Leadership Style
Since August of 2015, I have had the privilege of working with an incredible leader in Andrea Williams, principal of Theresa Bunker Elementary School. She is the epitome of a well-rounded leader who exemplifies all of the qualities of a leader as described by House’s path-goal theory of leadership. Mrs. Williams works diligently each day to create a productive work environment. She is direct when she needs to be and is extremely respected by her faculty as a fair leader. As I have observed her over the past two years I have seen her leadership skills in action. I have been extremely impressed with her drive, passion, fairness, supportiveness and ability to create a positive climate and culture that makes work a
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For example, at times some information or directives come from the district or state office of education. Mrs. Williams has to deliver this information and say to her faculty this is the way we will have to do things. Funding is also a time that necessitates directive leadership since money is allocated to be used in certain ways. She must be direct in ensuring that the money is spent appropriately and the budget stays balanced. There are times when she has to make sure the faculty follows certain protocols to stay in compliance with special education law and state laws. Mrs. Williams uses a supportive leadership style most often. She knows each of her employees personally and shows the faculty and staff that building relationships is essential to the success of our school. She is supportive by helping us with disgruntled parents, disruptive students, as well as attending PLC meetings to offer support and encouragement. Another example of her supportive leadership style is when she went to the district office to ask for more funding so that we could have proper tools and support in order to make the shift to Standards-based grading. She made sure that we had the additional professional development needed as well as the technology changes in order to make this shift work for us. Additionally, the way she gives feedback after evaluations is supportive and helpful. She always makes sure to give feedback in a way that
Austin being a leader instead of a manager is how she leads and inspires not only her students, but other faculty members as well (Wren, 1995, p. 8-10). There was a time when I attended the Virginia High School League States Debate Competition with my debate coach, another Midlothian High School English teacher (Cheatham, personal communication, April 20, 2014). During one of the round breaks, my coach and I happened to get on the topic of English teacher (Cheatham, personal communication, April 20, 2014). It was then that my coach raved about Mrs. Austin and the personal impact she has had on his own teaching methods and ways to motivate students that are dragged down by SOL tests and public school standards (Cheatham, personal communication, April 20, 2014). In this experience, Mrs. Austin solidified her leadership capabilities of motivating and inspiring anyone around her to work harder and be better at anything one does. Overall, Mrs. Austin knows how to properly handle coping with change. She knows how to be a leader, not a manager (Wren, 1995, p.
As a teacher-leader, I have been assigned a number of wide-ranging and important informal roles in my career thus far that have enabled me to support and contribute towards the success of not only my students, but also my department and my school as a whole. By assuming these diverse leadership roles, I have been able to develop professionally, improve student attainment, positively influence the teaching and learning practice of my peers and contribute towards the culture and ethos of the schools I have worked in.
“Leaders don 't create followers, they create more leaders,” Tom Peter famously proclaimed. As the principal of Crestview Elementary, I have always taken this quote to heart by continuous striving to empower my faculty and staff. Most recently, I have decided to train my assistant principal, Kathy Robinson, who was appointed to her position this summer after ten years as a classroom teacher. I quickly recognized that she possessed many of the qualities that make great leaders. Kathy is an excellent communicator, a great problem solver, innovative, very personable, and cares about the students and staff (Sheninger, 2011). Therefore, I have decided to mentor her and hone her skills so that she will be prepared for a transition to the role of principal.
A leader is someone who inspires others and promotes integrity and hard-work ethic. A single name immediately wound into my head the moment I read the word “Leader”. Ellen McLemore, a piano director at Lafayette High School, has proved her leadership qualities an inexhaustible amount of times. As the only director of a public high school piano class in Louisiana, the LHS Tennis team sponsor, and a Quidditch Club sponsor, Mrs. McLemore demonstrates many leadership qualities. Between preparing her students with an appropriate amount of knowledge of the fine arts, Mrs. McLemore still finds time to go above and beyond, nearly every day. She in charge of hosting and planning school wide pep rallies, scheduling the annual LHS Talent Show, and
The primary reason that I desire to become an educational leader is because I want to make a positive impact on the lives of students and teachers. I feel that it is very easy to lose sight of the goal of education, to provide students with the skills they need to be successful in their lives. This goal often becomes overshadowed with all of the other demands that are placed on teachers, students, and administrators. I want to be innovative in finding ways to work smarter instead of harder to relieve some of the stresses that are felt by the school’s students, teachers, and other faculty
Palmer Lake Elementary School refers to a public elementary school located in Brooklyn Park. The school has 678 students with majority being Whites and non-Hispanics. The teachers; population is between 40 and 50 teachers: 6 speech teacher, two reading teacher, 3 gym physical, two music teachers, 28 for regular classes, one media. Accordingly, the ratio of students to teachers is approximately 15:1. Each class has varying number of students ranging from 19 to 28 students. Approximately 54 percent of the students are male and 46 percent are female. The percentage of students eligible for subsidized lunch is 65. This essay examines the leadership skills and styles of Dr. Tim Brown after an interview in his office. Dr. Tim is the principal of Palmer Lake Elementary School and plays the following roles. First, he shapes the vision of academic success and instructional competence for all students and teachers respectively. Second, he plays the role of creating a climate and environment that is hospitable for learning. Third, he cultivates leadership in other teachers. Fourth, he is answerable to external stakeholders such as parents and state education authorities concerning the school’s performances and use of resources. Effective educational leadership is a continuous process that involves self-examination, learning from others, collaboration and sustainable use of resources to accomplish the goals and
When asked the question of how long she worked as a principal, participant began to describe her leadership abilities as being “continuously promoting growth and development through teaching and learning.” Participant went on to mention that it is much more than
Marzano, McNulty and Waters propose five steps for a plan of effective school leadership. The first step is developing a leadership team with purpose. The definition used for a purposeful community is one with the collective efficacy and capability to develop and use assets to accomplish goals that mater to all community members through agreed-upon process (Marzano, et. al, 2005). The second step is distributing some responsibilities throughout the leadership team. The third step is to select the right work. The fourth step is to identify the order of magnitude implied by the selected work. The last step is to match the management style to the order of magnitude of the change initiative. The last step incorporates whether this is first or second order change.
As a Level I leader, I will need to develop trust with my staff and work collaboratively to build a vision (ISLLC 1). According to Sorenson & Goldsmith, “Peter Block defines stewardship as ‘the willingness to be accountable for the well-being of the larger organization by operating in service rather than in control, of those around us’” (2009, p. 5). As such, I will work collaboratively with the community, parents, and teachers to develop goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and time bound to address the most pressing needs and challenges of the Patriot Elementary School.
According to former Indiana state superintendent of schools Dr. Suellen Reed, “We know from our research that there’s no turnaround school without a turnaround principal” (as cited in Gammil, 2007, para. 2), further supporting the fact that “school leaders have an essential role in cultivating a positive school culture in public schools” (Peterson and Deal, 2002, p.30). However, it is imperative to improve our understanding as to how principal leadership impacts the school culture in high poverty schools to ensure that all children receive a quality education, regardless of zip code, in an environment conducive to learning. The six measured factors are as follows:
Many effective leaders inspire the loyalty of their followers whether it’s something negative or positive that’s coming their way. In many businesses, hospitals, and schools, steps are being taken to find ways to solve the problem. Simply ignoring a problem leads to dissatisfaction. Sometimes it may seem like an unrealistic expectation for a superintendent to have all the solutions, but it is human nature that the followers look to the leader for
Achieving a school district’s mission and vision requires the commitment of its stakeholders. In order to involve them in the process, it is necessary for educational leaders to “motivate staff, parents, students, board and community members” (Educational Leadership Constituencies Council, 2002, p. 4). The transformational leadership theory emphasizes the importance of educational leaders acting as role-models in order to motivate and inspire the school community. This approach has the potential to involve all stakeholders, leading to increased student success (Bush, 2007). The Assistant Director of Special Education in Northwest ISD directly supervised the school district’s assessment staff. Her education, experience, and passion set an example for her subordinates, stimulating them to achieve more, leading to her promotion to Executive Director of Student Services.
I had the pleasure of observing Ms. Lewis who teaches fourth grade at Westgate elementary school. She allowed me to have the opportunity to interact in her classroom and also learn from her. During the past couple months Ms. Lewis hinted me some advice on leadership skills that I could reflect on my own personal experiences. What I learned from Ms. Lewis was that its acceptable to be very firm in the beginning of the year. Once the year starts moving forward your dispositions can change moderately to being accustomed. The time I observed in her classroom gave me very informative information and I believe this experience will help me succeed more in the future when I become an educator.
Currently, I am not an employee of any learning organization, school district or educational system. However, I am involved and Chair the School Advisory Council (SAC) of Greenland Pines Elementary. This opportunity granted me a unique opportunity to observe the management of two different principals with their individual leadership styles. Furthermore, I contrasted my business practices from my own company and military service to coincide with this case study. The purpose of this paper is a comprehensive written outlining the processes presented by the educational leadership at Greenland Pines Elementary. With this in mind, we need to understand the concept of educational leadership.
As I read this book I realized I have been in both of the situations mentioned in this book, the long range leadership and the short term leadership. My first job I worked at a school in which my administration was very supportive, visible and communication was always very high. The morale of the school was great and I remember our principal said that he would never ask something of a teacher that he would not do himself. He believed in doing lunch duty so teachers could eat their lunch in peace. I found out later that was very rare and every school I have taught at since teachers had to do lunch duty at some point. He would always tell us that our main job was to enjoy what we did and help students. He believed if you did that, then students