In 1623, the English poet and thinker John Donne wrote perhaps the most enduring words of his career: "No man is an island, entire of itself," That line—part of a larger meditation on life and death—has become one of the most famous descriptions of the connections that bind humanity together. "Every man is a piece of the continent," he continues, "a part of the main."
When Donne wrote those words, England was more divided perhaps than ever. The Protestant Reformation had sparked unprecedented religious division. The political tension between Royalists and Parliamentarians was heading toward a civil war. So the people of the time probably did see themselves—or at least their social group of choice—as islands, isolated from those with opposing viewpoints.
But that, Donne believed, was a mistake. "If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less," he writes. Less poetically: If we don't come together, we'll fall apart. We're stronger together.
Four centuries later and an ocean away, we have a lot in common with Donne's England. It's not just that we're politically polarized; we're also socially isolated. According to the Survey Center for American Life, U.S. adults report having fewer close friends than they once did—and report talking to those friends less. Even at work, we're often siloed on our own teams, cut off from the work happening elsewhere in our organizations. So do we avoid thinking of ourselves as isolated islands, but rather as parts of a larger continent?
In this issue of SchoolCEO, we hope to shed some light on that question. Here you'll find strategies for cooperating with your teachers union, communicating with your board and collaborating with the district down the road. You'll learn better ways to bring teachers into your school communications strategy. And in our newest research, you'll see how three major district leaders—superintendents, communications directors, and technology officers—can break down silos between their teams and work together to build community trust.
No school leader, central office team or even school district is an island entire of itself. When it comes to public education, we all sink or swim together. If we zoom out on the continent we all inhabit, we're likely to find huge expanses of common ground.
—Melissa Hite, Editor, SchoolCEO Magazine
One question for you
How does your district leadership team collaborate around brand and marketing?
Email us at editor@schoolceo.com or book a time on our calendar and let us know.
Two resources to help
1. Although they may share spaces in the central office, the people who fill the roles of school communicator, tech director and superintendent often have wildly different backgrounds and priorities—which can sometimes put them at loggerheads. But when things go well, these differences in perspective can make a school communication strategy much stronger. We explore how these key roles can collaborate effectively for stronger district communications.
— Read Common Ground
2. When you empower teachers to tell their stories, you give your stakeholders access to scenes, places and points of view they wouldn’t normally get from the central office. Teachers are the heart of your school system. Why not let them be your voice, too?
— Read Who's Telling Your Story?
Three ideas to get you thinking
1. "While the world seems to be caving in on these families, we just wanted to reassure them that the district is here for them, and that we’ll do everything in our power to protect and support them." — Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, superintendent of Peoria Public Schools, in A Community Can
2. "The fuel for moral panic is fear. The antidote to fear is clarity—and possibility." —Dr. Julie Sweetland, Senior Advisor at the FrameWorks Institute, in The Stories That Just Aren't True
3. "I used to tell students: It's really easy for us to be downloaders of information. But in order to contribute to the collective knowledge of this country and the world, we have a responsibility to be ethical, truthful, responsible, careful uploaders of information, too." — Josh Silver, Chief of Staff at Las Cruces Public Schools, in Bridging the Gap