Changing Assumptions

In your journal, either reflect on how this went if you tried it OR... write about which assumption might be the most difficult for people in your context to tackle.

As it is summer, I was not able to complete the activity with my colleagues.  I imagine most of my peers are in the same boat.  In looking through the Framework of Assumptions, however, I think that the most difficult for my colleagues would be:

All teachers are potential leaders <------> Some teachers are potential leaders

In my context, there is a lot of tension right now about leadership roles.  In the past 48 months all of the leadership positions have been affected in one way or another.  We hired a new director, switched from 3 assistant principals to one principal and two assistant principals, and we are moving from traditional team leader positions to Learning Community Leaders who will have leadership and coaching responsibilities built into our workday.  

With all this change have come many conversations around leadership.  When the LCL positions were announced, there were several people who were concerned that we were "limiting teacher leadership opportunities."  This clearly echoes the belief that only some teachers are leaders - and those people are chosen  by administration.

The reality of the school is very different from the perception of many.  Teachers at our school lead in far more ways than in past schools I've taught at.  Teachers at our school are  coaching, are on committees, chair committees, lead workshops and trainings, present at conferences, lead faculty meetings, and more. But for many, if it doesn't say "leader" after their title, they don't consider it teacher leadership.

It seems like it would be a simple shift for people to realize that they really are being leaders.  Surely all you would have to do is point out what people are doing and they will see it.  But it has been my experience that people's perceptions are much harder to change than that.  I think what people are viewing as leadership is when someone is perceived to be "on the inside" or "in the know".  The distance perceived between leaders and teachers is sort of an "us and them" mentality similar to workers and bosses in union situations.  This is not a good mental place for a school to be in, and I hope that part of my position will lead to a change in the perception, at least in my small corner of the school.

Inspiration vs Frustration: A reflection on practice to lead to my espoused platform of leadership

What inspires me

I’m inspired when I am working in a situation with peers who are on the same wavelength with me.  It took me a long time to realize that I really thrive when working with others.  But it can’t just be any others; I look for others who share the same ideals of education.  This doesn’t mean I’m looking for others who are just like me.  Instead, I want to work with others who also believe in student-centered, self-regulated learning.  I also crave working with others who are seeking to improve their own understanding rather than just going off of “gut”.  The times when I have really had great working situations were when I have been with a team of teachers in situations like this.  This has happened twice so far in my career – each time only lasted for a year.  I’m hopeful that this next year will be another one – it certainly holds this promise.

What frustrates me

I’m frustrated by the opposite of what inspires me.  I hate working in situations where I am isolated or when I am constantly fighting against what I perceive as bad practice – or at least ineffective practice.  I really dislike being pigeon-holed as unaware or naïve; as if my understanding of education is that of a doe-eyed intern who doesn’t understand what education is really all about.  This hasn’t happened to me lately, but it did happen in my fourth year of teaching when, as I was explaining the cooperative learning structure I used to go over DOL, I was told “oh, I see what you are doing…you’ll learn eventually” or something to that effect.  I also get frustrated when working on teams where others don’t seem interested in learning or improving – only continuing the status quo.  Not far off from that is when others are willing to try new things, but aren’t willing to actually go out and read and find them; instead they wait for me to do it.  I get tired of pulling others along with me.  Again, I’m really excited for this upcoming year because the team that is assembled seems to be a lot of people who are willing to pull their own weight.

Reflections on Chapters 4-6 of Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders

• ·      I need to create a space where I can challenge my colleagues’ perceptions.  Likewise, I need to challenge my own perceptions. (loc. 773)

o   The big question for me here is how to create situations where I can help enable this.  This goes back to the environment I help create within the team structure – whether or not people can feel comfortable enough to challenge.

• ·      I have to recognize and be sensitive to where others on my team are in their own journey – both as teachers and in their lives.  Not everyone is where I am or interested in what I’m interested in.

o   I also need to be aware of where they are in ADC chart.

§  Marilyn H. Katzenmeyer;Gayle V. Moller. Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders (Kindle Location 834). Kindle Edition.

• ·      I can’t do it alone and it can’t just be my way.  I have to work together with the entire team, that is how real differences are made for student learning (loc. 1017).
• ·      I have to help create a culture of collegiality.  “[Barth] suggested that creating a culture of collegiality is needed. A culture of collegiality, he explained, includes talking with one another about practice, sharing craft knowledge, observing one another, and rooting for one another's success.”Marilyn H. Katzenmeyer; Gayle V. Moller. Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders (Kindle Locations 1027-1028). Kindle Edition.
• ·      I know that what I am helping create will at times cause friction.  I also know that I need to have my own group of colleagues working together for the same changes (the other LCLs) to help and support each other.
• ·      I have to continue to improve my craft.  My expertise is a big reason why others are willing to listen to me.  I can’t let that erode. (loc. 1157)

o   “When they talk with colleagues, they influence them, and this outcome is powerful, because teachers are working from personal experience and are advocating new methods based on what appears to work with their students.”

Marilyn H. Katzenmeyer;Gayle V. Moller. Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders (Kindle Locations 1170-1171). Kindle Edition.

• ·      I need to work on my listening skills.

Marilyn H. Katzenmeyer;Gayle V. Moller. Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders (Kindle Location 1217). Kindle Edition.

Door stoppers: Exploring why the doors were locked in the paper "Sliding the Doors"

I will be honest: this has been the hardest reflection for me to write.  I have had a hard time figuring out why answering such basic comprehension questions is giving me such fits.  As I have read and reread the article looking for examples to answer the questions, I was finally struck by what was holding me back: I disagree with the assumptions the questions are making and the picture the authors paint of leadership within the case studies presented.

The way these questions are worded (particularly question four) presupposes that these teachers were denied teacher leadership opportunities (or at least some opportunities) based on unfair outside forces - a sort of man vs. world scenario.  In many ways the authors of the paper do the same thing in their presentation of the cases.

Let me step aside for a moment and quickly answer questions 1-3.  All three teachers were good at their jobs, were respected by their peers, and stepped up to lead in situations where they felt passionate.  Some of these situations presumably met with success (committee memberships and chairmanships, mentoring, etc.).  Unfortunately, none of the successful instances were profiled in this paper.  But from the contexts presented it can be inferred that these teachers were seen as leaders by their peers not simply because of their experience, but also because of their professionalism and expertise.

It is unclear to me, then, why all three cases presented were situations where these teachers ran into doors that were not only closed, but deadbolted.  In all three cases, the authors presented the teacher as a sympathetic character who was trying to fight against the “machine” to do what is right for students.  The teacher is presented as a crusader who has no flaws in their plan while the administration and other people in positional power are painted as mindless, soulless bureaucrats who are more interested in the status quo than they are in helping students.  

While I know that big machines tend to favor the status quo, I also know that the people within the machine of schools are often willing to re-route streams to help people help their students.  In all three cases, what surprises me most is how the teachers seem to thwart what they know to be true - that systems have rules and you have to play by them.  Brian even articulates that, “mostly what I have learned over the years is the value of people,” (p. 785).  When he says this, he seems to imply that the principal did not value him and his ideas.  But my question to him is: did he value her?  Just because she is in positional power doesn’t mean she isn’t a person and that there is no need to worry about relationship building.  This sort of reminds me of many of the teachers I have seen throughout my career who are constantly antagonistic with administration and then complain that they don’t get their way.  They also lament that others in the school seem to be “favorites”.  What they either fail to see or refuse to see is that the people who are actively thwarting administration aren’t going to suddenly get their way.  As the old adage says, “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar”.

This same thing seems to apply to Laura and Jennifer, though to a lesser extent.  They both ran into snags due to lack of recognition of the system at play.  Somehow philosophically they seem to be arguing that there shouldn’t be a system, but if people are organizing a large group, no matter what you do, a system will emerge.  Laura’s realization that, “the organization values structures over people,” seems naive at best.  Of course it does.  The question of leadership, in my mind, is how you work within the system or around the system to get the work done - and it starts by cultivating relationships with the people in positional power within the system.  Of course there are a few people in those positions who are there undeservedly, but the vast majority of people working in those offices are there for a reason and they worked hard to get there.  Just because their priorities don’t match up with yours doesn’t mean you aren’t valued.  It is kind of a self-absorbed stance to think that your idea or your new program should suddenly be the norm out of nowhere - as if you are the only one in the system with the capacity to think so clearly.

The bottom line is this: all three teachers failed to recognize and work within the system.

On one last note, the name of the article also puzzles me.  It didn’t appear to be about teachers trying to slide open doors between themselves in order to collaborate and work together.  Instead it seemed to be about teacher leaders trying to walk up stairs but finding the doorways locked.

Silva, D., Gimbert, B., & Nolan, J. (2000). Sliding the doors: Locking and unlocking possibilities for teacher leadership. Teachers College Record, 102 (4). 779-804.