"I don't do Politics"

When I think of politics and politicking I almost synonymously associate it with policy and law making, because that's what politicians do. Right? And to be flat out honest it is a title/trait I would much prefer to shy away from. I can often be heard boisterously saying “I do no politics” in other words that means I do policy and law. Let’s be real though what Leader doesn’t do at least one or the other, certainly we have to at minimum adhere and abide by policy and laws within our roles. If you are an educational leader like myself and reading this then you know if we don’t do anything we will certainly follow and implement any law/policy handed down to us, if we want to keep our job that is. The question then becomes what role if any do I have in making policy and law.

It is a loaded question because I would like to consider myself obsolete in that process, but reality is I am not. While my version of policy making may be miniscule in the larger scheme of policy making, I do in fact make and assist in making policy. Navigating through the COVID-19 Crisis and restructuring school has lent itself to allowing me to get a glimpse into the role I play. One prime example is grading. One policy, may add, should have been re-evaluated long ago. Our grading policy has been a long standing policy in which teachers have become accustomed. Summative Grades, formative grades, the weighting for each, the number of grades and ratio to enter in the gradebook even down to which would be categorized as summative and formative.

So, yes I guess I do, do politics!

Our district has had for years a concrete grading policy, but when the pandemic shook the world a shift began to happen. Things that were set in stone suddenly became dust and things that before were not up for questioning became things we had to question. Technically, the school board is the only entity that can create policies, but at the school level we create versions of policies and one this year we had to take a good look at is grading during a pandemic and determine how it is best to assess our students One thing I can say is I have had to learn to listen to all voices regardless or reason when implementing policy. It brings out a ton of emotions when you tell people what they have to do. Overall, my experience is minimal but foundationaly I understand that policy making and I also understand it is a difficult task to undertake.