Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for November, 2023

I Miss Newspapers

Posted in Change, tagged , , , on November 28, 2023| 10 Comments »

I will try not to make this a “You kids, get off my lawn!” kind of post.  

I know newspapers are not completely gone, and there may be a few newspapers in North America finding ways to make it still work with paper copy in a digital world, I often get nostalgic for how things used to be.  This thinking is front of mind this week with the final community newspaper in my hometown, The Richmond News announcing it is discontinuing its once-a-week print edition this week.  Publisher Alan Chow announced this past week:

It’s with a sense of pride for our past accomplishments but also a keen eye to the future that we have made the decision to stop our print edition, with next week’s Richmond News to be the last to roll off the presses.

I feel a particular connection with the Richmond News.  For three years, at the beginning of the century, I had the honour of writing a weekly column.  The editor at the time, Dixon Tam, gave me the wonderful opportunity, and the freedom to write about almost anything I wanted.  I wrote a lot about education, but also about local government, social issues and human interest stories.  While I didn’t get rich at $35 a column, and this wage probably worked out to about $3 an hour considering the work I would put into each 500 word piece, it was one of the best experiences of my life. The Culture of Yes would not exist, if “Kennedy’s Corner” wasn’t a thing in the Richmond News.  One quite naturally led to the other.  It was actually one of the best work experiences of my life.  I had to keep a deadline, do research, was held accountable and develop a thick skin – some of the fax responses to what I wrote were harsh!

I have written before about the loss of local media.  In July of 2015, the Richmond Review closed its doors. At that time, I said:

Community newspapers don’t get enough credit for the important role they play with our school system.  They are so often our storytellers.  They tell the narratives of our kids, our teams, our musicals, our art shows, our academic success and our commitment to service.  They also keep us honest and tell our stories of controversies like bus service changes or school closures , budget decisions and staff misbehaviours.  Community newspapers connect schools to the community. 

If anything, eight years later, I feel more strongly about this.  School districts can tell their stories, but they should not be the only ones telling the stories.  I know this should be my inside voice, but we tell the stories we want to tell. And it is not as though social media fills in the gaps – likewise, people will share their specific perspective on individual issues and so much will be lost.  Newspapers make school systems more accountable, but this in turn also makes them more trusted.  It is not just us telling you our story.

So, just why should you care that there is such little local news coverage if you are a student, teacher, parent or superintendent?

  • The lack of local coverage limits what the community can learn about educational developments in the community.  From new programs to changes in reporting, this education is left to the schools.
  • There is a communication gap.  While schools can communicate with their parents, community papers communicate more broadly.  Events, initiatives, and updates will fall into the “I wish more people knew” hole.  
  • Local papers highlight accomplishments, so the loss of papers mean fewer student achievements are being broadly recognized. It is one less opportunity for public recognition, which can impact improved morale and motivation within the school community.
  • Community newspapers often provide a platform for public engagement, allowing community members to express their opinions, concerns, and feedback. The loss means there is one less channel for schools and schools systems to get a sense for how they are doing. And more broadly, this change is a reduction in civic engagement including topics related to education and the broader public may be less informed about educational policies and decisions that impact the community.
  • Local newspapers contribute to transparency and accountability by reporting on school board decisions, educational policies, and other matters that affect the community. All school jurisdictions strive for openness, and in some is usually framed as a core value, local media helps ensure we live up to this commitment.
  • Local newspapers serve as a historical record, documenting the milestones and events in a community, including its schools. The closure of these newspapers can result in a loss of this historical record, making it challenging to preserve and share the rich history of local education.  I wonder even 20 years from now, where people will look for the history of school systems.  In an era where “everything is on the internet” there are often fewer organized places where we can find a thoughtful history.

I still subscribe to two daily newspapers.  I love taking time to read them.  And I love what they symbolize.  I know in part, they represent an era that is almost in the past.

In another part of Chow’s letter to the community this week, he said:

The news side won’t change, it’s just our delivery side that is seeing a transformation.

Instead of delivering a printed copy of the News to your doorstep once a week, we are delivering Richmond stories to Richmond readers — and readers around the world — every day, 24/7, on our website.

Maybe.

I believe so strongly in the power of change, and the promise of our increasingly digital world.  But I choose to be sad with this change.  Maybe it is nostalgia.  Maybe, it is my belief that more community media would help schools be more trusted.  Maybe, I don’t see examples of legacy print media moving very successfully to a digital world. Maybe, I am not as good at change as I think.

Thanks to Dixon Tam, then the editor of the Richmond News for giving me a chance to become a better writer by printing my column each week for tens of thousands of people to read.  Thanks to all the reporters, in particular Mark Booth, who have covered the community so well.  And continued success to those community newspapers that still exist like the North Shore News – in the community I work.  

For more on this, I also wrote a post a couple years ago, The Importance of Telling the Stories of High School Sports, that, along with my 2015 post, I think are good companion pieces. 

Read Full Post »

Leaders Lending Their Calm

Posted in Change, Health, tagged , , , , on November 21, 2023| 2 Comments »

I love this notion that a leader can lend their calm.

I was recently listening to The Canadian-Ed Leadership Show hosted by Dean Shareski and his interview with the former  Director General of the Lester B School Board in Montreal, Michael Chechile.  He was relaying a story from Michael Fullan.  Chechile, quoting Fullan, said, “you don’t only show your calm as a leader but you lend your calm.”  This is such a wonderful extension to what we often say about modeling the calm we want in others.

Calmness is such an important quality in school leadership. As Chechile describes, it is one of the soft skills that you need to be a team player.   This notion of lending your calm is also referenced in the work of Stuart Shanker, someone who has greatly impacted my thinking – when their storm meets your calm, co-regulation occurs.  While it can be great in the classroom with students, the same principles apply in the interactions school and district leaders have with other adults in our work.

I really like this simple idea of lending your calm to someone else. It can mean offering a sense of tranquility, reassurance, or stability to another person during a stressful or challenging situation. It involves sharing a peaceful and composed presence to help someone feel more at ease or supported.   I am sure it is true in many professions, but I can speak with most authority in the school setting, that calmness from school and district leaders can be one of the most important qualities in times of heightened emotions.  

This idea of extending emotional support and helping others navigate difficult moments by sharing your own inner sense of peace or calmness is very powerful. This act can be particularly valuable in situations where someone is feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stressed, as your quiet presence can have a calming effect on them.

When I think to the specific work of school and district leaders, lending our calm can:

  • exhibit leadership presence
  • manage a crisis
  • help in decision making
  • assist in communication
  • build support and confidence
  • model resilience
  • promote wellness

School and districts leaders seem to be faced with increased situations of heightened emotions.  This simple idea of lending one’s calm, can help reframe these situations, and help us slow down and react more thoughtfully.

Thanks Dean, Michael, Michael and Stuart for sharing this thinking.

Read Full Post »

The Pressure of the Right School

Posted in Change, tagged , , , on November 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Our third child is in the process of selecting which university to attend next fall. And it sometimes feels like there are too many choices. When he hears about another program or school, he adds it to the list and all of the sudden, a list of two schools turns into eight. And there is tremendous pressure to pick the “right” one.

Of course, this is all very familiar. I see and hear this on a weekly basis at work as families locally and globally are looking to find the right K-12 school for their child.  They visit multiple schools in our district, they speak to administrators, they examine test scores and they talk to current and former parents – doing as much research as possible.  

Listening recently to Barry Schwartz, gave me a different perspective on these kind of situations.  Schwartz is a psychologist with a famous TED Talk on the paradox of choice. In a recent podcast conversation with Adam Grant he told the story of how he often uses this New Yorker cartoon in his presentations: 

 

Schwartz argues that if you have stuck in your head that Yale is better than Brown and you go to Brown, you will not enjoy Brown as much had you not had that thought.  He argues:

Are there differences between Brown and Yale? Of course there are. Are there differences that you can know about in advance? Almost certainly not. And a lot of those differences are gonna be the result of happenstance, who your roommate is in your freshman year, who happens to be teaching Bio 1 when you take it, stuff like that.

So, you’re already in the region of unimaginable excellence, and there’s no reason to drive yourself crazy about this, deciding which of these incredibly excellent places is the place that you should be spending the next four years. But it’s hard, this is a, I don’t know what your experience has been, Adam. I find it impossible to convince young people that what I just said is true.

This sentiment connects for me, as I think about my son’s university decisions and our West Vancouver parents K-12 school decisions.  My son is picking between a number of great schools.  He is going to attend a major university in Canada – and they are all good.  As Schwartz says, this is really a region “of unimaginable excellence.”  But who knows who his roommates will be, or his teammates on the track team, or the people who sit next to him in his classes.  These “first” people will arguably make it the “right” school for him.  

And for the parents in West Vancouver, I say with completely sincerity, all of our schools are great schools.  There are no bad choices.  And I know most don’t believe me – they figure that is just superintendent-talk and something I have to say.  But every year I talk to students and their parents that LOVE all of our schools.  I know I wish there was some kind of code that could be cracked, to get the best experience for our students to perfectly match each child to the absolute best school for them – but within great experiences, some of what happens is luck.  

I like Adam Grant’s conclusion at the end of the podcast, good advice for my son and his university selection, and for all the parents and students I talk to about West Vancouver schools:

I think my biggest takeaway here is that the more you struggle with a choice, the more likely it is that there is not a right choice. So instead of agonizing over whether you’ve made the best decision, it’s probably worth picking an option. And then trying to turn it into a good decision.

We are fortunate to have so many great choices and excellent options when it comes to schooling – both in the K-12 system and the post-secondary world.  What a lucky position for all of our students.

Read Full Post »