It should have been no surprise that I was once again behind and late as I walked down the hallway to start teaching my elective course, “Leaders in Literature,” to a group of ninth to 12th grade students. I’m not sure what made me think I could fit this into an already unmanageable schedule, but the experience is one that had a profound impact on me, and one I will continue to prioritize as an educational leader in my school.

Principal Chris Young reads The Boys in the Boat with students in his elective course.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS YOUNG

The impetus for developing and teaching this course came at a time when we were emerging from the pandemic and trying to solve problems with student engagement, truancy, mental health and wellness, and learning loss. Combine these challenges with a shift to proficiency-based learning and the adoption of a new technology platform, and it was clear to me that in order to effectively lead, I needed to have firsthand knowledge and understanding of our students’ and our teachers’ experiences.

To be honest, another significant factor in my decision to get back into the classroom was that I missed it. While I find great satisfaction and joy from my work as a principal, there are also times when I wonder if I am truly positively impacting student learning. By creating this course, which covered works including The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics; Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman’s Quest to Make a Difference; and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, and titles that students chose themselves, and returning to the classroom, I hoped to validate my efforts as an instructional leader. I also wanted to learn how students were responding to the shift to proficiency-based grades, whether the new learning management system improved access for them, and whether teachers had the tools they needed to re-engage students and support them in their return to normalcy. While these questions remain largely unanswered, the experience ultimately gave me amazing insight into the experiences of our teachers and students, school culture and climate, and personal opportunities for growth.

Understanding the Student Experience

First and foremost, a clear dichotomy has emerged around student engagement in a post-pandemic and digital world. On the one hand, we are challenged by students’ habits around attendance, work completion, and engagement. On the other hand, students are undeniably actively and intensely searching for meaning and relevance in their school, social, and family lives. As practitioners, we must address this conflict with the classroom experience foremost in our minds if we are to resolve it. In short, how can we make doing the work and being in class more powerful and appealing than the alternative? I wish I had the answer. But just by asking the question, I feel better able to see through the student lens into their learning.

For example, I fully intended for the course to be largely based on student interest and that students would determine much of the pace, activities, learning demonstrations, and materials selection. What I learned was that many of our students are still very much stuck in the “Why would I do this if it’s not graded?” mindset. While some were engaged and doing everything I asked, others were reluctant at best. In addition, I had to work very hard to get most of the students to understand that the grade at the end of the course is less important than the learning they experienced throughout the course. For me, this resulted in an enduring question around student voice and choice and how we can foster and grow student agency to build the mindset that learning is the goal—and the reward.

Understanding the Teacher Experience

Our school is filled with amazing adults who care deeply about our students, and who hold themselves personally responsible for their successes or failures. When we changed our grading system and adopted a new learning management system, it became clear that teachers’ anxiety was increasing and that this was in turn impacting student learning.

So, the question was, what was I going to do about it? Again, the first step was to better understand the issues through firsthand experience. Our proficiency-based grading system meant moving from letter grades to a one to four scale that specifically described student levels of performance based on the standards I was teaching. Additionally, incorporating elements of Universal Design for Learning to ensure students see themselves in the curriculum and have ownership over the learning process played an integral role in the course planning. Putting it all together in a syllabus with coherent and aligned unit plans supported by a balanced assessment portfolio consisting of both formative and summative assessments was a daunting task. It became clear to me that what teachers were being asked to complete during this transition required more time and support than what we had originally planned.

To be honest, another significant factor in my decision to get back into the classroom was that I missed it.

Similarly, our transition from Google Classroom to a new learning management system (LMS) was a big ask. Just as teachers and students had become accustomed to the Google platform, our supervisory union adopted the Schoology Learning Management System, largely to ensure that we can better monitor student progress preK–12, as well as better integrate digital resources into lessons using an LMS specifically designed for that purpose. Once again, the learning curve was steep. As an old-school paper and pencil English teacher, adapting my concepts for a lesson that contained multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning in a digital format, and incorporating resources into the digital classroom that would support students in their learning activities was a challenge. This experience further added to my understanding of the need to revisit and revise how we spend our professional development time, and how we align these initiatives to our mission and vision.

My Professional Growth

One thing that I have learned over time, and that was again brought into sharp focus as a result of teaching this course, is that I need to continually and intentionally connect the work that we do with adults to the mission and vision for student learning. I know that we can fall victim to the endless list of to-dos: the emails, phone calls, events, evaluations, analyzing test scores, planning for meetings, etc. All of these are incredibly important for creating a positive environment and supporting student learning, but all of them are also at least an arm’s length away from the work that is happening in the classrooms in our buildings. By teaching this course, I have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the challenges that our students and teachers face, as well as some things that I can do differently to support their work and learning. Stepping back into the classroom has allowed me to experience the fun, the humility, and the excitement of teaching once again. I’ve also been able to re-center my work within the lives of students and teachers, which has made me a better leader in an increasingly complex educational landscape.

Chris Young is the principal of North Country Union High School in Newport, VT, the NASSP Vermont State Coordinator, and the 2023 Vermont Principal of the Year. He is the 2024 NASSP Advocacy Champion of the Year.