Summer is a great time for reflection—both about your school community and your own leadership needs. Here are some questions—and accountability strategies—to get you ready for next year.
When we talk about the traits and values required to be great K-12 school leaders, there’s quite a list: empathy, great communication skills, adaptability, emotional intelligence, resilience, and plenty more. Another essential trait that’s just as critical as the ones above, but doesn’t get talked about as much is the ability to reflect.
There’s a reason why education leaders don’t tend to make reflection a habit. We’re in the business of moving our schools forward. What’s the benefit of looking back?
Plenty of research shows that we shouldn’t underestimate the power of reflection. The self-awareness, introspection, and growth we encounter when we reflect on a regular basis helps school and district leaders make better decisions, which in turn helps teachers and staff enhance their own skills around judgment and taking action.
The self-awareness, introspection, and growth we encounter when we reflect on a regular basis helps school and district leaders make better decisions, which in turn helps teachers and staff enhance their own skills around judgment and taking action.
In spite of the many benefits, taking the time to reflect consistently is challenging. There’s so much you’re responsible for; you’ve easily made thousands of decisions over the past school year. Where do you begin? And, another question: how do you continue your reflection practice once school is back in session?
We’ve got you, on both accounts. Below is a list of 25 questions—broken up into key topics—that you can use to get into the groove of continuous reflection. There are also a few tips for using your reflections to power your next steps.
Now that you have a list of questions to get you started, how do you hold yourself accountable when it comes to reflecting and taking action? Here are three insights that might help:
The list of questions above might look a bit overwhelming, especially at a moment where you’re looking forward to the downtime summer provides. A reminder: this isn’t a homework assignment you have to finish all at once!
Our advice is to set aside an hour or two every week and use it to answer two or three reflection questions throughout the rest of the summer. And, don’t simply answer them in your head—be sure to document them on paper. Having your answers written down will give you the context you need to take action.
Summer flies by quickly—too quickly—and another school year will be here soon enough. Creating time for reflection isn’t something that’s only reserved for the quieter months of the principalship. It’s something that benefits us all year round.
Connecting with other school leaders is a great way to share experiences, improve leadership practices, and learn new strategies. It’s also helpful when it comes to sharing your reflections on what worked and what didn’t over the previous school year.
Not only does sharing our reflections with our peers keep us accountable, it also helps us realize we’re not alone in our thoughts. As we share our findings, there’s a good chance that others in our peer circle have been challenged by the same questions or issues, and have advice for helping us move forward.
Summer flies by quickly—too quickly—and another school year will be here soon enough. Creating time for reflection isn’t something that’s only reserved for the quieter months of the principalship. It’s something that benefits us all year round.
Consider setting aside a specific time each day, or a time at the end of the week, for focused reflection during the school year. Instead of the specific questions we asked above, hone in on answering a simple set, such as “What went well this week?” “What’s something that could have gone better?” and “What do I want to focus on for next week?” These questions can help you remember the lessons from the past week and use them to inform the next.
Reflection is stressed as a key part of teaching. When students reflect on the strategies they’re using to plan, prioritize, break down tasks, and achieve their goals, they’re also building their metacognition.
It’s the same for you as a school leader. The more you reflect, the more self-awareness you possess. Doing the inner work to understand and examine your perceptions, biases, and values is what helps you do the outer work: carrying out the mission and goals of your school.
