Toward the end of our class discussion yesterday, we talked about what a new leader might do in the first 6 months of his or her new position. We also briefly touched upon the example of Cathie Black, and I wanted to share the article in yesterday’s NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/nyregion/07bigcity.html?_r=1&ref=education.
Despite the fact that the media does a good job of swaying public opinion, I thought the article guilefully depicted Ms. Black’s lack of knowledge about education and the public sector. The article walks through Black’s first days on the job and her approach to learning the educational system by visiting classrooms, getting to know teachers and students, and seeing what the day-to-day operational atmosphere is like (all strategy tactics which we discussed). It makes satirical comments about her first observations on the job, hinting at her inexperience with the education sector… including direct quotes such as “teachers should have good knees” and “schools should have a pet day where students bring in their pets from home”… (hello, logistical nightmare!) It also goes on to discuss how Black has never set foot in a public classroom, that her children attended private school, and how she is planning to put together a group of parents to discuss issues at school. While the latter is a good start, her representative sample of parents will include those from upper-class neighborhoods in the city.
Regardless, I thought this was a good case example of what a new leader might do in her first days on the job. What do you think about this article and Cathie’s first days on the job?
Shikha Dalal
I can't help but to look back at the case and point out that the person in our case study actually had experience in their field :-)
ReplyDeleteIn any event, I think this is a decent attempt at doing what a new leader should do on their first few days on the job, but I still can't help but to be frustrated by this situation.
In all of the discussions about the issues with the NYC public school system, I don't think anyone is looking at it from the right perspective, which is the leadership perspective. The bottom line is that the leadership throughout the entire system is a flawed. I do agree that the teachers should be held accountable for the success of their students, but the students success is not their task alone. Parents play an integral role in the success of their children, and the school's principals play an important role as well. However, I haven't really heard anyone discuss that. Whose idea was it to allow teachers to "teach for the test"? Why aren't parents more involved in their child's education and why aren't they being stronger advocates for their children? Who is leading the principals who are leading our schools? Who is teaching the teachers who are teaching our children? There's so much to be examined. I think if Cathie Black is a TRUE leader, she'll ask these questions...I wouldn't hold my breath though...