11.

Values & Ethics of Leading

a. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of education in a democratic society
b. Model democratic system values, ethics, choices and moral leadership
c. Demonstrate the ability to balance complex community demands in the best interest of all learners
d. Help others grow and develop as caring, informed citizens
e. Demonstrate and understanding of Code of Ethics for Minnesota School Administrators (3512.5200)

Culturally competent instructional leadership is an educational imperative in Minnesota.

Our Minnesota schools have an extremely large achievement gap, and as of 2012 was the 2nd

highest in the nation. Until all students in all Minnesota schools have the same educational

opportunities, all educational leaders in Minnesota must work together to become culturally

competent. Minnesota Department of Educations strategic mission is "Leading for educational

excellence and equity. Every day for every one. (MDE, 2015) This emphasis on excellence,

equity and opportunity by focusing on closing the achievement gap, supporting high-quality

teaching, using innovative strategies to improve educational outcomes, and ensuring all students

graduate from high school well-prepared for college, career and life is the vision of my work as

an advocate for the Center of Excellence, Statewide System of Support.

Kivel (2011) defines cultural competence as the ability to understand another culture

well enough to be able to communicate and work with people from that culture. (p.284).

Educational leaders in Minnesota need to understand the cultures of the students and families

they serve. Leaders that are culturally competent have a broader and more accurate view of the

world, and thus the world of their students. A culturally competent instructional leader embraces

differences and seeks to find similarities while creating a culture of safety and learning for all

students.

As a white female educator, it is my responsibility as a leader to become culturally

competent. I grew up in a predominantly white Northwestern Minnesota farming community. I

had few opportunities to interact with and learn from people of other races and cultures. My first

teaching job was in Southern California, teaching in an elementary school with predominately

Hispanic students in the early 1990s. I learned how to work with ELL students and Hispanic

culture quite by chance. I was invited to parent family gatherings and took some cultural

diversity classes from my district. When I moved back to Minnesota in the late 1990s, I was

hired as a remedial reading teacher for 7th and 8th grade students. Owatonna has a population of

Somali refugee families, who left a war torn country and settled in a predominately white

community. Teachers like me were very unfamiliar with the needs and cultural customs of these

students and families. Working hard to engage all my families in their childrens educations, I

learned some valuable lessons those first years of teaching. The lessons are quite simple. All

parents want their children safe, loved and educated. They want their children to have better

opportunities than they themselves had, and they want their children to live prosperous lives. By

becoming culturally competent, educational leaders can help students and families with all of

these attainable goals.

In my work as an Advocate for the Center of Excellence, I am studying equity and

cultural competency with my colleagues. Using the book, Courageous Conversations About

Race by Glenn E. Singleton (2015) my fellow Advocates and I are using the Courageous

Conversation Compass and the Six Conditions, (Singleton, 2015) to help guide our conversations

about race and white privilege so that we can become more culturally competent, and facilitate

these conversations in the schools we serve.

The willingness to lead and facilitate racial/cultural conversations is vital to the success

of Minnesotas system of education, but most importantly the students in our schools. Working

alongside like-minded colleagues affords me the opportunity to practice these conversations in a

safe environment. Having the understanding that I do not have all the answers but to also have

the willingness to step out of my comfort zone by seeking help when needed is necessary and

crucial to our students collective success. I look forward to having more conversations within

this learning cohort of leaders within Hamline University, continuing my own journey to become

a highly culturally competent leader.

 References:
Group, P. E. (2015, September 16). Pacific Education Group. Retrieved September 16, 2015, from Pacific
Education Group: http://www.pacificeducationalgroup.com/pages/services

Kivel, P. (2011). Uprooting Racism. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.

MDE. (2015, September 16). Office of the Commissioner. Retrieved September 16, 2015, from Minnesota
Department of Education:
http://www.education.state.mn.us/MDE/Welcome/OfficeCom/index.html

Singleton, G. E. (2015). Courageous Conversations About Race. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.