Envision The Future: Collaborative School Culture

I believe collaborative work is a useful strategy to help students develop understanding of concepts and become independent thinkers. It allows teachers to build a learning community in which students are able to work together to support each other’s learning. When using collaborative work, students become active participants of each lesson and the teacher becomes a guide that supports students throughout the learning process. I use collaborative work in my classroom because it allows me to meet the needs of my Special Education and English Language Learners. When my students work together they are able to put their strengths together to solve academic problems and complete different tasks. They are able to get along and work together to apply

The second quality of an effective leader is to have a vision. The vision should also include the schools missions, purpose and goals. The principal should be progressive and constantly looking for ways to keep the staff and students motivated to work towards a common goal. As an effective leader you must continuously promote the vision. This could be done with a school created slogan that fits the community. Most people want to belong and feel a part of something successful or on the path to greatness. It is a wonderful feeling to be a member of a successful school community where people really

As a leader I envision my school as one where students and teachers come to a place they enjoy entering each day. All share the focus of the school, the belief that all students can become high achievers. Staff is centered on student achievement; no matter what academic level that all students face coming into the classroom. All staff will understand that all children are teachable, even those with learning issues.

A: Intentional and Collaborative School Culture - Principals articulate, model and positively reinforce a clear vision and values of the school’s culture, and involve students, families and staff in creating an inclusive and welcoming climate that supports it.

Leithwood and Jantzi argue the ability to articulate a clear vision is an essential attribute for school leaders (2008, p. 507). Goal setting is a powerful motivator for change and when leaders are able to clearly communicate inspiration vision to those they lead, it is possible to harness this motivation to bring about school improvement in student learning (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2008, p.507). Clearly defined goals encourage school community to contribute to common goals and also streamlines decision making as only options that align with the vision need to be considered (Hallinger, 2010, p.129).

The ISLLC standards provide high-level guidance and insight about the traits, functions of work, and responsibilities expected of school and district leaders (ISLCC, 2008). Their main purpose is to increase understanding of how educational administrators can enhance teaching practices and student learning. As future school leaders it is imperative that we use these standards as tools in assisting us when making a decision regarding our stakeholders. However, applying the ISLLC standards in a school setting does not guarantee success for a school leader, but it does facilitate the process in creating a positive school culture in a learning

As instructional leaders, we are responsible for the academic growth of our students. It is my duty to foster a culture of learning. This is best accomplished by being a lifelong learner. Rather than focusing on the instruction of the teacher to the student, an instructional leader within a culture for learning focuses on the students by asking questions such as, “What was learned? What is the evidence that my students learned?” (DuFour, Richard and Robert J. Marzano. “High-Leverage Strategies for Principal Leadership.” How Teachers Learn 66.5. (2009): 62-68) Rather than the principal observing a teacher on instructional style, within a culture of learning, that school leader is directing her observations on ascertaining what the students learned, how they learned it and how they know what to do if they have not yet learned it. In looking at the traditional method of teacher observation, if a principal finds the instruction of a teacher is lacking and helps him improve this instruction, this does not guarantee that the learning will also improve. (DuFour, Richard and Robert J. Marzano. “High-Leverage Strategies for Principal Leadership.” How Teachers Learn 66.5. (2009): 62-68) Rather, the instructional leader of the school should be asking such questions as, “What are the students doing? Are they engaged in their learning

The concepts of “curriculum and pedagogy begins with an examination of the underlying philosophies theories and principles” (Waniganayake, Cheeseman, Fenech, Hadley & Shepherd, 2012, p. 98). These concepts help to shape an individuals idea of how they can create an environment that better suits themselves, their team of workers, the children and their families. Pratt (as cited in Davis, 2015, p. 80) offers to readers that the importance of developing a culture for equity, positive relationships and community adopts the importance of being valued in any contributions you make to sustain a collective body of learners. Being a leader is one who works together with their team and achieving their goals as well as promoting reflection and learning. The meeting that has been organised is to guide educators to “shape and influence what happens in the future” (Waniganayake, Cheeseman, Fenech, Hadley & Shepherd, 2012, p. 98), by discussing what it means to work together as a team providing alternatives in the way we all can communicate and develop endless outcomes for children's

Novice principals implementing change can be one of great challenge. With the demands of being a principal today we must have perseverance to make a positive vision become reality. According to a recent study done on 200 novice principals asking about the challenges they face implementing change, 121 of them plan to leave the profession (Bayar, 2016, p. 194). In this qualitative research study, principals also state that undesired behaviors have increased in today’s schools (Bayar, 2016, p. 197). I have been in two different school districts and in both I have experienced new administrators. In both cases, there was backlash from staff and students about new behavioral and intervention plans. Change will always be accompanied with backlash in trying to establish a new culture. I have been fortunate enough to see a pbss system come to fruition at my current school. In the end, the teachers are the ones who ultimately incorporate the change in their classrooms. Principals must be highly involved and consistent in implementing the

Changing the culture and climate could not be achieved by barking orders or mandating behaviors; conversely, the principal and assistant principal engaged and modeled turnaround behaviors necessary to bring about change. Specifically, they shared a strong work ethic, embraced teamwork, and presented an unrelenting resolve to achieve. Modeling these behaviors while embarking in initiatives (distributed leadership, collective responsibility for student learning, curriculum alignment, enhanced teacher efficacy) set the stage for high expectations for ALL in the school (Okilwa & Barnett, 2017).

Through introspection and from experiences and observations of past and current administrators as well as the readings from the courses I have taken in the Leadership Program, my leadership philosophy has evolved and it conveys the core values and beliefs that I think form the foundation for an effective educational leader. The foundational tenets for my leadership philosophy include: a visionary leader that sees the big picture and sets clear, specific goals by developing a shared vision that depicts the school’s values through open communication among all stakeholders; building a purposeful community through shared leadership and working collectively as a team by facilitating PLCs in addition to empowering all stakeholders to have a sense

In order to make a difference in schools, we must first assess our problem areas and determine which weaknesses need support in order to ultimately boost student achievement. West Middle School suffers from a lack of innovative and research-based teaching strategies. It is not uncommon to walk up and down the halls and observe students sitting in straight rows and working on decade-old worksheets or drowning in the traditional lecture setting. This problem is compacted by our current administrator, who regularly demonstrates a Laissez-Faire leadership style. He tends to be hands off and trusts that his staff is making the best possible decisions they can for the students they serve. However, our achievement data and school culture are suffering as a result of this “status quo is dandy” approach. Administrators are becoming less managerial, and alternatively are required to take on a more significant role of instructional leaders. An instructional leader would serve West well. In order to make a real difference in my school, I need to possess teacher-leader traits that are grounded in leadership research, as I strive to inspire and direct action of my colleagues during times of change

As the principal, I want to help develop and guide the climate of the school but in order to do that, I need to have and understanding and respect of the culture of the school and the teachers, parents, staff, and students. The culture is the traditions and values of a school, where as the climate is the feel of the school as you are on the school grounds. For this reflective essay, I would be a new principal at a new school, so the teachers may or may not have all worked together before and there would not be an established culture & climate, with the exception of uncertainty and or excitement. This would provide the staff and the community the opportunity to develop, build, and the culture and climate together. I would start with meeting with the teachers & staff individually, I would also provide a survey to see what they believe are the needs for developing our new school with high expectations for all students. After meeting individually, I would hold our first staff meeting (I would provide food, drinks, little incentives - ) and I would share the survey data as well as data on student achievements from all the schools in the district. This data would guide us in the future directions for our students success. I would then show the YouTube video

Culture builders understand and appreciate the power of culture. It is beneficial to administration to have staff members and support staff members accept the vision provided by school officials. Some veteran teachers and veteran administrators still believe the way teaching and learning was done a few decades ago is still productive today, however, these methods are not

I’m interested in AFM 202 which is a course about tax. I went to the PwC information session this week and this session just came at such a great time. I talked to one of the co-op students who is now working for PwC tax department. Luckily, I got the opportunity to ask her some questions about her current co-op job in person. I asked her course selection in 2A and she chose AFM 202. She said the tax course introduced a world full of up-to-date tax rules and some valuable basic information about tax which are so helpful to her co-op job. She explained that AFM 202 had two parts which meant students were required to handle both two parts in order to achieve the cause goal. According to the information I got from the previous networking session,