Dear superintendent

[cross-posted at the TechLearning blog]

Dear superintendent,

I lost one of my principals in our Principal Blogging Project today. I’m not very happy about it. You see, it’s your fault.

She was a fabulous blogger. She used her blog to share great things that were happening in her school. She uploaded photos and graphics to create student and parent interest. She hyperlinked to helpful resources. She was a master at using her blog to enhance communication with parents and build school community. Parents and students loved it. She was even featured in the newspaper for her blogging efforts.

But then you came to the district. Its new superintendent. The person who is supposed to lead the way. And you shut her down. Why? Because of a few negative parent comments on a few blog posts.

You had the chance to do the right thing. You had the chance to hear your principal tell you about the power of this new communication medium. You had the chance to find out that every major corporation is blogging and that there are numerous reasons why administrators should blog. You had the chance to learn about the technology and the fact that individual commenters could be blocked or that comments could be turned off altogether. Sure, some interactivity would be disabled. Sure, some of the power of blogging would be lost. But at least the principal’s voice could have been preserved.

But you didn’t. Instead you had a knee-jerk reaction and shut her down. Closed her off. Relegated her to the inefficiencies of a listserv and a paper newsletter.

The irony is that you say on your district web page that you embrace change. That you value the input of parents and the local community. That you always want to do what’s best for kids. How do you reconcile shutting down your cutting-edge principal’s use of modern communication tools with your so-called values?

Shame on you. You’re supposed to be modeling effective leadership. You’re supposed to be facilitating your building-level leaders’ use of 21st century technologies so that teachers and students will be more likely to use them. You’re supposed to be the penultimate “lifelong learner” in your organization. As someone who prepares superintendents, I am not impressed.

Congratulations. You’ve moved your school system one step closer to the 19th century. I’m sure your parents and community will thank you for it. May your reign be short.                           

[cross-posted at the TechLearning blog]

Dear superintendent,

I lost one of my principals in our Principal Blogging Project today. I’m not very happy about it. You see, it’s your fault.

She was a fabulous blogger. She used her blog to share great things that were happening in her school. She uploaded photos and graphics to create student and parent interest. She hyperlinked to helpful resources. She was a master at using her blog to enhance communication with parents and build school community. Parents and students loved it. She was even featured in the newspaper for her blogging efforts.

But then you came to the district. Its new superintendent. The person who is supposed to lead the way. And you shut her down. Why? Because of a few negative parent comments on a few blog posts.

You had the chance to do the right thing. You had the chance to hear your principal tell you about the power of this new communication medium. You had the chance to find out that every major corporation is blogging and that there are numerous reasons why administrators should blog. You had the chance to learn about the technology and the fact that individual commenters could be blocked or that comments could be turned off altogether. Sure, some interactivity would be disabled. Sure, some of the power of blogging would be lost. But at least the principal’s voice could have been preserved.

But you didn’t. Instead you had a knee-jerk reaction and shut her down. Closed her off. Relegated her to the inefficiencies of a listserv and a paper newsletter.

The irony is that you say on your district web page that you embrace change. That you value the input of parents and the local community. That you always want to do what’s best for kids. How do you reconcile shutting down your cutting-edge principal’s use of modern communication tools with your so-called values?

Shame on you. You’re supposed to be modeling effective leadership. You’re supposed to be facilitating your building-level leaders’ use of 21st century technologies so that teachers and students will be more likely to use them. You’re supposed to be the penultimate “lifelong learner” in your organization. As someone who prepares superintendents, I am not impressed.

Congratulations. You’ve moved your school system one step closer to the 19th century. I’m sure your parents and community will thank you for it. May your reign be short.                           

Comments

[Simon]

1.

Far out!

Is this true?... Sorry but I've been a bit out of the loop for a while.

This attitude prevails around the globe though don't you think. I've had people say "You should blog about this or that" with a chuckle and grin but you know the saying.... never a truer word spoken.

It drives me nuts!

[Michael McVey]

2.

Sigh.

[Raj]

3.

It's amazing how little people are willing to deal with even the smallest number of negative comments these days. I don't know where this idea of having an entirely perfect presentation and not offending anyone came to be, but it's certainly not helping us out any.

[Tracy Rosen]

4.

I agree with Michael...sigh...

I hope your superintendent reads this letter at night when he or she has some time to really think about what you are saying, because it holds a powerful message about modeling and leadership.

I was pointed this way by Dennis Harter of Thinking Allowed (http://dharter.edublogs.org/). He was responding to a recent tech leadership rant I was going on about on my latest post --> http://leadingfromtheheart.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/%e2%80%9cput-technology-where-it-can-be-best-used%e2%80%a6-in-the-classroom%e2%80%9d/.

[Carolyn Foote]

5.

This transparency piece is a very hard one for schools, isn't it?

[Brian B.]

6.

If this is true, and I suspect that it is...wow. It sounds like the top level educator in that district forgot that continuous, life long learning is essential for making appropriate leadership decisions. Never mind the fact that he should have trusted his principal and, in the words of Stephen Covey, "seek first to understand, then be understood".

Too bad this guy will probably never see this post.

[Scott McLeod]

7.

Yes, everyone, this is true. Carolyn, I think it goes beyond transparency. Administrators are notably controversy-averse, often to their organization's detriment.

[Susan Brooks-Young]

8.

Hmmmmm...so Scott, mind if I use this post as a discussion starter in workshops on this issue?

Susan

[Scott McLeod]

9.

Susan, of course not. Have a blast; I know you'll use it well. Everything I do is licensed under Creative Commons. Let me know what folks' reactions are!

[Susan Brooks-Young]

10.

Thanks, Scott. I will definitely let you know how people react to this.

[Kern Kelley]

11.

What a shame, I'm sure this happens more than we realize. Maybe not outright banning, but get one upset parent (or even the possibility that one might become upset) and look out. I feel blessed to be in a district with administration that supports and encourages what I do in the district. Though a poor public district, all our staff have laptops, and ipods in every classroom. Because of this we have paperless classes and student and teacher blogs. It's not the resources, it's how you use them. Good luck to you Dr. McLeod.