In Education, teachers recently have had little opportunity to take on leadership roles. These opportunities have been limited to traditional ones such as becoming a principal or ones clearly defined in a specific school setting like a literacy coach. All stakeholders including the principal, administration, and teacher politics involved within the school district and in each school’s culture have also played a role in leaving talented teachers in the classroom and not in front of the class leading educational reform. Two challenges that are limiting some teachers from taking on these leadership roles are an unsupportive school culture and not having a clearly defined plan of what a teacher leader should do to lead from the classroom and not the front office.
In looking at the Leadership Capacity of School Survey, our school does well in how we use information to shape best practice. Most of the scores were high. We have the time set aside for professional learning communities to collaborate about new learning and best practice. This learning comes from data collected from student achievement in reading and math. This leads to the optimal levels of learning and teaching for our students. And, this professional development would be stronger with the addition studying current research to keep us as up to date as possible. Also, we are able support our students’ learning to make new plans for them to succeed through ongoing conversation and questioning. Also, the next phase of this dialogue should center on what happens when a student fails to meet certain expectations.
On the other hand, the first challenge is having a school culture that is not encouraging. The below area illustrates where we require the most improv...
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...ng the right questions to lead back to the common goal. These are two ways we can measure our success or use these to improve our ideas. I believe it takes time. I don’t know if everyone will buy in especially to a different way of approaching leadership. However, I believe to educate and empower others about new opportunities as leaders will make a better school culture. They can be a coach in technology, curriculum, or other areas.
In Education, change must take place. One change is more teachers taking on new leadership roles not necessarily as a principal, but as a curriculum expert. Now is the time to be leaders in our schools, at the district level, at our AEAs, or in the Department of Education. We can change the view of all stakeholders that teachers are leaders not only in the classroom, but in new opportunities we are discovering at this time.
Gorton, R. A., & Alston, J. A. (2012). School leadership & administration: Important concepts, case studies, & simulations. (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. [Kindle Version] (pp. 1-323).
Ms. Hall has had many years of public education experience and higher education training in which to hone her leadership style and framework. She started her career as a teacher in the Kirkwood School District. She then served as an assistant elementary principal at both Ritenour and Pattonville School Districts before being selected to serve as the assistant superintendent of the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District in 2008. Throughout her career she continued to pursue her education as a means o...
In a quote from Tom Peters, he states that “ leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” Working as a lead administrator in a building can have some powerful challenges, but as with anything, the approach is what makes the difference. A good leader will take advantage of the tools around them, knowing that every building has individuals who offer their very own strengths. In focusing on the individual teacher strengths of each specific teacher, a rapport can be built, but most importantly, the outcome will be a stronger building because of the process of spreading the wealth. Ultimately, no teacher in any building became a teacher without being a leader first, and as I have looked back on my own past upbringing through scouting by other educators, I see the outpouring of wealth of experience from those teachers just waiting to make a
Leadership training programs allow for teachers to use their professional experience as an educator and combine it with the academic and hands on experience of being a leader by providing a comprehensive program. Leadership “…is learnable by providing real world leadership training” (Ramsey, 2006, p.xx). The training program prepares educators to be leaders and equips them with the tools necessary to be an effective leader. There is a need for an “,,,infusion ...
Frank, V. V. (2009, September). Framework for Improvement: Effective School Leadership Translates into Increased Student Learning. The Learning Principal: National Staff Development Council , pp. 2, 6-7.
I wanted to dive deeper into the study of HSO’s as it relates to the leadership aspect. The organization I choose to do my research on is a nursing home facility, in which I currently work. As I was going through the Leadership Matrix assignment, I begin to realize the leadership in this particular facility is more task oriented, which seems to be a direct contradiction to the work that we do on a daily basis. Majority of our patients are elderly, and have some sort of mental or physical illness. The facility is staffed with nurses, certified nursing assistants, housekeepers, dietary aides, maintenance workers, social workers, admissions coordinators, and their managers. All parts working together to serve one mission, to achieve goals, and that’s to help get our short term patients out and back home as quick as possible, with the best therapy we can provide; and to maintain high quality of living for those who will make their home with us.
I see leadership as a daunting challenge in a school. There are so many factors to consider and how each decision affects so many different aspects of the school environment. I know I need practice in presenting my vision and mission to a staff and being an effective leader to get a community to follow my lead.
DEVELOPMENT & IMPLEMENTATION OF A SHARED VISION: Education leaders facilitate the development and implementation of a shared vision of learning and growth of all students, (1C) Implementing the Vision connection to my action plan. I collaborate with key stakeholders with the intention of fostering a shared vision, one that is proactive in nature. Proactive interventions, such as the development of a BIP will aid in a shared vision of learning and growth for all students regardless of ability levels. INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP: Education leaders shape a collaborative culture of teaching and learning informed by professional standards and focused on student and professional growth (2C) Supporting Teachers to Improve Practice (2D) Feedback on Instruction, directly relates to my action plan as I will engage in open collaborative conversations with teachers, administrators, and essential staff members. I will conduct informal classroom observations with the intension of providing feedback, constructing classroom materials, dispersing information. EXTERNAL CONTEXT AND POLICY Education leaders influence political, social, economic, legal and cultural contexts affecting education to improve education policies and practices (6A) Understanding and Communicating Policy correlates with my action plan. I will inform all essential members of the current legal mandates established by federal law, as safeguarding student
School administrators are important in setting the path for a successful school (Glickman, et al., 2014). The principals could play a dynamic leadership depending on how they exercise their beliefs of the organizational and social environment (McNair, 2011). The principals are the primary facilitators for developing the foundations in learning that will last, to manage the student’s performance at schools, and seeking the improvement at school that will cause great impacts in school‘s education (Gordon,1989). In the recent years in the U.S., education has change in a more cultural diversity population, it is imperative that school supervisors, are trained to encounter this cultural issues, but also assisting others with the opportunities to develop appropriate abilities to deal with different cultures (Glickman, et al., 2014).
With the passage of NCLB, many school reform efforts have been initiated using top-down model in which each school leaders have been charged with initiating bold administrative changes to address the legislation. With the number of leadership theories and models, researchers have become interested in studying those to determine which might bring forth the most significant results for leading such change. Due to the lack of highly qualified administrators and the increasing demands for administrators, Bush, O’Brien & Spangler (2005) studied a program, the Southern Tier Leadership Academy, a collaborative of the New York Education Department. The study included three separate cohorts who completed an eight month program. Whereas, Somech (2005) chose to investigate directive and participative leadership approaches, and which would more significantly impact school effectiveness. Perhaps Somech’s reflect Scherer’s (2009, p.7) understandings as described in Educational Leadership, ‘broom-wielding leadership can indeed be beneficial’ as is putting advocates into positions of power and influence and building teams, both of which are seemingly contrasting opposites.
The role of teacher leader has been defined as “teachers who aspire to stretch beyond their classrooms to engage in leadership roles that take many shapes and forms, both “informal and formal”. (ECS, 2010). Teacher leadership has also been described as “the process by which teachers, individually and collectively, influence their colleagues, principals, and other members of the school community to improve learning practices with the aim of increased student learning and achievement.” (ECS, 2010). In years past, a majority of teacher leadership roles took the form of department chair, committee chair, grade level chair, etc. It was more of a representative role versus a leadership role. Their responsibility primarily involved dispersing information from administration to their counterparts and taking information back to administration from the group. Their position lacked decision-making power and true leadership that brings about “real” change. These tasks are still viewed as opportunities for teacher leadership; however, recently, the
Principal Pettis has to come to the realization that it is not possible to “have all the competence, all the time, and all the information needed at any one time to get the job done.” (Sergiovanni, 2015, p. 12). She will have to empower and cultivate leadership skills in teacher-leaders to give her an equitable perspective on the needs of her school. In this way, learning is ongoing for all, making the important connection between leadership and learning that is so powerful in successful schools. With these few changes, the heartbeat of the school is
It is my belief that anyone with a desire to change the world would be fortunate to work in education. By sharing my vision with others, and building upon my skills while seeking constant growth, I strive to take an approach to leadership that fosters an effective, nurturing educational environment for the entire school community. By creating this type of environment, as well as through embracing and enhancing my leadership strengths, it is my goal to contribute to society by inspiring people to become better not only as teachers and students, but as compassionate human beings.
Education is a very important aspect in the life of a child. The level of success a student has in the classroom is greatly influenced by their teachers. Students, as well as their parents, depend on the teachers to guide them through their education. But who guides a teacher to perform successfully in the classroom? Principals and teachers play an important role in schools. A good relationship among school leaders and teachers is necessary and play an important role in making improvements in the school. Leadership refers to the “process in which one person successfully exerts influence over others to reach desired objectives”. (Okoji, 2015) Good leadership involves honesty, vision, confidence and commitment. It is the ability to inspire a
York-Barr, J. & K. Duke (2004) what do we know about teacher leadership? Findings from two decades of scholarship. Review of educational research 74(3), 255-316.