Leadership in Learning: Week 3

The Role of Teacher Leaders in Shaping The Schools we Need: The Question of Equity

Essential Questions:

• What does equity look like in an educational setting?

In educational settings, equity should look like widespread student success.  However, in reality, schools have been aiming at achieving scores instead of individual student success in learning.  I find the categories of change needed in "Creating excellent and equitable schools” to be very clear and helpful in terms of setting guidelines for equitable schools.  Organization & Governance highlighted professional accountability over bureaucratic accountability.  Human capital address investing in personnel as a means to entice quality people as educators.  Curriculum and Assessment needs are clear in the quote, “The performance assessments the five schools resemble those used in high-achieving countries, such as Finland, Hong Kong, Canada, and Australia. There, local assessments require students to conduct research and scientific investigations, solve complex real-world problems, and defend their ideas orally and in writing. Such assessments promote serious intellectual work. Although the schools in this study attend to the demands of California's accountability system, they find that the state's multiple-choice tests do not promote the kind of 21st-century learning that enables students to find and use resources, analyze and synthesize information, produce and explain ideas, apply knowledge to novel situations, use new technologies, and work productively with others.” (1)  Finally, Funding seems like a no-brainer in terms of needing revamping.  To be equitable, “increase and equalize funding for schools by establishing weighted student funding formulas in which funds follow the student and additional funding is allocated for students with the greatest needs.” (2)

• How can teacher leaders promote equity for all?

My first note for the week and biggest “Aha” was that long term, lasting, results in creating equity needs more than teachers “trying harder.”  Students will rise to meet what ever bar you set for them, so set expectations high and help them get there.  I’ve also always been a big fan of what I call, Failure Based Learning.  Although students feel stress when things don’t go well, they also feel incredible empowerment when they overcome roadblocks and solve problems.  I believe in being the voice of safety and, “that’s ok, now what?”  Teacher leaders have the most power to promote equity as we are the front line for students and can also be a buffer for administration and parents putting pressure on results instead of successful learning for students.  

• What is my schoolʻs reality?

The “Transformation Barriers”  I see in my school, form Kotter’s list are #3, Lacking vision, #4, Under communicating vision, and #5, Not removing obstacles to vision. “Nothing undermines change more than behavior by important individuals that is inconsistent with their words.” (John P. Kotter)(3) Assets population has evolved over the past few years to include a different profile than we had become so good at working with (dyslexic students).  If we are going to continue to grow to serve more students, we need to include that in our vision and take steps to improve our strategies to meet the growing needs. In terms of obstacles, much of our faculty are invested in progressive learning strategies.  However, we are stretched for time needed to develop new initiatives and closely monitor implementation with feedback.  A few of us regularly take our off hours time to help one another process and think through new plans.  Ideally, regular time for feedback built into our work day would foster our readiness for change to match better with our willingness.  

• What systemic challenges do we face when initiating change?

In “Helping Schools Overcome Barriers to Change,” it seems like the two most critical challenges we face have to do with not having a cohesive vision, and then the problems with implementation as stated:

1. Technical challenges- tools, know how, time
2. Cultural challenges- norms, beliefs, habits
3. Political challenges - competing interests
4. Insufficient control over personnel challenges - bureaucracy of hiring people who fit (4)

In terms of educational systems as in the universal entity, the major systemic barrier is policy makers who are very far removed and out of touch with the realities of the classroom and learning.  Everyone in a position of power in education should have to do ongoing professional development in the form of comprehension of the latest research in order to keep the decisions in line with the truth.  

• Why is Change Leadership so Challenging?

Change leadership is a challenge because it has to come from within us and motivation can ebb and flow as we muddle through the difficulties of realizing change.  I found myself turning inward on this after taking the “Motivation Survey” (5) that determined what motivates each of us.  The categories are:

1. Discovery & process
2. Creativity & expression
3. People & relationships
4. Things & function

I fall strongly into the “Discovery and Process” style, which was only mildly surprising, but found my second highest category, “Creativity and Expression” to be a bit of a shock.  I don’t think of myself in the “creative” mind very often.  The best language for examining my work then, is articulated in the questions:

Is there a better way to do this?

Why did this happen?

What steps are needed to get this solved?

What was different this time?

Can you find a solution?

Did you discover something new?

Using tools like this helps to consider whether or not we’re going about something in a way that is likely to keep us engaged all the way through.  Surveys and personality trait tests simply point us in the direction of where we might work best.  However, having a strong desire to be something we’re not may be an indicator of what might motivate us more if we let ourselves “become” that other style/type.  Perhaps if I aim on what truly motivates me as I begin to instigate change, and also solicit creative expression as I do so, I might find the path to improved education less arduous overall.  

References:

1-2) Darling-Hammond, Linda, and Diane Friedlaender. "Creating excellent and equitable schools." Educational Leadership 65.8 (2008): 14.

3) Kotter, John P. "Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail." Harvard business review 73.2 (1995): 59-67.

4) "Helping Schools Overcome Barriers to Change | Education ..." 2009. 24 Jun. 2015 <http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Helping_School_Change/>

5) Motivation Survey PDF

Choice Book Report

The Art of Possibility

by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

Penguin Books, 2000

I chose this book based on my desire to really go bigger with my thinking about education beyond what I want to do better now or next year in my classroom and into, “How can affect change in education globally?” I got excited after watching Ben Zander’s Ted Talk, “The Transformative Power of Classical Music” because he is so passionate, and in a short talk not only made his point about classical music being accessible to all, but also the beginning idea of “Possibility.”  I love this book and feel empowered and open after reading it.

Key concepts are found through “12 Practices” we can employ to shift paradigms creatively.  The theory Ms. Zander sets forth is based on repetition of key practices, so as the book moves forward, they reuse earlier “practices” as they develop the next one.  Although the book is billed as a means for “Transforming Professional and Personal Life,” I found it quite relevant to my teaching practice, and Mr. Zander is a teacher in many regards.  We say we start everything with “what’s best for the students” but we compromise that idea on every level as we encounter roadblocks.  If we stop protecting our time, theoretical student needs, the bottom line and parent concerns, education can be better.  It's up to us, change leaders, to manifest possibility, harmony, effective practices, and presence in our educational communities.  

The Practices:

1. It’s all invented. Every story we tell, every idea we have about how education should be, is based assumptions, experiences, and perceptions - all of which are in our mind.
2. Stepping into the Universe.  We live with scales, stack ourselves up against others, place ourselves in relation to standards. What if we let go of limits and invented labels and decided that we can do ANYTHING we want in education?  
3. Giving an A.  Everything exists in the framework we give it, our perception- which is INVENTED- why not choose the “A” frame every time?
4. Being a Contribution. Letting go of accomplishments measuring frameworks we’ve invented and inviting in our ability to contribute.
5. Leading from Any Chair. Leaders are everywhere.  Teachers can lead, but so can students, peers, the community, global citizens...
6. Rule #6. Lighten up!
7. The Way Things Are. We construct barriers that actually only appear when we call them up.  Imagine the worst problem in your school.  Now picture it as an opportunity.  Now picture it as it really is.
8. Giving Way to Passion.
9. Lighting a Spark. Certain things in life are better done in person- what would have gone better if someone you wanted something from could see the sparkle of excitement in your eye?
10. Being the Board.  In regard to unwanted circumstances - own the risks associated with life and your actions, accept failure as just one possible outcome, and success as another.
11. Creating Frameworks for Possibility. Missions are often just “aspirations” of importance, not powerful frameworks that release us from bureaucracy and lead us into changes for the greater good of education.  Visions are sources of responsible, on track participation in the WHOLE.
12. Telling the WE Story.  We in the general sense, not you plus me.  In every story, there’s one side, the other, and the truth.  

My take-aways were numerous, but these are the top three.  WE need to fine tune our vision of excellence in education in the broadest sense of imagination.  Student voice, teacher voice, parent voice, school voice... What if heard them all as the WE perspective instead?  Common goals create a feeling of "we're in this together."  My school can be a model school; so can yours.  We have to believe in the possibility of mass customized learning that is equitable and joyful.

To be fair, many of my favorite quotes from the book were from other sources such as Soren Kierkegaard’s Either/Or, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and William James.  From the authors, though, the following are most meaningful to me.  

"All around us is vibrancy and energy.  The universe is sparkling with generative power." (page 113)  I see this every day in every student I work with.  I want to tap into the universe to make education better for each of them.

"Being with the way things are calls for an expansion of ourselves... The practice of being with the way things are allows us to alight in a place of openness, where 'the truth' readies us for the next step, and the sky opens up." (page 111)  We need to be honest about where we are in order to be open up to what we need to do for the future of education.  

"A vision is an open invitation and an inspiration for people to create ideas and events that correlate with its definitional framework." (page 171)  Clear vision is necessary to progress.  It anchors through all of the inevitable challenges as a means to see the forest through the trees.

 
My challenges, or “fierce wonderings,” are based in my challenges to myself.  Why not give everyone an A?  Grades as we know them and test scores don’t seem to be helping education.  We can do better if we’re working with expectations of the best, not the worst.  What constraints have been created that are keeping us from the changes we want to see in education?  “It’s all invented.” What would have to change for complete fulfillment? Now go do that.

Mini Book Report Video

Leadership in Learning: Week 2

The Schools We Need

Essential Questions

• What kinds of schools do we need today?
• What should teacher leaders be emphasizing in today’s schools?
• What educational trends are most worthy of our attention?

• What does my dream learning and teaching environment look like?
• How does it compare with my current school, practice and the dreams of my colleagues and/or students?
• What’s working in schools today?
• What models are school leaders exploring and implementing?

It was interesting to consider the question, “what kinds of schools do we need today,” while reading the five stages of grief (Kubler-Ross, 1969) in Mass Customized Learning. The reality is that most of the world does not think educators are doing a good job.  I may have gone through the full gamut, and am back to the bargaining stage when it comes to education, imagining what we are doing well and trying to find isolated reasons for education being broken.  I’ve been a long time fan of Sir Ken Robinson, so it was nice to revisit his key idea that we’re an “industry” teaching in a bureaucratic Industrial Age when we’re living in an Information Age world, and are preparing students for an unknown future.(Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms)  We need schools that meet learners at their readiness level, accommodate personal learning preferences, and have content that is relevant to students’ interest in real-world ways.  

What we need in schools is the cross industry learning or, “the capacity to routinely customize products and services to meet the specific needs and/or desires of individuals without adding significantly to the cost of the product or service.” (Mass Customized Learning, p.3)  I think the model at AltSchool is a great jumping off place for personalizing education as they are using playlists that are not only customized and real-time, but also use “recommendation engines” like Amazon and Apple do.(AltSchool)  My first inkling was a concern for civil liberties, and I don’t think we need to be barcoding kids, but I believe we have to reframe our thinking in order to undo a century’s worth of thinking about education.  

Sugatra Mitra is a fantastic teacher leader to model our work after. (Sugata Mitra: Build a School in the Cloud)  His thoughts about how education now is “producing identical people for a machine that no longer exists,” supports the reality that we barely understand many of the jobs that exist today, therefore we can not know what skills need to be taught for future jobs.  I don’t believe teachers are obsolete, but I do use the “I Don’t Know” pedagogy in my classroom and find it works.  Students are used to getting answers faster than the click of a button, so me being another answer giver (just slower) is not my job.  I like turning questions around to students and asking, “How do you think we could figure that out?”  Often they grumble, and it’s a bit of a joke, “Oh great, Ms. Johnson’s making us THINK again!”  However, if knowledge is anachronistic, and thinking is our current goal, a teacher’s role is to help students organize their own learning.  

As evidenced by my study of AltSchool in Learning Task #4 this week (Learning Task #4) I am a big fan of the work they are doing.  It’s no surprise that Max Ventilla, the AltSchool founder, was inspired by Mr. Mitra’s “School in the Cloud” where anyone, anywhere, anytime, can be the master of his or her own learning.  My school is a WEB 2.5 school in my estimation.  Assets is past the 2.0 level in a lot of ways, such as student directed learning, with the mindset that we are just the jumping off point for learning, but we are not yet masters at the 3.0 level, where learning flows openly in all directions.  It feels to me like my school is trying a lot of the trends in education, but we’re not quite focused enough to be excellent or models of any one vision.  My dream school exhibits true individualization for our students, and I think Assets aims on this concept. (Mission & Vision) 

Personalized learning is an educational approach in which teachers and schools create systems, tools, and methodologies that tailor instruction to the individual needs, skills, and interests of each student, in an effort to accelerate and deepen learning.  An outlier is defined as something that lies outside of the main body or group that it’s a part of.  Malcom Gladwell marked being an outlier as a solid predictor of success in his bestselling book. (Outliers) Teacher leaders need to be outliers in practice and schools need to be comfortable going outside the main body or group.  

Leadership in Learning: Week 1

Dynamic Leadership

Essential Questions

●      What are the characteristics of admired leaders?

●      What does it mean to be a learning leader?

●      How are connected and total leaders similar? Different?

●      What kinds of leaders do we need in schools today?

●      What does a total leader do?

●      How do/can teachers lead?

As time is spent considering the essential questions related to what a leader is and what leadership is needed in schools, I found myself first reflecting on the many definitions given to the word: leader.  Even now, it feels heavy and a bit righteous in relation to the work of an educator, but it is absolutely essential that we as educators keep that word and all of its connotations in mind as we proceed with our practice every day.  I myself am still trying to define what it means to me to be a leader in education.  Does it mean I have to change the system?  Am I responsible for producing learned students?  Is it enough to change just one life, each [year, week, day]?  If I am working from my own definition, “Leadership is purpose driven risk taking best characterized by removing roadblocks and leveraging strength in pursuit of a common aim,” then the answer to my questions is yes.

After taking the “Admired Leaders”^[1] survey, the seven values/traits I identified as priorities to me were: intelligent, supportive, cooperative, imaginative, courageous, having integrity, and competent.  What I found interesting was that when I delved further into the core values and professional roles of the Total Leader ^[2], the values I chose were actually a mix of the five pillars of Total Leader framework.  Two are Visionary Leader qualities, two are Quality Leader, and there is one each from Relational, Service and Authentic Leader qualities.  Although I appreciate the simplicity of Kouze and Posner’s Exemplary Leaders^[3], it feels more like a step-by-step path than the foundation the TL framework provides.  One similarity between the two is the underlying need for authenticity. A ‘Total Leader” can only be effective if their integrity is palpable.  I think a key factor in effective leadership, found in both examples, lies in the need to work with people and seek resources that help to fill in any leadership gaps any one person might have. 

For instance, after watching Ben Zander’s TED Talk^[4], I found the gaps that have occurred my whole leadership life.  I get ideas or vision and because I have very little fear of change or being uncomfortable, I immediately set wheels in motion to plan and implement whatever I am aiming to do.  What I learned from Ben Zander, as he talked about the C note being there just to make the B note sad, which helps those not into classical music to better relate to it, it clicked what’s been missing in my leading.  Like Mr. Zander, I have passion for what I do and I don’t doubt the ideas, but what I often fail to do is provide relatability and comfort for those who aren’t inside my head or are uncomfortable with change. ^[5]  I need to take the time to help others feel good about an idea and understand it enough not to fear it, and then I will have the momentum, support and collegiality that I need to be successful in new endeavors. 

Adding all of the theoretical leadership, it began to feel like I would never get to a common understanding of leadership, let alone find the right way to put it into educational context.  “Leadership rhetoric,” which I know is important to consider, is entirely different in education because in business leadership, there are key motivators that are, at best, theoretical in education, especially to students.  Also, we rarely have the luxury in education to implement real change based on the world/US view of education- the lack of value ($) put into education.  The world wants us to improve education from within, but it’s not willing to invest in that improvement.  The idea of a “ bounded Community of Practice or Inquiry (CoP)^[6] connection and collaboration helps in that at least schools, educators and students are there for each other. 

One idea for how teachers could or should lead might be the better real-world connections we can foster (as encouraged in The Connected Learner, and in Project Based Learning), by bringing in experts, encouraging interviews, requiring work or service learning.  It helps the community invest in a school and it helps students invest in their own learning, makes them more likely to be change leaders in their place and time in life.

Ultimately, the best phrase I read this week was, “Who you are is how you lead.”^[7]  This fit well with the ideas behind Transformational Leaders, which I think might be most effective in schools where, “Leaders have a clear vision, walk the walk, set and maintain high standards.”^[8]  The fast pace of a school day is still based in a time and place that is no longer relevant, the Industrial Age.  What we need is change leadership that can dissolve long-standing process and mindsets in order to a) put students first, and b) prepare students to be truly lifelong learners.  Since this is a daunting prospect, formulating a collective knowledge, sharing a common language, and nurturing ideas based in diversity and broad perspectives might make the seemingly impossible task plausible.  Educators can lead if we leverage the strength that comes with such a passionate, intelligent population combining dynamic forces for the ever-changing future.

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^[1] Kouze, JM. "The Leadership Challenge.pdf - Leader Presence." 2008. <http://www.leaderpresence.com/resources/The%20Leadership%20Challenge.pdf>

^[2] <http://books.google.com/books/about/Total_Leaders_2_0.html?id=6Sz5nQEACAAJ>

^[3] Kouze, James M, and Barry Z Posner. The leadership challenge. John Wiley & Sons, 2006.

^[4] "Benjamin Zander: The transformative power of ... - YouTube." 2008. 12 Jun. 2015 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LCwI5iErE>

^[5] "Benjamin Zander: The transformative power of classical ..." 2008. 11 Jun. 2015 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LCwI5iErE>

^[6]  Nussbaum-Beach, Sheryl; Ritter Hall, Lani (2011-11-01). The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age (Kindle Locations 1023-1024). Ingram Distribution. Kindle Edition.

^[7] Schwahn, Charles J.; Spady, William G. (2010-04-16). Total Leaders 2.0: Leading in the Age of Empowerment (p. 89). R&L Education. Kindle Edition.

^[8] "Transformational Leadership - Mind Tools." 2013. 11 Jun. 2015 <http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/transformational-leadership.htm>