Reflections on Leadership

         Based on the readings over the last two weeks I define transformational leadership as a leadership style that is focused on creating change. When a leader wants to make a transformational change in a school he/she starts by creating an empowered culture in the school. As teachers feel more comfortable with the power to make change they begin to see problems in a new light. Problems move from being obstacles that someone else needs to remove to opportunities for change. As a culture of transformational change takes over the school it is hoped that the change that happens will be greater than the sum of the parts of the change that has been implemented.
As a teacher my philosophy of education included a strong student-centered classroom. In a nutshell this philosophy can be described as students learn when they do. Studying transformational leadership, servant-leadership, steward leadership, I see these styles of leadership to be a natural extension of my teaching in the classroom. A leader should try to empower their followers in such a way that they become leaders in their own right. Ultimately the leader becomes as Thomas Sergiovanni said a “leader of leaders” (2007).
This decentralized leadership, where power is spread out among the staff, requires strong communications, trust, and highly skilled individuals. The technology of the 21st century makes this style of leadership easier. Leaders build trust by modeling the actions we want, doing the work we expect, and being transparent. We build strong communication through being accessible. I sometimes feel I know administrators from around the world as well as I know my own principal. I am in this leadership program specifically because of administrators and other leaders whom I communicate with on twitter and blogs, but for the most part I have never met. My personal growth, skill in the classroom, has accelerated because of my ability to share and observe various educational leaders around the world. I have been inspired to start implementing some of the changes in my own work.
For me the power of technology isn't in what is allows us to do, but rather in how it allows us to share. In the same way leaders aren't the people who are best at a specific job, but rather are the people who are the best at motivating people to do the job. As a school leader I don't intend on managing everyone in the school rather I intend to manage the teachers and staff and let them have the power to manage their individual sections of the school.



References:
Fullan, M. "Leadership for the 21st century: Breaking the bonds of dependency." Center for
         Development and Learning. Retrieved July 15, 2010, from
         http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/bonds_dependency.php
Inc, Jossey-Bass, & Fullan, Michael. (2007). The Jossey-bass reader on educational leadership.
         San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.
Anderson L. S.. (Producer). (2008, January 1). Episode 21: 2 CEOs talk about leadership
         [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/think-like-a-
         leader/id129403890
Marzano, R. J., Waters, T, & McNulty, B. (2005). School leadership that works from research to
         results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Comments

Lynne said…
I agree that your student-centered approach lays a strong foundation for the type of leadership style you will exhibit as a school leader. If at the core your philosopy is the "whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts" then you grasp the power of collaboration and teamwork--key elements of transformational leadership. This style you have adopted will serve you well as put processes in place to promote a "leader of leaders" culture.
July 27, 2010 at 8:22 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Making Myself a Better Teacher Episode 1

My first podcast with a friend Joy Kirr. The audio file  Podcast page Joy is a local teacher whom I was following on Twitter. I don't think I even realized she was local when I first started following her. One day she tweeted out an activity she was hosting at the school she worked at the time. I was like, hey that's right down the road I should go. And so I did, with my wife and kids in tow we went. I just really love making these connections.  We haven't talked much in the last few years but when I decided to start this podcast series and I was trying to think of teachers that I would like to chat with I remembered Joy and thought, "Yes, she is a teacher I would like to learn from." So here we are with my first episode.  As I reviewed to the chat I thought I would mark down some of the parts I thought were good. Around minute 3 we talk about low and high points in education and she really embodies a growth mindset. Keep those keepsakes,
Read more

Writing my lessons with OpenAI

Image
 Good unit plans require backward planning so let's create an assessment. Write a performance task for the mathematical standard Solve linear equations in one variable. Performance Task: Linear Equation Word Problems You have been hired by a furniture company to help them price their products. The company has determined that the price of a table is directly proportional to its length. They have found that a 6 foot long table costs $300. You are given the following information: The cost of a table is directly proportional to its length A 6 foot long table costs $300 Using this information, you need to answer the following questions: Write an equation that represents the relationship between the length of a table (in feet) and its cost (in dollars). A customer wants to purchase a 9 foot long table. How much will it cost? The company wants to sell a 4 foot long table for $200. Is this possible, and if so, what will the cost be? To complete this task, you will need to use your knowledg
Read more

Finally getting around to playing with CHATGPT

 My first question and answer. so the question is from a performance task I set for my students. I think if they followed the directions they could turn in a piece of work that I would grade as acceptable. Often I try to get my students to write or verbally explain their thought process and I would be looking for this exact answer. Well maybe I would expect them to tell me to draw a line up three boxes on a graph paper and over 4 boxes to make a right triangle. Draw a right triangle ABC.side lengths of 3 and 4. Draw a dilation of triangle ABC with a center of dilation at A and a scale factor of 2 label the new vertices B’ and C’ Write a similarity statement for triangles ABC and AB’C’ To draw a right triangle with side lengths 3 and 4, start by drawing a horizontal line and a vertical line. These two lines will represent two sides of the triangle. Next, draw a diagonal line connecting the two lines to form the hypotenuse of the triangle. Label the points where the horizontal and
Read more