Being an instructional leader

Keith Pruitt, Ed. S.Words of Wisdom Educational

Consulting

www.woweducationalconsulting.comJoin us on facebook

No stream rises higher No stream rises higher than its source. than its source.

Whatever man might Whatever man might build could never build could never

express or reflect more express or reflect more than who he was.than who he was.

--Frank Lloyd Wright--Frank Lloyd WrightFrom From Staff Development: Practices that Promote Leadership in Learning CommunitiesStaff Development: Practices that Promote Leadership in Learning Communities, Sally , Sally

Zepeda (1999)Zepeda (1999)

No stream rises higher No stream rises higher than its source. than its source.

Whatever man might Whatever man might build could never build could never

express or reflect more express or reflect more than who he was.than who he was.

--Frank Lloyd Wright--Frank Lloyd WrightFrom From Staff Development: Practices that Promote Leadership in Learning CommunitiesStaff Development: Practices that Promote Leadership in Learning Communities, Sally , Sally

Zepeda (1999)Zepeda (1999)

You’ll grow up and go to You’ll grow up and go to school…school…

Within a school, the leadership acts to build school instructional capacity

Insure instructional quality Promote student engagement

These are the primary roles served by the administration of a school.

But who fills that void if the administration of a school is unfamiliar with curriculum and instruction?

Facility Supervisor Discipline Report writer Community Relations Human Resources Inspector Troubleshooter

Question for Consideration:

How much impact does the supervisor’s management style and assumptions about people have on the overall success of the school? Please explain.

Theory Xo People Work as Little As

Possibleo People lack ambition, dislike

responsibility, prefer to be led

o People are self-centered and indifferent to the needs of organization

o People are naturally resistant to change

o People are gullible of fads and are easily misled

Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise, Leadership and Motivation, eds Warren G.

Bennis and Edgar H. Schein, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1966.

Theory Yo A Leader is responsible to

organize in the interest of educational ends

o People are not naturally passive about organizational needs but become so in floundering organizations.

o It is the responsibility of leadership to provide the avenues of growth desired by educators.

o The goal of leadership is to provide a professional learning environment conducive to their own growing.

Sergiovanni, T. J. and Starratt, R. J. (2002) Supervision: A Redefinition. Boston: McGraw Hill.

In-Service

Professional Development

Renewal

Assumes teaching is a job.

Focuses on development of job-related skills or tasks.

Through training and practice.

Looked upon as the school’s responsibility

Examples: new text adoption, computer software, data program

Now class I want you to just listen to me and I am going to tell you how to catch fish.

You could train in this fashion, but it isn’t the most effective method.

Assumes Teaching is a profession

Focuses on development of professional expertise.

The child is the end result.

Through problem solving and inquiry.

Is done through a collaboration of leadership and the teacher.

Let me show you how I fish, then we

will work on it together.

•Assumes Teaching is Assumes Teaching is a vocationa vocation

•Focuses on Focuses on development of development of personal and personal and professional selfprofessional self

•Instruction asks for Instruction asks for reflection and reflection and reevaluationreevaluation

•In renewal, the In renewal, the teacher is responsible teacher is responsible for growth, the for growth, the leadership just leadership just provides the meansprovides the means

•Done through Done through collaborationcollaboration

Turn and Talk: How does looking at teaching as a vocation change professional development to renewal?

Francis S. Bolin (1987). Reassessment and Renewal in Teaching. Teacher Renewal Professional Issues, Personal Choices. Bolin and Falk, eds. New York: Teachers College Press, p.11

Offer meaningful intellectual, social and emotional engagement with ideas, materials and colleagues.

Take account of the context and teacher experiences.

Offer support for informed dissent to evaluate alternatives and to scrutinize underlying assumptions.

Create a school culture that honors diversity of culture and ideas

Build capacity in teachersJudith Warren Little, “Teacher Professional Development in a Climate of Educational Reform,” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, vol. 15, no 2 (1993), p.129-159.

Dennis Sparks and Stephanie Hirch, “Strengthening Professional Development A National Study,” Education Week, May 24, 2000, p. 45.

I’m now going to tell you everything I know

about life.

This won’t take long.

ProfessionalProfessional

LearningLearning

CommunitiesCommunities

Moving from a Culture of Moving from a Culture of teaching to a Culture of teaching to a Culture of

learninglearning

1. What do we want each student to learn?

2. How will we know when each student has learned it?

3. How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?

On Common Ground, DuFour, p. 33

School Culture Inventory (Patterson, et al)

Build a professional library in your school.

Change Your expectations of:1. Yourself as an instructional leader2. Teachers as being more than just professionals3. Outcomes

Focus training on method not material Connect with classrooms

School Culture Inventory: Identifying Guiding Beliefs

(always, most of the time, part of the time, never)

School Purposes

To what extent does the school:

1.Communicate a set of purposes

that provide a sense of direction and

a basis for evaluating? A M P N

2.Value the importance of teachers

and students understand the purposes? A M P N

3.Want decisions to be made that

reflect purposes? A M P N

Empowerment

To what extent does the school:

4.Value empowering teachers to

make decisions that are sensible given

circumstances they face? A M P NPatterson, Purkey and Parker, “Guiding Beliefs of Our School Patterson, Purkey and Parker, “Guiding Beliefs of Our School District,” Productive School Systems for a Nonrational District,” Productive School Systems for a Nonrational World, Arlington: ASCD. 1986, p.50-51.World, Arlington: ASCD. 1986, p.50-51.

Taken from On Common Ground (2005). Masters of Motivation, Jonathon Saphier, p. 97.

School Culture Inventory (Patterson, et al) Build a professional library in your

school. Change Your expectations of:1. Yourself as an instructional leader2. Teachers as being more than just professionals3. Outcomes Focus training on method not material Connect with classrooms

Books by researchers like Isabel Beck, Bob Marzano, Linda Hoyt, Lucy Calkin, Janet Allen, Fountas and Pinnell, Howard Gardner, Sergiovanni, Donald Graves, and many others.

Theoretical research by Vygotsky, Pearson, Gallagher, Moody, Maslow, Eichhorn, Piaget, Anderson, and others.

Journals such as Reading Teacher, Reading Today, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Reading Research Quarterly, Educational Leadership, Early Childhood News, Journal of Staff Development, etc.

Local resources like internet connection, local newspapers, contacts in the community

List of websites for virtual tours (WOW website) Information about interesting places The clippings file Reference books

School Culture Inventory (Patterson, et al)

Build a professional library in your school.

Change Your expectations of:1. Yourself as an instructional leader2. Teachers as being more than just professionals3. Outcomes

Focus training on method not material Connect with classrooms

Of Instructional Leaders

To provide a culture of learning for students and teachers

To provide opportunities for growth

To evaluate the progress of all

Of Teachers

To give students 100% of themselves

To use best practices To pursue

professional growth Collaborate with

others To Monitor progress Provide interventions

All Students to Do Their BestAll Students to Do Their Best Students to be life-long learnersStudents to be life-long learners All students learning togetherAll students learning together Mastery of skillsMastery of skills

I believe that all of my students have the intellectual ability to do rigorous work and meet high standards. Unfortunately, not all of my students share this belief. It is my job to help them come to believe this, along with the conviction that it would be worth their while to do well in school. Therefore, in our minute-to-minute interactions, I communicate to students in every way I can the messages:

1. “This is important.”2. “You can do it.”3. “I won’t give up on you.”

-- from On Common Ground, p.87, Jonathon Saphier

School Culture Inventory (Patterson, et al) Build a professional library in your school. Change Your expectations of:1. Yourself as an instructional leader2. Teachers as being more than just professionals3. Outcomes Focus training on method not material Connect with classrooms

We teach children not programs.We teach children not programs. Best practices has little to do with the Best practices has little to do with the

publisher of our books.publisher of our books. Our best accomplishment comes when Our best accomplishment comes when

we teach children HOW to learn not when we teach children HOW to learn not when we teach children what WE have learned.we teach children what WE have learned.

““What we have always done” will get us What we have always done” will get us the same results “we have always the same results “we have always gotten.”gotten.”

And my favorite one….

School Culture Inventory (Patterson, et al) Build a professional library in your

school. Change Your expectations of:1. Yourself as an instructional leader2. Teachers as being more than just professionals3. Outcomes Focus training on method not material Connect with classrooms

What is the most important thing I do each day?

How often am I visible to students and teachers?

Am I Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker? During the course of a year, how

much time is spent in each classroom?

Teacher is engaging students in active learning Teacher uses best practices such as

Modeling Turn and Talk Thinking Together Shared Reading and Writing Interactive Reading Small group strategic reading Making Connections (meaning)

Classroom organization is student centered Teacher shows recognition of learning styles Teacher is providing professional learning community for students Teacher uses plethora of resources for instruction Teacher is building rapport with students as learners Teacher seems knowledgeable and well prepared Teacher helps students explore their questions to find answers Teacher expresses clear purpose to students for the lesson

whether in whole group or small group When teacher is in small group, other students have clearly

defined expectations

Create a mechanism for teacher input. Organize study groups Grade level teams Mentoring Pick one topic (faculty meetings)

What else?What else?

Create a mechanism for teacher input Organize study groups Grade level meetings Mentoring Pick one topic (faculty meetings) Learn to appreciate one another

What else?What else?

DisciplineDisciplineWhat Works in the What Works in the ClassroomClassroom

Spec Ed Issues

Struggling Readers

To Understand by Ellen Keene

These teachers can then share knowledge gained with each other and expand everyone’s understanding in all of these areas. Teachers can then take that knowledge into the classroom.

Create a mechanism for teacher input Organize study groups Grade level meetings Mentoring Pick one topic (faculty meetings) Learn to appreciate one another

What else?What else?

The Johari Window by SergiovanniThe Johari Window by Sergiovanni

Supervisor knows about teacher

Supervisor doesn’t know about teacher

Teacher knows about self

Teacher Doesn’t know about self

Public or Open self

Hidden or secret self

Blind self Undiscovered or subconscious self

For our schools to succeed, we must have the instructional leadership and vision that

will take us to the heights.

You Hold The Power to

Change The World

Thank You

Keith PruittWords of Wisdom

www.woweducationalconsulting.com

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