When one part of our body is ill, the whole body suffers, and the treatment must take that into consideration. Leaders must make the connections for people so they understand the whole and how they relate to it. You cannot galvanize the members of an organization to do only their part and expect the organization to perform at its peak. Folks need to know how the pieces fit together and that they, in fact, do fit together. School reform will not occur until those of us leading the effort see that you can t fix the individual pieces separately and expect things to get better.
Leadership is that role that connects the parts to create a whole.
School reform must come from a comprehensive understanding and holistic view of a very complex and interwoven enterprise known as teaching and learning. Similarly, the National Conference on Education is not just a collection of interesting parts. It is a total experience tied together by overarching themes and strands. Our role as leader is to identify the themes of our organizations and create the strands that bind them into a coherent whole. We invite a few guests to sit and discuss the theme of the day.