Question 1: What did you know about these topics before the week began and how have this week’s experiences contributed to your deeper understanding of these topics?
What does leadership look like in a culture of knowledge and information? What are the qualities we value in leaders and what must successful leaders do to bring about cultural and sustainable change in education? Prior to the week of the Summer Institute in Digital Literacy, my answers would have been quite different and my vision of myself as a leader in this sustainable change would have been informed more by hierarchical administrative structures then the concepts of distributive leadership and what that looks like. Early on in the process we learned according to Kouzes and Posener (2017) implementing the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership 1.) Model the Way 2.) Inspire a shared vision 3.) Challenge the Process 4.) Enable others to Act 5.) Encourage the Heart, when leaders are operating at their best. I would try to routinely practice "model the way" by developing my own understanding of digital inquiry through professional development and professional reading. Frequently sharing articles and ideas of interest and adapting curriculum to include agency, voice and choice for students seemed to be the primary manner in which I tried to lead. My attempts to Inspire a shared vision met with measured success.
As the week progressed I began to see that leadership does not rest solely with those who have administrative authority. According to Harris, et al (2001) the practice of leadership must move between informal and formal leadership positions for genuine distributive leadership to occur. This gives agency to all, from classroom teachers to principals, encompassing all who see education as a moral purpose and knowledge sharing (Fullan). During the week we were given tools to help us clarify and communicate the vision for change. Identifying the vision along with the barriers we employed tools such as the Gap Analysis (U.S. Coast Guard Academy Leadership Development Center, 20114) in which you consider the current state, the gap and the goal. If one is to communicate a vision to be shared clarity is essential. What crystallized for me during the week drove the Project Management Plan I created that focused on self-directed, personalized professional development. Wheeler, under our current administration is envisioning a student centered, inquiry led learning environment. Yet all are struggling to inspire a shared vision and enabling others to act due to a culture that is far more reflective of a 20th century learning model of teacher directed learning.
What inspired me this week was the idea of distributive leadership and how this is an instrumental concept in bringing about meaningful and lasting change. If we are to model constructivist thinking and learning for our students, collaboration and reflection must be a learning tools for teachers as well as students. Too often, professional development creates leaders in the school culture of those who have invested time in their own edification.
According to Fullan (2001) change leaders work on changing the context helping create a new setting conducive to sharing and learning. In order for the culture of thinking and learning to change teachers must become models of learning through collaboration, thinking creatively, taking educational risks and sharing their ideas. This collaboration leading to change will only happen if there is an emotionally supportive environment that engenders trust and a shared goal among those who are working together. Teachers must see themselves as partners with their colleagues, designers of knowledge sharing opportunities, and partners with the students for deep learning and lasting change to occur. We also learned to recognize through a Stake Holder Analysis that members of the faculty and administration are likely to be coming to this new vision for deep learning pedagogies with many different points of view. Relationships matter if change is to be school wide and lasting. At the beginning of the Institute we set ground rules as a class. Most of these "rules for engagement" focused on respect when practiced creates a culture of trust which allows for the open exchange of ideas. and meaningful deep learning change.
Question 2:
How will your new understanding of leadership, collaboration, and creativity impact your role as an educator/digital literacy leader?
I am energized to bring these new understandings of leadership back to school. Too often I have found myself in the position of single attendee at a conference or workshop trying to convince others of the merits of the pedagogy, theory or simple technology tool.This does not create a shared vision, and instead adds the overwhelming feeling of "initiative fatigue" as opposed to bringing about a cultural shift. Utilizing exactly the same model of constructivist learning in context with emotional intelligence and respecting the expertise of the teachers as well as their desire to make knowledge sharing a moral imperative for the school, we can change the culture of the school and the way our students engage with knowledge. My goal as a leader is to enable these teachers to act and to encourage their hearts as they change their practice from delivering content knowledge to designing knowledge sharing outcomes in partnership with their students and each other.
According to Harris, et al (2013) focused professional collaboration can improve teachers’ professional learning and secure improved school performance. Harris et al (2013) also states: "if collaboration is to reach its true potential, leadership will need to move easily between the individual and the collective, the lateral and the horizontal. In the wake of new technologies it is unlikely that traditional patterns of leadership will prove adequate to meet the new challenges; hence, it is imperative that leadership is conceptualized and understood as generating and transferring knowledge, trust and a shared purpose in a distributive way." I would agree that the shift in leadership must occur in the virtual world too. Keeping this new understanding of distributive leadership in mind I will encourage teachers to trust and share openly through self-directed professional development opportunities and encourage this fluid exchange of "leadership roles" in order to make the learning experience for teachers and students more deeply embedded in the inquiry practice.
What does leadership look like in a culture of knowledge and information? What are the qualities we value in leaders and what must successful leaders do to bring about cultural and sustainable change in education? Prior to the week of the Summer Institute in Digital Literacy, my answers would have been quite different and my vision of myself as a leader in this sustainable change would have been informed more by hierarchical administrative structures then the concepts of distributive leadership and what that looks like. Early on in the process we learned according to Kouzes and Posener (2017) implementing the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership 1.) Model the Way 2.) Inspire a shared vision 3.) Challenge the Process 4.) Enable others to Act 5.) Encourage the Heart, when leaders are operating at their best. I would try to routinely practice "model the way" by developing my own understanding of digital inquiry through professional development and professional reading. Frequently sharing articles and ideas of interest and adapting curriculum to include agency, voice and choice for students seemed to be the primary manner in which I tried to lead. My attempts to Inspire a shared vision met with measured success.
As the week progressed I began to see that leadership does not rest solely with those who have administrative authority. According to Harris, et al (2001) the practice of leadership must move between informal and formal leadership positions for genuine distributive leadership to occur. This gives agency to all, from classroom teachers to principals, encompassing all who see education as a moral purpose and knowledge sharing (Fullan). During the week we were given tools to help us clarify and communicate the vision for change. Identifying the vision along with the barriers we employed tools such as the Gap Analysis (U.S. Coast Guard Academy Leadership Development Center, 20114) in which you consider the current state, the gap and the goal. If one is to communicate a vision to be shared clarity is essential. What crystallized for me during the week drove the Project Management Plan I created that focused on self-directed, personalized professional development. Wheeler, under our current administration is envisioning a student centered, inquiry led learning environment. Yet all are struggling to inspire a shared vision and enabling others to act due to a culture that is far more reflective of a 20th century learning model of teacher directed learning.
What inspired me this week was the idea of distributive leadership and how this is an instrumental concept in bringing about meaningful and lasting change. If we are to model constructivist thinking and learning for our students, collaboration and reflection must be a learning tools for teachers as well as students. Too often, professional development creates leaders in the school culture of those who have invested time in their own edification.
According to Fullan (2001) change leaders work on changing the context helping create a new setting conducive to sharing and learning. In order for the culture of thinking and learning to change teachers must become models of learning through collaboration, thinking creatively, taking educational risks and sharing their ideas. This collaboration leading to change will only happen if there is an emotionally supportive environment that engenders trust and a shared goal among those who are working together. Teachers must see themselves as partners with their colleagues, designers of knowledge sharing opportunities, and partners with the students for deep learning and lasting change to occur. We also learned to recognize through a Stake Holder Analysis that members of the faculty and administration are likely to be coming to this new vision for deep learning pedagogies with many different points of view. Relationships matter if change is to be school wide and lasting. At the beginning of the Institute we set ground rules as a class. Most of these "rules for engagement" focused on respect when practiced creates a culture of trust which allows for the open exchange of ideas. and meaningful deep learning change.
Question 2:
How will your new understanding of leadership, collaboration, and creativity impact your role as an educator/digital literacy leader?
I am energized to bring these new understandings of leadership back to school. Too often I have found myself in the position of single attendee at a conference or workshop trying to convince others of the merits of the pedagogy, theory or simple technology tool.This does not create a shared vision, and instead adds the overwhelming feeling of "initiative fatigue" as opposed to bringing about a cultural shift. Utilizing exactly the same model of constructivist learning in context with emotional intelligence and respecting the expertise of the teachers as well as their desire to make knowledge sharing a moral imperative for the school, we can change the culture of the school and the way our students engage with knowledge. My goal as a leader is to enable these teachers to act and to encourage their hearts as they change their practice from delivering content knowledge to designing knowledge sharing outcomes in partnership with their students and each other.
According to Harris, et al (2013) focused professional collaboration can improve teachers’ professional learning and secure improved school performance. Harris et al (2013) also states: "if collaboration is to reach its true potential, leadership will need to move easily between the individual and the collective, the lateral and the horizontal. In the wake of new technologies it is unlikely that traditional patterns of leadership will prove adequate to meet the new challenges; hence, it is imperative that leadership is conceptualized and understood as generating and transferring knowledge, trust and a shared purpose in a distributive way." I would agree that the shift in leadership must occur in the virtual world too. Keeping this new understanding of distributive leadership in mind I will encourage teachers to trust and share openly through self-directed professional development opportunities and encourage this fluid exchange of "leadership roles" in order to make the learning experience for teachers and students more deeply embedded in the inquiry practice.