Chet Edwards – Academy Lecture #4

Chet Edwards, a former representative for Texas and the US senate came to talk to us about education and education policy. Within his discussion he focused on the importance of educators in shaping the future of an individual. Specifically, he mentioned how positive educational experiences within his own life helped him to achieve his goals in leadership as well as providing him with the skills necessary to attend higher education institutions, in which he attended Harvard. Through his discussion it became clear that his view on leadership within education is not just role based but is rather embedded with a moral and ethical responsibility. Chet argues that the teacher is first and foremost a parent to the student. As such, it is the responsibility of the teacher to set an example for the students on how to lead and showcase right and wrong.

Chet specifically hones in on the importance of educators through analysis of current education policy within the United States. Chet argues that current education policy leadership is often not very diverse, as many of the leaders on boards are wealthy, older individuals. While these characteristics are not inherently bad, it does result in leadership decisions being made such as raising education fees that intentionally or unintentionally favor a specific group of people. This example of leadership in a real-life setting help me to understand that the best intentions, such as those of the leaders on the education board, may not always lead to the most favorable outcomes as mentioned above. As such, it is imperative for education leaders to not just take into account individual decisions, but rather the consensus of the entire state. This to me provided a good example of situational leadership and the importance of self-reflection. Within the case of education policy culture, customs and the norms are constantly changing. Thus, it is the role of the leader to step back and reflect on their actions to determine whether their personal decisions are benefiting the overall population.

As a whole Chet mentioned that the best leadership lesson that has stood out to him throughout his entire academic and workforce career is the following ‘Before the soldiers’ care what I say to them, they have to know that I care for them’. To me the element of caring stood out. In particular I think this lesson highlights the importance of caring for someone, as a personal value, regardless of your leadership position. While this can be applied to the aforementioned topic of education policy, as Chet made clear caring for someone is an important quality not matter what type of leader you are. This is quality that I plan to apply in my future leadership positions.