STANDARD THREE
Principals will understand and act on the understanding of the important role a school’s culture plays in contributing to the exemplary performance of the school. Principals must support and value the traditions, artifacts, symbols and positive values and norms of the school and community that result in a sense of identity and pride upon which to build a positive future. A principal must be able to “re-culture” the school if needed to align with school’s goals of improving student and adult learning and to infuse the work of the adults and students with passion, meaning and purpose. Cultural leadership implies understanding the school and the people in it each day, how they came to their current state, and how to connect with their traditions in order to move them forward to support the school’s efforts to achieve individual and collective goals.
3A: FOCUS ON COLLABORATIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT
Focus on Collaborative Work Environment: The principal understands and acts on the understanding of the positive role that a collaborative work environment can play in the school's culture.
Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) are opportunities for teachers to get together with their teams to align their instruction, share best practices, and review student data. An assignment from one of my classes tasked my classmates and me to create PLT norms, professional development, and an agenda. This was after we researched into what makes a PLT effective. While these norms and agenda may not work for all PLTs, it is important as an educational leader to guide the PLT to create parameters to ensure they work successfully for the benefit of students.
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As an administrator, I had the chance to participate in multiple PLTs. During one of my visits with fifth grade, we discussed identifying our bubble students and what is keeping them from achieving a "4" on the EOG. I appreciate the open conversations I had with teachers regarding what more could be done for these students and where their needs lie beyond academics.
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3B: SCHOOL CULTURE AND IDENTITY
School Culture and Identity: The principal develops and uses shared vision, values and goals to define the identity and culture of the school.
Every couple of years, staff complete the Teacher Working Conditions survey. Our principal takes these seriously and utilizes them to make necessary changes throughout the school. To identify that the changes have made a positive impact, she wants to asks for feedback from teachers. I led the discussion of the changes and documented any further concerns the teachers might have. I facilitated how to obtain the feedback - email the leadership team to discuss at their next PLT meeting - and then meet with the leadership team to document feedback. Having gone through this process shows that no matter how seasoned you are as an administrator, there is always room for growth.
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School culture is important. It sets the stage for the relationships of the school community. As a leader, it is imperative to establish a healthy school culture. All decisions should be made keeping the culture of the school in mind. This assignment allowed me to describe how I would establish a school culture.
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3C: ACKNOWLEDGED FAILURES; CELEBRATES ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND REWARDS
Acknowledges Failures; Celebrates Accomplishments and Rewards: The principal acknowledges failures and celebrates accomplishments of the school in order to define the identity, culture and performance of the school.
At WSES, we consistently recognize teachers for their hard work and praise them for ensuring student success. One of the ways we do this is through "shout out cards". This is an example of one I wrote for an Instructional Assistant. Alana is a real gem at our school. She goes above and beyond because she loves where she works and who she works with - both staff and students. As a leader, I see how recognizing teacher efforts can lead to a positive work environment. It circles around. The more a staff member feels appreciated, the more they will do which will lead to more appreciation.
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3D: EFFICACY AND EMPOWERMENT
The principal develops a sense of efficacy and empowerment among staff which influences the school's identity, culture and performance.
As an educational leader, knowing your own philosophy of education and leadership is key. It allows you to demonstrate your vision and mission for the school to the staff and allows for consistency and unity. I created my own philosophy of leadership for a class to better understand who I am as a leader.
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The administration separated the bubble students according to what the teachers identified as their needs. This list shows how we, the instructional facilitator, and the counselors grouped the students. During this process, teachers were empowered to provide us information about the students beyond academics, since they are the experts on each student. As a leader, it is important to remember that information a teacher has about a student is key to understanding how they learn. Working with a student may be a smoother process if, as a leader, I listen to the teacher and gain their perspective.
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