Tone at the Top—The School Head As Exemplar

Much has been made of leadership and its influence on organizational culture, and this message is certainly underscored in the schools we visited. Heads obviously have an enormous opportunity to set the priorities and tone of the school—and a daunting responsibility to do so. The school heads who seem most effective in this regard are the genuine truth-seekers. Those who view deep
learning as life’s primary enterprise build commitment to ethics and values in everything they do.

Connection: According to our interviews and focus groups, the head of school position is the lynchpin for promoting trust within the school culture. As one student at a suburban day school explains, “The ethics and character of our headmaster (even though I don’t know him [personally]) are exactly what they expect us as students to have. He demonstrates all of the ethical values.” Commenting on the school head at a rural boarding school, a teacher remarks, “I’ve watched him. His ethics just filter down to the whole staff.”

Description: At the schools in this study, everybody seems to know where the head stands on issues, and where he or she will be when needed at a personal or political level. Responses—from both faculty and students in our focus groups and our early surveys– consistently describe the head as a person of integrity. They also report a sense of strong support from the head, and a strong sense of resolve. Interestingly, even students who comment that they don’t have much personal connection to the school head, still describe him or her as having a high level of integrity. The moral tone does not necessarily come about through personal interactions, but still comes through loudly and clearly.

We asked about how these priorities get telegraphed. “Every closing ceremony, every speech, he talks about how there’s a privilege, an obligation to help others,” one teacher explains. “They’re challenged to go out and make a difference.” Another faculty member notes that “the leader is key. He’s in the dining hall, at the events, participating.” Are speeches and participation at school functions
enough to set the focus on building trust and on upholding values and ethics? We notice a strikingly consistent attitude toward power in the descriptions of heads of these exemplary schools. As one faculty member puts it, the head is “not into authoritarian stuff at all. [There’s an] effort to help people understand that power doesn’t come from position.” The head of an urban day school explains,  “When I started out, I thought I had to be in control of everything. Now I get joy in watching people grow and make decisions.” A
student at another school observes, “Instead of checking if you’re following the rules, he asks about your day.”

When heads describe how they achieve a less authoritarian, more collaborative and trusting role, they consistently bring up the students: “That’s the drug that keeps you here—seeing the development of the kids,” one comments. “I try to think of myself as an educator and as a parent,” another remarks. A faculty member adds, “When you watch the head, you know he is here to focus on the kids.”

Replication: The structures and practices that contribute to setting the tone largely relate to building collegiality and a sense of community.

• Promote access to the process for anyone impacted by the issue or decision. “Rarely is a decision made without consulting the staff.”
• Model and promote informal opportunities for professional growth. “Informal time is when collegiality develops, and students are always the focus.”
• Admit your own failings. “Own mistakes and be honest. None of us has the answer. We’re all learners.”
• Actively demonstrate an interest and confidence in moral reasoning. “There’s a path of logical reasoning that gets you to an ethical solution.”
• Decide on deepest priorities, and seek them actively and courageously: “It comes down to what does the head want when he walks down the hall. Do I care what the students think? Do I want them to be able to talk to me, and not be afraid of me?”
• Seek out the kind of adults you want in the culture. “[When hiring] I ask them to describe their understanding of discipline. I ask, ‘How do you integrate ethical problem solving into your class work?’”
• Get clear on the vision and values, and get good at communicating them. As one trustee put it, “The head has to have this clear and be able to articulate it to trustees.”
• Truly self-examine and align attitude with values. “Faculty members are not employees—they are the school. They have to be regarded with enormous respect because the life of the mind is such an extraordinary gift.
• Invite feedback. “Involve a group to look for the underlying value system—what situations arose and how did [we] handle them?”

Copyright 2007 The Institute for Global Ethics

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