From Crisis to Triumph: Building Stronger School Communities
Summary: In this engaging episode of the Engaging Leadership show, host CT Leong, co-founder of EngageRocket, sits down with Terrence Davis, the superintendent of Banning Unified School District, to delve into the heart of educational leadership. Terrence shares his journey through various districts in Riverside County and highlights what sets Banning Unified apart—its tight-knit community and the remarkable grit and perseverance of its students.
Throughout the episode, Terrence elaborates on his personal leadership story, his initial reluctance to take on the superintendent role, and the pivotal moments that shaped his approach. He further discusses the vital importance of forging strong relationships with stakeholders, enhancing the professional development of educators, and fostering an environment where students are given a platform to succeed. From negotiation strategies with bargaining units to implementing effective learning walks, Terrence provides invaluable insights into building confident and competent leaders within the educational space.
Key Takeaways:
- Empowering Grit in Students: Terrence emphasizes how the adversity faced by the students and community in Banning Unified results in a remarkable grit and perseverance among students, preparing them to excel in various life paths
- Leadership Development: The importance of gaining confidence through competence, an ongoing process of learning, and the significance of having a voice in leadership.
- Building Relationships: Recovering from historical strikes and fostering strong relationships between bargaining units and administration is crucial for student success.
- Professional Development: Encouraging educators to look beyond their immediate environment and engage with broader networks to adopt industry-best practices.
- Courageous Leadership: Developing a voice, expertise, passion, and courage are essential components for leaders to effectively navigate challenges and drive organizational success.
Chapters:
0:00
Building Grit and Community in Banning Unified School District
7:22
Terrence Davis's Journey From Teacher to Leadership in Education
Listening and Synthesizing Information for Effective Team Leadership
Reluctant Superintendent: A Journey of Unexpected Leadership
Transforming Education Through Leadership and Collaboration
Building Confidence and Competence for Effective Leadership
Connect with Dr. Jim: linkedin.com/in/drjimk
Connect with CT: linkedin.com/in/cheetung
Connect with Terrence: linkedin.com/in/terrence-davis-92120a185/
Music Credit: Shake it Up - Fesliyanstudios.com - David Renda
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Transcript
Our guest today is an ACSA Superintendent of the Year, with over 26 years of experience in public education in multiple roles. It's a great privilege today to be speaking with Terrence Davis, Superintendent of Banning Unified School District. Terrence, welcome to the show.
[: [: [:And this is what I mean by that. The people here have a strong historical presence. People here take a lot of pride in their community, in their way of life. Because it is so small, everyone knows each other. As people may leave to go to school or work, people do come back to the community.
years ago or so, [:And that's what I really love about Banning. It really just touches my heart. I'm not elder per se, but I will say I would really love to finish my career in Banning because I want to see where it's been, where we are now, and where we're going.
So I'm really excited about that. And I love this community.
[:4500 students that you're injecting with grit on a regular basis such that they graduate and they're now ready to take on life and whatever life can throw at them. How do you prepare them for that in school?
[: stant superintendent of HR in: e actually weren't in class, [: need to work on a little bit [: [: [:We have students that have been accepted to Yale, Harvey Mudd, UC Berkeley . And they talk about what it took for them to become successful. They just smashed the mic because they're talking about their own experiences and they've done the work. You can listen to that podcast, listen to some of our students and they'll let you know.
[:When did you first get called into leadership? Because, most educators, when you join the sector, it's, you know, I want to make a difference in the classroom. And at some point, somebody tapped you on the shoulder and said, Hey, you know what, Terrence, I think you can be a people leader. When did that happen?
[: or [:And that was the start of me in my mind thinking, I want to be involved in more of the people aspect and how people stay and how people leave. That was the spark. And at the time, the principal that I had, and this is the principal that hired me at a middle school. She never said anything to me negative.
She was always very positive. I thought why is she treating me this way? Because she was pretty blunt and honest, and she would just let people go. But it was something, that I possessed that she kind of left me alone and to do the work that I did. So I think that was a turning point for me.
And that was back in:I don't work with students every day, but our teachers and our staff do. So what support do they need in order to better support students? And that's the lens that I look through.
[: [: was a decent teacher. I had [:I wish I had seen other classrooms when I was teaching because it enhances the teaching. It enhances the learning for the adult to be better at what they do. That was really my first experience where I would go and support teachers and IEPs and our parent meetings about challenges that were occurring.
Throughout that process, I was learning what a great classroom looked like by pulling and stealing and learning from other teachers. Fast forward 20 years, that's something we do now. We do learning walks where either administrators go through classrooms and in our district in Banning, we're getting to the point where teachers are going to be doing the same thing, going seeing their peers and developing and picking up best practices.
rgy and enhanced instruction [: [:And here was this young kid trying to give them a performance review. That was really intimidating for me.
[:No, we don't do that. And this is what's happening. I remember her in this IEP meeting. She was nudging me to go get her like, and that wasn't my style that's not how I operate. And so at the end of the day, she shared with me, she was a little upset with me because she felt I didn't support her.
I didn't get [:At the end of the day I do get frustrated sometime. Way less now, cause I'm a little older, but at the time it wasn't appropriate for me to be that way because I needed to listen to what was happening and then provide my own estimation to help the team and ultimately the students succeed.
I just remember that rub between what the expectation was of me from the teacher versus what I was doing. That was uncomfortable. Over the course of time, I think I've learned how to balance that and come back and have a conversation. But overall, we should be listening to all voices in order to make a better decision.
[: [: nt to go in and this is what [:We all have our specific skills, but when we try to calm down, pause and listen to everything, the end result of what you say may be different when you take other people's perspectives into consideration. That's one of the things that I try to work on daily with our team, including myself. Let me just listen, hear it out, ask questions.
Because when you ask questions, then you're going to get additional information. And then from there, the team can move to the next steps. So those have been key: asking questions, listening, and how you're talking to someone. Sometimes you have to say, cause you want to get it out because you're going to forget it.
all done, I can go back and [: [: [: [: [: time superintendent, but she [:I went to the sitting superintendent and said, Hey, I have this opportunity that I'm looking into going to. Within the course of a month, she had informed the board that she was going to retire and that she was recommending me to replace her. This was something that she needed to know right away because she didn't want me to lead the organization.
Long story short, it spun in about a several weeks. The next thing you know, I'm being appointed as a superintendent. So that's how I got the first superintendency. I did not want it. And the reason why I didn't want it is because it's just a complex world is challenging.
[:On her way out, she said, you need to take this over. You're the only one that's going to be able to move this forward. I said, no, thank you. I even met with the board basically and said, no, thank you. Lo and behold, a couple of weeks later, here I am in the seat. This is what I take out all that I'm called to do this work.
shying away from that. I've [: [:How did you take that experience and think about all of the next generation of leaders that you have today? And help them not be in this situation. How are you getting to a point where there's people who are waiting in the wings as the next generation of leaders who are prepared, that when the time comes they're ready and they're willing to take on that seat.
[:So there's a few things that I think about. It's how do we provide opportunities to people? One of the things that I learned when I got to Banning is Banning had been such a very closed system, meaning that most staff did not go out for professional learning. They didn't network outside of their immediate space.
ough it's a different state, [:Actually, when I got to the previous district, it was the same. They were doing things the same way. When you ask them, why are you doing it that way? They would say, that's because we've always done it this way. And you hear that every once in a while, but that was the culture of both of these districts.
we're just going to do what [:What is the best way to deliver that message? Or what is the best way to implement these things? So that is a constant that I push on our team about our leaders. And one of the things that anyone that knows me will say is that don't say the word compliance because when we talk about all those rules and laws and they just keep coming.
This is what's happening in our system. When I talk to state leaders across our state, even nationally, what I will say is that there's been so many new rules and laws attached to money and the plan what's happened with instructional leaders, they spend the majority of their day at a desk computer doing this versus being in the space at the classroom, supporting teachers and principals. I do not believe that's what education was intended for to sit behind a desk and fill out sheets to be compliant versus being in the space, assisting people with better practices and learning.
So given that [:So that's a huge thing that I do. And then the other thing is listening to the needs of others. Because we are quick to say, no, we can't do that. Or why are they doing that versus getting to the root cause of what the problem is and how we can help it. And then the last thing I think in helping new leaders is providing access to each other, access to other opportunities, access to time with peers.
hen you look at the research [:That's something that we're working on. And we're working with a group called the national center for the economy. And if the education and economy in CEE, and we're working on this practice, we did eight sessions with them this year to talk about what those practices are.
And we're embarking on another group of sections to then create what our profile is. And then how do we get to that by changing our systems and our practices?
[: You're now [: [:And that's what it's all about. How do we help other people to be the best that they can be so that way, in turn, they can help students and the community.
[:They are the ones that are going to have direct impact on the students, their families, the community. What have you seen in terms of the impact that evolving the strength of their leadership has on the grit of the students, on the cohesiveness of the communities on the engagement of the parents?
[:There was no impasse. And since then, there has been no impasse. And as long as I am here in this seat, there will be no strikes because. That goes back to grit that goes back to what has happened with leadership. And I think when you have those relationships that can be like this, when you develop the relationship that connects together, you start to talk and see the same end goal. Then you work together to fulfill that. So I would say the impact that's had on our students is. Our students are now excelling more. We're seeing that through our data. Last year's data from that was 20 to 23, showed the most gain academically than we had in years. I only see that continuing. And people ask me, what do you attribute that to?
tell you, the biggest thing [:However, when you have it all connected together and you're moving together, everyone sees that. Everyone feels that. Okay. And so our board members right now, we have five board members, I believe the majority of them, four or five ran for the school board because of that strike.
ng on how we get students to [:That is what is happening. I referenced that by, we have so many students that are receiving so many accomplishments. We have students going to universities. Out of state. Like I mentioned before, Yale, Berkeley, UC Irvine. Harvey Mudd. I think we've just found our space where we're connecting it all together to understand that the adults have to be on the same page and at the end result is our students that we're supporting collectively, not disjointedly.
[: [: ss, which is great, but it's [: [:What advice would you give to an educator who maybe is aspiring, thinking about leadership, but is unsure about how she might want to approach that role or how to position for it, and is maybe unsure about the kind of challenges and how he or she will be able to deal with those challenges?
[:And getting competence comes from experience, wanting to learn. And as I mentioned earlier expanding your networks and broadening your horizons and understanding industry standards, and then practicing them and implementing them, understanding that you're going to make mistakes and you're going to fail, but that's okay, that's all going to create the competence.
lop the presentation, it was [:And so that is now my alter ego name: courageous fire. At some point in the near future, There's gonna be a book that's dropped about courageous fire. In an essence. It's you have to develop your voice. In any space in any room when I feel like I have to express What I'm thinking, what I feel, I'm going to do it.
I'm going to do it professionally. I'm going to do it appropriately. I'm going to do it at the right time as much as I can. But that voice, once you develop it, people listen. There was this commercial. It used to be called when EF Hutton talks people listen. Someone had a red umbrella and everybody else had the black umbrella. I think it was an insurance company or a financial company, but it was like when EF Hutton talk, everyone stopped and everyone listened.
once you feel like you have [:Now I think there's a fine line between passion and assertiveness and aggressiveness, but the passion is more about you feel what you're saying. You see it, whether it's data or not, or whatever it is, you see it, you feel it. When you see people talking, you go, wow. That was compelling.
That's passion. And then the one before last is courage. In today's world, you have to have courage because people are going to talk about you. They're going to be disappointed with decisions that you make. They're going to make jabs at you. But through all of that, if you have the courage to walk through that, because you know what you're doing is the right thing.
hat together, the voice, the [:So when you start to say it and you start to feel the confidence from that, you're unstoppable. As long as you're continuing to learn because the smartest person in the room isn't one person, it's the room. And so you collectively gather the voices, the information, the thoughts, the perceptions to then come out with a better decision.
And that's what I would give to leaders to say you need to think about those things. And all of that is going to be in the book when it comes out.
[: [:It's always improving and getting better.
[:Thanks for hanging with us today, Terrence. It's been such a pleasure. And, if anyone is listening to this and they want to continue this conversation with you, what's the best way for them to reach you?
[: [:Go build up your confidence, and head on over to k12. engagerocket. net to get a hold of all of our show notes and all of the other episodes in this series. Thank you so much for listening. My name has been CT and you've been listening to the Engaging Leadership Show. Take care for now.
