Teacher Succession Planning - Would it Work?

The journey to the airport last week passed with my husband l explaining succession planning in his business to me. I wonder how much this happens in education. I know I’ve never been involved in anything like that - but it sounds like powerful stuff. Imagine teacher leaders sharing talent they recognize with each other and focusing on how to grow success. 

The way he put it was that all the staff collectively talked about strengths and who they saw as a leader. I imagined small groups discussing and thinking about great furniture for their peers.  Collaborating collectively to recognize success. 

Perhaps with possibilities in front of them, career paths, job descriptions. 

Then the lowest level of staff was dismissed and then the next group would look at who was discussed and talk about potential and prospects and start the planning process for individual futures. 

Then the next level dropped off … and so on until only the two or three at the top were left. The leadership team as it were. 

This struck me as eminently sensible. Do our administrators really know who the leaders are?  Do they honestly know what happens in the classroom or hallways when they aren’t there?  I think that they have a pretty good idea, to be fair - they are smart people who know the job - but they can’t always be there & their focus isn’t always on the nuances that make a leader - even less the type of leader for different situations.  The teacher who is a pedagogical leader is different from the teacher who is an organizational leader and so forth. 

But we know.  

We know the teacher who admin think is dependable because that’s the pictures he/she paints…but we see a different picture. 

We know the teacher who leads the way through courageous teaching, always trying what’s new and sharing their findings and resources with anyone who asks.

We know the teacher we respect enough to listen to - even if we don’t particularly ‘like’ them, we know who does the job and does it well.  Envy is one thing, respecting prowess is another.

We know. 

And then the teacher leaders know who is a friend or is going to say great things about that teacher. They can consider what’s been shared and discuss the potential of individuals from their perspective. And on. All the way up.

It feels right. It feels as if it would help all concerned. It would increase leadership opportunities for all, rather than just relying on popularity contests or the assumption of value.  I can see more community support as teachers are involved.  I can see more thought going into each other’s strengths and more interest in each other’s needs and futures.  

Teacher succession plans. Why not? 🤔