Supervision Platform: Empowering Relationship

The responsibility of preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s future involves more than orchestrating the curriculum students learn and the teachers who teach it. It involves the ability to employ the leadership styles fluently based on the everyday demands of running a school (Goleman, 2000). Informed by both research and real-world application, the Wallace Foundation identified five key functions of a successful leader: “shaping a vision of academic success for all students, creating a climate hospitable to education, cultivating leadership in others, improving instruction, [and] managing people, data, and processes to foster school improvement” (Harvey, 2013, pg. 4). To be an effective 21st century educational leader, one must cultivate a sustainable vision and school culture which are globally-minded, yet locally applicable to the community they serve.

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.

When school leaders communicate effectively, and allow for collaboration students learn, parents and community members understand and support what the school is doing. In order for the process of teaching and learning to move forward or to evoke change school leaders must be effective communicators, by being articulate, and having a shared vison with their staff. School leaders have the ability to impact the school culture, and student achievement through their setting the teaching and learning conditions in their school.

A school leader is an educational leader who fosters success of all students by leading the development and alignment of the organizational, instructional and assessment strategies that enhance teaching and learning. As an instructional leader, the principal should set and communicate high standards for curricular/instructional quality and student achievement.

Curriculum and instruction are the focus in our schools and requires leadership to examine how these forces are going to work together in the most effective manner. School leaders are essential

Effective school leaders can influence student achievement; however, they cannot do it alone. They should enlist the support and commitment of a leadership team who can help facilitate and guide improvement of instruction and learning. For this reason, they must demonstrate instructional leadership qualities. Being an instructional leader begins with adopting a shared vision, building trusting relationships, and providing leadership opportunities. Additionally, successful instructional leaders understand that there is a relationship between academic standards, effective instruction, and student performance.

As a school administrator, it is important that all needs of students, parents, and caregivers are being taken care of. By doing so will allow students to be successful in education, all parents to become actively involved in the student-learning process, and allow all stakeholders to become involved in the decision-making process. The first step that I would take as a school leader, in developing a plan of action when addressing these needs would be to identify the issue that needs to be addressed. By doing so will allow me to consider what is going on at the school, and to identify the desired goals I hope to achieve as the leader. Secondly, I would identify the controlling principles I will apply as principles to the decision making process

The principal then looks to augment areas of strength and provide resources for improvement. Resources that the principal may provide are professional development in-service in their content area or class-room management strategies. Secondly, the teacher and principle employs the development of Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) as additional reinforcement in areas of need. Thus, using data to as a means to evaluate the teacher’s value added in their classroom. Additionally, the teacher through self-reflection will develop a Professional Practice Goal (PPG) to research and implement in their classroom. Finally, the principal may choose to provide mentorship programs, site visits, and educational literature as a means to improve the teacher’s

My teaching career began twenty years ago with the enthusiasm and the love of teaching I still have today. From the day I graduated from Texas Tech University with a teaching degree, certified to teach first through eighth graders, I knew I would inspire many students. I have been very blessed in my years of teaching. I have learned to work in stressful situations where high expectations of state mandate scores were expected. I have worked with teachers who worked independently and closed the door to collaboration. However, I have also worked for many supportive schools and districts over the years who hired teachers who were effective in collaboration, listened to colleagues and built positive relationships within the professional learning community. I found during those years while working in the positive environment I learned to grow from a good teacher to a great teacher. However, I could bring more to my professional career and I was committed to improving my profession through the teacher leadership program.

As an educational leader, I must have a vision and mission statement for the school that is known by the staff, students, and parents. The vision will address the needs of the students academically, emotionally, and socially. According to DuFour (1998), “ Those who seek to transform their school into a professional learning community as characterized by an environment fostering mutual cooperation, emotional support, personal growth, and a synergy of efforts.” The leader must implement a plan that will cultivate the success of all students. The mission will speak to the direction of the school community stating what the desire goals are. The building leader will lead by example. High expectations will be communicated and encourage by staff and students. The educational leader of a school must develop a culture of team work to create a climate that is student friendly. The vision mission and goals of the leader should be transparent. The establishment of common goals is the first step. Without common goals, sustainable progress will be impossible and thus everyone will have lower expectations. The students, parents, and staff should be commented to the goals of every child reaching their full academic potential. The school environment should speak to goal setting and high expectations for all students and staff.

The importance of providing these professional development opportunities is echoed by Schleicher (2011) who acknowledged the limitations of pre-service training for teachers in preparing professionals for career long challenges. Increasingly diverse learning needs in increasingly heterogeneous classrooms cause teachers to feel unequipped to deal with student needs and as a result, they report “the greatest need for professional development that helps them deal with differences in learning styles and backgrounds” (p. 208). One of the strongest predictors of success for all students is identified by Schleicher (2011) and Hattie (2012) as being positive teacher - student relationships which are improved when teachers are given opportunities to “exchange ideas and information and coordinate their practices with other teachers” (Schleicher, p. 216). These opportunities also provide a shared sense of purpose that is also making a difference for the students in their classrooms. This shared sense of purpose and the accompanying common understanding of what success and progression looks like is identified by Hattie (2012) as being the “most

As a school leader, it is my responsibility to ensure that the community embodies the mission and vision of the school. I believe that student achievement improves significantly when the school forms a partnership with the stakeholders and when all decisions are made with the students’ best interest in mind. I will achieve this culture by:

Students are at the center of my educational universe. Decisions and policies must focus on doing what is best for student achievement in a school. Their successes and failures defines and evaluates the school and the administration. My vision for leading a school is predicated on promoting their successes and reducing their failures. Developing a school with a strong culture of achievement, instruction, and security for all stakeholders involved that helps build an environment where students can prosper in their education. These ideas and beliefs drive my choices and vision at the school, but also helps set the expectations for every community member that calls the school their own.

However, the credibility and ability of the novice teachers are always questioned. They are said to be emotionally weak, passive, no commitment, failed to stimulate student learningand are unable to adapt the knowledge and skills in the classroom effectively(Yusof, 2008).The problem has

Principals play a vital role in setting the direction for successful schools but productive leadership depends heavily on its fit with the social and organizational context in which it is exercised. They (the principals) are the primary catalysts for creating a lasting foundation for learning, for driving school and student performance, and for shaping the long term impact of schools’ improvement efforts.