Reflection #3

At the start of this course I was struggling with the new leadership at my school. I questioned my new leader’s ability to see the whole picture with her vision. Over the past few weeks, through readings, presentations and guest speakers I have accumulated some powerful quotes that have provided perspective and understanding. While there are still bumps in the journey, the following quotes have allowed me to enjoy the journey from many different angles. 

Dr. Max Blouw “How do you disagree and not dislike?”

This has been a big ‘aha’ moment for me. To disagree with someone would indicate you have a different opinion, idea or perspective. To dislike, seems to evoke emotions or feelings of conflict. In the past few weeks, I have changed my understanding of these two terms (not realizing it until Dr. Blouw said it). I have realized that disagreeing can often lead to new ideas, growth and positive change as critical thinking and questioning can happen. Where as disliking only limited my ability to communicate and develop a functional relationship. It has become imperative that I separate my personal feelings from how I interact and disagree. To be quite honest, this realization has become beneficial in all aspects of my life. 

The ‘art’ of disagreeing seems to be at the heart of emotional intelligence. Being aware and regulating your own emotions allows your to have those courageous conversations as well as develop and maintain positive relationships. In an odd sense I have become more empowered since I have determined that I disagree with many of the schools changes (rather than just disliking them) as I have been able to negotiate compromises as well as encourage transparent communication between administration and the staff. 

I am also finding that this battle between disagree and dislike in my own classroom as students have caught on to the Facebook idea of ‘liking’ or ‘disliking’ ideas, pictures etc. We have had many conversations about how our own emotions change when we think about disliking or disagreeing. We have changed our language and I am anxiously observing to see if this makes an impact! Action research at its finest! 

Caleb Lucien “Where there is no vision-people will perish”

While I may not agree with the way the vision was shared with the staff, I have come to agree with Kenith Leithwood that at times we focus too much on labeling the leadership style, trait or framework. The bottom line is that our new school leader is focused on student achievement and success and her commitment to this vision has been solid since September. I have recently had a new student join my class from Liberia. He is in grade 6, has had no prior school experience, speaks no English and his first language is not a written language. He requires a lot of support as he learns what school is, how to speak English as well as acclimatize to a brand new culture and country. My administrator has been a huge support in the past 2 weeks. She has spent a lot of time in my classroom offering to help, worked with the rest of the class to understand his point of view as well as advocated on my behalf for more time and resources from our ESL support team. Her values, and principals around student success have not faltered and while I may disagree with how she leads, she is grounded and consistent in her values and vision. 

Dr. Max Blouw “Phenomenal things will happen when you let it unfold” 

It was very easy to pass judgement, form opinions and decide that I ‘disliked’ my new leadership. However, as time passes and through the knowledge I have gained in the past few months I have come to understand my role as both follower and leader. I seem to slip in and out of these roles almost fluidly, helping me realize that perhaps these roles have more in common than I originally thought. I have also gained valuable insight into the complex role that school leaders take on which has allowed me to understand and support the school culture in a more authentic manner such as our inclusion and equity committee and well as being apart of our parent council.  I have had opportunities this year that haven’t been presented in the past with regards to conferences and doing some of my own action research. My administrator is supportive and would like to be involved as a co-learner. 

Dealing with change has been the theme to my writing throughout this course. While I do not think there is a ‘recipe’ for how to deal with change from an educators perspective, I do believe that being grounded and having integrity in your vision, relationships and emotional intelligence paves the way for change to happen. 

Thanks Dr. Sider for an engaging and motivating course!

Reflection #2

Note to reader:

I know I started my reflections focusing on my new leadership at my school, however I have spent more time thinking about a question you posed during class a few weeks back, so I decided to write about this instead! My final reflection will address my school climate and leadership! 

The Question

This question was posed during one of our face to face classes and has stuck with me for the past 4 weeks. “What past event most influenced your leadership approach?”

The History

I have reflected on many past events in my life, from leadership camps I went to, to the four years I spent working as a 1:1 worker in a group home. However, while I believe that those events developed my leadership skills, they did not so much influence them. It was my 3rd year as a contract teacher that I truly think affected my leadership skills the most. I was asked to be a mentor to a first year teacher. We started the year off well working together however it quickly unravelled as my over-enthusiastic and extroverted self seemed to pave over both her teaching and learning style. As a leader or mentor in this case I failed her on many levels. At the time I was upset and frustrated- unable to fully reflect on how this relationship buckled. However, as I reflect now through the lens and theory of transformational leadership I can accurately reflect on where it broke down.

A Blend of Theory and Practice

  If I looked closely at Bass’ leadership continuum (1985) my leadership style with my colleague would lie closer to the transactional approach. I often spoke to her, rather than with her (power over) and following Bass’ (1985) model I used corrective transactions where I would tell her how to teach a lesson rather than motivate and empower her. While it is clear that with many great leaders their position on the continuum shifts depending on the context, however, in this situation my leadership style was stuck at transactional. I did eventually shift on this continuum, as I was frustrated in the fact that I was giving her lessons, activities and ideas and getting nothing in return. Our communication became non-existent and eventually I became the laissez-faire leader. I gave up and had a hands-off approach. It is painful to admit this, however I was a young teacher and did not know how to get out of this situation. 

I turned to my principal at the time. After many conversations, she encouraged me to arrange a meeting with my colleague (or as I now can term as a courageous conversation). I can easily make connections to the support my principal offered me to Bennis & Nanus’s(1985) transformational leadership strategies. She reminded me that my colleague and I needed to agree upon a direction or focus for our time together. This would be the vision. She also helped me understand the importance of building a relationship and connecting with my colleague so that trust and open communication can happen. This is part of being a social architect. I also had to respect the individual and take into consideration that her teaching and learning style are different from my own. This is the creative deployment of both myself and my colleague. 

The Solution and Next Steps

The meeting took place and courageous conversations happened, however, it has really taken time and our own personal growth to mend our relationship. This speaks to the delicate and intricate relationship between culture, communication and change. 

Since this experience I have mentored other colleagues as well as had teacher education candidates in my classroom. One of the main differences was my acute awareness of their own goals, ethics and visions as new or learning teachers. My approach fell much more on the transformational part of the continuum. It makes me wonder how many teachers have these ‘negative’ experiences surrounding leadership with fellow colleagues, as our professional development does not focus on these relationships. This supports the need for professional development to focus specifically on the 4 C’s of 21st Century skills (critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity) with regards to both staff and students. If the idea is to have professional learning communities (Leithwood, 2012), then there is a need for training and guidance with regards to how these will operate. 

I am thankful that I have had the opportunity through this Masters program to be able to apply theory to my practice that sheds light and understanding for my professional growth as I am not sure that without the theory I would have been able to reflect on this experience to see how valuable it truly was in my growth as a leader.