Erin Bigler Administrative Internship
Do what you feel in your heart to be right–for you’ll be criticized anyway. —Eleanor Roosevelt
Ethics Artifacts
One thing I have realized throughout my coursework and field experiences is that administrators are faced with hundreds of decisions, many of which are not black and white. Often, there are many decisions that could be right, but some might be better than others. The critical factor that helps in these difficult decisions is having a strong understanding of the values that drive your own leadership. As a principal, if you can share your values with staff/students/families and provide transparency behind your decisions, the stronger foundation of trust you can build within a school.
One component of this competency that fit into many of my fieldwork experiences was “modeling democratic value systems”. There is an art form to balancing decisions that should be made by an administrator, and decisions that require input from teachers, parents, and other stakeholders. After watching my own principals navigate decisions in their day, I now see many ways for stakeholders to provide input. For example, team members can help develop shared norms for a group, take part in crafting vision statements, share in the development of school action plans, and create school-wide themes for the year. Teachers can provide helpful insights on school functions like creating schedules, providing suggestions for professional development, and identifying ways to improve procedural aspects of the day like arrival/dismissal, and lunch transitions.
A specific experience that comes to mind, in thinking about a democratic value system, is the opportunity to be a member of my school’s improvement planning team. When we met as a group, my principal said “I appreciate all of you putting your time and energy into creating our school’s goals. I really want this to be something you take pride in and is meaningful to you versus simply creating “my plan” to share with the school”. Sharing that statement aloud with the group clearly articulated her hopes and vision, and also reiterated how much she values teamwork and the ideas her staff members have.
As a future administrator, when I am faced with difficult decisions, I will remember to reflect on my personal values. Additionally, I will take time to consider the time constraints in which my decision must be made, and whether it would be more effective to include input from others when making my decision. Overall, I strive to create an environment where all voices will be listened to and valued.
Parent Meeting
Bullying Incident
I had the opportunity to be involved in a parent concerns meeting, in regard to a bullying incident occurring at school. My biggest takeaway is the importance of active listening throughout these meetings, and realizing the importance of responding to bullying issues in a proactive manner. I also had an opportunity to meet with our social worker, and one of her biggest pieces of advice was for administrators to always take a proactive approach to concerns around bullying, as they can often lead to much larger problems for a school if not handled properly.
Teacher Illness
Navigating Grief With A Student Centered Mindset
Over the past year, one of our staff members was diagnosed with colon cancer. Upon the diagnosis, she took a leave of absence to begin treatment, leaving her students and colleagues worried and full of questions in the wake of her absence. This was a great ethical test, as our principal had to decide when and how much to communicate with students, as well as the best way to support students and staff during this transition. In the initial phase of her absence, Mrs. A would meet with her class over zoom to share updates and do read alouds with her students. As her cancer treatment progressed, and side effects the chemo treatment became more visible, our principal had to make the difficult decision to ask Mrs. A to cut ties with her class while on medical leave, because it was creating a heightened level of anxiety and upset feeling among her young students. Despite Mrs. A's desires to keep connected to her school community in such a way, Arthur had to consider what was in the best interest of the children.
As I embark on my own leadership career, I too, will keep a student centered focus, as Arthur was able to do in this particular circumstance. Below, I have included an example of some of the family communications Arthur shared with me, during Mrs. A's medical leave.
Ethics In The News
Decision Making Framework
One experience that was valuable was the Ethics In The News assignment, during my Saint Mary's coursework. In doing the assignment, I found an ethical issue and used Kidder's 9 checkpoints as a framework for ethical decision making. Having a systematic way of thinking through a difficult situation was very helpful. I will use this model for problem solving whenever faced with my next ethical dilemma. Click the link to view my ethics presentation below.