PowerPoint Presentation
Educational Leadership Platform
Courtney Huff
Spring 2011
Great administrators are like great chefs. They both spend an
inordinate amount of time preparing, planning, and visioning,
before they even begin to cook or implement. During this time, they
keep their focus on the outcomes and the clients. They continuously
re-adjust, refocus, and re-evaluate their plans and efforts. -
Neila A. Connors
Philosophy of Education
In his book, Schools Cannot Do It Alone, Jamie Vollmer
states:
For the first time in history, our security, our prosperity, and
the health of our nation depend upon our ability to unfold the full
creative potential of every child. Not just the easy ones, not just
the top twenty five percent of the class (4).
Purpose of Education
I believe:
One of the most important jobs in creating a successful,
thriving society is to educate our students and families.
Learning is lifelong and never-ending.
Schools along with families play vital roles in creating
community thinkers, leaders, and workers, without these we have a
society dependent upon the welfare and criminal justice system.
Importance of Schools to Society
I first watched this video at the Professional Learning
Communities Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. From that point on, I
have used it over and over again
Philosophy of Leadership
In his book, Leadership and Sustainability, Michael Fullan
states:
In a nutshell, we need a critical mass of leaders at all levels
of the system who are explicitly cognizant of and committed to
pursuing in practice the implementation of the eight elements of
sustainability (29). The elements are:
Public service with a moral purpose
Commitment to changing context at all levels
Lateral capacity building through networks
Intelligent accountability and vertical relationships
Deep learning
Dual commitment to short-term and long-term results
Cyclical energizing
The long lever of leadership
Leading with a Moral Purpose
As an educational leader, I will
Ensure all students will learn and grow to their fullest
potential failure is no longer an option.
Treat everyone with respect, care, and responsiveness.
Create learning environments that are safe, healthy, and
positive.
Commitment to Change
Leading a school in the 21st century, I understand that:
Change takes time and much effort I will encourage and celebrate
the small successes along the way.
New beliefs can be easily implemented and supported when a
community of learning is created.
Managing Complex ChangeSource: Ambrose, Adapted from Villa and
Thousand (1995)
Networking is a MUST!
In order to be an effective leader, it is necessary for me
to:
Learn from others who are in a similar role as me through a
variety of resources.
Encourage and support teachers to observe and collaborate with
each other in regards to student learning (Professional Learning
Communities.)
Research powerful networks in relation to the mission and vision
of my school district.
Accountability: A Balanced Approach
As a leader, this statement from Fullan provides me with insight
in terms of balancing accountability practices effectively:
Too much intrusion demotivates people; too little permits drift
or worse (20).
Self reflections along with outside observations and evaluations
need to be balanced and used to promote best practices.
Deep Learning
Leaders continuously facilitate and participate in learning in
order to improve as a school team, here are some critical points to
keep in mind:
The power of failing intelligently
You must learn to fail intelligently. Failing is one of the
greatest arts in the world. One fails forward towards success.
Thomas Edison
Using data to constantly monitor student learning, asking key
questions to analyze and respond to
Creating a culture of inquiry amongst students, staff, and the
community
Short Term and Long Term Results
Leading a school involves:
Having a vision and mission
Creating SMART goals/objectives in relation to the schools
mission
Using the school improvement plan to provide focused
professional development that positively affects student
achievement
Setting short term goals to build trust and positive environment
for staff
Cyclical Energizing
From a leadership perspective, it is important to keep in mind
the power of energy. I will:
Facilitate practices that involve the staff in working smarter,
not harder
Sustain momentum when goals are met and promote continuous
learning
Model the power of positive energy versus negative energy
Levering Leadership Practices
The eighth element of sustainability combines the first seven
and in order to create sustainability leadership must be enhanced
on all levels.
I believe it is necessary to seek out and encourage leaders
amongst:
Teachers
Parents
Community Members
Businesses
Vision of Learners
The only source of knowledge is experience. Albert Einstein
Children learn through a variety of experiences and at different
rates.
They need to be in an environment that is positive, engaging,
safe, and responsive.
Children thrive in classrooms and communities that promote
creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking.
Technology is integrated into daily practices.
Leading and Learning By Example
We embrace explicitly the proposition that effective practice
and popular practice are very likely two different things. -
Douglas Reeves
In order to promote my beliefs of best practices for teaching
students, I need to model those practices for my staff in a variety
of ways.
Staff Meetings
Day-to-day conversations and interactions
Communications via e-mail, newsletters, etc.
Why Learning for All?
In his book, Schools Cannot Do It Alone, Jamie Vollmer
states:
If we are serious about preparing all children to succeed in the
21st century, then our schools must change. We cant keep doing the
same thing weve always done and expect to get a different result.
The time has come to replace the rigid selecting and sorting
process with a flexible approach to teaching and learning that is
designed to produce one result: student success (155).
Vision for Teachers
Dont tell me you believe all kids can learn tell me what youre
doing about the kids who arent learning. - Richard DuFour taken
from the book, Pyramid Response to Intervention by Buffum, Mattos,
and Weber
Teachers need to be given time to reflect on the following
questions:
What exactly do we expect students to learn?
How will we know if they learned it?
How will we respond when some students dont learn?
How will we respond when some students have already learned?
How do we impact culture?
Begin by focusing on changing BEHAVIORS.
Attitudes follow behavior. That means people accept new beliefs
as a result of changing their behavior. (Fullan)
Behaviors and emotions change before beliefs so we need to act
in a new way before we get insights and feelings related to new
beliefs.
Supporting the Work of Teachers
Create sufficient time for teachers to collaborate:
the failure of leaders to provide sufficient time is almost
certainly fatal to reform efforts (45).
Provide effective feedback and monitoring for teachers:
Previous research on monitoring practices suggests that leaders
must provide monitoring that focuses on adult actions (not merely
on student test scores), that is frequent, and that is constructive
(45).
(from Transforming Professional Development into Student Resutls
by Douglas Reeves)
Professional Learning with Staff
In his book, Transforming Professional Development into Student
Results, Douglas Reeves states:
Compelling evidence suggests that teachers, schools leaders, and
students are much better served when professional learning is
focused on the deep and consistent implementation of a few things
(53).
Professional learning needs to be :
Focused, not frantic or scattered
Transformed from a vision to implementation
Practiced, over and over againdeliberately
Focus on Leadership
leaders must be the architects of systems and schedules that
lead to professional learning (Reeves, 70).
Effective leaders must ask themselves:
Are the teaching practices, curriculum, and assessment
strategies we are using working to improve student learning?
Are the learning targets clear and common for the content,
frequency, and review of formative assessments?
How can I create more teacher leaders in my building?
Vision for a School
This keynote speaker from Dallas, TX puts the purpose of school
into perspective. Believe!
Leading a 21st Century School
Leadership Making happen that in which you believe. Roland
Barth
Providing focus for staff and students on:
Implementing teamwork, technology, and thinking in the daily
practices of the core areas of reading, writing and mathematics
Creating an environment that is positive, safe, and welcoming to
the community
Showcasing evidence of student achievement through a variety of
measures proving all students can learn
Moving Visions into Implementation
Use the eight sustainability elements from Fullans model along
with positive influences and experiences to put visions into
actions.
Just as chefs would follow the steps of a recipe - effective
leaders remember to focus on the outcome and client - making
adjustments along the way.
Keep in mind that the process of improving teaching and learning
is never-ending and leaders will always need visions and action
plans.
Resources
Reeves, Douglas B. Transforming Professional Development into
Student Results. Alexandria: ASCD, 2010. Print.
Connors, Neila A. If You Don't Feed the Teachers, They Eat the
Students. Nashville: Incentive Publications, 2000. Print.
Fullan, Michael. Leadership and Sustainability. Thousand Oaks:
Corwin Press, 2005. Print.
Vollmer, Jamie. Schools Cannot Do It Alone. Fairfield:
Enlightenment Press, 2010. Print.
Buffum, Austin, Mike Mattos, and Chris Weber. Pyramid Response
to Intervention. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2009. Print.
Mattos, Mike, dir. Time Bomb Ticking. 2009. Web. 18 Aug.
2009.
"Dallas Keynote Speaker." 5 Sept. 2008. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. .