Our leadership theme at Lincoln School for the 2020-21 school year is #LeadingForward.  The idea came from members of the team who were trying to capture the idea that we cannot wait around for life to normalize.  As we have all experienced, life goes on, even in the midst of a pandemic.  Instead of focusing intently and solely on “coming back” and “returning to normal,” we are encouraging one another and our students to consider ways that we can move forward in the current context with purpose.  

Even before the pandemic hit, Lincoln was in the midst of a transformation.  The school has been busy integrating concepts of entreprenuerial thinking and social innovation across the curriculum, from preschool to seniors.  These concepts draw on Babson College’s principles of Entrepreneurial Thought & Action, which equip students to identify problems around them, deepen their understanding of these problems, and then engage in a design process to develop creative solutions to address the challenges.  #LeadingForward means continuing to encourage students to test out these emerging skills.  

A perfect example of that is in students’ Creativity, Advocacy, & Service (CAS) projects.  CAS is a well-known element of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, and requires each student during their junior and senior year to provide evidence of their efforts to make meaningful contributions to the society around them.  Many, if not most, of students’ CAS projects have come in the way of volunteering time and service hours.  Many of the traditional modes of service and volunteering are not currently available.  This will require students to ask themselves some new questions – how can I make a contribution given the current situation?  What skills do I already have or will I need to develop in order to make a contribution?  How can I create value for organizations and initiatives that are struggling themselves to carry out their services during a pandemic?  None of these questions have easy answers, just as our current life situation does not have easy solutions.  #LeadingForward means applying the best of our creative and generative minds to create value in the lives of people around us.  

I think #LeadingForward also means enthusiastically learning new skills.  The entire education profession is currently experiencing a quantum leap forward in terms of equipping teachers and staff with new pedagogical tools and skills.  Of course, this is not to say that virtual learning and its related strategies are always the best learning option under any circumstances or conditions.  Ask anyone with a preschool student and they will quickly remind you otherwise.  Yet even with the limitations of the virtual environment, professional educators are learning in powerful new ways, borne out of the necessity of a pandemic.  Here again, we see the application of entrepreneurial thinking and mindsets, as teachers identify challenges in how the connect with students, deliver instruction, and encourage new learning.  Learning new software platforms is a good start, but perhaps falls short of rethinking pedagogy and designing creative solutions.  I’ve seen teacher teams develop new norms for small group instruction, student collaboration, curriculum development, and blending of synchronous and asynchronous learning.  Feedback from our parents, for example, inspired our preschool teachers to develop new schedules, with shorter teleconference chunks for checking-in and providing workshop lessons, followed by more frequent gaps for students to play and explore.  

#LeadingForward also means insisting on new ways to balance work, life, and study.  I imagine we have all felt the encroachment of the digital environment on our day to day lives and work calendars.  As leaders, we have to take ownership of those calendars and be deliberate in our daily practices, reminding ourselves daily to unplug and turn off the noise.  We need to find opportunities to get outside, medidate, & pray.  We need to encourage those around us to do the same.  I always greatly appreciated when our superintendent in Santa Ana, Jerry Almendarez, would remind the leadership team to take care of themselves.  Of course we all know we need to take care of ourselves, but when an organizational leader or a teacher reminds us to do it, it’s easier to give ourselves permission to actually do it.  

Above all, #LeadingForward is about adopting a curious and optimistic mindset, one that chooses to find solutions and new opportunities in the midst of life’s very real challenges.  All of us have choices to make, psychological choices, about how we will react and move through the uncertainty.  Of course, we don’t make light of the very real challenges and loss so many people around the world are facing – especially the most economically and socially vulnerable.  Yet, with privilege comes responsibility, and it is perhaps especially during a crisis when we must act on what is within our control to make life better for others.