We must invest in our own learning journey

Association of California School Administrators

From the ACSA President, Parvin Ahmadi

September 4, 2023

As leaders in public education, we all recognize the privilege and tremendous responsibility to nurture and serve the children in our care. Grounded on an equity framework, we take steps to ensure our students have access to the highest quality education, and we work to identify and remove barriers that limit access and hinder progress. We accept the challenge to lead with courage to ensure equitable outcomes for children. What we often find difficult on this journey is to set aside time and resources for our own learning and growth, essential elements necessary to improving student outcomes.

Learning from and with our colleagues, hearing about success stories, gaining knowledge about proven practices and research-based ideas that have been implemented with success give us that collective joy of learning that we yearn for our students. None of us have all the answers, but learning from those who have found ways to better serve students in one way or another and working together for solutions can energize us and directly benefit students. One thing is clear; we must do better at “walking the talk” of equity. All our students deserve the best learning opportunities, especially those who have historically been marginalized.

When we recruit new teachers and staff to join our teams, we look for those who have an infinite learning curve and potential and display a deep commitment to serving all students. In addition to a profound commitment and love for children, we look for educators who have humility and are lifelong learners and knowledge seekers. We look for those who have the best interest of all students at heart regardless of challenges they may have.

Learning how to implement effective strategies to ensure better outcomes for students AND unlearning and letting go of safe and familiar practices that have not proven to be successful are responsibilities we cannot take lightly.

We must invest intentionally in everyday development. Learning how to implement effective strategies to ensure better outcomes for students and unlearning and letting go of safe and familiar practices that have not proven to be successful are responsibilities we cannot take lightly.

Let’s encourage and support our colleagues to attend professional learning opportunities available this year. In that vein, I hope you join me and hundreds of other educational leaders who will come together to hear and learn from one another at the Leadership Summit in November entitled, “Challenge Accepted; Courageous and Effective Leadership for Equitable Student Outcomes.” Our colleagues on the planning committee have done an outstanding job listening to your input and have organized sessions focused on practical steps to improve student outcomes and have selected thought-provoking keynotes to energize us to do this important work.

Hope to see you at the Leadership Summit!