Marzano's 21 Responsibilities of a School Leader

There were several similarities between my self assessment of Marzano's 21 Responsibilities of the School Leader and the McREL Balanced Leadership online inventory.  Strengths that were listed on both surveys were culture, knowledge of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and visibility.  These similarities did not surprise me because they all relate closely with my beliefs and with what type of leader I hope to be.  I know that developing the culture of my organization will be a priority of mine.  I read a lot about the value of teamwork this week when researching the leadership theorists.  I also know that curriculum and instruction will be a priority of mine, considering my background as a classroom teacher.  I have always loved lesson planning and finding innovative ways to engage my students, and so I hope to remain involved and knowledgeable regarding curriculum and instruction.  Lastly, I hope to be visible to my staff and students, because those were always the type of principals for whom I wanted to work.  I was especially impressed during my student teaching by a principal who stood in the front lobby and personally greeted as many students as he could in the morning.  I was blown away by how many of them he knew by name and how many of them he was able to speak to each morning.  Every student was greeted by his presence, a smile, and motivating words.  That is the type of principal I hope that I'd be. 

Categories that I scored the lowest in, on both assessments, were flexibility and outreach.  It was interesting that I scored the lowest in flexibility because I consider myself to be a very flexible teacher.  I think the reason I am scoring low is because I am not "comfortable with dissent".  I know that this is something I will need to work on before I am in a leadership role, but I am happiest and most comfortable when everyone is in agreement.  I think it might be challenging for me to adapt my leadership style, without also adapting to the wants of the dissenting group and just "giving in" for the sake of peace.  I believe I scored myself low in the outreach category, simply because I know how hectic school life can be, and I have a feeling that communicating on behalf of the school in the community might be what ends up at the bottom of my priority list.  I hope that this might be a task that I can delegate to another school leader so that I can be sure that it is happening.    

Some of the most blatant discrepancies were among discipline and contingent awards.  I think initially I scored myself low on the self assessment in both of these categories because I was too focused on what my limitations might be; for example, I know that I will never be able to completely clear a teacher from all the distractions from their teaching time and focus and I will never be able to recognize every individual's personal accomplishments.  However, the detailed questions in the McREL survey, helped me to realize the many opportunities there are for a school leader to fulfill these responsibilities, which is why I scored higher on this category on the McREL inventory. 

I was pleased to read that my top seven strengths, according to the McREL online inventory, (culture, visibility, knowledge of curriculum, ideas/beliefs, resources, discipline, and order) almost all have a .25 correlation with student achievement or above.  This makes me feel confident that I'll have what it takes to be an effective leader, but considering the closeness in correlation values that all of the 21 responsibilities have, it makes sense to always strive to meet all of the 21 responsibilities. 

Transformational Leadership

Transformational Leadership

In “Transformation School Leadership in a Transactional Policy World”, Leithwood (2007) defines transformative approaches as ones that “spring from an organic worldview, assume capacity to be a key to change, offer intrinsic incentives and rewards when additional motivation is required, and use commitment strategies” (p. 189).  I would define transformative approaches to leadership as being based on values and vision, rather than currency and advancement.  Transformational leadership is founded on an organization’s mission and developing employees whose values are aligned with that same mission.  Rather than offering employees salary increases or promotions, transformative leaders offer their employees inspiration and self-fulfillment. 

Transformational leadership can flourish in a learning environment because it is already an environment whose members are more dedicated to ideals and passion than to money and advancement.  Teachers do not typically enter this profession because their goal is to make a lot of money.  They become teachers because they believe in education and care for young people.  Transformational leadership will also flourish in a learning environment because of the category of practices within this form of leadership: charisma, inspirational leadership, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation (Bass, 1993).  These four practices are inherent in any learning environment.  The personal qualities and mission of a principal are on display for the staff and students daily, through forums such as faculty meetings, assemblies, and morning announcements. Teachers and staff members receive individualized considerations through professional development and lesson observations.  The staff’s opportunity to reflect after professional development and lesson observations allows for intellectual stimulation and the awareness of problems.

Transformational leadership can impact the way an administrator leads a school because, up to now, the transactional approach has not been working.  In his article, Leithwood discusses the recent trend in education: higher expectations, with more accountability (2007, p. 186). He writes about the school system’s failed attempts to solve the problem of “both raising the bar and closing the gap” (Leithwood, 2007, p. 187); all of these solutions have been transactional in nature because they have attempted to increase accountability of schools and teachers through competition, salary increases, and high stakes testing.  Leithwood’s findings indicate that the only way to increase accountability is through transformational leadership.  He references the instructional leadership models provided by Hallinger and Murphy (1985) and then writes, “Hallinger’s recent review of evidence concerning instructional leadership found that mission-building activities (the most “transformational” of the dimensions) on the part of principals are the most influential set of leadership practices”  (p.191).  I agree with Hallinger and Leithwood.  I believe that allowing the staff to help build the mission will only increase their commitment and dedication to the school and the students. 

When integrating technology with instruction, an administrator should use transformational leadership by establishing technology and 21^st century skills as part of the mission.  Transformational leadership is founded upon a common vision and belief system.  If the administrator cannot find a way to help his/her teachers share in this technology integration belief system, I’m not sure that this type of leadership will be effective.  Teachers need to be intrinsically motivated to learn these new strategies, not provoked by promises of salary increases, promotions, or satisfactory evaluations.   In order to use transformational leadership, the administrator will have to do his/her best to build a mission for the school that involves the integration of technology, and then continue to inspire the staff and model exemplary practices. 

References:

Leithwood, K. (2007). Transformation School Leadership in a Transactional Policy World. The     Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership (pp. #183- #196). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Online Learning Orientation Reflection

       By participating in the Administration and Supervision cohort, I hope to earn my second certificate through Johns Hopkins University and to complete a capstone class to bridge these two certificates into a Master's degree.  I hope to learn about school law and to learn about what it takes to hold an administrative position in education.  While I do not expect to leave the classroom for quite some time, I do hope that this program will adequately prepare me for being an effective leader for my school.   I expect it to be a lot of work, but work that is worthwhile and functional.
         One step that I will take in order to be successful in this program is to take advantage of the checklist feature in the ELC.  I operate solely because of to-do lists, so I love that these checklists exist and I especially love that they turn gray once you complete each task.  I have also subscribed to the email notifications, so I will stay up-to-date with posts and announcements on the ELC.  I will also reserve time each week to work on assignments and do my best to stay ahead of schedule, so that I can avoid feeling rushed or overwhelmed by tasks.  I also hope to take advantage of being a part of a team and to rely on my teammates for any questions I may have throughout the courses.
       As of now, I feel very prepared to enter this cohort.  I can't think of any other preparation that I need to be successful in the upcoming courses.  I think that as long as each class is well organized and that the coursework is listed with clear expectations, I will be as successful in this cohort as I was in the technology integration certificate.