2. Centering Students: Leading Through Learning
Anderson’s second pillar insists that the leader cannot be separated from the learning process.
Through evaluations and learning observations, she encourages principals to identify patterns, highlight gaps, and tailor instruction to the uniqueness of the student body.
Her approach resonates deeply with Drago-Severson et al. (2014), whose Journal of Research on Leadership Education study revealed that adaptive leadership—learning with and from teachers—helps schools handle rapid change.
In both Bermuda and Florida, their findings underscored that effective leaders are learners first: acquiring new mindsets, building capacity, and creating environments where reflection drives results.
For Principal Anderson, this means connecting data to empathy—seeing every chart as a child, every trend as a story.
