Please discuss the following:* What is the "Essential Knowledge" from your article that the group should understand/ be able to apply to leadership practice?
* How can the school vision become a tool for leaders to assess school effectiveness?
Remember: Each group member must post at least three times: Once for the essential knowledge from their article, once as an answer to the discussion question, and at least once to someone else in the group.
1. The essential knowledge from this article is that there are two types of leaders that may look good at the outset, but are not effective long term. The first is a leader who goes into a new position with an already established set vision - no regard for the group culture, norms or collective knowledge of their new group. The second is a highly-charismatic leader who is able to institute positive change, but is unable to leave that change as a legacy shold they move on from that position. The most effective leader is one who can build a collaborative culture within the school that can work together to handle any change and innovation. The most improtant job of a leader is to create and manage culture.
ReplyDeleteThe author suggests 8 guidelines for principals:
1. Understand the culture before trying to change it
2. Value your teachers - promote their professional growth
3. Extend what you value
4. Express what you value
5. Promote true collaboration - not just cooperation
6. Make menus, not mandates
7. Use bureaucratic means to facilitate, not to constrain
8. Connect with the wider environment
The article suggests that leaders need to use their vision both to lead and to learn along with their staff. Coming in with a set vision in mind without working with your staff to develop the vision is a mistake. Ultimate growth and school effectivenes comes when leaders are open to the same refelctive process we expect of teachers and also open to making changes based on what they learn along the way.
Liz, I read this article ahead of this assignment, and I liked the way the author separated collaboration from cooperation. I think reflecting on who we as leaders want to own the outcome makes collaboration so much more powerful than simply cooperating with our individual vision.
DeleteVision as a Compass- Essential Knowledge.
ReplyDeleteVision as a Compass began with a story about how a new principal shared her vision for the school with her staff. This was very similar to what we read during our first class. It discussed the positive and the negative aspects. The story also unfolded to look at events after the initial meeting and how she continued to bring the situation back to her original vision.
The article defined what a school vision is, it stated that it is “a descriptive statement of what the school will be like at a specific time in the future”. It reiterated that the vision is a compass that creates direction for the school, staff and families.
They went on to discuss that there can be multiple visions in a school such as “a vision of self as a leader”, “a personal leadership vision”, “a shared vision focused on teaching, learning, and assessment “, and lastly “a shared vision for the school community”. These four areas need to have a common thread and if they are misaligned then there is a lack of focus and moving forward and improving is difficult.
The author gives ideas on how to start the process by first creating a personal leadership vision by looking at personal beliefs and values then expanding to look at what is going on around you.
Lastly it discusses how to create a shared vision by asking the following questions:
What kind of school do we want for our children and staff?
What will students learn? How will they learn?
How will students benefit from attendance at our school?
How will their success be measured or demonstrated?
Of all the educational innovations and research, which strategies should we seek to employ in our school?
If parents had a choice, on what basis would they choose to send their children to our school?.
The analogy of using the compass as a means of describing the function of vision statement to an organization clearly and simply describes its purpose. I never really thought of a school having multiple visions, but it’s clear that that would be appropriate based on the perspective and audience. With this in mind, I do think that there has to be a common thread to tie them together in purpose.
DeleteThe school vision is an important tool, if created in a positive way with appropriate intentions, can set the tone for the school. The mission gives the school direction to move toward and by going back and evaluating the mission statement you can see if you are meeting these goals. In the article “Vision as a Compass” the principal was able to have a discussion with a staff member and ask is the staff member felt she was living up to the mission. As an administrator to have a clear vision to refer back to makes it easier when talking to a staff member to inquire if they feel they are following the mission of the school and not your personal mission.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of being able to use the school's mission to guide difficult discussions. It takes the personal aspect of "principal vs. teacher" out of the equation. It also puts ownership back on that staff member to make adjustments to realign themsleves with the school's mission.
DeleteLeaders need to develop a mission with their staff and not for their staff. Then the mission can be used to evaluate every aspect of the school from personnel decisions to new instructional techniques. Is this decision going to take our mission further? If the answer is no then that aspect needs to be changed or let go in favor of something that will support the mission. If everyone has had a hand in developing the mission, then when a conflict of interest arises, it can be easily compared to the mission. It should be used to determine if the conflict is in line with the mission and then a plan can be developed to resolve the conflct based on the mission itself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that a mission needs to be created with and not for staff. When all parties, including families, are not included it is difficult expect everyone to participate. I also believe the mission needs to be tied to an action. It is great to say this is what we believe but we need to show it as well. Many schools do this buy having an overarching theme, i.e. going green, that includes all aspects of the school. I also feel a mission must be fully embraced and reiterated by administration frequently and then referred back to when issues arise.
DeleteThe essential knowledge from Vision, Leadership, and Change centers around defining actually what vision means. An operational definition of vision includes what the author describes as more than just an “image of the future ;” it needs to be viewed as “the force which molds meaning.”
ReplyDeleteFive characteristics of vision are described:
• Attracts commitment and energizes people
• Creates meaning in workers’ lives
• Establishes a standard of excellence
• Bridges the present to the future
• Transcends the status quo
Vision can be described in terms of first order changes (those dealing with improvements) and second order changes (those requiring restructuring of role, rules, relationships, and responsibilities)
Of course the author reinforced that however the vision becomes the vision, through the leader’s concept and agreed upon by staff or developed collaboratively, vision needs to be committed to and shared.
Visionary leadership involves three stages:
• Image of desired future of the organization
• Communicated
• Empower followers so it can be enacted
As a school leader, to be successful we need to consider where we want to go and why. The relationship between a teacher’s vision and the leader’s vision is important.
All of this background set the stage for what I think was most critical to where we are and what we need to be able to do as future leaders – facilitate collaboratively a shared vision for our school. The steps involved, according to this article, are:
• Know the organization
• Involve critical individuals
• Explore possibilities
• Put it in writing
With the school vision acting as the compass for the direction of the school and the guide that directs decisions and practices, the implementation of the school vision can serve as the benchmark for determining school effectiveness. Stakeholders should be able to provide evidence based documentation that demonstrates the level of which the vision has met the desired outcomes. A simple vision statement that focuses on a value statement would allow the vision to be interpreted through the lens of particular stakeholders, allow evidence of effectiveness to be gathered from a variety of perspectives and contribute to what we, as a school, collaboratively believe is where we want to be headed.
ReplyDelete