The power of a decimal place

In a leadership course, we were fortunate enough to hear Sarah Craig, Executive Director, Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario speak on succession planning and leadership. One of the resources, she shared was a document called Building the Future, The Importance of Leadership Development & Succession Planning in Our Schools discusses "Leadership Praxis, a framework of knowledge and competencies needed to be a successful independent school leader" based on the 2021 CAIS Accreditation Standards' Indicators of Effective Practice.

Reading the document, I enjoy greatly how it makes connections to the CAIS Accreditation with the growth and planning, as leadership is fluid in nature; it is certainly complex and non-linear.  The author of the article, Patti Macdonald, Executive Director, Canadian Accredited Independent Schools, illustrates the complex and non-linear "pathway" below:  

This pathway aligns leaders with the Accreditation Standards: 1) Mission, Vision, Values and Strategy, 2) Co-curriculum and the Learning Environment, 3) Academic Programs, 4) School Leadership, 5) Human Resources, 6) School and Community, 7) Enrolment Management, 8) Governance, 9) Finance, 10) Physical Plant, Health, ad Safety, 11) School Improvement, and 12) Boarding and/or Homestay.  The leadership praxis approach is holistic and forward thinking as it not only supports the need for succession planning but also offers the continued growth framework for leadership to ensure that independent schools within the CAIS will thrive.

What I find interesting is how technology plays a role in all of these areas. The effectiveness of technology largely depends on how strategic, embedded, and aligned it is within each Standard.

The impact of technology within each Standard is like a decimal. The place of the decimal quickly changes the value of a Standard either as being small or large in magnitude.

However, should technology be a discrete standard? Having it embedded in each Standard makes some sense as it is ubiquitous, disruptive, and in many cases part of the fabric of a Standard, such as Finance, as it is embedded as part of a tool, requiring special knowledge and/or skill. It could also be argued that technology is very granule with lots of minutia but this can also be said with the other Standards, especially in Academics, Human Resources, Enrolment Management, Finance, and Physical Plant. 

Generally, a leader does not need to know nuisances of each Standard but a great leader does need to be strategic. Examining each Accreditation Standard, I wonder if the technology indicators within a Standard is missing, misaligned, or not strategic does this highlight the magnitude of that Standard's deficiency constructively? I suppose it is up to the committee that is conducting the accreditation but if technology was discrete, the optics may elevate deficiencies more clearly. 

Another aspect of Technology as a Standard from a leadership perspective is the growing concept of a System Leadership in schools. Technology is a series of complex systems. It requires strategy and insight on how it can properly leverage all of the facets within an organization. This understanding is invaluable at the senior leadership level, it can lead to innovations to increase insight in decision making, efficient process between stakeholders, identify social, legal and ethical issues related to technology, introduce new applications of technology to address the diverse needs, advise on initiatives where technology can drive change and promote collaboration, etc. A primary example is during COVID, technology in most cases was a differentiator in the operational and educational components of a school. School leaders that were strategic with technology in all facets of the school were not only able to pivot and adapt to online learning and virtual process but also made the transition smoother and quicker.