Week Four: Leadership ~ Teachers are Leaders
The prompt for this post is "reflect
on leadership role models whom you respect and whose example you would
want to follow. Look at individuals or organizations that you admire and
spell out what it is that attracts you and how you might incorporate
this into your own leadership style."
In
a school setting, few people in the public think of the teacher as a
leader. If asked who leads the school, almost every parent, school
board member, and citizen will say automatically "the principal". Many
teachers themselves will reply the same two words as the answer to that
question. I am the exception to the rule as I disagree. I don't feel
that the principal leads most schools. Teachers do. That is not to say
that there are not some amazing principals that develop a great
relationship with parents and their staff who work hard to make their
school a great learning environment. But teachers are the ones who have
a direct, personal relationship with students. Teachers are the ones
who know their students' strengths and weaknesses, and what motivates
each of them personally. Teachers are the ones who make a difference to
individual students every day.
With that said, role models to me are teachers I have had in the past and teachers I have worked with. Teachers like my high school Latin teacher Mrs. Pawlowski who taught me life lessons. Dr. DeBruin who taught me as an undergrad to make Science hands-on. Mr. Birr who taught me how an intervention teacher and classroom teacher can work together to make the most powerful learning environment possible. Mrs. Rusgo who taught me that kindness is as important than knowledge. Teachers are Leaders! Even if I eventually decide to leave the classroom after Full Sail, I will never forget the impact teachers have.
My comment on Cynthia Madanski's Week 4 Blog post can be found HERE and below:
Cynthia, I really enjoyed your post and your story of the districts constant battle to pull the best teachers out of the classroom and put them into administration. Too many great teachers are tempted to flee the classroom for the higher pay out of administration, but your reflection on the impact these administrators have on the students is dead on. Administrators are on orders from the higher ups to increase test scores for the many different groups and sub-groups of students they have stored on their district computers. Many of these administrators, who once used to be teachers themselves, have forgotten that these names are actual people who need nurturing and care at the classroom level. I applaud your character to refusing these invitations and I wish many other great teachers around the nation would follow your lead.