A311A: Leading a School Through Challenge and Crisis

*Lottery-based Enrollment* Harvard’s famous anthem Fair Harvard sees “calm rising thro’ change and thro’ storm.” But school leaders are the ones who have to take the tiller and figure out the way to steer through the storm. Recent school years provide staggering cases, from the pandemic to issues of racial justice and culture wars. How could leaders respond to these crises in real time? How does one also find the inner calm to be able to lead effectively? The thrust of this case-based, discussion-based course is to challenge students to problem-solve the widely varied kinds of problems – and yes, crises – that school leaders face. They range from the immediate – the death of a student, the threat of an armed person on campus, a racist incident – to possibly less urgent but no less real crises: a slashed budget, crumbling infrastructure, reports of sexual assault. By working through specific cases, this course will illuminate larger operational and strategic issues that are part and parcel of the work of a school leader. While some cases will be drawn from the instructor’s direct experiences in leading an independent school, the issues addressed will be central for students aspiring to lead all manner of schools: public, charter, faith-based, and private. Readings will be drawn from several sources that focus on the nature of leadership, both in the world of schools and beyond.