Setting Goals and Quality Leadership
Nothing succeeds without leadership yet the nature of the relationship between administration and staff is often strained. I acknowledge that there are bad administrators and bad teachers that can magnify small issues, but you rarely hear of an outstanding relationship in our profession. If you do it always seems like some neverland that is far, far, away from our reality.
I say this because I am teacher and I only ever hear the teacher side. I should say I hear the negatives more often than the positive because those folks always seem to speak the loudest. Yesterday I had a meeting with our district superintendent and our curriculum director. Honestly, I prepared for war. Occupying a new position, I wanted to know what my role was going to be and what, if anything, they planned to do to support my efforts. To my surprise, my questions were answered completely and politely.
I went in to fight for the teachers and found out that was precisely what the administration was going to do. In fact, the three of us spent over an hour and half brainstorming and hashing out specific, measurable goals for the express purpose of helping teachers change instructional practices.
Here is what came of our meeting:
2007-2008Technology Integration Specialist
Goals
1. Identify teacher proficiencies
-Create and implement a tool to measure teacher competencies
2. Establish a common technical language or vocabulary
– Use meetings, web tools, and email to build awareness of staff and faculty
3. Hold one informal discussion about technology education at each building
-Communicate with building principals finding an opportune time to speak to staff and faculty
4. Implement and support teacher/parent/student communication through web presents
-Increase teacher web pages by 30+ through face to face meetings and workshops
5. Maintain four differentiated learning experiences throughout the year
-Groups of below basic, basic, proficient, and advanced. Offer professional development appropriate for each group (according to data gathered by goal #1)
6. Establish two networked learning communities for collaboration and reflection
-One group for elementary and one for the middle school using web tools for social networking. Connect teachers and myself to continue discussions beyond face to face
7. Establish community academy
-Partner with SRO and community organizations to hold community awareness meetings about internet usage and internet safety
It’s amazing what a civil conversation was able to accomplish. For me it was both a measurable set of goals, but also a measure of respect between professionals. How do you define quality leadership?
August 1st, 2007 at 8:08 pm
“helping teachers change instructional practices” – this is what your and my job is about. In your list of 7 areas of action/instruction you don’t discuss if the teachers want to change. Some do – many don’t for a variety of reasons. Is a management directive a valid mechanism to force change – or do we need to have some carrots to dangle.
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:40 am
We will have a large group that does not want to change.
I don’t support forced changed. In fact that group will probably be largely ignored in the begining.
I don’t think it has to be all or nothing, but there does have to be an incentive for the majority or your staffers that are on the fence. I like the idea of rewarding staff with more tech.
I suppose what trying to say, albeit poorly, is we have to start somehwere, and for me I will be starting with those who have interest and hoping the ripples will eventually lead to changing instructional practices.
That is my unquailified and poorly worded opinion. What do you think?
Thanks for the chat,
Ken
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:28 pm
You’re right – you have a great of difficulty with compulsion even if the goal is that of the school community.
I think two groups are worth helping – the innovators as you suggest and the “Early Majority”. Members of this group may not be tech enthusiasts but can recognise a good tool or strategy and apply it. I’m not sure where the term comes from – it’s not my own.
When you assist one of this group to grow you get a bigger result than assisting the innovators. I think it’s because they have greater credibility with a wider range of teachers. A bigger section of the staff can say “if she can do this so can I”.
We use the carrot of tech gear too. Unfortunately there’s never enough of it. One of my current interests is how do we get teachers to use all those home computers in the learning process. Learning outside of school hours – loss of control of the process….
More questions
Rob
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Never thought of that for teachers. Usually think that it’s the students that have the home/school seperation of use. Boring stuff=school. Fun and games=home. I suppose we do have teachers, especially young, that have that same seperation.
I mentioned in a post today that I anticipate some backlash to the idea of the classrooms without walls for both PD and the students. I am just wondering if it will become a legal issue and not just a disgruntled few. Could efforts be in vain if the “politics as usual” crowd continue to lead?
That is a loud group.