Balance of power: new ideas about challenging the status quo provided this group of educators with inspiring possibilities for themselves and others to act in service of all children

Leadership, March-April, 2002 by Stephanie Graham, Randall B. Lindsey

The Tao Te Ching, one of China's best-loved books of wisdom, was originally addressed to wise government leaders in ancient China. More than 2,500 years later, nine Southern California superintendents found the Tao's wisdom still applicable as they discovered the significance of merging their approach to leadership with their way of life to create culturally proficient educational communities.

When two proponents of the benefits of diversity collaborated on constructive approaches to student success, an unexpected benefit arose. Three years ago, Ron Hockwalt, superintendent of the Walnut Valley Unified School District, and Stephanie Graham, consultant for equity and achievement for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, wondered how to best bring the benefits of diversity training to administrators. They lamented the general lack of enthusiasm for diversity training among many educators in the nation's most diverse state.

Hockwalt and Graham, both well-known advocates for the benefits of diversity, were committed to finding a way to bring the best resources and information to other educational leaders in Los Angeles County so that they might become renewed and enlightened leaders.

The vision

In the fall of 1999, stalwart in their commitment, clear in their vision but unsure of the path, they initiated the Superintendents Collaborative for School Equity and Achievement, a series of three-hour sessions held at six-week intervals over the next two years.

They envisioned that school leaders would:

* see that issues of cultural power were central, not ancillary, to student success;

* develop a protocol for changing personal and organizational paradigms for school equity and achievement; and

* renew their commitment to the moral purposes of education, which are to "make a positive difference in the lives of all citizens" (Fullan, 1999) and to show individuals how they can function together in society (Saul, 1995).

Coinciding with this collaborative was the publication of "Cultural Proficiency: a Manual for School Leaders" and the involvement of its co-author, Randall B. Lindsey, in other Los Angeles County Office of Education initiatives to introduce educational leaders to cultural proficiency. As committed to the vision for the Superintendents Collaborative -- but more practical in his approach -- Lindsey became an early and essential collaborator on the project.

Essential agreements

The three collaborators decided on six essential agreements that would respect the experience, status and integrity of the participants and make this effort different from previous efforts to develop cultural competence among leaders.

The agreements were as follows:

1. The participants would be superintendents.

2. The group would be intentionally small -- eight to 10 superintendents -- in order to foster focused discussion of relevant topics, deep understanding of issues, interdependent problem-solving and reciprocal coaching.

3. The agendas would be shaped by participants' interests and needs.

4. Discussions would stay focused on systemwide transformation for equity, not on tolerance for diversity. Although improved human relations would be a valuable outcome, the more desirous and measurable outcome would be the improved and equitable achievement of all students.

5. There would be no outside experts called in to present, and the facilitators would not train. Rather, participants would question, provoke, catalyze and facilitate dialogue. Their approach would solicit personal inquiry, deepened awareness of participants' cultural identities and assessment of their cultural competence; not guilt, anger, blame or defensiveness.

6. The only ongoing norms were honesty, personal and professional inquiry and mutual respect for their colleagues' perspectives.

The seminar series

The initial meeting was held at the Museum of Tolerance in West Los Angeles. The museum program would be the springboard upon which to build the agenda for the seminar series. Though many of the superintendents had toured the museum before, none had taken advantage of its expanded resources, nor had they used the experience as a kind of cultural common denominator upon which to build understanding about the educational significance of these issues in a forum specifically for superintendents.

The two-day retreat at the Museum of Tolerance had a significant impact on all in attendance. It included the Holocaust tour, a first-hand account from a Holocaust survivor, facilitated discussions, and time for reflection. The museum arranged for several special presentations from its speakers network. The superintendent participants shared their insights and identified topics that they wanted to pursue in future sessions.

In follow-up sessions, they engaged in discussions after reading articles and reviewing resources on topics they identified as important. Authors such as Michael Fullan, Peter Senge and Douglas Reeves were important resources for the participants' inquiry about organizational change, systems theory, transformational leadership and standards-based accountability.