TLIS Objective 3.10

Exercise effective independent school leadership practices based on established theories and research

Ethan Delavan, Director of Technology at The Bush School in Seattle, Washington previews

Effective leadership is an art that requires a combination of innate abilities, learned skills, and continuous personal growth.

You’ve heard it before, technology in our lives and our kids’ lives is unavoidable. It’s what drives our world as we know it. I grew up in a time when technological advances moved so fast that many people had a hard time keeping up.

The energy of having a fresh start at school each year has always given me joy. This year I began my year with a self-inventory and asked what I could improve, and I swiftly and I swiftly landed on the topic of passwords.

Beautiful quotes from brilliant minds have inspired me from the early days of my professional career. Motivation as lines from well known storytellers, messages from world leaders, ideas from scientists – ending up on posters on our classroom walls and as sign offs in our email signatures.

Almost 30 years ago when I started in Educational Technology, the job description for being a school tech leader was vague. Personally, my biggest qualification was that I knew more about computers/technology than anyone else at the school.

Have you ever looked at your academic programming and wondered how to make it relevant to real-world problems? Enter: computer science. And, the best part is that you don’t need a lab dedicated to computer science to teach these principles (though, it helps!).

In our previous article, "Overcoming Roadblocks: Unlocking Your Leadership Potential," we explored how to overcome barriers and unleash your leadership potential.

In our professional and personal lives, we often encounter roadblocks that hinder our growth and limit our ability to reach our full potential as leaders.

In an ATLIS Town Hall, participants pondered the changes that have come to the leadership role of technologists in independent schools, including acting as trusted guides for the many complex technologies that are now desired at their schools.