21 Leadership Responsibilities Analyzed

Analyzing the Responsibilities of the School Leader Self-Assessment was very interesting. The areas in which I need to continue to work were very obvious after looking at the results of the online assessment. However, in reality, none of these results were overly surprising. In fact, my self-assessment correlates very closely to the actual results of the survey.

As evidenced in the attached 21 Responsibilities table, both sets of results show me that my strengths lie in the “softer” sides of leadership, such as relationships, input, communication, etc. This really didn’t surprise me because I’ve always enjoyed working in groups and trying to work as a team. One thing that did surprise me is how these have a lesser correlation with student achievement. I have very mixed feelings about this. Of course, makes me realize that some of my “weaker” areas are things I’m going to have to work harder at. However, I thought two of Marzano’s points were especially interesting. The first issue he noted was that each of the responsibilities is important and that each has an effect on achievement. So, even the areas that might have a lower correlation with student achievement still have an effect. The other point that stood out to me was how the rank order changes as the responsibilities are looked at from another perspective. For example, many of the areas that I feel that I am stronger in would lead to (I believe) a more positive, open school culture. That type of culture definitely leads to learning and growth in the school. Therefore, even though some of the areas that I am stronger in are not as directly correlated to student achievement, I still believe they are important.

That said, in schools we obviously do want students to achieve. So, this gives me food for thought. I can’t use the idea of “well my strengths are good too” to get me by. I’m going to need to start thinking more about the areas in which I scored lower. In particular, Marzano highlights the area of situational awareness - an area in which I scored lower. If it is true that situational awareness is more highly related to student achievement, I will need to spend time this year taking this into account while in different schools. One issue that affects me particularly is the fact that in my current position I move between 12 schools, so it’s hard to get a good grasp on the issues of one particular school. I hope that by working with a school-based principal, I can get more experience with this type of responsibility.

Finally, I think that this survey helps me realize the importance of a strong leadership team. Obviously, there are areas of responsibility that would be more difficult for me, and that’s why I believe that a leadership team needs to work together to collectively hit each of these responsibilities. In a school, a team of principal, assistant principal, dean, social workers, learning coaches, etc, would be able to very effectively create a unit that would address all of these responsibilities.

Transformational Leadership

            Although it seems strange, when I think of transformational leadership, the TV show Friends comes to mind.  Friends were truly an ensemble cast.  If someone were to ask you who the star was, it was different each week, depending on the theme, or problem of the episode.  And, the actors seemed to truly care about and value each other both on the set and off.  One example of this was when negotiations began the cast members insisted that no one actor earned more than the others.  Somewhere, behind the scenes there was a director and producer guiding the group but rarely getting attention for it.   From what I read, transformational leadership leads to the same type of atmosphere- a group of people working together, with a common vision, working together , as described by James MacGregor Burns, to “raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality.” And, like the director/producer in the Friends example, there is a leader there, but he/she doesn’t need to be in the spotlight.  In fact, no one needs to be in the spotlight.  All members would work together to work for the collective, each member putting forth his/her strengths to help this community.  Ideally, like Friends, the group as a whole work together to put produce a school community that is positive, remembered, and of great quality. 

            Even though the “director” is behind the scenes and doesn’t really need to be noticed, his/her transformational leadership strongly impacts the way an administrator leads a school.  As stated by Kenneth Leitwood, there are basically three categories of practices that the leader most complete; setting directions,  developing people, and redesigning the organization.  Each of these aspects is important, but perhaps the most important two are the setting of direction and developing people.  Really, if the school doesn’t have a vision, it’s almost as dangerous as letting the reigns loose on a horse.  Things in the school will “move” but you don’t know if it’s forward, sideways, or even backward.  As mentioned by Colonel Mark Homrig, transformational leaders have an “inspirational vision” and the followers share that vision.  With a common vision, the “leader” and “followers” can work together and, as Burns states, become “ennobled”.  Leitwood states, interestingly that the second practice is to “develop people”.  The word people is very deliberate and telling.  When the transformational leader works with people, he sees them as people.  Not as staff, or as employees, or as teachers.  It shows that the transformational leader is able to have, as Homrig mentions, general interest in followers.  This practice is empowering to the followers and strengthening to the community as a whole.            

            Of course, all of these benefits are enhanced when incorporated technology into mix.  Many of the “Web 2.0” type programs/websites highlight the ideas of collaboration and communication.  Using wikis and blogs in these transformational schools would increase communication, give teachers a place to collaborate and even offer possibilities of professional development with online learning course and/or discussions.

            The TV show Friends ended over six years ago. Yet, people still speak of it. It is seen as a model of collaboration, where an ensemble got together and created something fresh, new, and exciting.  I believe that 21^st century schools can do the same when lead in a transformational way!