What is an Effective School Leader

So far this course has had a profound effect on my thoughts on the qualities of an effective leader in many ways.  To begin, I realized that an effective leader must be a “lamb”.  I would imagine it is easy for leaders to get trapped in the “superman” trap, the feeling that he/she must be everything to everyone.  To avoid this trap, I believe it is important to  have a strong leadership team and empower everyone in the school.  

Additionally, it has been very eye opening to see the many “hats” an effective leader must play. As mentioned in the voice thread, it seems that an effective leader has to be everything from a counselor, to a parent, to an architect.   However, perhaps  tthe most important leadership skills are mentioned by Murphy when he discusses being a member of the community who respects and doesn’t “ignore the unheroic side of lower level staff” and his idea of reciprocity; the realization that “if you don’t listen to others, they won’t listen to you”. 

After years in a building with this type of leader, I can see the importance of these skills. It is this type of leader who builds a we and us type of community instead of an us and them feeling.   In my district, the teachers just agreed to a pay freeze for the next four years because they knew that the alternative would hurt the students and the district as a whole.  We realize that although there may be differences of opinions, we all are in it together.  My husband works in a district with an us and them type of feeling and it is very disheartening.  Decisions are seen as imposed instead of discussed.  The teachers have been on strike nine times in 35 years.  It is a well-paid position, the school provides a lot for the students, but he hates it.  He hates going to work and doesn’t feel effective or respected in the district.  And, what makes it worse is he has an EdD and could be seen as a resource and staff leader.

I believe the top three characteristics a leader must have are vision, integrity, and savvy. 

·      Vision:  Vision is essential for a leader and for the entire school community.  But, for a vision to be authentic, it there are a few essential characteristics.  I agree with Murphy’s description of the vision as a blueprint.  But, a blueprint isn’t a final version.  I believe that the vision should be clearly communicated to the staff, but again it is essential to respect and hear the other staff members.  As Murphy discusses, the principal can/should be a driving force, but “involve other key actors while clarifying and synthesizing views”, thus creating a truly shared vision.

·      Integrity-  I think this is the characteristic that is the most transparent.  Leaders must, as Evans points out stand for something and live and breathe that value.  I think one of the most discouraging things to see is a leader who is blown by the wind and doesn’t seem to know what they believe in, perhaps being just a messenger from voices above.  Of course, the district vision must be upheld, but just as the principal should hear the teachers, principals and upper leadership should express their viewpoint in the district.

·      Savvy  -  Although this characteristic is important, I’m not sure it can be taught or learned by anything except experience or time.  Just as teachers learn the “art” of teaching, I believe a true leader begins to learn the art of leadership through experience and continuous learning.  Leaders must learn to balance the roles and use different skills at different times.  They most also learn to rely on others who possess skills that they be lacking.

Obviously, my thoughts on being an effective leader will change throughout the course, program, and experience.  But, at its core, I believe that these skills or characteristics are the ones that will help a leader rise to his/her utmost ability

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!

           

            

Reflect and Look Ahead

Now that we are approaching the end of the of the online orientation weeks, I feel much more comfortable with the organization and format of the program.  First, I want to say that I am very impressed with how simple it has been to become familiarize myself with the online format.  It is very visually appealing and enjoyable.  Now that I am more familiar with with the rhythms of this program, I  think the best plan for me is to log in each night after my kids go to sleep.  Doing this will keep me up to date with announcements and discussions in the discussion boards. It will also allow me to do the activities in little chunks, making it much more manageable.  Obviously if there's a synchronous chat, I will need to log on for that as well, but as a rule post bedtime is a great, quiet time for me to work on these activities.   


As for my expectations for the program, I really have three main expectations.  First,  I hope to expand my horizons.  One of the things that most attracted me to this program was the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded (and not so like-minded) people from different places and backgrounds.  Since I have worked in the same district for the last 13 years, it's easy to believe there is only one correct way to think.  Another expectation I have is to learn more about different technology tools available.  I am pretty familiar with current technologies for the classroom but as we know, things are rapidly changing and this program provides me with an opportunity to expand my horizons and learn new things.  Obviously, the third goal I have for this program is to learn what it takes to be a good leader in the educational setting.  Like everyone, I have worked with good and not so good school leaders, and I hope to learn methods and theories regarding leadership. 


Honestly, right now I don't think I need any additional support.  All of the materials, activities and expectations are very easy to find/follow.  The only part of the program that is a little awkward for me is not being able to put faces/ideas with names. I figure, though, that once we all meet in Denver, it will solve this problem for the most part. 


So, now I'm excited to get more into the "meat" of this program.y.  Can't wait to meet everyone in Denver!