Episode 44: A Principal’s Perspective on Society’s Issues in Schools

Ever feel like the weight of the world lands squarely on your school's doorstep? You're not alone. Principal JL takes a rare solo moment to speak candidly about the reality educational leaders face when national events and societal tensions inevitably filter into school hallways.

The truth about public education often gets lost in inflammatory headlines. Drawing from experiences in both small rural schools and larger districts, Principal JL dispels the myth that educators are indoctrinating students: "We are not sitting here indoctrinating students. From the seat I sit at, we do not do that." Instead, he paints a picture of education as a place where diverse individuals come together to learn and grow, where critical thinking is prioritized over ideology.

What happens when society loses the ability to engage in healthy debate? Principal JL laments the deterioration of discourse into shouting matches rather than evidence-based discussions. He challenges leaders to create environments where disagreement doesn't mean disrespect where "you may come to a conclusion where you guys agree to disagree, and that's okay." This approach requires consistency, resilience against criticism, and the courage to make unpopular decisions when necessary. The most powerful takeaway? Educational leaders must seize control of their own narrative. "Don't let other people tell your story," Principal JL urges, calling on fellow educators to highlight the positive impacts happening in their schools daily. By sharing these successes, we can collectively shift the conversation around public education and remind communities of the vital work happening behind school doors. Share this message if it resonates with you, and remember to always stay curious and strive to be 1% better every day.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Solo Episode Setup
• 2:59 How National Issues Impact Schools
• 5:20 The Truth About "Indoctrination" Claims
• 7:18 Making Difficult Leadership Decisions
• 9:12 Changing Education's Negative Narrative
• 11:15 Call to Action and Conclusion

Transcript

Principal JL: 0:58

This podcast is a proud member of the Teach Better Podcast Network Better today, better tomorrow, and the podcast to get you there. Explore more podcasts at wwwteachbetterpodcastnetworkcom. Now let's get back to the episode. Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of the Educational Leadership Podcast. I am your host, principal JL. Hey, I am on my own today. I'm doing a little solo episode, mainly because I'm in between some guests. I got more guests coming up I'm really excited about and I'm really looking forward to sharing those episodes.

Principal JL: 1:45

But this episode is going to be kind of unique. It's going to be a shorter one, just because there's some things I just want to get off my chest as an educational leader. I think as educational leaders, we know what's going on out in the world guys. We are not turning a blind eye to anything, and the thing that I want to touch base on is as a principal, as someone that works in the field in educational leadership, on the day-to-day, seeing how the world outside of us impacts our building guys, how the world outside of us impacts our building guys, like, no matter what the issue is, no matter what is happening on in our nation, in America, it affects our kids, it affects our staff and, as principals. There is no guide to help us manage those things and to guide those things into you know how, to you know, basically go through those issues as they happen live Now. Today's episode is basically to maybe give you a few tips on how to approach issues out there that come to your doorstep, because we always say we get society's doors at our doorsteps when it comes to public education.

Principal JL: 3:05

Now, this may not be true in other places, but where I'm at, as a person that's been in public education which, by the way, isn't as bad as the national media may say it is or they think it is because here in Nebraska I think we have outstanding public education and I believe it's much, much better than you can get in a private school situation as well. But that's my biased opinion. Private schools are great schools too. There's great people that I know in those private schools and they do a good job. But I just say you know, if you're in public education, you're going to get a good quality education here in the state of Nebraska, and I know that may not be true in other states out there. And so when things happen, you know, like national things happen and they come into our buildings we have to deal with it Right, and so some things that I really look at is I try to make sure my staff's okay, my students okay, and we try to work through things as much as possible. Now, just so you guys know, I do have a belief system. I am a believer, but at the same time, I'm not going to use my faith and my beliefs and I'm not going to protect them on the people as a principal, as somebody that sits in that seat, because that's not my job. My job is to help people learn. My job is to help people become really good at education so they can become the best teachers and staff members they can be, but also be best for those students, so those students can learn.

Principal JL: 4:45

And some of the things that we're losing out there in education is the ability to allow kids to critically think and our adults to critically think. What that means is you got to be able to take information. You got to be able to take two sides of an argument and look at it and really understand what this person is saying, what this other person is saying, but also make up your own mind. A lot of the times people think out there public education they're indoctrinating students. We are not sitting there indoctrinating students From the seat I sit at. We do not do that. Now there could be in some places that's happening and those are far few in between. But guess what? That's what. The national media is going to blow up on you and say, hey, these teachers are indoctrinating all these people. Now you guys got to understand. I've taught and been a principal at a small rural school and I've also taught as well as a principal in larger districts, and you're going to have people of all different walks of life, faith, it don't matter Cultural things. There's you know what Education is, where we all come together and we all learn together and we all strive to become better human beings.

Principal JL: 5:57

And I think that's the thing people forget is, in this role as an educator, as a leader of a school building, my job is not to tell you what I believe. That's not my job. My job is to help you make up your mind or what you believe in. But also, at the same time, we got to be able to have healthy debates and we got to be able to have healthy dialogue and discourse with each other, because we're living in a world right now where, if you disagree with somebody, all you're doing is calling people names and you're not having a dialogue. All you're doing is having a shouting match. You look like a bunch of children having a tantrum. But if you can come with facts and you can come with actual data that supports your side of the story, that's what you want to hear. And the thing is is you may come to a conclusion where you guys agree to disagree, and that's okay. I think that's lost as a principal. Disagree, and that's okay. I think that's lost as a principal. There are conversations I have with parents, with students, with staff members. We won't agree on stuff, and that's okay. You, but we still are going to have a good dialogue and a good discussion about those things.

Principal JL: 7:08

A lot of times, as a principal, you know I get called all kinds of names because I can make half the people happy and half the people not happy, and I get it from all over Right, and so my job is to basically make the best decision with the information I have for the people involved, and that's it. And the thing is it may look different from one case to another, but my goal is to be consistent as a leader when I make those decisions and I'm not going to make everybody happy. I have people out there calling me names and saying I'm terrible at certain things sometimes, and that happens, but I don't let that affect me because in the end of the day, I got to be able to go home, lay my head down at night and said you know what I did? The very best that I could do. Now, with this said, as principals, what we need to be able to do is we need to be able to change the narratives of the negativity that surrounds our education and our public education, and we got to be able to tell our stories. That's what this podcast is for.

Principal JL: 8:09

This podcast is to tell other people's stories so we can learn, grow from each other and get better. We're not going to do it on our own. We're not going to be able to do the work by ourselves, but we have people that are around us that can help us. Let's plug into those things. In a time where you feel like our country is really divided, let's try to unite.

Principal JL: 8:30

I have a ton of people that I work with that we don't have the same faith. We don't have the same beliefs, we don't have the same political beliefs as well, like, but that's okay, because our jobs isn't to be political, and I always say, as a principal or as an educator if people know your beliefs inside your school, I don't know if that's a great thing for people to know, because I don't want you to be able to persuade people because you believe a certain way. Your goal, your job as an educator is to present information and let those people decide on their own, because they have what we call free. They have the ability to do that. We're not here to tell people how to believe or how to live or how to do any of that, but at the same time, we are here to support and to help people grow and learn into those things so they could be a contributing member of society.

Principal JL: 9:34

So, when it comes down to it, guys, like you know, there's a lot out there, a lot of negativity, but I'm really calling the action here. You know, what are we doing to show the great things that are happening in our school? What is the narrative that you're putting out? Are you putting out positive things about your school, about your staff, Like? I know we're going to have struggles, we're going to have our ups, we're going to have our downs, but, at the same time, don't let other people tell your story.

Principal JL: 10:00

You got to be able to tell the story of all the great things that are happening in your schools, because there's a lot of great things out there, and don't let things dissuade you from those things, because there's going to be people out there that are going to try to say one thing or another or, you know, try it. At the same time, you know what's right, you know what you're doing is right. That's all that matters. So with that all said, everybody this, like I said, is going to be a short one. I really took some out of this episode. I really appreciate everybody that has tuned in and listened to the Educational Leadership Podcast. If this message resonates with you, please share it with somebody out there. And until next time, everybody always be curious and 1% better.