Week 6: Leadership and Planning 565

As I reflect on this course and think about my definition of leadership, I would say that what I've learned has reinforced what I already knew. I've been in a formal leadership position for a number of years now, and as I've indicated in past posts, I had to learn a lot through a "trial by fire." I am to the point that I realize what defined a leader in the past is not necessarily what a leader looks like today. What do I mean by that? To me a leader has always been someone who is innovative, can inspire motivation and is willing to take risks in order to promote change. In addition to that, today's leader is not the sole decision maker, but rather a person to initiate the conversation based on needs identified and then involves the right people to develop a solution. Today's leader is trusted and develops relationships that shows an investment in the people who are part of the team.

Teachers are natural leaders in the sense that they are called upon to lead their classes on a daily basis. They have to motivate and inspire their students to participate in the learning process, which is no small task. I think it is important to have teacher leaders within a school setting because they are the best judges of what will or will not work toward meeting the goal of promoting student achievement. One thing I think is important to recognize is that while teachers can be very good judges of what will have a positive impact on their ability to do their daily work, it is equally as important for teacher leaders to be aware of the big picture and understand how policy and procedure decisions impact budgets, logistics, etc. on the various levels of the organization.

I think my opinion of my own leadership potential has changed in the sense that I am doing more of the right things than I had originally thought. I know I will continue to grow in my role as a leader within my organization and I only hope that I can continue to be successful in reaching out and relating to my staff in order to promote a positive work environment.

I do agree with the book's assertion about improving education from within. Just like any business or company, happy employees lead to higher productivity and schools are no different. I think as professional educators, teachers have so much to offer beyond the daily work within the classroom but the current/traditional structure does not necessarily lend itself to the teachers being part of the decision making process. It is important to feel valued and a part of the bigger picture and if teachers are heard they are going to be even more invested in supporting the vision and mission of the school, which in theory should result in a higher student engagement/success rate.