Education Leadership And Its Impact On Education

This past school year I have been social chair of Nursing Students Without Borders. I have organized, implemented and hosted social events throughout the Fall of 2016 and the Spring of 2017. This past year the leadership of NSWB has worked to make NSWB community focused which is why the position I held was added this past year. I have been able to mentor a pre-nursing student through NSWB. I was able to answer the questions honestly from a pre-nursing student and provide support during the application process. I have been able to participate in leadership meetings and have learned how to plan well and how to improve event planning.

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.

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.

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.

Being an Educational Leader is where I have chosen to land. Educational leadership will often bring me back to the classroom, helping teachers, coaching students and planning curriculum. A master’s degree in Educational Leadership will deliver a fresh perspective

My philosophy of education is correlated to my vision of education and my role as an instructional leader. Excellent administrators possess personal characteristics of exemplary leadership talent in analysis of data, organizational constructs, leadership decisiveness, oral and written communication, technological confidence, personal motivation and educational integrity within school systems. Educational leadership is a vital position in which I persistently evaluate every decision I make on behalf of students; what is the educational value? Will all students benefit? Is it fiscally responsible? How do we sustain success? In order for students to be competitive locally, nationally and internationally, I am committed to providing effective,

Effective leadership has been identified as a critical component for guiding school improvement; however, leaders who fail to establish a vision supported by thorough analysis of student performance data will be unlikely to focus instructional changes in critically needed areas.

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,

Create a personal, professional mission statement summarizing philosophy, knowledge and skills of instructional supervision from which to guide future leadership actions.

The California Standards for Educational Leaders (CPSELS) align the most closely with my own beliefs and opinions of what it means to have “great school leadership”. It is inherent within their standards that they have a strong commitment to cultural diversity and the use of technology as a powerful tool (CPSELS 2008). As a school administrator, I will strive to be an educational leader that promotes the success of all students, and I believe that this can be achieved by supporting and implementing the 6-standard system listed below.

Hillard (2011) asserts that with the passing of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) bill, educational leaders face more challenging leadership responsibilities than ever in the history of education. The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) has set stringent standards that school principals must meet before they are deemed qualified to lead instruction. This includes completing formal Educational leadership programs, the passage of an examination demonstrating their skills and knowledge, and a certification process. However, school administrators are still concerned with not having enough time to provide instructional supports to teacher. In addition, it is nearly impossible for principals to be content experts in every subject, especially in high school settings.

Whether you are a school principal, superintendent or area superintendent, there is a great deal of issues that you face as an educational leader. Some issues may be poverty, the lack of qualified teachers or teacher morale, finances, lack of organizational structure, parental and community involvement, technology, or simply time. I was provided with the gratifying opportunity of interviewing a prior Principal of mine, Dr. Angela Murphy-Osborne (Dr. O). In this interview, Dr. O shared her top three issues that she faced as an educational leader today. Selecting only the top three issues was a major challenge for her! As a result, she provided her top three, while also voicing other concerns. After in-depth consideration, Dr. O decided that the top three issues she faces on daily basis as an educational leader were testing, lack of time, and budget. She explained to me that each of these issues is significant because they not only impact her directly, but they also play a major role to the success of the school!

According to Stewart-Banks, Kuofie, Hakim & Branch (2015), good leadership tends to follow three basic steps (a) setting a direction (b) developing people so that they can head in that direction; and (c) redesigning the institution around instruction. It’s less about leaders possessing a compelling shared vision and more about helping “people figure out the shorter-term goals on the way to achieving that vision and then setting high expectations for people in accomplishing those.” When it comes to school leadership, being willing to change is the name of the game whether it’s (a) restructuring the school day so teachers are able to observe teaching of the highest order or, (b) allocating enough

As I began this Leadership in Education course, I entered with an open mind and eagerness to learn about varying leadership styles and approaches. Over the years, I have fortunately been exposed to numerous genuine, caring, exceptional leaders in higher education. They all shared one commonality: student-centeredness. This has been my compass and guides me in my work. Through this course, I wanted to learn how I can better support students, whether directly or indirectly by leading other professionals and para-professionals in their work with students.

Simply put, instructional leadership focuses on students. Instructional leadership “is strongly concerned with teaching and learning, including the professional learning of teachers as well as student growth” (Bush, 2007, p. 400). There is heightened awareness with instructional issues, ensuring professional development, conducting classroom observations, communicating high academic standards and ensuring the school environment is conducive to learning (Hattie, 2015). Instructional leaders are less focused on how to make schools a reflection of their educational beliefs and more concerned with keeping students first, as a means to drive positive change. Instructional leadership focuses on the principal closely monitoring the activities of not only the students’ work but also that of the teachers (Blase & Blase, 2000). This is aimed at improving instruction and technical activities of the school. Hallinger developed the most common conceptualization of instructional leadership. According to Hallinger (2003), there are three scopes to an instructional leadership design: defining the school’s mission followed by managing the program and finally promotion of a positive learning environment.