Grace Slick said, “Through literacy you can begin to see the universe. Through music you can reach anybody. Between the two there is you, unstoppable.” In 1994 on International Literacy Day President Bill Clinton said, “Literacy is not a luxury, it is a right and a responsibility. If our world is to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century we must harness the energy and creativity of all our citizens.” Both these statements give some insight into what I've learned about advocacy research.
According to Nancy Dana, in her book Leading with Passion and Knowledge : The Principal as Action Researcher, principals who engage in administrative inquiry benefit in at least three ways. They can encourage the use of best practices in their schools, become role models for learning to their staff and their students, and they surround themselves with other professionals in meaningful ways, which helps the principal to reduce the natural isolation of the role of being the principal.
Using administrative inquiry wasn't always the way principals were allowed to function. Historically, principals were expected to manage schools using someone else's directives, usually those coming from the upper administration of the school system. As schools began transforming into the current model, leading researchers in the field of educational administration found that the increasing diversity in our society and in student characteristics required adjustments in the internal workings of school. (Ken Leithwood and Carolyn Riehl 2003) Earlier principals did not have access to the tools available to current administrators.
As President Clinton commented about literacy, Dana agrees that Principal inquiry helps today's administrator take charge of something important he can own and control, helps calm the frantic pace of the school day, and helps to make a positive impact upon the school's community. Just as literacy is not a luxury, neither is time spent by the principal to develop insight, to nurture inclusion, and to contemplate the best path for helping teachers and students succeed.
Since most school administrators are already busy with "too much", the issue becomes one of finding time to engage in inquiry (research). Dana recommends putting the concept of inquiry into the same category as "exercise" ... just as a healthy individual must find time to eat well and fit physical exercise into his day, so should an administrator plan ways to engage in inquiry.
So, as an administrator, how will I use what I've learned? Think of Bobby McFerrin singing "Don't Worry, Be Happy". A change of approach to the school day, to the school's mission, to the school's patterns, and to my responsibilities to the students and staff opens countless ways to be creative, to schedule time for reflection, and to interact with others. The nature of the daily challenges will define the topics for inquiry, and the leadership teams on campus will provide the co-workers. We can engage in learning together, or as Senge said, "unless teams can learn, the organization cannot learn".
