FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
responding with adaptability, compassion, and fortitude A letter from Judith Guild
T
wo decades ago, researchers and educators identified a set of seven essential capacities for 21st-century schools. The NAIS publication, A Guide to Becoming a School of the Future, named Brimmer one of seven model schools in our nation that was doing this well. When the global pandemic raged through Boston last March, our Leadership Team found themselves well outside established norms. We required adaptability, creativity, and cross-disciplinary knowledge to reimagine the School both during the quarantine and in planning to reopen the campus. As the work unfolded, it became clear that those seven essential capacities researchers had identified 20 years ago were serving us well. Of those seven,
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Fall 2020
Brimmer Magazine
several stand out as particularly remarkable and impactful. The ability to “develop flexibility, agility, and adaptability”; to bring a “sense of courage to unfamiliar situations”; to be able to “explore and experience”; “to work effectively in a climate of ambiguity and changing priorities”; and perhaps most importantly, to “view failure as an opportunity to learn” define Essential Capacity #6: Adaptability, Initiative, and Risk Taking. In two weeks, our faculty and administrators had to adapt to working differently. We sorted out ambiguities, figured out priorities, and decided what could work in a remote environment. Outside guidance changed weekly, and we revised our work.
Simultaneously, we had to learn how to use new tools: adapting to Zoom, expanding the use of our learning management system, and connecting devices so our relationships with our students could be preserved and prioritized. Before the school year ended, we became comfortable with exploring, experimenting, and risk management. The constant need to initiate new ideas, coordinate tasks, collaborate effectively, and enlist help tested our leadership and teamwork skills (Essential Capacity #3: Leadership and Teamwork). Various leaders at Brimmer initiated new ideas and then found ways to coach others to follow them. Director of Development Elizabeth Smith pivoted from her usual work
