Leadership At Its Best: Empowering Teachers & Building Professional Communities

1. Leadership At Its Best: Empowering Teachers & Building Professional Communities LEADER Special Interest Group Symposium International Reading Association Annual Convention April 27, 2010 Chicago, IL

2. How can we cultivate the kind of inclusive leadership that research suggests is needed for real change to occur? Focus Question

3. For effective school leadership to occur, district and school administrators must first understand that teachers can be a powerful source of change and improvement in schools. OUR PREMISE

4. the proposal “places 100 percent of the responsibility on teachers and gives them zero percent of the authority.” Randi Weingarten, (President of the American Federation of Teachers) • Obama Blueprint for Reform Teacher(s) and Leader(s) 17 occurrences We need to change perceptions

5. Teachers can (and must) be leadersin school reform efforts.

6. A head-nodding reading experience !! New Meaning of Educational Change (2007, 4th Ed.) Michael Fullan

7. ◊◊◊◊ Key Premise The way in which change is put into practice determines to a large extent how well it fares.

8. REFORM IS NOT JUST PUTTING INTO PLACE THE LATEST POLICY. IT MEANS CHANGING THE CULTURES OF CLASSROOMS, SCHOOLS, DISTRICTS, UNIVERSITIES….

9. The daily ‘press’ teachers feel results in • short-term perspective • isolation from other adults • limited opportunities for sustained reflection Teachers need reculturing – questioning and changing their beliefs and habits The Culture of Classroom Teachers

10. 1. Examining 3 areas: Beliefs & values Knowledge and skills Outcomes 2. Working in teams to make decisions 3. Not jumping on a quick-fix 4. Using an inquiry approach to making decisions What reculturing would look like

11. DO YOU RECOGNIZE THIS EXPERIENCE? Sometimes people “think that they have changed but [they] have only assimilated the superficial trappings of the new practice” (p. 29).

12. Using new or revised materials The possible alteration of beliefs (moral & intellectual) Using new teaching approaches 3 REQUISITES FOR CLASSROOM CHANGE

13. Teachers who understand how to change classroom culture are also ready to lead in changing school culture and building strong learning communities.

14. INSTITUTIONAL TRADITIONS: Routine teaching Static subject matter WEAK TEACHER COMMUNITY STRONG TEACHER COMMUNITY Individual values & beliefs Culture of practice Enact traditions or lower expectations Traditional community: enforce traditions Innovate alone Teaching learning community: Collaborate to reinvent practice Source: McLaughlin & Talbert, 2001

15. PERSONAL AND SOCIAL BETTERMENT ARE INTIMATELY INTERCONNECTED “Large scale change cannot be achieved if teachers identify only with their own classrooms and are not similarly concerned with the success of other teachers and the whole school” (p. 303). Principal- district Districts – other districts States- other states and the country LARGE SCALE CHANGE

16. “Teachers need to increase their capacity for dealing with change because if they don’t, they are going to continue to be victimized by the relentless intrusion of external change forces” (p. 138). Peer support Professional community Student achievement Teacher certainty

17. FINAL THOUGHTS “Success is about one-quarter having the right ideas and three-quarters establishing effective processes that sort out and develop the right solution suited to the context in question” (p.104).

18. 3C’s FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT COMPETENCE, CARING, COMMITMENT Dr. David A. Monti, Professor Emeritus Central Connecticut State University International Reading Association Annual Conference Chicago, IL April, 27, 2010

19. Learning organizations (are) organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together. Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline (1990)

20. A summary of the book entitled: LEADING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES Voices from Research and Practice Shirley M. Hord William A. Sommers Corwin Press, 2008

21. PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES: Communities of professionals working together to improve student learning by utilizing data driven decision making and continually enhancing their own learning collectively.

22. NECESSARY VARIABLES FOR A SUCCESSFUL PLC COMPETENCE CARING COMMITMENT

23. COMPETENCE • data driven decision making • professional development • outside readings (book clubs)

24. CARING: • collaboration • respecting one another’s point • of view

25. COMMITMENT: • continuous learning • “we are family”

26. What does a PLC look like? • a family affair including principal • to be the best professionals • possible • block of time to put together a • plan of action • structured minutes (agenda, etc.) • distributed leadership

27. How does a PLC act? • Shared vision • Listen to others • Suspend judgment • Resist premature closure

28. What are the results to be gained • by students and staff from • utilization of a PLC? • Teachers who function at higher • cognitive levels produce students • who function at higher cognitive • levels

29. MONITORING PLC’S: • “The School Professional Staff • as Learning Community • Instrument” (Hord) • How is the plan working • in classrooms • walk-throughs • informal conferences

30. RATIONALE: Staff development that has as its goal high levelsof learning for all students, teachers, and administrators requires a form of professional learning that is quite different from the workshop-driven approach. The most powerful forms of staff development occur in ongoing teams that meet on a regular basis, preferably several times a week, for the purpose of learning, joint lesson planning and problem solving.

31. These teams, often called learning communities or communities of practice, operate with a commitment to the norms of continuous improvement and experimentation and engage their members in improving their daily work to advance the achievement of school district and school goals for student learning. Figure 6.2 pg. 123 Hord and Sommers, Leading Professional Learning Communities

32. Monday Morning MentoringTen Lessons to Guide You up the LadderBy David Cottrell Paul Haupt El Paso, Texas cphaupt@earthlink.net

33. Getting Past Splat • My success depends on having the courage and tenacity to get past splat. • I am the driver of my success and happiness! • Until I accept total responsibility I will not be able to put plans in place to accomplish my goals. • Transitioning from manager to leader requires that I make different decisions. • My success is the result of making better choices and recovering quickly from poor choices. First Monday

34. What Is the Main Thing? • People have different perceptions of what the main thing is. • People quit people before they quit companies. • I have to build a relationship with my boss with the same intensity I maintain in leading my team • I need more focus on the main things! Second Monday

35. Escape from Management Land • I need to get in touch with my people. • My team needs me to hire good people, coach everyone, and deliver the people who are not carrying their share of the load. • My job is not to lower the bottom by adjusting and accommodating the falling stars. I should be raising the top by recognizing and rewarding superstar behaviors. • I cannot ignore performance issues and expect them to go away. Third Monday

36. Tough Learning • Understand that everyone needs to be held accountable, including me. • Focus on the criticism that is constructive and not personal. • Accept constructive criticism as a gift. • Acknowledge that criticism is a learning tool that teachers us lesson throughout our lives. Fourth Monday

37. Do the Right Thing • I have to acknowledge that doing the right thing is always right. • I need to develop my integrity check action plan before I get into a crisis. • I need to remember that problems don’t just go away. • I have to guard my integrity like it’s my most precious management possession. Fifth Monday

38. Hire Tough • The most important asset in any organization is having the right people on my team. • What I see in an interview is the very best behavior of the person … it will not get any better. • It’s important to follow the Three Rules of Three: three candidates, three times, three people evaluate. • I should never lower my standards just to fill a position! I will pay for it later. Sixth Monday

39. Exits and Entrances • The success of change is largely determined by my attitude about change. • Change allows us to exit the comfortable and enter the improved. • People will resist change. I have to understand that and help them move positively through the change. Seventh Monday

40. Do Less or Work Faster • My time is my responsibility. I need to take control of my time so I can take control of my life. • I need to shorten my meetings by half. • I will keep track of how I spend my time for two weeks so I can make better decisions on what to eliminate or do faster. • I will look for small increments of time by prioritizing, limiting interruptions, and effectively managing meetings. Eighth Monday

41. Buckets and Dippers • Ways I need to fill buckets. Know the main things, give feedback, provide recognition, keep score. • The more buckets I fill, the more my bucket will be filled. • I need to pay attention to what is important to my team members and reward them appropriately. Ninth Monday

42. I do not let my past consume my future, • I am an enthusiastic leader. • I will be easy on myself and everyone else. We are all works in progress. • I begin my legacy right now. • I am a positive role model for others. • Get out of my comfort zone and begin my legacy zone. • Read every day. • Set goals. • Stay positive. Other Commitments

43. Monday Morning Mentoring: Ten Lessons to Guide You Up the Ladder Cottrell, David Harper Collins Publisher, 2006. ISBN-13:978-0-06-088822-0