[00:01] SPEAKER_00:
Welcome to Principal Center Radio, bringing you the best in professional practice.
[00:06] Announcer:
Here's your host, director of the Principal Center and champion of high performance instructional leadership, Dustin Bader.
[00:18]
Welcome everyone to Principal Center Radio.
[00:20] SPEAKER_01:
I'm your host, Justin Bader, and I'm honored to be joined today by Dr. Denver J. Fowler. Dr. Fowler is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Cal State University, Sacramento. A career educator, he has been previously honored as the Ohio nominee for the NASSP National Assistant Principal of the Year Award.
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And he's the author of The 21st Century School Leader, Leading Schools in Today's World.
[00:46] Announcer:
And now, our feature presentation.
[00:49] SPEAKER_01:
Dr. Fowler, welcome to Principal Center Radio. Thank you. Thank you very much for having me. So I wonder if we could start by having you talk a little bit about why you wrote the book and what goals you set out to achieve on behalf of the profession when writing The 21st Century Leader.
[01:01] SPEAKER_02:
It really stemmed from I've spent a lot of time traveling the globe, traveling the nation, spent a lot of time visiting schools. And one thing became really apparent to me that we are leading schools a lot like we've always led schools. And at least in the majority of the schools I've been in. Now, that's not to say that there's certainly some school leaders out there that are very innovative. and are leading schools, what I would argue as 21st century leaders and even into the 22nd century, thinking ahead. But for the most part, I'm seeing a lot of the same leadership styles and approaches that seem to be in the far distance past.
[01:40]
So from one perspective, I was writing it for leaders that want to be innovative in their school leadership. And then secondly to that, really just a roadmap to all things school leadership. So what professional organizations to join, what podcasts to listen to, such as this one, what conferences to go to, the professional standards, the national standards, and how they guide the standards at each university that are preparing school leaders, and really just connecting all of those dots. So I wanted it to be written for the practitioner, but also for universities and colleges that are preparing future school leaders.
[02:14] SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, absolutely. And I know you've got a lot on professional learning networks and, you know, working with digital natives, social media. But I was interested in your thoughts on being a lifelong learner, because I think if there's one thing that has been a constant throughout my career, throughout your career, I'm sure it has been the reality that change is a constant, right? That the world never stops moving. And that means as leaders, we have got to keep moving in terms of our own learning.
[02:43] SPEAKER_02:
Yeah, definitely. I think lifelong learning is key. In that chapter, I highlight something. And part of lifelong learning is making time to read and listen to podcasts and go attend conferences and learn from others in your profession. And that ties back to the professional learning network as well. But one of the things I highlight, I was with my wife.
[03:03]
I was doing some advocacy work down on Capitol Hill. And we had the opportunity to go into the rare book collections. And I actually got to hold Abraham Lincoln's Bible that was used during when he was sworn in the second time as president. And when we were sitting with the director of the Rare Books Collection, he said, hey, you know, we just finished Thomas Jefferson's library. His full library is on display today. a few buildings over, over in the Library of Congress.
[03:29]
So we went over there and I remember I was sitting there and I was looking at all these books that Thomas Jefferson had, and not to take away from how smart Thomas Jefferson was, but I turned to my wife, I'll never forget, and I said, was it that Thomas Jefferson was so smart or was it that he owned more books than anybody else in the world at this time? And so it really got me to thinking about school leadership and how important it is to make time to read. I get it, we're all busy as school leaders It's long hours, but you really need to carve out that time to stay abreast of the most innovative and effective ways to lead schools.
[04:03] SPEAKER_01:
Yeah. I was reading another book recently that was talking about how knowledge has the potential to expand infinitely. And as more and more of the basic problems in our world get solved, there's more and more advantage and opportunity in learning. Like, learning continues to be even more important, you know, even as our economy changes, as the workforce changes, you know, learning is not just something that even we who are in kind of fairly traditional careers as educators, you know, it's not something that we did once in college and then...
[04:37]
can just kind of rest on, you know, even if you've done all the college, if you've gotten your doctorate, you know, there's always a cutting edge that we need to be on as leaders. And I wonder if we could connect that back to our students and their needs, because certainly we've seen many changes in what students need from us over the past couple of decades. And I wonder how that resonates with you thinking about your path as a student growing up and going through school. What stands out to you in terms of our obligation as educators to be lifelong learners?
[05:06] SPEAKER_02:
Sure. As a school leader, you're leading the staff that's teaching in those classrooms where the teaching and learning is taking place. And so as a school leader, you have to find ways to lead for equity. What I mean by that is, unfortunately, funding is always going to be the elephant in the room when we're talking about how to improve schools across this nation. Unfortunately, we still live in a nation where A zip code often does determine the type of education a student receives, the type of facilities they're going to be in, and oftentimes their future. And so the great equalizer is education, but we have to lead for equity.
[05:42]
And what I mean by that is equity. look for innovative ways to provide the resources all students need, regardless of their demographics, regardless of their background, to ensure that they are able to succeed and thrive and reach their full potential. And that takes a lot of work. During my time as an administrator, We spend a lot of time writing grants, trying to find money from sources outside of our school district and even our state. So you constantly have to look for ways to fill in those gaps for students that are coming to school with a lot more baggage maybe than other students and also a lot more needs.
[06:17] SPEAKER_01:
And I think one of the great shifts that I've seen in our mindset as educators over the last couple of decades is that when students do come to school with those, in some cases, very extreme needs, I think the kind of 20th century or maybe even 19th century attitude on that was, Well, you know, what are you going to do? Those kids just don't have, you know, their parents are whatever, whatever's, what are you going to do? And I've seen schools now that, you know, they're seeing middle school or high school students come to school with dirty clothes and they're saying, well, we've got a washer and dryer in the gymnasium. You know, they can go use the locker room washer and dryer or the, you know, the elementary school that says, we've got a washer and dryer in the nurse's office. Let's take care of that need. And not too long ago, I remember teachers in West Virginia were on strike.
[07:01]
And there was a news report that teachers were thinking about students who normally depended on that free lunch that they got at school. And they were going to be sitting at home because the teachers were on strike. So teachers were actually sending kids home with food that they themselves had prepared. And I thought that shift in not just responsibility, I think teachers have always felt a strong sense of responsibility, but the sense that we actually can do something about some of those factors that are really holding kids back, no matter how great a lesson is, if kids aren't getting what they need to show up prepared and ready to succeed in that lesson. You know, I'm really impressed by some of the innovative approaches that are being taken to meet some of those needs. And I wonder what you've seen or what your thoughts on that are.
[07:40] SPEAKER_02:
Sure. You know, I've had experience in Columbus City Schools in Columbus, Ohio, one of the largest school districts in the nation. And there's a reason why they don't call snow days when all the other school districts are calling snow days around them. And it's for the exact reason you said, you know, a lot of those students don't eat unless they have school. And we can't expect as principals, superintendents or even educators for a student to sit in their desk and focus on math or focus on reading if they're hungry or if there was domestic violence in their home the night before or maybe that morning. And so we have to find ways to take care of those students.
[08:15]
And that's not to ignore the students that maybe come from what may be perceived as a better home life. Certainly somebody in their family along the line worked hard to try to get them to a place where they're coming from maybe a better circumstance. But nonetheless, we need to meet the needs of those students. I highlighted something in my book that, you know, not to talk about the zip code too much, but, you know, there's a school district that borders another school district in the state of Ohio. And I won't use any district names to exercise some political sensibility. But the one school district spends over $17,000 per students per year.
[08:51]
The district right next to it spends just under $9,000 per student per year. And so there's the real inequities we see and inequalities we see in our nation schools that, you know, again, it's always the elephant in the room, right? It's the funding. How do we fund schools equally across the nation? And we're always talking about how to improve schools, but nobody wants to talk about that.
[09:13] SPEAKER_01:
Well, and that gets back to what you mentioned earlier around advocacy and saying to policymakers, saying to state legislators, federal legislators, that this work has to be funded, meeting students' needs. This is not about educators just wanting a fatter paycheck. This is about providing the funding that students need to have the foundation. that they need for success. Talk to me a little bit about advocacy. What do you think some of our role can be in that?
[09:39] SPEAKER_02:
Yeah, there's a whole chapter dedicated to educational policy. And I'll be the first to admit, and I note this in my book, before I was named assistant principal of the year in the state of Ohio and had the opportunity to go to Capitol Hill and spend time with our state senators and U.S. senators and congressmen and congresswomen and really fully understand how important staying abreast of policy is and advocating and lobbying on Capitol Hill. One thing I learned, number one, is how easily accessible those individuals are to set up meetings with and to talk with. I think we feel like there's such a disconnect.
[10:16]
How could I set up a meeting with a congressman or congresswoman? And it's very simple. And that was one learning moment for me or aha moment for me. The second is how important your voice is. I sat down and met with several education policy teams that were connected to congressmen, congresswomen, U.S. state senators, and found that oftentimes I was educating them on the very bills I was either advocating for or advocating against, which is not the exception.
[10:44]
It's probably more the rule. And what I mean by that is we're in the trenches. We're in the school buildings. We're in the school districts. We're in the classrooms. They need to fully understand how their decisions on Capitol Hill affect us on the day to day in the classroom, with the students, at the school building, in the school district.
[11:02]
And if we're not voicing those concerns, they're not going to be known. And I know that firsthand. There were so many times I was in those meetings and they're like, wow, I never thought of that or how this is affecting this and the trickle down effect of this decision, whether the state senators for or against a bill that may be getting pushed through. So Yeah, it's extremely important. And there's so many easy ways to stay abreast, right? AASA, NASSP both have advocacy groups.
[11:28]
They send out weekly or monthly newsletters. That's really a snapshot of all things policy as it applies to public education, educational leadership. So with technology, it's not hard to keep up with it. And certainly those folks are very accessible and folks need to reach out to them and make sure their voices are heard.
[11:47] SPEAKER_01:
And really, I think that advocacy, you know, the reality is that that is simply a part of being a 21st century leader. So I'm really glad you included that and give people some very practical advice on educating lawmakers, reaching out to lawmakers and saying, hey, here's what we need to be successful on behalf of our students. So the book is The 21st Century Leader, Leading Schools in Today's World. Denver, if people want to get in touch with you, learn more about your work, where are some of the best places for them to find you online?
[12:16] SPEAKER_02:
Sure. You can follow me on Twitter at DenverJFowler is my Twitter handle. We will be using the hashtag 21st Century School Leader for all tweets associated with the book. But yeah, and feel free to drop me an email, denver.fowler at csus.edu.
[12:33]
That's my professor email there at Cal State University, Sacramento.
[12:37] SPEAKER_01:
Denver, thanks so much for joining me on Principal Center Radio.
[12:40] SPEAKER_02:
Justin, thank you so much. I appreciate it. And I want you to know how important the work you are doing is for school leaders everywhere. You know, I keep up with the Principal Center. I keep up the great work.
[12:51] SPEAKER_00:
And now, Justin Bader on high performance instructional leadership.
[12:55] SPEAKER_01:
So high performance instructional leaders, what did you take away from my conversation with Dr. Denver Fowler? One thing that really stands out to me is the ever changing nature of our work. You know, the profession continues to evolve. The world continues to change. Perhaps in your school, the student population continues to change as a result of housing patterns or other factors.
[13:16]
And I think what that leaves us with is a very strong mandate to learn and to continue to adapt. I was speaking with one of our Principal Center members the other day who was talking about how much she values audiobooks and the opportunity to just learn and anytime when she's away from her computer, when she's away from her office, just by plugging in her headphones to her smartphone, the ability to just learn from a wide variety of authors. So if you are not a fan of audiobooks, I want to encourage you to check them out. I think the probably the number one platform for audiobooks is Audible. And you can check out Audible at principalcenter.com slash audible, if you would like.
[13:58]
And regardless of what you're preferred format is, whether you like podcasts or audiobooks or prefer to sit down with a hard copy book or a Kindle edition, whatever works for you, I want to encourage you to set aside time to read and to learn and to access the rapidly changing knowledge base that's out there in our profession. As we talked about in the interview, it's not enough to go to school. Even if you get a master's degree and a doctorate, that knowledge is rapidly eclipsed by the new knowledge that's being generated in our profession every day. So we've got to work together to stay up to date. And I want to thank Dr. Fowler for joining me on the podcast to talk about his book.
[14:37]
And I want to encourage you to check that out on Amazon. The book is The 21st Century School Leader, Leading Schools in Today's World.
[14:44] Announcer:
Thanks for listening to Principal Center Radio. For more great episodes, subscribe on our website at principalcenter.com slash radio.
