Path to school leadership – A journey of challenges and triumphs

In the bustling town of Chennai, where filter coffee and vada conversations curate the dreams of people, Mrs Victoria embarked on her journey as a school leader. She stood at the helm of John Matriculation School, a beacon of hope for the Tondiarpet community. Mrs Victoria was not just a principal, she was a visionary, a mentor and a nurturing force for her students.

One rainy morning in Tondiarpet, rains danced outside and created chaos and disrupted the school walls. Mrs Victoria swiftly coordinated with the local authorities and staff in the school to ensure the students’ safety. The next day rose with another new challenge. It was not limited to infrastructure problems alone. Mrs. Victoria juggled with addressing the student’s needs (especially those of underprivileged children), curriculum reforms, monitoring and mentoring teachers and dealing with piles of documents that needed to be maintained for smooth operations.

Imagine what could happen if Mrs Victoria, did not do any one of these tasks effectively? What if Mrs Victoria is not aware of how to juggle between tasks and loses out on crucial actions of her role? Who would Mrs Victoria go to in order to upskill herself to better contribute to students’ learning in the school?

Mrs. Victoria’s story is emblematic of the challenges that school leaders face worldwide. Their journey is not just administrative. It is a tapestry woven with empathy, resilience and dedication. It is, thus, important to equip school leaders and provide them with an ecosystem to support and nurture.

In the sphere of education, extensive dialogues on curriculum reforms, classroom pedagogy, and student assessments have held sway. These conversations are undeniably crucial. However, they have frequently overshadowed a comparably vital yet less explored dimension of education: school leadership. It is perplexing why such a fundamental aspect of education has often been overlooked. But it is equally important to grasp the reasons behind this oversight.

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, the significance of school leadership cannot be overstated. It serves as the guiding compass steering educational institutions toward excellence, shaping not only the present but also the future of countless students.

As we embark on a reflective journey, advocating for the development of school leadership, we experience the thrill of captivating our funders, diving deep into intricate system investigations, standing out amidst our peers, and the persistent endeavor to show that our mission isn’t merely a wild goose chase.

The Vidhya Vidhai story

Vidhya Vidhai was born with the idea to educate, innovate and lead in the education space, our theory of change revolved around the idea of empowering school leaders to innovate and improve schools for child-centric education. In 2017, when Ram and I started the journey, we initiated our first steps of program design with two schools, one located on a busy street of Chennai and the other in the rural set up of Erode. Immersing ourselves inside the schools and taking the role of school leaders helped in designing our program in empathy.

At Vidhya Vidhai, our journey began in May 2017 with two schools incubated by Edumentum. By May 2018, Tondiarpet Private Cluster School joined us, marking a significant stride with the support of the Wipro Seeding Fellowship Program. In 2019, we assembled a core team of six members with a proven track record in school improvement through school leadership.

Our program design was primed for scaling across schools when the unforeseen storm of the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Despite the challenges, our team stayed resilient. We used this pause to understand the ecosystem’s needs better and capacitate ourselves for the challenges of school leadership.

During 2019-2020, we strategized for both affordable private schools and government schools, gaining confidence in our approach. Partnerships with credible organizations like Google, Atlassian, and Wells Fargo bolstered our efforts. In 2021, significant collaborations were formed with the Tamil Nadu State Education Department, Puducherry, Directorate of School Education, and Shiv Nadar Foundation.

However, as our organization’s strengths grew, so did challenges, particularly in fundraising, stakeholder management, and driving our mission within the ecosystem. These challenges demanded innovative solutions and strategic planning to ensure that our initiatives for school leadership continued to make a meaningful impact. We decode here some challenges that we encountered in the journey of our entrepreneurial school leadership path.

The quest for tangible outcomes

Imagine the task of building a bridge. Which investment do you think would face quicker acceptance if someone had to persuade an investor to either invest in building the bridge itself or in hiring skilled architects? In most cases, it would be the investment in the bridge as it offers clear, visible outcomes that can be easily measured. However, assessing the skills of an architect requires a deeper understanding and cannot be measured solely by the naked eye.

In the context of seeking support for equipping school leadership, the challenge parallels that of building a bridge. When it comes to convincing stakeholders, whether funders, policymakers, or communities, the scenario mirrors that of the bridge funding dilemma. The tangible aspects of education, such as physical infrastructure or standardized test scores, might seem more straightforward and measurable. Measuring school leadership may involve a nuanced understanding of human interactions, teaching methodologies, and educational psychology. In contrast, the intangible qualities of effective school leadership – the ability to inspire, mentor, and create a positive school culture – are often more challenging to quantify.

Therefore, in the pursuit of support for equipping school leadership, the challenge lies in articulating the invaluable impact of investing in the skills and expertise of educators. Just as a well-designed bridge enhances connectivity and facilitates progress, adept school leadership lays the foundation for quality education that empowers students. The endeavor involves not just building structures but nurturing minds, a task that demands recognition, understanding, and investment in the architects of our educational landscape – the school leaders.

To reassure the funders, policy-makers and the larger community, and to help them see the results and growth of their support to school leadership, we at Vidhya Vidhai have developed the School Leadership Taxonomy. It can be referred to dispel myths and foster a deeper understanding of the multifaceted nature of educational leadership.

The neglect

In the intricate world of education, school leaders serve as conductors of an orchestra. Just as a skilled conductor shapes the music by guiding each instrument and section, effective school leadership orchestrates the harmony within a school. When this conductor is absent or ignored, the orchestra falls into disarray. Teachers, akin to musicians, lose their rhythm, leading to burnout and dwindling motivation. The notes of inconsistency in policies and practices echo through the educational experience of students, disrupting their learning melodies.

During a crucial funding presentation, a well-intended donor compared our program approach to a novice attempting to enjoy a meal. The question arose, “Why wave your hand around your head when you can eat directly?” This metaphor emphasized the misunderstanding that direct actions at the student level yield quicker results.

Much like the conductor’s precise movements shape the orchestra’s performance, effective leadership requires meticulous preparation and nurturing. School leaders carefully blend every educational element to create an environment where learning harmonizes seamlessly.

Recognizing the importance of school leadership, we adopt a proactive stance. Engaging in dialogues on education and leadership, we advocate for the pivotal role of school leadership in quality education. Through our stories and insights shared in our program reports at every stage, through our newsletters and stories of change, our research studies and dialogues with leaders, we contribute to a grand symphony, amplifying the significance of effective
school leadership globally.

Defining unique value proposition amid collaboration

Collaboration with like-minded organizations and co-creation exercises have played an instrumental role in advancing our mission. Nevertheless, questions have arisen about our unique value proposition (UVP) amidst this collective effort. I remember a time when our pitches to institutional donors and high net-worth individuals paused.

We reflected on the question – “What is your UVP?” This question remained in our minds and we introspected. We thought that if we really needed an UVP to solve an existing problem. Amid numerous educational initiatives, this concern is legitimate. We contemplated that our UVP is not standing out conspicuously, but merging seamlessly.

Like a master weaver who selects threads for their unique qualities, we chose the path of sustainable growth, empowerment, and enduring support for school leaders. Our contribution to the tapestry isn’t a standalone thread.

Our approach is not about doing something different. It is about creating change that is profound and sustainable. Vidhya Vidhai’s involvement in endeavors like Telangana Education Collective, Shikshagrah for District Collectives, and Tamil Nadu NGO Collective, mirrors the core belief that collaboration and collective action is the way to address complex challenges in education. Our journey has also been enriched by robust partnerships with industry leaders such as Wipro, Shiv Nadar Foundation, Capgemini, Bosch, Zifo Technologies, and visionary individuals who have passionately embraced our mission.

Our impact extends across educational territories, reaching 37,000 school leaders in Tamil Nadu, 30,000 in Telangana, and 800 in Puducherry. While our reach expands, we remain firmly grounded, conducting meticulous pilots and delving deeper into our exploration of the education space.

Through initiatives like our District Education Empowerment Program (DEEP) and Leadership Enhancement Acceleration Program (LEAP) for government schools, and School Leadership Teacher Empowerment Program (SLATE) for affordable private schools, we engage closely with schools in blocks and districts.

Our endeavors also stretch to central-level interventions. This is exemplified by our self-paced learning resources work on SQAA/ SQAAF frameworks for the CBSE Board. Additionally, we have actively participated in co-facilitating the National Mentoring Mission. At Vidhya Vidhai, our commitment is not merely a mission. It is a transformative journey, shaping the future of education one empowered school leader for one school at a time.