BEGINNING ADMINISTRATORS' INSTITUTE
OVERVIEW
Independent school administrators with up to three (3) years of experience
are invited to attend the Beginning Administrators' Institute, held on the
campus
of Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey each June. This is a 4-1/2
day workshop designed to develop insights and skills to enhance beginning administrators’ ability to provide effective leadership.
Components of the program include, but are not limited to:
Sessions run by Jean Lamont and Sally Mixsell, BAI Leaders
Communication and Listening Skills
Group Dynamics and Problem Solving
Temperament Types
Individual Consultations on Personal Leadership Plans (PLPs) and other topics of professional interest
Personal Leadership Plan (PLP)
Participants are asked to identify a goal they wish to accomplish over the upcoming school year. This goal is used to develop their Personal Leadership Plan (PLP) which plays a central role in the institute by providing an opportunity for participants to incorporate what they have learned into a concrete plan. They also benefit from feedback from a small group of peers with whom they work throughout the week.
Samples of previous PLP topics include:
- Introducing a foreign language program to the Lower School (in a PK-12 school)
- Developing a teacher evaluation program
- Designing an approach for working with the faculty and finding a comfortable way to be “the enforcer”
- Developing a way to deal with parental complaints about math placement
- Helping faculty deal with change: new schedule, community service program and life skills seminar
- Establishing objectives for a 1st year dean of students
- Designing and implementing a class dean’s curriculum for boarding school preps, emphasizing values and determining how to assess the effectiveness of such a curriculum
Dealing with the Challenges of Change
Dr. Hugh O’Doherty, a Senior Associate of Cambridge Leadership Associates and faculty member at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, leads a session on leading through change. Dr. O’Doherty explores the nature of leadership and the “challenging work of shifting value, norms, belief systems and world views so that progress can be made on problems that don’t have easy answers and that people would rather avoid.”
Managing Conflict
Mr. Krister Lowe, organizational consultant and founding principal with GHL Global Consulting, leads a half-day session on conflict management. Participants examine their own attitudes toward conflict and explore how race, gender and/or culture influence how they experience conflict within independent schools. Subsequent exercises in this interactive workshop develop the skills necessary for conflict resolution.
Master Administrators
In order to provide insight and expertise in addressing the demands of specific positions, master administrators spend a day working with participants in small groups. In addition, a panel discussion takes place to consider a wide range of administrative issues.
The fee for the institute includes all instruction, materials, room and board. Participants are housed in air-conditioned rooms and have access to Lawrenceville facilities during free times.
Comments from former BAI participants have included:
The chance to discuss my project with people from similar
schools (but importantly not the same school!) was invaluable
- plus the input from you, Jean and Sally, helped to
focus my project and your questions helped me address some
issues I would not have necessarily otherwise considered
in that way. Thank you!
I've met people here who have been able to give me some
good feedback. And the speakers you found have educated
and inspired me.
The PLP was a useful way to frame my thoughts throughout
the week, as well as provided me with a concrete plan for
the fall.
I enjoyed exploring new dimensions of leadership and administration
that the meetings and seminars provoked. The size of the
conference really afforded me an opportunity to engage
with everyone on a meaningful level; I was able to explore
my own objectives and consider the impending opportunities
and challenges in a really robust way.
Jean and Sally were terrific and knowledgeable and the highest
compliment is that I, along with others here this week,
would recommend the BAI to other administrators. Bravo!
SAMPLE BAI SCHEDULE
Sunday
12-3 Registration
3:00 Welcome, Introductions and Expectations
4:30 Listening Exercise
6:30 DINNER and Personal Leadership Plan (PLP) Group assignments
7:30 Listening, cont’d.
9:00 Personal Time (reading assignment
for tomorrow)
Monday
8am BREAKFAST
9:00 Adult Learning and Temperament
Styles
11:00 Master Administrators Panel Discussion
1:00 LUNCH
2:00 Individual meetings with master
administrators
4:30 Free Time
5:30 Cocktail Hour
6:30 DINNER (Usually in Princeton)
7:30 PLP Group Meetings
8:30 Personal Time (reading assignment
for tomorrow)
Tuesday
8am BREAKFAST
8:45 PLP Group Meetings
10:00 Leading Change (Hugh O'Doherty)
1:00 LUNCH
2:00 Group Problem Solving
4:15 Group Dynamics
5:00 Free Time
6:30 DINNER
7:30 PLP Group Meetings
8:30 Personal Time (and assignment for
tomorrow)
Wednesday
7:45 BREAKFAST
8:30 Dealing With Conflict(Krister Lowe)
1:00 LUNCH
1:00 Listening in Conflict
3:45 PLP Group Meetings: preparation
for tomorrow's presentations
4:30 Free Time
6:30 Celebratory DINNER
Thursday, June 28
8am BREAKFAST
9:00 Individual work on PLP presentations/meetings
with Sally and Jean
10:00 Sharing of PLPs
2:00 Farewells and Departure
CONTACT US
For more information or to receive a brochure and registration
form, please contact eduINNOVATIONS
at info@eduinnovations.net
or 203-605-6975/ 203-824-3653.
For information about Lawrenceville School, see http://www.lawrenceville.org.
BAI Participating Schools to Date:
Agnes Irwin School, PA
Beaver Country Day School, MA
Bentley School, CA
Brentwood School, CA
Bryn Mawr Little School, MD
Cary Academy, NC
Cate School, CA
Charles River School, MA
The Country School, CT
Dana Hall School, MA
The Foote School, CT
Good Hope School, VI
Greens Farms Academy, CT
Greenwich Academy, CT
Hamden Hall School, CT
Harvard Westlake School, CA
Hilltop Day School, NJ
Hotchkiss School, CT
Emma Willard School, NY
Friends Academy, NY
Friends Seminary, NYC
Kentucky Country Day School, KY
Langley School, VA
Laurel School, OH
Lawrenceville School, NJ
Link Community School, NJ
Loomis Chaffee School, CT
Marin Academy, CA
Marlborough School, CA
Purnell School, NJ
Ransom Everglades School, FL
St. Andrew's Episcopal School, MS
St. Andrew's School, RI
St. Stephens Episcopal School, FL
The Bryn Mawr School, MD
Sacred Heart School, NY
Thacher School, CA
The Spence School, NY
The Stanwich School, CT
The Wheeler School, RI
The William Penn Charter School, PA
Tower School, MA
Trinity Episcopal School, LA
Valwood School, GA
