Teacher Leadership In The Context Of The Tea
- 1. Teacher Leadership in the Context of the TEA Program Presenter: Scott Bauer
- 2. Norms for Working Together Listen to each other with respect and trust Be open to new ideas Focus on the future
- 3. We learn about… 10% of what we READ 20% of what we HEAR 30% of what we SEE 50% of what we HEAR AND SEE 70% of what we DISCUSS with others 80% of what we EXPERIENCE personally 95% of what we TEACH someone else
- 4. What do we mean by “Leadership”?
- 5. Transformational Leadership & Change Two Kinds of change: First-order change usually involves making things more efficient; it does not change “the way we do things around here” Second order change involves building a shared vision, changing people’s beliefs about what’s possible; developing trust
- 6. Transformational Leadership & Change SECOND ORDER CHANGE GOES BEYOND FINDING WAYS TO “DO THE SAME THINGS BETTER” – IT INVOLVES FINDING NEW AND BETTER WAYS TO DO THE THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER
- 7. Transformational Leadership & Change Transformational leadership focuses on second-order change Helping staff members develop and maintain a collaborative, professional culture, Fostering human resource development, and Improving team problem-solving and decision-making
- 8. Instructional Leadership: What Teacher Leaders do Instructional leadership focuses on improving teaching and learning. Instructional leaders impact instruction by: Establishing goals and expectations, Providing resources needed to improve instruction, Planning, coordinating, and evaluating teaching, Promoting and participating in teacher learning, and Helping to create a supportive learning environment.
- 9. Learning-Oriented Leadership Recent studies of effective school leadership focus on the power of transformatioal leaders to promote learning – specifically, the leader’s role in HELPING TEACHERS LEARN. Informational learning = increasing the amount of knowledge a teacher has on a subject Transformational learning = learning that helps adults better manage the complexities of their work by organizing information differently, understanding more deeply, and making sense of unfamiliar experiences
- 10. Learning-Oriented Leadership Research shows that leaders who actively promote transformational learning engage in four mutually – reinforcing strategies: Teaming (which encourages exploration of alternative ways of teaching, dealing with problems, and revisiting goals and objectives); Providing leadership roles (which distributes decision-making power and enables teachers to challenge their own capabilities and examine their understanding and accountability); Engaging in collegial inquiry (which fosters reflection through shared dialogue on one’s assumptions, convictions, and values); Mentoring (which encourages mentor and mentee to broaden their perspective and deepen their understanding of teaching and learning).
- 11. Change Theory 101 Change theorists tend to agree that all change involves three stages: An ending, followed by… A transitional period (a period of distress and confusion), leading to… A new beginning
- 12. Some Assumptions about Change “ People don’t resist change. They resist being changed” (Lewin, 1947) We are likely to modify our own behavior when we participate in problem analysis and solution and likely to carry out decisions we helped make (Lewin, 1947) Those who actually do the work know best, and in the timeliest fashion, what students need and what will work to meet those needs. Changes that are likely to impact school performance take time; they do not occur overnight Structural change alone seldom impacts organizational performance and achievement. Lasting change affects organizational culture and changes behavior.
- 13. Some Assumptions about Change Effective leadership for change involves a balance between four factors: Vision Sense of reality Courage to act Awareness of how change affects others
- 14. Capacity for Change People do not grow by having their realities only confirmed. They grow by having them challenged… and being supported to listen to, rather than defend against, the challenge. – Kagan & Lahay (1984, p.226) Four distinct types of capacity issues affect the likelihood of successfully implementing change:
- 15. Capacity for Change Economic or financial resources : Do you have the resources needed for the change? Human resources : Do organizational members have the skills needed to effectively change? Social relationships / trust : Social relationships involve the active connections that exist among people: Do people in your organization have the trust, mutual understanding, and shared values necessary to make cooperative action possible? Leadership : Do leaders understand the change process, and have the capacity to set direction, develop people, and redesigning the organization to support change?
- 16. Defining “Trust” “ It is difficult to work in a group when you’re omnipotent” (Q. from Star Trek: The Next Generation) Recent work on educational change has confirmed that the foundation of organizational improvement is trust, largely because improvement processes are so dependent on collaborative and collegial action
- 17. Defining “Trust” In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People , Stephen Covey suggests that trust is relational and is built over time – you don’t trust everyone the same amount, but instead as you interact with them, you come to trust them (or distrust them!). To get a grasp on this, Covey suggests that you imagine that you have a “trust account” with each person with whom you interact, an “emotional bank account” that represents the balance of trust you have built over time. Deposits in the emotional bank account include the following:
- 18. Defining “Trust” Understanding the individual Attending to the little things Keeping commitments Clarifying expectations. Showing personal integrity Apologizing sincerely when you make a withdrawal
- 19. Building Trust Trust is typically concerned with the connections among people – your network, your community Emerging research on leadership for school improvement demonstrates that relational trust operates as a key resource for improvement, and that one important consequence of transformational leadership is building trust
- 20. Building Trust Trust is “relational” in that it is a result of each and every interpersonal exchange you have with another person. Each individual you encounter may have a different level of trust in you based on his/her past encounters with you
- 21. Four dimensions of leadership operate interdependently to foster trust Respect : recognizing the important role each individual plays in promoting success in our organization, and mutual dependencies that exist among these various stakeholders Competence : effective and efficient execution of an individual’s formal leadership responsibilities Personal regard for others : caring about others; reducing their sense of vulnerability and/or taking steps to promote their efficacy Integrity : consistency between what you say and what you do
- 22. Field work: Building your action plan My goal is to (purpose) Help make the English department of my school more dynamic By… (action) Implementing an action plan to create a learning community Because… (reason to reach goal) By sharing new methodologies, strategies and successful experiences, every teacher will have better results in their classes I’ll know I’m successful when… (indicators) The learning community in my school starts to show new implementations in the classrooms because of professional growth produced by the exchange of teachers I’ll need to work with…(people) My coordinators and the whole English department