Lost and Found: Strategic Leadership and Direction
Nov 1, 2024
There is an old joke that says a leader without followers is just someone out for a walk. A corollary to this is that a leader without followers and direction is just lost. Education is a complex, social undertaking that requires leadership, support, and purpose. In short, we need to know where we are going and who is with us on the journey.
In order to avoid becoming lost, school leadership has the weighty task of sifting through the many possibilities that lead into the future to decide on just one direction, one philosophy, one ethos, one mission. It is both naïve and erroneous to think that any educational entity, such as a school, can be all things to all people. The process of setting out in pursuit of an institutional goal, informed by both mission and values, is necessarily one of selection and elimination. Most choices are mutually exclusive, meaning that in choosing to do one thing, another is precluded.
The most recent iteration of the ISF Strategic Plan (2024-29) is the product of thoughtful insight, passionate debate, painstaking selection, careful exclusion, and ultimately governance level judgement. This plan, the third in our history, sets out four key drivers and associated tasks that will inform our work over the coming five years, to the exclusion of others. Some elements of the plan are quite focused and specific, providing a task list for the here and now; other elements are less so, allowing for further time, deliberation, and planning to develop ideas that at this point are not yet mature or ready for final implementation. Like learning, some institutional tasks are undertaken in ‘real-time’, while others are more preparatory or anticipatory, with the final execution to take place at a time still to be determined. My view is that a good plan offers a nuanced balance of doing and planning.
The new plan contains four key drivers, each of which consists of a noun in combination with a verb: Innovation – Learning; Aspiration – Enabling; Collaboration – Connecting; and Education – Developing. The core ideas connecting these drivers are that innovation lies at the heart of learning at ISF; this is supported by aspiration which draws heavily on enablers to realize achievement; these tasks are not undertaken in isolation – they require collaboration involving the concerted effort by a network of participants, supporters, facilitators, and service providers; finally, we understand that education is a societal undertaking that benefits the entire community, meaning that we must extend our efforts beyond graduation and the boundaries of the school campus.
For the curious or studious, the plan offers a review of our success in meeting the aspirations and targets of the previous plan (2018-23). Remarkably, despite the huge headwinds caused by social disruption and COVID, all key elements of the plan were achieved. The document also lays out for the reader a rich institutional resource in which elements of our past and present are explained to the reader. As such, the plan offers not just a view of our future, but also provides a glimpse of our history.
A document that lays out the purpose, direction, aspirations, and targets for the future, offers a school community a degree of stability and certainty, regardless of changing circumstances, personnel, or other factors, all of which often lie beyond the control of those in charge. For members of the ISF community curious about where our current journey might take us in the coming years, this new plan is essential reading. The plan offers considerable comfort for those who crave reassurance that ISF is in good hands. Our future pathway may pose challenges and uncertainties, but we are not lost; we now find ourselves planning our next steps carefully, intelligently, and courageously.
Dr. Malcolm Pritchard
Head of School
