For students entering a graduate program in education, there’s plenty of pedagogical information and theoretical concepts to absorb. But what about the practical considerations of becoming an educational leader?
We turned to three of our very own graduates from the George Washington University (GW) Graduate School of Education and Human Development to hear their tips for aspiring educational leaders.
Students Come First
As a principal in Fairfax, Virginia, Kambar Khoshaba, Ed.D. ’04, knows all too well the challenge of competing values between students, teachers, parents, board members, and other stakeholders within a school environment. He also knows how hard it can be to keep students at the forefront of decision-making with other voices in the mix. But when you give students an opportunity to voice what matters to them, it can lead to meaningful and powerful change.
For example, when one student shared, “I’m more worried about being dress coded than I worry about what I’m going to learn at school,” it gave him pause. That led to deeper conversations with students about how the current school code was sexist and racist as most of the kids being flagged were girls and/or Black. Today, the school’s dress code has been modified based on student recommendations — reinforcing the idea that students — and their priorities — come first. As Dr. Khoshaba shared, “We have to continually reflect…with every decision we’re making: is this what’s best for the kids?”
Lean On Your Community
Leading an effective school environment can be a challenging role — which is why it is so crucial to have a strong community to lean on. “You need to feel like you have someone who can run ideas past, someone that can kind of push you and say, ‘No, you definitely got this,’ even when you don't,” explained Shampriest Bevel, Ed.S. ’13. For her, that includes her classmates and faculty members who have become part of a pool of people that she reaches out to when she needs support or encouragement.
Part of what drew Ms. Bevel, the 2023 Virginia State Principal of the Year, to GW was the robust community of students, faculty, and alumni. While completing her first graduate program, she participated in mock interviews to prepare for the next step. As it turned out, Ms. Bevel’s mock interviewer happened to be the principal for a school where she later interviewed for a very real role as a divisional instructional specialist. Recognizing the depth and helpfulness of the alumni network, Ms. Bevel added, “In other programs, you create your community. GW helps build the community.”
Plan for Change
When Superintendent Jared Cotton, Ed.D. ’03 embarked on his journey in educational leadership and administration, law and policy was not an area he anticipated becoming part of his day-to-day. But the issues facing today’s students and school environments don’t align with many of the laws and policies currently in place. “A lot of what your culture and your community wants to do is not necessarily legally sound…you’ve got to have a strong legal foundation to do that [write policies], and you have to be very clear in how you write those.” To anticipate inevitable change, Dr. Cotton restructured one of the district’s departments to focus on policy, making the district more prepared to handle issues as they arose.
Shared Ms. Bevel, “There’s so much that happens in leadership and the world is changing — social media, cell phones, bullying, gender challenges. All of these things come up, and it can be very heavy for administrators both new and veteran.” Recognizing that change is par for the course in education — and anticipating it — will go a long way in preparing one for a leadership role.
Representation Matters
Whether it’s students seeing someone who looks like them in a leadership role or being able to relate to staff because you too were once in their shoes, representation matters.
For Dr. Cotton, his career path led from teaching to a variety of divisional roles before moving into school and then district leadership. The broad cross-section of roles meant that by the time he became a superintendent, he had extensive experience that he could tap into to relate to staff dealing with challenging situations. “It's always a helpful thing to have been in that seat because then, when I'm dealing with issues, I can say, ‘I was in your seat one time, I know what that feels like, I know what you're dealing with,” said Dr. Cotton.
For Dr. Khoshaba, who identifies as a Middle Eastern man, one particular moment from when he started his role as a principal stuck with him. A student from Afghanistan said, “You’re our principal.” Dr. Khoshaba responded, “Yeah, I’m everyone’s principal.” The student replied, “No. You’re our principal. If you can be a principal, then we can be a principal.” While he had known cognitively the importance of having people of color in leadership, that was the moment where the emotional connection was made — for a student to be able to see a man who looked like him in a leadership role.
Keep Learning
For all three veteran educational leaders, an underlying theme to their roles as educational administrators is the importance of learning. From participating in continuing education programs and sharing resources from colleagues and peers; seeking out feedback from students to understand what matters to them; and recognizing that there’s always going to be something new around the corner that needs to be understood, learning is at the heart of education. It takes a certain kind of leader to be willing to learn what they don’t know and say, “How can we make it better?”
At GW, those are the kinds of scholar-practitioners we attract: academic administrators who strive to do their best, help others, and change the world. If you’re looking to elevate your experience and education in the K-12 realm, consider pursuing a master’s, Ed.S., post-master’s certificate or doctoral degree within our Educational Leadership and Administration program.
Reach out to one of our admissions coaches to learn more about this career path.