attempt to master the art of facilitating teacher-centered, inquiry-based learning. I anticipate that we will build on our previous accomplishments and continue to engage in collgial partnering in an effort to create the best lessons for our students. Perhaps more important, based on the trickledown effect from the first workshops, I predict that the middle school teachers will explore similar learning strategies with their students.

This discussion was borne out of tiie boiief that middie schooi is a

great platform for exporimentation and discovery.

school, middle school is more focused on building skills academic, social, and emotional than it is on learning and retaining content. Skill building is certainly present and further strengthened in an upper school; but in my experience, the demands on an upper school to deliver content are more intense, as students are expected to learn increasingly complex material and prep for lengthier and more significant exams in an effort to prime themselves for the challenges of college. Over the last few years, we have taken a school-wide look at leadership, how we teach it, and how we give students opportunities to take part. Both the middle and upper schools have a broad assortment of leadership roles for students ranging from student council to team captainship to presiding over a club. What these opportunities have in common is that there is a selection process to take part in leadership, be it student elections or a recommendation process. Two years ago, in the middle school, we started some conversations about what leadership means to middle schoolers and how to equitably create opportunities for students who want to try their hand at it. This discussion was borne out of the belief that middle school is a great platform

Highlighting Student Leadership

Because middle school, in my view, is a conspicuously student-centered place, I would be remiss if I did not refiect on leadership activities centered on our students. Differentiated from upper

The

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ARCHITECTURE PLANNING INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

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What we learned about how the

Students perceived their community was invaluable

and sparked conversations from the importance of recess to the value placed on personal honor and accountability.
for experimentation and discovery. Indeed, we have a complete curriculum of elective and enrichment courses for students in addition to the formal curriculum. Students can spend 40 minutes a day learning chess, shooting a bow and arrow, building a robot, speaking Ghinese, or taking part in a myriad of other educational activities. These types of classes build skills and confidence that are transferable to the classroom, yet students do not receive grades for them; they are expected to, very simply, give them a try. Looking at these lectives, we thought, "Why not give all of our students a place where they could try leadership?"

"A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others/'
Mustafa Kemal Atatrk (from the Turkish)

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We called it Gommunity Life and envisioned it as a place where students could come together with a mission to improve the school community. All middle school students are eligible to be members; sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students meet and talk together about topics that range from diversity in our community to improving the food options in the dining hall. Gommunity Life was popular from the beginning but has grown to around 20 members over the last three years. Under the guidance of one of our English teachers, who has extensive experience as a camp counselor, Gommunity Life has taken over two major student-centered middle school events: (i) Get Acquainted Day, where we welcome all of our new students to school, and (2) Eighth Grade vs. the Faculty Day, where the eighth graders take on the faculty in some friendly competition. Gommunity Life has its own day, too, where we take time to examine a facet of school life that the students, through their Gommunity Life representatives, express an interest in exploring. For example, two years ago we ordered a banner with the words "A community that..." written on it and gave the kids time, through advisory, to fill in what they thought should come next. Some teachers were afraid that the students, when given the opportunity to write about their school anonymously on a publicly displayed banner, would take it as a chance to complain, not take it seriously, or worse, write something inappropriate on it. None of those things happened. What we learned about how the students perceived their community was invaluable and sparked conversations from the importance of recess to the value placed on personal honor and accountability. Part of our school mission statement is dedicated to leadership and describes one of the ways we challenge our students. It reads, "... to marshal the courage to lead, and to develop the lasting desire to serve...." To that end, a task force comprising

Educator S Ally
The right match lights the fire.

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upper and middle school teachers and administrators formed to take a look at how exactly we do this how we teach leadership and how we instill good leadership skills in our students. When the teachers met to decide how to engage the students in a discussion about leadership, the success of the Community Life banner was central to the conversation. Ultimately, the task force decided to use open, public banners as a way to get a sense for how our students think about leadership at school. The responses were astounding and have since provided a framework for building a program for student leadership training in grades six through twelve that we are working to fully integrate over the next few years. In my opinion, teaching middle schoolers how to lead themselves is the most realistic expectation of a middle school leadership program and carries the most value, as strong

self leadership will only serve to School-Wide Leadership from effectively guide them as they become the "Middle" older students who have more oppor- I have shared just a few examples of tunities to lead their peers. In the how to "lead from the middle" in middle school, we have tackled this this case, literally from the "middle" challenge by establishing divisional school. By playing to the strengths themes around the term civility and wisdom of teachers and adhering more specifically, how good leader- to a sense of responsibility to "live" ship begins with good citizenship. the school's mission of leadership, we With the help of our dean of students were able to strengthen and positively and advisory coordinator, we have influence the life of the school at large. delivered this message through While upper schools may always be assemblies and our advisory program. the "flagships," when middle school Last year at assembly, each advi- heads and other school leaders play to sory group took a chapter from P. M. the strengths of their respective diviForni's book Choosing Civility and sions, recognizing and exposing the portrayed it as a way students could act good work done in them, the definition upon Forni's message. For example, of school leadership is broadened and one advisory exemplified the impor- redefined in ways that celebrate the tance of returning a "hello" or a "good strengths of all of its constituents and morning," another advisory demon- inspire the full school community. strated the value of sincerely apologizing when you have hurt another's feel- Gray Smith is middle school head at Severn School ings; both focused on how good self (Maryland) and a doctoral candidate at the University leadership can affect the tenor of the of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education. You larger school community. may contact him at g.smith@sevemschool.com.

\^.slstaiit Heads Association

Wearing a lot o hats?

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Ifyou're an AssFstant/Associafe Heinl of School, yo ' I

How that's o great idea! 'in today and come share your great ideas with colleagues!
For questions or interest; contact Richard Wyland at rwyland@harveyschool.org

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