Tony Holland, Dean of Instruction, Wallace Community College – Dothan, AL

‘Community College Teaching’ – YouTube channel

The following is an email sent to all participants in the Wallace Community College year-long professional development program called ‘Instructional Leadership Challenge’ (ILC). It was sent after the first session where I presented the Dean’s ‘keynote’ address. We incorporate the word ‘leadership’ into as many conversations as possible to reiterate our goal of creating a culture of leadership (personal responsibility and accountability) throughout the entire organization. This leadership mentality is absolutely crucial to accepting responsibility for solving problems at the lowest level possible, as true leaders never resist change for improvement…. especially when it results in improving the quality of life for students, their families, the community, state, and nation; as well as creating an equal opportunity for all students to achieve the American dream through higher education.

The prerequisites for developing this passion and purpose for student learning and success are to:

1) Truly understand the mission of the community college.

2) Truly understand the community college student and the challenges they face.

Email…

A wonderful instructional strategy that has repeatedly been ‘told’ to students over the years is to summarize notes as soon as possible after class. However, without effective modeling of this strategy students often do not see the benefits. Providing a brief summary of classroom activities/lectures helps fill this void and enhances student learning as it can also make the info presented more relevant to the student. The following is a summary of my keynote address yesterdayand may be a little longer than that required for your class, but then again, you are a much more highly educated individual!

  • Take your job serious, not yourself! It is much easier to relax and enjoy your work, regardless of the challenges, when everyone on the ‘team’ has that positive restlessness to constantly improve. This is precisely why a sense of humor is one of the top three requirements for personnel in units operating with the highest degree of training and commitment and under the most stressful conditions imaginable. Relax and enjoy the challenge of constantly improving based on data….although this is much easier to do when operating with an extraordinary sense of passion and purpose for the community college mission! Connect with students though humor, appreciation for their efforts, and genuine concern for their success…. These are ways of saying, “Don’t take it personal!”
  • Become personally responsible for the morale of your division/college and feel how empowering that can be versus complaining about not getting enough appreciation for yourself. This is an example of how one can be a leader among colleagues, regardless of their position or years in education. Never ask permission to lead, and lead by example at every opportunity. Your division will appreciate it and your students so desperately need it. Remember, you are not leading anything if no one is following you. Set the standard, live the standard, and except nothing less than this standard for yourself and your students! The most effective leader is not necessarily the loudest, smartest, highest position, or the one with the most seniority, but the one with the most followers.

Units with the highest level of morale also have the highest level of standards and accountability, by far. They also tend to be smaller teams, units, or organizations. The larger the organization for greater chance of miscommunication and avoidance of accountability, which is the reason for developing that leadership mentality throughout the organization. In this environment the message is constantly communicated through words and actions (lead by example) by all members of the department, and is what takes our initiative from I-CAN to WE-CAN. This is especially true for organizations like higher education where competency in teaching is not required to fill a teaching position. It is through activities such as this ILC where these competencies and the morale that accompanies them, are developed and/or enhanced.

  • Tackle the biggest issue, problem, or challenge first and many of the other ‘problems’ diminish in the process. This is what builds the momentum and confidence for future improvements (changes). In academia/teaching that could be the highest level of thinking…problem solving. A good gauge for critical thinking required to solve problems in your classrooms is how many questions your students are asking you, as well as the cognitive level of these questions. Answering the questions is one level…questioning the answer is the next level. Tackling the biggest problem first is much like learning the concepts over memorizing the facts. An understanding of the concepts will allow one to figure out the details. However, memorizing the details does not in any way guarantee an understanding of the concepts…which is a prerequisite to problem solving.

One of the best ways to model this critical thinking is to apply it to your chosen field of teaching (leading) by developing one of the most important skills in critical thinking…self-criticism; the capacity to question your own view and correct your own biases. To become good at this you must have your views seriously challenged, as people do not just start out being good at criticizing themselves. Sometimes these views are challenged when data is presented and we are held accountable for accepting responsibility for reacting to the data. It has been said that we find comfort in those (data or people) which agree with us and growth in those that do not.

  • The ’40-mile run’ story reiterates the need to remain persistent as one never knows when that one extra push may be the one needed to get ‘over the hump’. If highly trained and dedicated personnel can succumb to the lies conveyed to them by their environment and acquaintances, how can first-generation college students raised in an unstructured and unstable environment and without the support (financial, spiritual, mental, physical, etc.) from home possibly persist through the challenges of a postsecondary education? Data from around the country in community colleges clearly shows the majority are not persisting to completion. These are students who are not incapable of learning, but must have a support that goes well beyond historical norms. It is not so much that faculty do not have enough time as it is that their ‘system’ currently in place does not have enough time. Remember, “I can’t is not I’m incapable!”
  • I do not know of any responsible parents who would allow their children to ignore homework and chores, while continuously coming home late and ignoring directions. Parents would apply some system of accountability to ensure compliance, realizing this is the key to the child’s future success. Maybe if faculty around the country approached teaching as if each student in the class was their own child that ‘whatever-it-takes’ leadership approach would come more naturally. An addition to the beginning of a sentence can make a significant difference in the empowerment felt through replacing the word ‘fault’ with ‘my responsibility to react’. If your students are not coming to class prepared, rephrase this into you are ‘allowing’ them to come to class unprepared…so what are you doing in response? Once again, the ONLY wrong answer is…”nothing”.

The goal of WCC is to provide an environment for faculty and students that is conducive to data-driven decisions, while promoting creativity and innovations in the classroom that lead to a deeper and more critical learning. My job is not to tell you what strategies to use in your classroom, but to provide clear boundaries and expectations(the core requirements of a culture of accountability) to significantly increase the chances of success for both you and your students; which is the same as you provide for your students. The success of WCC depends on how well the mission of the community college can be conveyed, as well as how well faculty truly understand the culture of origin for many of our students….especially the least prepared and underserved. The ultimate goal is to provide a truly equal opportunity for all students, eliminating the destructively discriminating practice of continued use of ineffective teaching and support strategies which hinder upward mobility for those needing it the most.

As said many times before, anyone can set high standards;however, it takes a professional educator to provide a level of training, support, and accountabilitythat exceeds these standards. The same holds true for directors, associate deans, and deans. A true culture of quality in an institution with a mission of increasing the quality of life for its constituents has no tolerance for highly educated, paid employees that do not operate with a level of commitment to constant improvement based on data with a positive attitude of whatever-it-takes! There is nothing that screams mediocrity more than a lack of personal accountability for results.This is precisely why when a group (team, division, etc.) has this approach from 100% of its members, work become more like play. THIS….is what allows common folks to achieve uncommon results by having an uncommon commitment to make that which is common knowledge in instructional practices, common practice.

You will have several ‘Dean’s challenges’ throughout this next year. Although you are not required to complete these, your challenge is to extend yourself outside your comfort zone in an effort to ‘take it to the next level’! For each one you choose to complete please notify Ms. Sanders, as there will be a special recognition during your end-of-year graduation luncheon for all those completing all the challenges. The first of these are

  1. Express your appreciation to at least twelve WCC employees within a one week period!
  2. Invite me to one of your classes (15-30 min) to observe an activity or presentation.

Your willingness to participate in this ILC is evidence of your extraordinary level of commitment to constant improvement!! Only those with the courage to challenge themselves and old paradigms deserve the exceptional rewards that are a result of these efforts. The appreciation I extend to each of YOU is not because it is owed to you for accepting the challenges of educating the 21st century workforce, but because you have earned this appreciation by committing to a leadership mentality of whatever-it-takes to solve problems at the lowest level possible!