SERVANT LEADERSHIP IN SCHOOL COMMUNITIES 1

Servant Leadership in School Communities

Christine Haley

EDUA 562: Facilitating Communities of Practice

15 February 2021

Dr. Brad Baker

Concordia University Irvine

School of Education
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Servant Leadership in School Communities

On Saturday, February 6, 2021, Concordia University Irvine, School of Education hosted

an education symposium for a variety of education stakeholders. Presented by Dr. David

Miyashiro and Ed Hidalgo, educators were led through topics from the pandemic, to happiness,

with an overarching theme of servant leadership. Miyashiro and Hidalgo are two diverse leaders

that work together for common purposes in serving the Cajon Valley. Dr. Miyashiro -

Superintendent of Cajon Valley School District - has spent years in education and has held a

variety of positions and roles in the sector. On the other hand, Ed Hidalgo has not spent his life

in education, but in the corporate sector. While education leaders without a history in education

are often suspect, the Cajon Valley School District uses this diverse contribution to education

discourse to better the culture of the school and in-turn the community.

Serving vs. Leading

From providing meals to COVID-19 testing, Miyashiro and Hidalgo view their positions

as leaders to serve the community. Servant leadership - a theme embedded throughout this

educational symposium - is a hallmark of the work of Miyashiro and Hidalgo. Mark Tarallo

author of The Art of Servant Leadership explains that servant leaders have a “serve-first mindset,

and they are focused on empowering and uplifting those who work for them” (Tarallo, 2018).

Hidalgo is able to contribute discourse from models of successful corporate servant leadership to

help improve educational workplace environments. Hidalgo states that “schools are similar to

business units and enterprises” (2021) and that the adults that work in schools need to be

empowered, included, and given space to create similar to employees in corporate America.

Their role of servant leadership is also evident in the focus of happiness and healthy

relationships in their community. Displayed boldly in the Cajon Valley School District Board
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Room is written “Happy Kids, Healthy Relationships, on a path to Gainful Employment.”

Miyashiro and Hildago both believe that schools should be held accountable for more than just

standardized test scores and that the happiness of the students and the employees within the

district have a greater impact on a student’s “gainful employment” in their future: ultimately

meeting the goals of their mission and promise to the community.

Personal Connections

“When you leave the classroom your primary focus is serving the adults” (Miyashiro,

2021). This powerful statement resonated with me and gave me pause to reflect on my future

aspirations for educational leadership. While most go into education to serve children, not

adults, after fifteen years in the classroom, I do notice more fulfillment in my opportunities to

serve adults in the educational community than my students. While educational leaders have

anecdotal experiences that give them evidence of their work as servant leaders on a small scale,

large-scale surveys may be needed to understand the pulse of a whole school site, district, and

community.

In an effort to ensure effective environments for all stakeholders at Cajon Valley Unified

School District, Ed Hildago explained the rationale for their district’s use of the Gallup Q12

survey. While many of the questions seemed difficult to answer, Gallup believes that extreme

statements lead to narrow answers, which allow for clear opportunities to see challenges and

successes in school communities. As it is survey season in my own district, Hidalgo's thorough

discussion of the Gallup survey used by the Cajon Valley School District was interesting and

allowed me to reflect on my role at my school site and how I can provide opportunities for

equitable access to these roles. One question that stirred thought about my own aspirations as an

educational leader was “At work, my opinions seem to count.” I was able to easily answer yes to
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this question, but I can see how - at my school site - I would not be a majority in answering this

question in this way. Most of my peers, I am sure would not be able to confidently say “yes, my

opinions count.” As department chair of the English Language Arts department I attend regular

site leadership meetings and various committees that provide me opportunities to be heard and

listened to. However, site leadership meetings at my school site are small: around fifteen

stakeholders (admin, department chairs, TOSAs, a student representative, and a classified

representative), but with approximately two-hundred adults on our campus, fifteen cannot

possibly share the voice of all. As a future leader, I hope to widen the opportunities for voices

to be heard at my school site. For instance, each department chair or member stakeholder could

bring a different visitor to the group at each meeting allowing for more voices to be heard and

involved in decision-making processes. High schools are large, and while ensuring that

stakeholders’ “opinions count” can be difficult, I hope to create an environment where this is

possible.

Bringing All Together

Dr. David Miyashiro and Ed Hidalgo were successfully able to allow their audience to

see inside the vision and mission of the Cajon Valley School District. Serving the community,

empowering their educators and staff, and providing aspirational opportunities for students are a

few of the hallmarks of their district.

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References

Hidalgo, E & Miyashiro, D. (2021, February). Unprecedented: escaping the ghost of

education past. Lecture conducted from Concordia University Irvine, United States.

Tarallo, M. (2019, August 16). The art of servant leadership. Retrieved February 13, 2021, from

https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/organizational-and-employee-

development/Pages/The-Art-of-Servant-Leadership.aspx