Last year I started thinking that I was going to do my capstone on the lack of qualifications of those in leadership roles in school divisions. I had been shocked to hear that many Vice Principals did not hold Masters degrees and I was even more alarmed when I discovered the number of Principals who also lacked a Masters degrees. I quickly realised upon doing some research that my school division is not the ‘norm’ provincially or nationally. As a result, I needed to get over my alarm and focus rather on what I am passionate about, not what bugs me.
I am personally vested in the application of inclusive learning environments as I have two family members that experienced inclusion, or lack of inclusion differently which has had serious impacts on their lives. Upon completing research I was even more animated and passionate in sharing best practices. This became the topic of my capstone. My struggle was staying focused and where to maintain the focus. When I get talking about inclusion one would quickly see the level of my enthusiasm for this topic … but I lacked focus. Thank heavens for my Capstone adviser who was able to help me find a direction that I could not only focus on but also tie it to developing leadership skills. I quickly devoured article after article and began disappearing into the rabbit hole and losing focus again. I found a number of books that discussed inclusion but I still had not found my target for my capstone. At Teachers’ Convention I went to a speaker, Shelley Moore, who finally spoke of inclusion as I view it. She was able to articulate what I had not been able to get my tongue around. She was the flashlight that finally shone the light where I needed to see. This did not mean I was then on a roll, I wrote, deleted, rewrote, got frustrated and then started over. Even with all this struggling, I knew I had a good topic, I just needed to get my feet under me. I finally decided to take a break from it hoping inspiration would find me and the paper would just write itself. Well, that did not happen. What I learned throughout this process was that inclusion is not easy. Almost everyone wants what is best for students, but the reality is we all struggle with different elements of inclusion, whether it is the academic programming, mental health concerns, dysregulated behaviour that is disruptive to the learning of the class, or the medical understanding of diagnosis’. How does a leader make certain they have created a learning environment that is inclusive for both students and teachers? I have finally been able to submit (for the fourth time) my capstone with hopes that it helps leaders with this very difficult topic. *if you are interested in this topic please check out my Capstone attached to my this website
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I've been busy ... to be honest, this is a gross understatement.
This past year I have become a grandma for the second time (in less than two years), we have built a house, sold a house, moved out of a house we had lived in for almost 20 years, worked full time, gone to school full time, had a 4th year student teacher, took on 8 International students from China, organised 6 major field trips ... and tried to be a good wife, mother and still have a clean house. I am not asking for pity though. I took on all of these knowingly (if not stupidly). They have created a great deal of stress and anxiety ... but they have also proven to me that I have limitations to what I can take on - I truly just thought if I didn't do these things I'd be deemed lazy. Boy have I learned a lot this year! All this craziness made me learn some really important things about myself and my life:
Yesterday I met with my student teacher for the first time. She not only seems very nice, but she came prepared to ask me numerous questions.
We started with a tour of the school and I introduced her to a few of the teacher who were around, then we returned to the classroom. Her questions were generally about the curriculum and what technology was available in the classroom. I spent some time showing her some of my lessons and plans along with the apps, extensions and tools that we use in grade 7. We talked about where I would (hopefully) be at in the curriculum for social studies and I shared with her my 'Year at a Glance'. I indicated that many outcomes are met through project based learning opportunities and we reviewed what this looks like in the classroom. She was curious about how and why I used the tools that I employed and I was glad that I had consciously made these choices and was able to explain the purpose behind why I made them. She was interested in whether I had a purpose or reasoning for the way the classroom was organised and designed. I have always been intentional, but I had not reflected on these questions for some time. Her questions reminded me to be reflective and intentional. Our meeting was just over two hours and I felt very excited and enthusiastic when she left. I am mostly excited about how our time together will demand that I communicate and share my beliefs and rationale around educational strategies, curriculum and students. This is a bit daunting at the same time because this person will be watching and learning the entire time they are here, and I am concerned that the pressure of mentoring a potential colleague will be more than I am able to manage ... with great power comes great responsibility (Yoda). Before I started my Masters of Education in Leadership I would have told someone that a leader was a person with assigned authority or a title. I have come to understand that leadership is much more complicated than this. There could be elements of authority and potentially titles, but some of the greatest leaders in history were those that had a vision and were able to communicate the purpose to achieve their goals ... ie. Martin Luther King Jr. and 'I Have a Dream' According to many great books there are a variety of styles of leadership that are successful, but success will look different with each form of leadership. In some of these cases the leadership is from the top down and the people doing the work follow the leader sometimes as a result of an informal leader. Informal leaders are able to motivate or inspire action sometimes in spite of the leaders and when people work collaboratively or as a team they often establish a hierarchy. There might be times when those in informal leadership roles wield more power that the formal leader of the group. It is now my belief that leaders are people that inspire people to listen, make change, and/or influences others to share the vision and to work towards the shared goals. I've now read a number of fantastic books on leadership and to date, my favourite one is The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner (2012). This book very clearly explains what they see as the various styles of leadership. From reading this book, I have determined that as a leader I use the strategy of 'Model the Way' most often. I have assumed that if people see me doing something they see a positive this would inspire them to make changes in their own practice. Of course this does not always work effectively. What I had not realised is that one can build their skills in the other areas in order to develop into a more effective leader.
As part of my Master class EEA 532 - Instructional Leadership - Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment we have been asked to reflect on the following questions:
I consider myself to be very reflective and I keep a number of journals as well, I am working to develop my skills in blogging. I will ask for feedback from my colleagues and students to check or confirm that my perceptions are accurate. I also will admit that if students are not 'getting' the content, that it is my job to change how I am instructing to improve their understanding. I believe that they need to own their learning, but it is my job to ensure they have every opportunity to access the knowledge or skills. I am not in a roll where I am assessing the learning of other teachers, other than when I am offering professional development. At these times, I might include an exit card or some other form of feedback to ensure that I have met their needs. If I haven't, I make myself available to them when it is convenient for them. I then work individually with that person until they are satisfied with their learning. Over the years my assessment practices have deepened to include a broader variety of tools as well as increased the number of assessments 'for learning' ... not always just 'of learning'. Our division has offered significant professional development in order to develop appropriate assessment practices where I have deepened my understanding of how to leverage assessment for student improvement.
We also need to remember that professional development needs to be engaging for the teacher learner as well ... we MUST use these strategies when we are teaching the teachers. Once again in my Masters class we have been asked to reflect and reply to some questions. Here they are for this round:
How do you typically instruct your students? other learners (e.g. teachers)? Have your instructional practices changed over the years? Why or why not? And if so, in what ways? First of all, I try very hard to think of the individuals within the group that I am teaching and then think of the learning goals. This does not change whether I am working with students or colleagues. I personally feel that knowing who I am working with has the single greatest impact on whether the learner will get anything out of my instruction. What this means to me is that I need to know the reason that the person needs to learn whatever I am teaching and how I can connect the concepts to them and their experiences. The second part of this question asks if my teaching practices have changed over time ... of course they have. I do not teach the same people the same content therefore I can not possibly teach the same way. I also feel that finding new ways to develop understanding is critical to an educator as our students are coming to us with a multitude of experiences that shape how they will learn. If a student comes to me with a lack of comprehension strategies to make meaning from written literature, I will need to take extra time with this student to determine specifically what the missing skills are (maybe why they are missing the skills) and develop an understanding of them to support them in their learning journey. Each student is a unique learner and making certain that I recognise their individuality is imperative, as connecting them to the learning goals empowers the student to take ownership of their learning. Over the years I have gone from more 'whole class' style of teaching to small group and individual instruction as I have come to recognise that the 'one-size' fits all mentality has no place in my classroom. The learning needs are too vast. What research do you use to support your instructional practices? What evidence do you have that indicates that your instructional practices help students achieve and be successful? As part of my undergraduate studies we learned a great deal about the impact of a variety of instructional strategies - specifically from Marzano. I have always kept a copy of his 'High-yield Instructional Strategies' at my desk for when I am planning. They are there to remind me that not all methods are equal, but that I also need to recognise the purpose of using any of the strategies. Further into my career I have read books about a variety of 'workshop' models and I have come to LOVE teaching using Daily 5 as my structure. It allows me to sit one-on-one with students daily, allows them choice, I am able to differentiate for individual students and make connections with students and develop personal goals that are meaningful for each student. The second part of the question asks what evidence I have that what I do helps students achieve and be successful, well ... the proof is evident in the engagement of the students, the reading comprehension growth that I see, and their ability to communicate through their writing. I love to see students go from reluctant readers to engaged readers. They may not all 'love' to read when they leave my class, but I have modelled a love of learning, goal setting, reading strategies, and engaged them in critical thinking and writing skills, all the while showing that they are worthy of my time and that they can be successful. What work do we have to do as instructional leaders in this area to ensure that students are receiving the best instructional practices in our buildings/districts? I just finished reading an article by Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee that states that the single biggest impact a leader has is through their own emotional maturity and how well they understand emotional intelligence. The reason they state that it is so important, is that the leader is the 'weather.' If the leader has an optimistic, sincere, and realistic outlook, that through the culture they are creating, the people they are leading will be more likely to share information, trust their colleagues, and be willing to take the healthy risks needed for change to happen. They then go on to state that through these behaviours all learning flourishes. This research implies that the most important quality for an instructional leader to have is emotional intelligence. I would agree that a leader that allows the teachers to 'practice and develop' their skills without feeling they are in jeopardy is key to people implementing best practices. No teacher wants to do their job badly, they often just lack the skill or strategy - so our instructional leaders need to develop the culture that supports a growth mindset. As part of the course - EEA 532: Instructional Leadership: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment our class has been asked to reflect on the following three questions:
Over the last week I have had the opportunity to engage in conversations with a number of leaders within our school division as well as a number from other parts of the province, country and even the world. There has been significant talk about the potential of the curriculum redesign as well as concern over the uncertainty over its implementation. Additionally there is a great deal of speculation around exactly what the content of the new curriculum might be. As educators we know that change is the one true constant, but making lasting, meaningful change is both essential and extremely challenging. Our division will need to make the provision of support for teachers, through what is expected to be a significant shift in how some teachers instruct, a focus both financially and educationally. Once the new curriculum is available, it will be imperative that leaders at a number of levels are able to spend the time necessary to become extremely familiar with the content. There will be the need for support to be woven throughout the multiple levels of leadership within the division. As instructional leaders our central office and school based administrators will need to provide time for teachers to build upon their comprehension and assist in building capacity so that they are competent and confident through the pedagogical transformation that will be required. Not only will professional development days need a focus on collaboration and supporting each other, but money will need to be available so that additional in-service or training will be accessible in the areas of project-based learning (PBL) and integrated instructional design. As Simon Breakspear stated at the ULead 2018 conference, we must take our time to understand what change is needed, so that in the end students learn more efficiently: go slow to go fast. It will be important to leverage those people who already are using PBL as leaders within their own learning community. Once there is clarity about the curriculum, teachers will need to focus on their depth of understanding of the learning goals and be open to changing their pedagogical practices. Our site-based leaders will need to host multiple informational sessions for parents and community members to help promote and develop understanding about the need for the curriculum change as well as how it will benefit the students. Change can be scary for many and while most students are accepting of change, we will need to engage both parental and community support and involvement to fully explore the in-depth critical thinking skills and other competencies so that our students experience success with the new direction in curriculum. I love change and as a result this feels like a very exciting time to be an educator. My role will be to model enthusiasm and willingness to change in order to help others see the positive in our continued learning. I have been trained in PBL and will offer to work with my peers to support their progress while I continue to learn from them as well. I am excited to see how these changes will build the community of learners within our schools.
I will include much of this information in the Voicethread that can be located on EEA 534 tab under the M. Ed. in Leadership heading. Please check out the Flipgrid below to hear how this whole adventure went :)
I believe that my life story has shaped me into the genuinely compassionate human I have become.
I was always an avid journaller, and because of this I am able to put myself into the perspective of my younger self. While this may not seem like an important ability, remembering or reminding myself what it is like to be 12, or 13 without the lens of my older self, has been an important mindset that I feel helps with my connection with my students. I also experienced a challenging childhood and because of the physical and emotional trauma that was endured and survived, my ability to empathise and connect with those needing emotional understanding is immense. The greatest impact on me though, has been the friendship and love that I have received from my husband. He has been the solid rock that has allowed me to heal myself emotionally and grow as a person. He continues to support and encourage me always. He has been a profound gift. |
Shelly TreleavenLearning starts with a question and I am full of them :) Archives
June 2019
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