“We don’t believe that equity lives in a dimension on its own. As an effective leader, you don’t just lead for equity when you craft a vision and mission — it affects everything you do.”
– Michele Mason
You believe in equity-driven leadership.
But how do you turn equity work into a practice that’s integrated with your instructional leadership? And what does this kind of leadership look like when its implemented across a school system?
Over 500 leaders dove into those questions when they attended Leading for Equity: Equity-Focused, Learning-Centered Leadership live on October 8. Good news: you can still find the answers by tuning into the webinar recording — and it’s available free on EdWeb.
In this webinar, hosted by AASA, you’ll hear about the skills and dispositions that ensure each student, particularly those furthest from justice, are prepared for limitless futures. The presenters are:
Max Silverman, executive director, CEL
Michele Mason, director of instructional leadership, CEL
Dr. Jermaine Dawson, chief academic officer for Birmingham City Schools, Alabama
Dr. Chris Lennox, superintendent of Mounds View Public Schools, Minnesota
Watch the webinar — or listen as a podcast — to learn:
| 7:13 | Max on “Why ‘happy and proud’?” |
| 11:40 | Listening to students about what they say they want their experiences in school to be |
| 13:40 | The 4 domains of leadership: the intersection between equity and leading for teaching and learning |
| 17:30 | Being intentional about examining all of your practices for racial injustices |
| 19.00 | How the 4 Dimensions of School LeadershipTM (4DTM) evolved from the 4 Dimensions of Instructional Leadership — and why equity-driven leadership isn’t just up to the principals |
| 22:12 | Michele on self-reflecting for biases and blindspots |
| 28:52 | Chris on which vision statements from the 4DTM resonate right now |
| 33:15 | Jermaine on what knowledge and skills help leaders put students in the center |
| 35:08 | Chris and Jermaine on using guiding questions as a pathway to start conversations, and students having a seat at the table to their own learning |
The webinar introduced the 4 Dimensions of School LeadershipTM (4DTM) framework, which was specifically redesigned to support equity-driven central office leaders. The framework (free download here) is informed by scholarship in fields such as culturally relevant leadership and social justice leadership.
Research from the Science of Learning and Development has shed new light on student experience, but lacked information on what leaders could do in relation to this body of research. The 4DTM provides this needed clarity.
The slide deck from the presentation is available here.
“Sustain a learning culture focused on community-prioritized results, high expectations, and a growth mindset for students and adults.”
-Vision statement from the 4 Dimensions of School LeadershipTM
Watched or listened to the webinar and are ready to dive deeper?
Here are a set of guiding questions to explore — on your own or with your team.
- What, as leaders, do we hope and dream for our students?
- What is a step are we taking to develop a throughline from student experiences in school to our leadership?
- How do we think about the intersection between leading for equity and leading for student experience in school?
- For our personal development, how do we ensure opportunities to reflect on biases or blindspots?
- What steps are we taking to learn more about what results our community prioritizes?
- How are we using what students are saying they need to drive curriculum choices and planning for teacher professional learning?
- As leaders, how do we approach conversations with humility and vulnerability, and how open are we to making adjustments based on the feedback we get?
- What is one next step we can take to help students feel more happy and proud from their school experiences?
