Gnu Stories Podcast | Episode 13: Heads of School Reflect On: Leadership, Identity, & Quaker Education

Summary

In this episode, Rodney speaks with Brenda Crawley, Head of Plymouth Meeting Friends School, and Karen Cumberbatch, Head of Carolina Friends School. Brenda and Karen share their experience as members of the SSFS community and reflect on what it means to be a woman of color in a leadership position, decision-making during COVID-19, and what drew them to Quaker Education.

Quotes From the Podcast

In response to "What attracted you to Quaker Education?"

Brenda Crawley: “I was definitely looking for progressive. Full environment, right. And one that really kind of recognized that they want to build communities that look like the rest of the world. And they're willing to do the work around that.

Karen Cumberbatch: "For me to be an educator was to be a Quaker educator. It was to be able to see that of God and your students and in each other, and to think about committees and to work in collaborative decision-making…

Rodney Glasgow: “Thinking about the commitment [to] inquiry really drew me and Karen talked about Quaker education is just education. I think that too because when I think of education, I think about asking the questions and not necessarily being concerned with finding the answers, but where are these questions going to take us and what other questions are going to arise from it?”

In response to "What did you gain at SSFS that you took with you when you left that helped you and your leadership?"

Karen: I very much valued the opportunity to work with the other division heads and with the two heads of schools… I was [able to] share ideas, to really sink in deep ways and honest ways, and to engage with each other, honestly, about, some of the challenges that we were seeing in the school. I think it also really helped me to just see how to work with students, how to work with, staff in a way that would help to uplift them. How one could do that in authentic ways I would say is definitely a part of my leadership journey.”

Brenda: “You have to understand that you are just part of a whole. At Sandy Spring Friends School we always talked about being a community much more than we talked about being in school. And so the community has a lot of voices and a lot of parts and a lot of people with a lot of different responsibilities. And I think being able to take that understanding here as a Head… the notion that there are all these other people who have responsibilities and have voices… and I can rely on their expertise and their experience as we kind of collaborate to make decisions together.”

In response to "What's it been like to be a school leader in the middle of the pandemic?"

Brenda: “For me, I've not yet had a full year on campus with all events and customs in place.  So that piece has been difficult. I've devoted the majority of my energy, certainly to looking at, the business side of things, but also on the ways that we can tap this community together… that's been [one of] my goals, and it's been [one of] my challenges. How do you make people feel connected? If they haven't ever stepped on campus this school year and say to them “still, that's fine. I want you to be where you are. Where you feel safe and you're still in this community. You might be brand new, but you're still in this community.”

Karen: “So , if you're in-person,  you're worried about the health, risks, and the physical safety of your community: teachers, students potentially family members that are connected to either the teachers or the students.  On the other side of it, though, whether you're in person or not, the mental health pieces have been so much a part of this…Everybody's feeling this additional layer of stress and how to be able to hold that piece of it too again when there is no right answer. And so you're just in this constant state of trying to do your best to make the decisions based on all of the information that you can get. And yet [you’re] always feeling like you're coming up short for somebody because we just don't have the capacity to be able to really fully meet everyone's needs.  I would repeat that word stress. It, it has been really stressful.”

In Response to "As leaders of color and as women of color, how has it been?"

Brenda: “I will say one of the challenges of being a woman of color, but a woman of color as a Head of school… is every so often my decisions are questioned. My experience is questioned…For people of color in general, especially people of color who are administrators and heads of school, we've all had to have that journey that involves work harder, get better grades, jump higher, beat faster, get it done, books on the books. Right?  The proving does not cease.”

Karen: “I've had some moments when I've had to say to my team like I need to turn my camera off. We're in this conversation right now and we're hearing something… you're referencing something that is really striking home, for me. And so I need to step away and sit by myself with this thing. And then, I will come back. And that will be fine, but, if I'm bringing my full self to this role, which is what you asked of me when we came and, what we say we want from each other, then  I need to step away right now. So I took that space for myself, but also making sure that that space was available  to staff of color.”