Journal of a Black Teacher

While sweeping the garage one day, I found myself instinctively starting from each corner, pushing the pill of ‘stuff’ toward the center. Seemingly such an act of meaninglessness, it brought into view a brilliant observation of leadership and organizational dynamics that I would later conceptualize as the Theory of Corners. Just as dust usually accumulates and is never cleaned out from the corners of a space, so too are blind spots in organizations, those areas where inefficiencies, inequities, and unspoken truths reside. I realized then that nuanced leadership means venturing into the metaphorical corners, addressing the hidden challenges, and moving them toward the center for systemic growth and transformation. This theory shaped my leadership philosophy. By Don Allen, for Journal of A Black Teacher (2025) Nuanced leadership is an art form often drowned out by loud voices, rigid hierarchies, and unwavering allegiance to the status quo. These are the leaders who dare to dwell in the ...

 “There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false.”  ~ Harold Pinter This is part one in an eight (maybe 10) part series on Twin Cities charter schools, human capital, organizational communication, problem-solving, and nuanced leadership to assist me in answering my dissertation question, “Why are Twin Cities charter schools failing Black Students? Is it a characteristic of charter schools in general, or is it something about how these particular Twin Cities charter schools are being run?” Photo: RAT.  By Don Allen - Editorial Opinion (Sunday, November 5, 2023 | Written for The Independent Business News Network-IBNN)      For anyone who knows me you know I enjoy looking into the blind spots. I have found in these blind spots a place to look at how school systems can coexist to achieve the maximum daily growth for...