Chris Lehmann- Founding Principal of SLA since 2006. is one of
three winners this year of the prestigious Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education. Lehmann, 43 , husband and father of two boys, was awarded the Rising Star award for his work in founding SLA, which opened in 2006, and pushing to open a second SLA campus at Beeber Middle School last year.
How does it feel to win such a prestigious award and how does it
impact SLA?
It’s important to note that this is not an award one wins alone.
The work we do at SLA is always about the incredible community of people who come together to breathe life into our school every day. The educators, students and families of Science Leadership Academy and Science Leadership Academy @ Beeber make our schools work every day. Our partners at The Franklin Institute have been there to plan with us, work with us, and learn with us from the beginning. And while the district has been through many changes in the past nine years, the people of the School District of Philadelphia have been supportive of SLA, creating the conditions through which we could innovate. And, of course, on a personal level, I am incredibly lucky to be married to someone as smart (and as patient) as Kat.
What is the role of teachers at SLA?
Our goal as teachers should be, simply, to help students to figure out for themselves what is best for them. Schools can be vigorously active places where students and teachers push each other to
be better today than we were yesterday. Schools can be places our students want to be. Schools can be places where kids learn that they are capable of more than they thought possible.
How do you balance the needs of the teachers and students at
SLA?
Teachers’ and students’ interests don’t always align. Sometimes, it’s for reasons that are easy to unpack – a teacher wants a student to do work that a student doesn’t want to do for no other reason that it isn’t a subject of interest to them. Sometimes, it’s for much more complex reasons that involve issues of race, class, gender and power (demographics)that too often go unexamined in the halls and classrooms of schools. Other People’s Children by Lisa Delpit and I Won’t Learn from You by Herbert Kohl are two excellent texts about this – both are must reads for educators, in my opinion.
What is your motto?
“Teach the student , not the subject” was one of the the best one liners of the day.
three winners this year of the prestigious Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education. Lehmann, 43 , husband and father of two boys, was awarded the Rising Star award for his work in founding SLA, which opened in 2006, and pushing to open a second SLA campus at Beeber Middle School last year.
How does it feel to win such a prestigious award and how does it
impact SLA?
It’s important to note that this is not an award one wins alone.
The work we do at SLA is always about the incredible community of people who come together to breathe life into our school every day. The educators, students and families of Science Leadership Academy and Science Leadership Academy @ Beeber make our schools work every day. Our partners at The Franklin Institute have been there to plan with us, work with us, and learn with us from the beginning. And while the district has been through many changes in the past nine years, the people of the School District of Philadelphia have been supportive of SLA, creating the conditions through which we could innovate. And, of course, on a personal level, I am incredibly lucky to be married to someone as smart (and as patient) as Kat.
What is the role of teachers at SLA?
Our goal as teachers should be, simply, to help students to figure out for themselves what is best for them. Schools can be vigorously active places where students and teachers push each other to
be better today than we were yesterday. Schools can be places our students want to be. Schools can be places where kids learn that they are capable of more than they thought possible.
How do you balance the needs of the teachers and students at
SLA?
Teachers’ and students’ interests don’t always align. Sometimes, it’s for reasons that are easy to unpack – a teacher wants a student to do work that a student doesn’t want to do for no other reason that it isn’t a subject of interest to them. Sometimes, it’s for much more complex reasons that involve issues of race, class, gender and power (demographics)that too often go unexamined in the halls and classrooms of schools. Other People’s Children by Lisa Delpit and I Won’t Learn from You by Herbert Kohl are two excellent texts about this – both are must reads for educators, in my opinion.
What is your motto?
“Teach the student , not the subject” was one of the the best one liners of the day.
Much of this text and his additional narrative and leadership
style are detailed in specific on his blog Practical Theory.
One article, "Co-Curating Our School," highlights how SLA engages students in the construction of space.
style are detailed in specific on his blog Practical Theory.
One article, "Co-Curating Our School," highlights how SLA engages students in the construction of space.