Wood you lead?

Wood you lead?

A program director’s journey to take leadership in education to the next level

Sarah-Tanner Anderson became the Director of the Educational Leadership masters program in Fall 2017, but it hasn’t been a simple title change with a few new job duties. 

“I was hired to redevelop the Educational Leadership master’s program at Longwood. The existing program, which essentially lay dormant, was in desperate need of a redesign,” Tanner-Anderson stated.

“With her background as a teacher, a middle school principal, and her passion for leadership, Tanner-Anderson was the perfect fit to restructure this program,” said Dr. Jeannine Perry, Dean of the Graduate College. “We knew she would put in the hard work and research necessary to make the program the success it should be.”

When Tanner-Anderson first took the helm of the program, she conducted an intensive analysis of the existing course structure. After completing a thorough review, she collaborated with a variety of K-12 educational leaders as well as university leaders to construct a revised course progression designed to infuse social justice, equity, and diversity throughout content and field practice. 

“From my experience as an administrator, I felt social justice, equity, and diversity were critical elements for success in today’s schools,”. Tanner-Anderson stated. “The program progressed through department, college, and university curriculum committees before reaching final approval in late Fall 2018.”

In Fall 2019, the restructured inaugural cohort began with 22 students enrolled. 

Leadership in the education field seems to come naturally to Tanner-Anderson, with past experiences of being a middle school assistant principal, middle school principal, and a department chair during her stint as an English teacher. However, it is also her personal values that lend a hand in her call to lead.

When asked how she established herself as a leader in the community, Tanner-Anderson stated, “I believe in service; to lead, truly, is to serve. As such, I have provided a number of free leadership professional development workshops to school divisions across the commonwealth as well as to various groups, clubs, and committees across campus.” As a true testament to her leadership quality around Longwood, Tanner-Anderson was awarded the “Faculty and Staff Citizen Leader Award” in the 2018-2019 school year.

On top of serving the local community and Longwood’s campus, Tanner-Anderson has also presented at a number of professional conferences, with topics ranging from literacy and leadership to mentorship and women’s leadership development.

Tanner-Anderson continues to grow and strengthen the Educational Leadership master’s as it continues into the second semester of the inaugural cohort with big hopes for the future of the program as well as the graduates.