Teacher Leadership and its Purpose
Personal Statement
I am a leader who believes that teacher leadership has a specific purpose, one that stands to better the teaching profession and make all teachers more effective in their careers.
What is Teacher Leadership? Teacher leadership can be defined in various ways, but one thing that all definitions have in common is the belief that teacher leaders should be empowered and driven to take the lead in schools. Teacher leadership is composed of instructional, professional, and organizational level school personnel whose primary goals are to develop a high-quality learning and teaching experiences in schools for all. There are various ways in which teachers do this that include: leading other teachers (i.e. coaching, mentoring, leading working groups), leading professional development (improving/building upon staff skills through PD), and fine tuning/sharing pedagogy. This is all done while remaining in the classroom as a skilled teacher.
Core Focus: Teacher Leadership Goals
Listen to Students, Parents, Colleagues, and Administration Key to effective teacher leadership is the ability to “listen with a purpose” to all people that could be encountered throughout the school day; people that could include students, parents, colleagues, and administration. The idea of listening with a purpose is an important one. When someone listens with a purpose, they are actively listening to and comprehending the speaker’s main idea. In
Leadership is being able to guide other students into being the best they can be. I am a leader who is always positive and cheering others on to achieve their goals. At my school, I have a position as the Vice President of Academics in National Honors Society. Since I have obtained this position, I encourage other students in this group to participate in service projects which is where one volunteers to help out the community in some aspect. These volunteering opportunities are good thing to do because it builds character and it is always fun helping others out. As a leader, I bring new ideas to the table on where we should help out in the community and anything that we could do in school that would fun and helpful. Along with participating in National Honors Society at my school, I am also involved in our Student Government Association. Although I do not have a leadership position in this club, I still engage in the activities that we do. For the past two years, I have gone to an annual meeting for leadership where multiple schools attend. At this meeting there are fun activities where you learn more about leadership and how to be a good leader. As a leader, these meetings help because it is always good to learn new
In general, as stated in the Standards for Advanced Programs in Educational Leadership by The NPBEA, educational leaders need to place teaching and learning as the focus for schools and districts. To this effect, all educational leaders from district to school level are responsible to ensure that decisions about curriculum, instructional strategies
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
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.
According to Hans Urs von Balthasar “a vocation is something lived, something enacted and a concrete life story” (Contino, 2004, p. 85). My vocational life story has developed over the past forty years with my first job at twelve babysitting six children to where I stand today teaching home economics at Chowchilla high school. “I build my own life story through the decisions of projects I undertake” and the choices I have made regarding my career path (Contino, 2004, p. 85). Someone looking from the outside at my wandering path might believe of my career changes seem a bit radical. Moving bicoastal, leaving a stable career of twenty five plus years to go back to college, take a pay cut and joining the unstable labor market of Home
Currently, I am teaching at my high school alma mater and my vision is to lead my school district as an administrator. Many youth of today are choosing teaching as a career and need leadership to guide them in their journey of education. I can serve my school and community by displaying leadership qualities of a positive attitude, a willingness to develop morale of staff and guide learning experiences of naiveté and experienced teachers
Create a personal, professional mission statement summarizing philosophy, knowledge and skills of instructional supervision from which to guide future leadership actions.
An article about leadership by Forbes magazine sums it up best by saying that leadership is simply “someone who has followers” (Frobes.com, 2013). The school subject is Innovations International Charter School of Nevada (IICSN), and in this facility there is only one administrator. This administrator will be referred to as Dr.M throughout this essay. In the following essay, leadership style and application will be addressed, as well as information on systematic change. Throughout this week, systematic change has been the topic of conversation, so in this essay, there will be a discussion as to
I am seeking admission to Concordia University-Chicago’s Educational Leadership Doctoral program. Currently I am an Instructional Leader with the Rockford Public School District. I would like to pursue a Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership to further my knowledge of the required leadership traits, essential skills and educational systems, practices and laws so that I may ultimately become a contributing member of a school district’s administrative cabinet.
What defines leadership? There are a number of definitions of the meaning of leadership including but not limited to the theories of leadership and how leadership should work. In my opinion, every individual has different ways of confronting situations and there is not one leadership style or theory that will be flawless for any given situation. However, to be a successful educational leader, it is crucial to understand and be familiar with the various theories and styles of leadership as well as our personal tendencies to nurture a personal leadership style. Despite the method used to confront a situation, it’s the outcome of success that will determine which leadership style or theory should be used. The following
Over the years, I have worn many educator hats such as a Director of Resource, classroom teacher, Head Start teacher, special’s teacher, and as a teacher’s aide. My leadership experiences have not been ones in an administrative role, but I have had leadership experiences both informal and formal in nature. My years as a professional educator with a Virginia Collegiate Professional license has allowed me to teach in public settings as well as Catholic schools, at many different grade levels and for me, all of those experiences have influenced my leadership skills.
The concept and practice of teacher leadership have gained momentum in the past two decades. Teachers are assuming more leadership functions at both instructional and organizational levels of practice. Empirical literature reveals effects of teacher leadership practice, teacher leader characteristics, and conditions that promote and challenge teacher leadership.
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.
Although some teachers choose to take a more prescribed route to teacher leadership by completing National Board Certification or pursuing a graduate degree in teacher leadership, others become teacher leaders through their skills and abilities and gaining the respect of their peers (Education Commission of the States, 2010; Lowery-Moore, Latimer, & Villate, 2016).
The writer acquired the knowledge that Instructional leadership is a collaborative learning environment where learning is not confined to the classroom and is the objective of all educators. Instructional leadership is an important departure from the ancient model of administrator as authoritarian. The writer feels that learning should be a top-down process. If those in charge of the school are excited about learning, then they will share their enthusiasm throughout the community.