Fearless Schools Build Trust & Resilience

 Douglas Reeves Fearless Schools Building Trust and Resilience for Learning Teaching and Leading

During a global pandemic, teaching and leading in 2021 will be unforgettable. As schools across the nation began to close, there was a genuine fear for our individual and collective health. We learned to teach and lead through a digital screen while managing our personal lives. Leaving our dwellings for food and care of close friends and family was a necessary risk fueled by fear.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fearless as free of fear, brave. Looking back over two years ago, we determined bravery as we navigated our new normal secluded existence. Our schools and classrooms are showing bravery as we reinvent our systems and schedules to reflect the nurture and focus needed for our students and staff. It’s exciting and exhausting because priorities continue to change.

Douglas Reeves published Fearless Schools in the middle of the health and safety crisis fueled by the COVID-19 virus. He writes, “Fear is nothing new to our students. They fear disapproval of adults, exclusion by peers, and their own sense of doubt and unworthiness. Add to the normal fears of childhood and adolescence the impact of the global pandemic of 2020 and the economic insecurity that follows for years afterwards, the loss of loved ones, and a continuing sense of uncertainty about the future—and the pervasive sense of fear in schools is understandable. The purpose of this book is to help educators, school leaders, parents, and policymakers create fearless schools despite a fearful environment” (xviii).

Reeves outlines how educators can move out of fear by enhancing their school communities with trust as their foundation, resilience as their mindset, and fearlessness as a critical component of their learning, teaching, and leading practices. “Being fearless in a fearful time” where “every mistake is an opportunity not for humiliation but for analysis, reflection, and learning” (p. XVI). 

In chapter 9, Fearless Leadership, and chapter 10, Fearless Change, Reeves suggests what does not need to change and considerations for change to positively impact our schools, classrooms, and teacher teams. “Even when facing the need for great changes, leaders must simultaneously identify and validate the practices and values that will endure and the people whose labor will be required to turn the page and get to the next level of success and recovery. 

• Leadership does not require a regal presence. Rather, it requires the confidence and assurance that uncertainty and doubt are not our enemies but natural parts of the change process.

• Fearless communication requires not oratory but plainspoken truth. 

• Fearless decision-making requires a dependence upon the lessons of the past, with leaders around the globe who have risen to unimaginable challenges in the 21st century and in times past.

• Fearless responsibility is not about recklessness without a hint of self-doubt but about the willingness to engage in imperfect decisions and then accept the blame and recrimination that inevitably result” (p. 127).

During the pandemic, we learned as educators that change is incredibly unsettling. Moving from frustration, resistance, and adaptation to learning requires “the organization must create an evidence-based culture in which a clear and compelling case for change leads to a sense of urgency by every stakeholder” (p. 137). Teachers and leaders can fearlessly lead change together in times of uncertainty by building trust, showing resilience, and selecting teaching and learning practices that have the highest impact on students. 

Leveraging Leadership in 100-Days

Douglas Reeves - Robert Eaker 100-Day Leaders Turning Short-Term Wins Into Long-Term Success in Schools

Each year the first few months of school pass by so quickly for teachers and leaders. The anticipation of newness settles in as we get to know our students and each other as a school community. Systems are created, schedules are made, and routines are implemented to guide growth. What happens in between is what our students remember and teachers relentlessly plan for. 

Douglas Reeves and Robert Eaker's book, 100-Day Leaders, Turning Short-Term Wins Into Long-Term Success in Schools, provides “a system for focusing on the highest leverage leadership actions that will yield significant results in just one 100 days” (p. 3). The authors share research on the impact a school leader's decisions can have on “student achievement and educational equity” and propose a “new way of thinking about leadership” in 100-day increments. 

Reeves and Eaker frame the actions needed for school leaders, starting by addressing the “why” or moral imperative of Leadership “to improve student learning” (p. 5). Six action steps to implement during these 100 days are available to download as an accessible reproducible at go.SolutionTree.com/leadership. Relatable experiences and outcomes of school leaders are shared through each step connecting the reader to what is possible when relentless focus on improvement becomes what drives their work. 

Most school leaders know school improvement is a continuous process. Moving from a three to five-year time frame to a 100-day cycle simply makes more sense. It is an opportunity to model what we want our teachers to do in their classrooms—breaking the learning into meaningful chunks to refine and make corrections mid-course. It’s an ongoing process that requires educators to align their actions to their values. The power comes from making adjustments as you learn what works, what needs refining, and what we need to stop doing!

Most importantly, the practices Reeves and Eaker outline align with the PLC process to ensure higher levels of learning for each student. These essential questions have proven foundational for improvement in teaching and learning and include creating a school system that prioritizes collaboration. Moving out of isolation into a mindset where we get to do this together as teachers and leaders can be the fuel and catalyst that propels change and learning forward.

Many years ago, I was able to attend a two-day PLC conference featuring both Richard and Becky DuFour as keynote speakers. I can still see where I sat in the audience, thoroughly compelled by their powerful message on the impact a leader can have when following the PLC process consistently. Their message captivated us then, and Reeves and Eaker continue their work today. What we choose to do next can change the learning trajectory for the teachers we serve and the students we teach. Although now we have an opportunity using the guidance of Reeves and Eaker to do our important work in 100-day increments rather than wait years to determine our impact.