Name: Dolores Smith

Title: Administrator

Organisation: Free Quest Academy

I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and moved at the age of 18 to Patagonia. I am currently a lawyer and real estate developer, but because of the lack of a good education in the small town i lived, i focused on creating a school option for both my children.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Educational Leadership!

I hope Dolores's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as an Educational Leader?

The bills and laws regarding education, especially in Latin American countries, where the State used the school system for its own political benefit.

2. How did you become an Educational Leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I raised my children in a small town in Patagonia, Argentina. The educational options were few and not good at all. After the pandemic, i realized that my children needed to learn different content and abilities, and also noted that the information to learn whatever they wanted was present in platforms in the web, and that the teachers were in some way restricting their learning.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

I work Mondays through Fridays from 8 am to 7 pm, and on Saturdays half day. My whole business hours are devoted to making a change in education worldwide.

4. What's a recent lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of as an Educational Leader?

Patience. I have very little. It is essential to enjoy the process of change.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your journey as an Educational Leader so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted you?

Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young educator who aspires to be an Educational Leader, what would you say to them?

Think out of the box. Embrace change and new technologies.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as an Educational Leader, so far?

I receive constant feedback of students families on how life changing Digital education was for their families. Each family has its own story of how or why they arrived to this system, and some cases are very emotional for me.