Nina Unitas is a school arts leader turned principal. Here, she shares insights into why arts educators make the best school leaders and how she made the journey from arts education to school leadership.

In the September/October 2015 issue of Principal Magazine’s supplement called Champion Creatively Alive Children, contains an article quoting Nina Unitas about leading school and district arts initiatives. The article is titled, “Creating a Movement: Two principals share their journey toward art-integration,” The article discusses the views of two principals on the power of art to transform teaching and learning. The two principals happened to be Chad Chism (former principal at Thomas Street Elementary, where I once worked) and Nina Unitas (principal at Wylandville Elementary School near Pittsburgh). As I was reading, I was intrigued by the fact that Unitas was once an art teacher.

After reading this article, I was so fortunate to have a moment of Nina’s time to learn more on her perspective on how the arts can exist in schools from a systematic standpoint. I have read a lot of articles and books about how an arts culture can have a positive impact on all stakeholders in a school.

Having received my Educational Leadership degree, and at one point being open to the idea of entering into administration, particularly the principalship, this article really hit home. I’ve heard many negative comments, however, about art teachers not being professional enough to do the job. In fact, the first principal-friend that I told when I began my specialist degree said she couldn’t imagine what in the world an art teacher would know about curriculum. (As if!)

Of course, I disagree with this attitude and was so happy to see that Unitas was once an art teacher and was making a positive impact as a principal. The final section of this article posed the question of “What advice do you have for art teachers who aspire to become principals?” to Unitas.

After reading and reflecting on her words, I decided to reach out to Unitas to ask her for more information and to clarify some things. I really wanted to hear more of her thoughts on leadership, particularly as a principal with a background in arts education.

Here are 6 key understandings from this conversation:

6. Leadership Requires Artistic Thinking

People who are arts-minded are more likely to take calculated risks. Being able to take criticism and be reflective is key to good leadership. Artists, art teachers, arts-minded individuals are natural reflectors and natural collaborators. Arts-minded individuals are innovative and constantly on the lookout for a better way of doing things. Art teachers understand what good teaching looks like because they have a deep understanding of critical thinking which they can apply to any situation and context.

5. Be Authentic When You Interview

Think about what you need from your principal as a teacher. Talk about that at the interviews. Don’t worry about getting emotional in an interview. It shows you care. You want to be as authentic as possible. Find out who is going to be in the interview so you will know what you are walking into. In other words, be your regular artsy self when you interview.

4. School Leaders Have Tremendous Impact on the Arts

School leaders are able to impact the arts much more than you’d think. Being an instructional leader, or leader of instructors, involves leading the teachers in understanding creativity and using the arts in their classrooms. Because of your teaching experience, you are in a position to leverage those 21st century skills for teachers. Arts-minded individuals know how to document. Documentation is very important when you are trying to make learning transparent.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Refocus Your People

If a school loses its arts culture, you have to refocus your people. Ask your staff, “What do we want the children to be like as adults?” This helps in creating cultures of thinking. This is a powerful activity that can be written on post it notes and added to a poster! The staff will decide to recommit to holding conversations and reflecting on these things. This is also powerful when done with parents. This idea came from Ron Ritchhart, senior researcher at Harvard Project Zero. Nina’s faculty did a book study on his Creating Cultures of Thinking - The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools.

2. Why an Art Teacher Might Want to Become an Administrator

For art teachers who seek leadership positions, it is about wanting to parallel experiences in the arts classroom and to do that on a bigger level. It is about wanting to have that impact on the kids and community. It is about wanting to build a culture where students are served by dedicated adults. An arts-minded individual is keenly able to focus on what is in their control and is driven to make positive change.

1. Teacher Turnover

It is so important to build a positive school climate that is arts-driven. This fosters relationships. The job is about relationships and you can’t develop relationships with turnover. You can’t serve your community well with significant teacher turnover year to year.

Are you an arts educator turned administrator or school leader? Let’s chat! What else would you add to this conversation? Let me know in the comments below.

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