How this leader develops a sense of urgency around innovation
Superintendent Pamela Nathan models her New Jersey district after organizations that are driven to innovate by evolving markets and other forces. Nathan contends that, too often in education, the status quo is cemented because school districts don’t sense the same pressure to change.
“We know the world is changing, and we need our kids to have the most modern, best experiences that are going to help them love learning now and into the future,” says Nathan, who became superintendent of the Edgewater Park Township School District in July.
“We need to use the same tenets that organizations that have the pressure to continue to evolve to meet customers’ ever-changing needs,” she adds.
Nathan has been rallying everyone in her K-8 to see themselves as educators who build environments where young minds thrive. It’s a high-stakes push she describes as an “I cure cancer” mentality where every voice is heard, ideas keep emerging and everything connects back to a clear, shared purpose.
“If we get the environment right—psychological safety, clarity of purpose and room to experiment—our teams will continue to design solutions we couldn’t have scripted from the top down.”
Nathan says her leadership philosophy centers on empowerment of every stakeholder, anchored in a common purpose.
“I believe culture, strategy and innovation are inseparable: culture creates the safety to try, strategy provides the focus, and innovation is the natural outcome when people feel trusted and aligned,” she points out.
Leaders must first understand themselves and then develop an understanding of each other and their teams through collaborative professional development and other shared experiences.
“From there, we align around shared goals, launch pilots, and connect everything to our strategic plan,” she explains. “We are intentional about telling our story and celebrating success because that’s how you scale what works and invite more people into the work.
How has education changed since you have been in K12?
Nathan has established an AI leadership team that is examining how generative artificial intelligence can help teachers communicate and plan and differentiate lessons, among other tasks. This would give the educators more time to work with students on hands-on projects that involve less screen time, she explains.
Nathan’s efforts are informed by the book, The Anxious Generation, which connects screen time and social media use to the rise in mental illness among children. “We have to teach help kids understand but not necessarily use AI,” she says. “We have to use AI to create environments that are human-centered, where kids are talking to each other and looking each other in the eye.”
She also wants to disrupt the K12 “status quo” cycles in which “ideas get renamed, and initiatives are repackaged.”
“The work I’m drawn to now is about creating true breakthroughs—a ’caused future’—where we intentionally design for something fundamentally better rather than just slightly improving what already exists,” she concludes. “That requires courage, experimentation, and a willingness to question some of our most familiar structures in schooling.”
