Crucial Characteristics of Leaders of Integrity, Part I
Be Courageous
By Don Parker
I recall a time during the spring of 1987, right as the weather was breaking and spring was springing, when my dad wanted to spend some father-and-son time with me. I was 12 years old. We hopped into his blue 1975 Chevy Caprice. This car was also 12 years old, but for a car, 12 was not youthful. My dad drove us to downtown Chicago, where we walked around and looked at the skyscrapers. We had a great time. For the ride home, my dad decided to take the scenic route along Lake Shore Drive where, as luck would have it, we struck a pothole — a common occurrence.
The frequent use of salt to melt winter snow and ice, coupled with the heaving of the earth below from freezing and thawing, damages the asphalt and creates potholes. As my dad continued to drive, squeaks, squeals, and grinding noises emanated from the car. I asked him what was wrong. He said that given the speed that he was driving and the jarring force the pothole delivered, the Chevy’s chassis might be damaged. A damaged chassis is serious trouble. This is the car’s framework. It houses or supports the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential, running gear, and suspension. Just as with other parts of a vehicle, the chassis and its various components can wear out over time or become damaged in an accident.
If a chassis is bent, the car’s moving parts no longer operate smoothly. Instead, they may bump or rub noisily together. Besides forming the base for literally everything attached to it, the chassis plays a distinct part in determining how the car rides and can make or break a vehicle’s ability to handle and perform well in a variety of situations.
Just like the chassis is the integrity and foundation for every other major part of a vehicle, a leader’s integrity is their make-or-break feature for the district, the school, its teachers and staff, and its students.
The difference, though, is that while outside forces deliver the blows that may weaken a car chassis’ integrity, weak human integrity delivers the blows that damage schools. Just as a damaged chassis disrupts the smooth operation of a vehicle’s moving parts, a leader’s damaged integrity disrupts the smooth operation of their school’s moving parts.
Leaders often are faced with the choice of doing what they know is necessary to increase equity or succumbing to the pressure of those who prefer the status quo. Suppressed equity in a school can bleed into the community, affecting industries, work opportunities, and more. Leadership integrity — a strong and principled human chassis, if you will — is vital if you are to be the driving force that not only aspires to but also achieves educational equity.
In the diverse and rapidly changing educational landscape, the role of school leaders in promoting equity has never been more critical. Within this context, leader integrity emerges as a powerful force that shapes the very essence of equitable practices and outcomes. Leader integrity serves as the foundation on which equitable practices are built. When school leaders possess integrity, they demonstrate a deep commitment to ethical principles and values, fostering an environment where fairness and justice prevail. Their unwavering commitment to doing what is right, even in the face of challenges, inspires and emboldens others. The presence of leader integrity cultivates courage, enabling teachers, staff, and students to stand up for equity, challenge inequitable practices, and promote inclusivity.
In addition, leader integrity influences ethical behavior within the school community. Ethical leaders serve as role models, guiding others to make principled decisions that prioritize equity and fairness. By consistently aligning their actions with their values, leaders foster a culture of ethical conduct among staff and students. This culture, in turn, enhances trust, cooperation, and a shared sense of responsibility, creating a fertile ground for collaboration and collective action in pursuit of equity goals.
This article is the first in a series that explores the multifaceted ways that leader integrity impacts school equity. Drawing on research, real-world examples, and practical insights, we will examine the dynamic interplay between leader integrity, courage, ethical behavior, collaboration, and actions. By understanding the pivotal role of leader integrity, school leaders can harness its transformative power to create inclusive, just, and equitable educational environments for all learners.
Leader integrity plays a crucial role in enhancing school equity because it establishes trust, promotes fairness, and guides decision-making processes. When school leaders demonstrate integrity, they align their actions and decisions with ethical principles and values. This consistency builds trust among staff, students, and the broader school community, which is fundamental for fostering an equitable environment.
A 2010 study by Anthony S. Bryk, Penny Bender Sebring, Elaine Allensworth, Stuart Luppescu, and John Q. Easton found that school leaders with integrity positively impacted the school climate and contributed to improved student outcomes, particularly for marginalized and disadvantaged students. The study emphasized the significance of ethical leadership in creating equitable educational opportunities.
Furthermore, leader integrity influences fairness in the distribution of resources, opportunities, and support within a school. By upholding ethical standards and values, school leaders are more likely to make decisions that prioritize equity and avoid favoritism or bias. This commitment to fairness can lead to the allocation of resources and support that address the diverse needs of students and ensure equal access to quality education.
To make transformational changes to increase equity in schools, principals must recognize and make meaning of the historical and ongoing impacts of discrimination and inequities in school systems. A majority of K–12 public school students in the United States are students of color, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Expectations about the responsibility of school leadership teams to create an inclusive culture are constantly evolving, identifying new tasks for a job already loaded with responsibilities. In 2020 and beyond, protests over police violence against people of color brought heightened awareness to a centuries-long issue of racial inequality in the United States.
Schools can be part of the solution, making it vital that they not only welcome diversity in the classroom but also demonstrate to students how to navigate an increasingly racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse society. The good news is that equity efforts are on the rise in schools. It is exhilarating to see the results of the efforts of equity advocates. Increasing equity is changing the trajectory of students’ futures.
School leaders with integrity take responsibility for their actions. They practice seeing, engaging, and acting in ways that build empathy and commitment. They foster healing and increased agency. They activate equity, justice, and belonging. Instead of turning a blind eye, they make inequities visible and disrupt unproductive discourse along with unjust practices and policies. These actions require discovering new ways to engage and build equity within their communities.
The series will focus on the four crucial characteristics of leaders of integrity: (1) courageous, (2) ethical, (3) collaborative, and (4) action-oriented, as it relates to fostering a more equitable educational environment. Courage emerges as a significant aspect of school leader integrity as it empowers leaders to challenge inequitable systems, confront biases, and advocate for marginalized students. Ethics also play a vital role in school leader integrity, guiding their decision-making processes to ensure fairness, justice, and inclusivity in educational practices. Collaboration becomes a significant factor as school leaders actively engage stakeholders, including teachers, students, and families, to collectively address equity issues and co-create solutions that promote a more equitable school community. Lastly, the intentional actions school leaders take can demonstrate their commitment to dismantling barriers, implementing inclusive policies, and fostering equitable practices for the benefit of all students. We start with courage.
Courageous
Doing this work is not easy; it often goes against the grain. Many people work in environments where they see inequities but must “go along to get along.” Matthew Lynch explains that school leaders must show personal courage, which is one of George Marshall’s eight principles of ethical leadership. He writes:
“While it seems that the challenges that schools are facing increase by the day, it’s still the case that in order to create a positive educational environment, administrators must be willing to stand up against policies that they feel are not helpful for their students, rising against both local, state, and national interests as needed. Dissenting opinions must essentially be expressed, even in the face of the administrators’ own superiors.”
Most school leaders would agree with this sentiment in principle. But in practice, it is difficult and even daring to go against your boss or your superiors when the fate of your evaluation and sometimes your career is at risk. The fear of losing your job for doing something unpopular, even though it’s the right and ethical thing to do, is a real challenge to a leader’s integrity. Some districts, communities, states, and municipalities do not embrace equity and take solace in their position of power and privilege.
It sounds easy when someone says, “Just do the right thing,” but inequity is layered at so many levels that it can be physically and mentally draining. School leaders who lead with integrity spend countless hours figuring out how to address others’ dispositions while maintaining positive regard from those they work with and for. Lynch further writes, “What is best for students and staff must be placed ahead of the needs of the individual leader. In this case, the public interest is understood to be the interest of the school community and the stakeholders therein. Their opinions and needs should always precede the self-interests of the school leader.”
In the article “Future of Education: Leading for Equity,” Emily Boudreau gives advice to school leaders on how to be bold in leading for equity and summarizes an interview that was a part of the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Future of Education series. During this panel discussion, senior lecturer Jennifer Cheatham, a former superintendent in Madison, Wisconsin, and now co-chair of the Public Education Leadership Project, moderated a conversation between superintendents Brenda Cassellius of Boston Public Schools; Joseph Davis, superintendent of the Ferguson-Florissant School District; and then-Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice K. Jackson. They all offer insights and inspiration on how to keep working toward racial equity.
Brenda Cassellius advises leaders to be bold, saying, “We have to stop waiting and putting it to the next generation. Someone has to stand up and be courageous. We need to rally everybody. This is coordinated, all-hands-on-deck work, because schools can’t do it alone.” Cassellius encourages leaders to step up and take on the responsibility of moving equity work forward and adds:
“Kids aren’t going to get what they need if you don’t stand in the gap for them and if we don’t put together the connections for their families. We allow this to happen generation after generation for poor children, especially for poor children of color, and poor Black children.”
Speaking on this same issue, Janice Jackson asserts that leaders need to call out equity explicitly.
“If leaders want to advance racial justice and eliminate systemic inequities, they need to make that a clear goal, one that educators at all levels are working toward and using to guide decisions,” Jackson says. “What I’ve done in my role is not only name equity as a focus explicitly because, although it’s always been a part of the work we’ve done here in CPS, it wasn’t called out explicitly. Now, it’s called out in our mission and vision for the district, in our strategic plan where we identify specific goals towards equity.”
In Chicago, Jackson created an equity office to address fundamental, systemic barriers to success. Davis also recognizes that there’s an intangible and almost unmeasurable quality to success and growth in racial equity work. Recognizing that many people and communities carry hurt and anger because of racism and injustice, he shares that learning to feel empathy and build connection between people is key.
“We need to teach forgiveness. Forgiveness can’t be forgotten, because so many of us have been wronged in so many different ways, and we carry that toxicity with us. We need to learn to forgive people so we can move on, and that allows you to engage and to grow in ways you couldn’t before. Those in positions of power need to be ready to take up the call to action and be ready to set an example in this work. It may not be your fault, but it is your fight.”
School leaders are like airline pilots. Airline pilots don’t hop on an airplane to fly themselves to a destination. Their job is to safely transport passengers to where they want to go. School leaders must put their interests aside while focusing on the interests of students, parents, staff, and community members.
Don Parker, Ed.D., is a transformational keynote speaker and professional development provider. He specializes in SEL, supporting teachers to build trusting relationships with students, restorative practices, trauma-informed practices, and improving the culture and climate of schools to enhance students’ and teachers’ feelings of belonging. He is a former principal and the author of the books Building Bridges: Engaging Students At-Risk Through the Power of Relationships and Be the Driving Force: Leading Your School on the Road to Equity. Dr. Parker is also a speaker at the Equity Immersion at the 2023 Joint Annual Conference. Look for the next installment in the Crucial Characteristics of Leaders of Integrity series in the next Journal.