Curriculum Improvement And Support For Teachers Leaders

Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders. This quote by Tom Peters best summarizes my philosophy of teacher leadership. As a teacher leader, it is up to me to inspire, direct, and encourage others so that stronger teacher, administrative, and student leaders may be born from the process. Teacher leadership involves collaboration between teachers, administrators, and teacher leaders with the goal of positively impacting the student learning environment. With student learning as the ultimate objective, teacher leadership “becomes an indispensable avenue for school improvement” (Coggins & McGovern, 2014, p. 21). So how do I as a teacher leader begin this process? I believe that teacher leadership can be achieved through three means: modeling, mentoring, and collaborating.

In this paper, I will reflect on my new knowledge and skills that I have acquired regarding teacher leadership, supportive communication and collaboration. I will also reflect on practical application of these skills, such as assessing the needs, problems or issues, and creating the action plan to address the issues. In the end, I will define how teacher leadership can positively affect student learning and achievement.

Teachers as leaders. Crowther, Ferguson and Hann (2009) in their book, Developing Teacher Leaders (2nd ed.) defined that “Teacher leadership is essentially an ethical stance that is based on views of both a better world and the power of teachers to shape meaning systems. It manifests in new forms of understanding and practice that contribute to school success and to the quality of life of the community in the long term.” They also described the six elements of Teachers as Leaders Framework. (Crowther, F., Ferguson, M., and Hann, L. (2009). P.

Orr, like many others, believes that a teacher leader is someone who “impacts education beyond their own classroom”; however, she is quick to point out that she believes it is more than just the work teachers accomplish with administrators within their own schools. Orr wants the idea of teacher leaders to encompass far more than that.

Good leader needs to be able to identify teacher capabilities, and in what capacity they best fit in the school to reach the organization 's goals and provide resources to help teachers, and grow their capacity to become effective. According to Mantz, the tricky part is putting enough pressure on them for continual growth in meeting the vision of the school, progressing quickly, but not to the point where teachers become overloaded, and want to quit. Two years ago, the district had five teachers resign mid year. Teachers need to be pushed to meet the desired results, but there must be a balance, or they leave. Increased professional development after classroom observations has helped teachers strengthen capabilities through evaluations. Teachers make goals, then, are provided formative feedback early in their teaching experiences, which builds capacity, and provides more flexibility in the master schedule.

Servant leadership is key- Educational leaders must have the interests of the children as their main concern. Hall’s use of fear to achieve results created a bigger problem within the school district rather than solving it. Listening to teachers’ difficulties and working directly with those inside individual schools will help leaders identify and solve problems, as Errol and Castarphen have done and will continue doing.

Aside from the administrative duties, educational leadership involves soliciting the cooperation and working with teachers to improve the pedagogic processes in their schools. Furthermore, this will require team effort from all the stakeholders to achieve these goals and adherences to the school’s mission and vision.

One of the main things to being a leader is being passionate in the field one is working in. If you do not care about the field you are working in, then someone else is not going to look up to you as a leader. All of the teachers at school show they are passionate about their job and therefore we look up to them to be leaders. Angela said, “Passion makes the impossible possible”. When we have to write a paper, we sit there for hours trying to think of a topic and think that it is impossible, but the teachers who have passion about teaching students helps us realize how it is possible and that makes them even more of a leader. If one is passionate about their area of study, then they are going to be teachable which will make them an even better leader.

Above all else, I view leadership within the school system as essential for its success. My cumulative experiences provide a strong background that will allow me to excel as a school leader. I possess an understanding of the challenges and intricacies of a wide variety of school systems, ranging from small rural programs to inner-city and sub-urban high schools to research universities. My experience teaching at the college level gives me a unique perspective that will allow me to guide a program aimed at cultivating high school students capable of excelling in their educational endeavors. In addition, I believe that to be a truly successful leader, one must have a clear understanding of the challenges faced by educators. My years as a high school teacher have provided me a keen perspective in this regard. University of Northern Colorado’s Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Program will be an invaluable avenue for me to learn from experienced educators as I hone my leadership abilities with the goal of using my life to lead improvements in the public education system. I look forward to the opportunity to develop as an educator,

Educational leaders play significant roles in the modern society. Their effectiveness depends on their strengths. Primarily, it is vital having a comprehensive understanding of who is an educational

I think and every successful teacher will agree with me that promoting the success of every student is the main value of any educational professional and it is very important for a leader to demonstrate these traits. What is leadership? Some people think that it is good to be a boss and it is easy to rule any organization. Leadership is more than just to rule any organization. It is the development of a practice around a mission or vision and an ability to inspire others to do the same. There are three sets of practices make up this basic core of successful leadership practices: setting directions, developing people and redesigning the organization. Foster (1989) says, “Leadership differs from conventional administration in much the same way that education differs from training (p.10).” This speaks to results- to the why of teaching. And the value of a leader can be determined by their results. If their aim is high-quality education (an admittedly vague term), academic success, and well-being of each student then this is the standard by which they should be judged. Burns admonishes that “power and leadership are measured by the degree of

what it means to be teacher leader can be found in the literature, yet the roles of

There is so much writing about the teacher-leader. Teacher leaders are people who are proactive and encouraging about change. They model change for others as well as inspiring their students to adopt positive conduct merely by observing and imitating the behavior of the teacher. They change their students, are proactive, and take risks.

In their text, Liberman and Miller (2004) addressed the constructs of teacher leadership in three themes from prior research: individual teacher leader roles and organizational realities, learning in practice, and teacher leadership and reshaping school culture. Some of the research studies corresponded with many of my experiences as an emerging music teacher and leader at a tough school placement. In the cultivation of teacher leadership roles, it is important that a teacher is able to build trust and rapport among administration and fellow colleagues, making organizational diagnosis, using using resources effectively, and ultimately have support to alter school culture for the better and to help establish teacher identity (Miles, Saxl, & Liberman, 1988; Smylie & Denny, 1990; Wasley, 1991). In my first two years, I felt very confident in my abilities to develop my skills by way of the veteran teachers at my school who led by example through classroom management skills and showing me better ways to make my lessons more relevant to my students. I remember my mentor teacher pulling me aside and stating that I must expose my students to music that wasn 't always written by dead people; start with what they know and go from there! When I started making such changes in my instructional approaches, it helped establish connections and collaborations with my fellow teachers and invested students; thus influencing aspects of my leadership style. Much of which echoed Miller and

Those who learn to be instructional leaders acquire many characteristics that are beneficial to their schools and communities. The writer concurs that Instructional leaders exhibit a clear sense of direction for their schools and prioritize and focus attention on the things that really