Leading Internationally

In Leading Collective Capacity in Culturally Diverse Schools, Allan Walker and Geoff Riordan discuss the ways in which leaders of schools can build trust and respect between teachers of different backgrounds and cultures. In the article, collective capacity refers to a leadership team’s ability to work together for the betterment of the student body. Walker and Riordan believe that a shared set of values among staff members leads to better learning environment for students. They have structured their beliefs around 5 main issues on which leaders can reflect and improve upon.

Positioning

Positioning centers around the idea that leaders need to be self-aware of their own identity and culture before they can lead a culturally diverse team. Collective capacity is about values because what a team values is what gets accomplished first. If a team can openly communicate and work together, then they will have a higher probability of being able to carry out a shared, united agenda despite their differences. A school leadership team must put educational core values first, despite one’s own personal bias. Those cores values usually include student learning, teacher support, professionalism, etc. Positioning is about being aware of your own cultural perceptions and putting them aside for the better of the team.

I think positioning is important for leaders to consider, especially when leading a diverse team. A leader’s values should not be put ahead of the collective values shared by all. However, I think effective leaders have this innate quality, which often times allows them to get into a position of leadership in the first place.

Structuring

Structuring often refers to the way in which leaders structure school systems based on cultural biases. For example, western cultures place a lot of value of individualism and often structure schools systems accordingly. However, this is not a universal ideal and leaders should make cognizant efforts to include more collective work and team-based approaches within school settings. Collaboration is an important skill that allows for a more responsive work environment for all team members.

I think this concept would be pretty hard to implement, especially within a mixed team of eastern and western cultures.  As a westerner, I feel like working in a collective capacity is not always efficient or timely. As anyone who has ever worked on a group project before knows, often times one or two members just end up doing all the work.

Expectations

Different cultures will have different expectations for all the various roles a school should and will play. If everyone on a school staff has a different expectation of what the school should be, then it will be harder for the collective capacity to hold a singular vision for its students. Therefore, the expectations should be agreed upon by the time and explicitly stated so that there are no misunderstandings on the role of the school. Understanding the expectations of a school best be summed up by asking the following questions:

·      Who speaks for the school?

·      Who makes the decisions in the school? (And who should make the decisions?)

·      What motivates teachers to work and to collaborate with each other?

·      What forms the basis for relationships?

·      How are students best disciplined?

·      What is the meaning of responsibility?

·      Are performance management systems applied uniformly to all staff or adapted to individual circumstances?

·      How are people judged?

·      Are directives from the principal followed or circumvented?

·      What gets noticed in the school?

·      Are individual teachers or groups named and recognized in the school?

I believe having a singular vision, or mission statement is vital for a school to be successful. Imagine if everyone in a canoe started rowing in a different direction. They would get nowhere and be exhausted in no time. If everyone rows in unison, in the same direction, then progress and success are sure to be had by everyone involved.

Expression

Expression refers to the way in which school leaders take action based on their own cultural values and the ways they communicate with others. According to Walker and Riordan, “Different cultures prefer different patterns and forms of communications” (2010). Self-disclosure, or the desire to be open with others about private information, is one type of expression that is valuable for teams. Yet, self-disclosure is byproduct of certain cultures, such as Americans, who tend to reveal more about themselves quicker and more readily than others.

I can reflect on my own experiences working abroad to understand the importance of communication. Working in Korea, I was often regarded as the “typical” American because my teaching style was pretty loud and boisterous, especially when compared to my more timid Korean coworkers. However, I’m not sure if this was due to a personality trait or learned cultural habit. Either way, it could be tough at times to practice self-control and remember to think about other perceptions before acting.

Profiling

Profiling is when schools label or stereotype students based on preconceived ideas of culture or background. It’s important for school leaders to remember that culture exists at different levels and cannot be generalized across the board. According to the article, “a reliance on culture or any other singular form of diversity as a way of explaining or justifying behavior is very risky business” (Walker and Riordan, 2010). Profiling can often times lead to tokenism, where a single minority is used to represent an entire culture. So while we must diversify leader teams and rely on their personal experience and expertise, we must value them more than just as insights into other cultures.

I think profiling is easy to implement if leadership teams are willing to do so. Include people from other cultures. Give them a voice. Listen to them and leave any superiority complex out the door. However, is this probably easier said than done. 

Sources

Walker, Allan and Riordan, Geoff. Leading Collective Capacity in Culturally Diverse Schools. School Leadership and Management. 2010. Retrieved from
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13632430903509766?needAccess=true