The Covert Leader

I am blogging my assignments for a leadership course I am taking this summer. Here is the second one.
Identify a successful leader who has influenced your life; describe the skills, knowledge and attitudes that made him/her effective

My best friend, a teacher, a mentor and a silent leader retired this year. She was not an administrator, nor a department head; she was first and foremost, a teacher who taught me more about myself than I knew. She led, not in an overt and overbearing manner, but instead by her constant encouragement, her anecdotal stories, her positivity and her humour. Her wisdom in dealing calmly and rationally with overbearing parents would be her greatest gift to me. My friend Lillian Howe is truly an example of Covert Leadership at its best.

The Ontario Leadership Framework for Principals & Vice-Principals delineates the importance of building relationships and developing people as one of the practices and competencies required. One important skill that Lillian had which is very integral to this competency is that of “listening empathetically and actively.” She truly listened when someone was talking, and her response was always one of empathy and understanding. Lillian often referred to herself as the resident psychologist because of her gift, many staff members felt at ease in approaching her to discuss something that was on their minds.

Lillian was a discreet leader in many ways. Her voice was not loud, though it could be heard. She chaired our staff meetings and always peppered our agenda with a dose of humour. On the last two days before she was to retire, she worked tirelessly all day to revamp our graduation script in an attempt to make it more succinct. Though it was not well received by some other staff, she demonstrated an attitude of resiliency and did not carry forward any negative emotion. This is an important lesson to learn for a leader who may want to implement change but meets up with resistance. As per the Leadership Framework, a resilient, optimistic and hopeful attitude is a key attribute of a leader who will need to overcome these types of barriers.

Lillian always led by example, and modeled her core values in everything she did at the school, from contact with students and parents. She never raised her voice; she always explained her actions and insisted on respect in her classroom. She experimented with many different teaching strategies and was open to change. She was an exemplary teacher.

Although I do not possess all of the natural talent and abilities of my friend, I know that these are areas that I have to work on, in order to be a successful leader. Will I have all the practices and competences delineated in the framework when I begin? Unlikely. But by recognizing that building relationships is important, I can begin this journey. And I am up for it.

Leadership is ... Starting a Fire!

A Leader? A Firestarter!

When I was young, I remember researching about how the first IBM computer came about. I remember reading about how large they started out and how much information they could store. I also remember reading horror stories about computers taking over the world and becoming smarter than humans. Today, all the computers in the world cannot find a solution to an oil spill in the Gulf or a cure for Cancer. Are our future citizens up for the task? How can we prepare them for what lies ahead? Clearly, our schools need to foster creativity, ingenuity and 21st century skills to tackle the problems of the world through collaboration, cohesion and changing the way they operate. A successful leader can be the firestarter for change.

A leader? A Change Implementer!

So onto practical matters: How can we implement change in the school system? Michael Fullan was quoted saying that “practice informs theory” and not the other way around. If this is so, then careful and thoughtful experiments in schools can produce real solutions to change the way our students learn. Experimenting with the way a course is delivered, or scheduled could be an example. Collaborating with each other, not only in the same school, or board, but around the world (via twitter or blogs etc.) will give us the data-driven decision making that we need to inform our theories about education. In other words, if a school board has just changed what a school day looks like, part on-line, part in-class, then the success of this approach could incite another leader to try the same approach. An informed leader is also a reflective one, who gauges the success of a particular program, or decision and if necessary, alters direction.

A Leader? A Thought Provoker

A leader provokes critical questions such as: Does the age of a student in a particular grade, indicate the probability of his/her success? Are December babies less likely to be successful? And if so, how can our school system better accommodate their needs? Questions are important because they provoke thought and possible solutions by stakeholders who include but are not limited to: teachers, students, parents & community members. A perfect solution may not always be present, but having courageous conversations on the issues, is productive and eventually leads to change.

A Differentiated Leader?

Just as a teacher would differentiate learning to suit the learners of his/her class, a great leader differentiates leadership roles for staff to suit their interests and talents. Many teachers are aware of their interests and talents and a good leader knows how to encourage teachers to share those talents for the betterment of the school and students. Conversely a leader can also integrate differentiated professional development to help staff along their own learning continuum. Differentiated Leadership also allows for more lateral decision-making, since decisions are shared. By collaborating and sharing our ideas, decisions can be more thorough and cover more contingencies because more people with different expertise are working on them collaboratively. In this way, the fallout from unsuccessful decisions are shared by a group of people rather than solely resting on the laurels of a select few or one person.

A Leader and the box of chocolates:

I have always believed that information is powerful. The more we have, the better informed our decision becomes. This information should not solely remain in the hands of one person. Information should be shared just like a box of chocolates. What better tool to share information than through digital media? It should be a leader’s role to share information and encourage others to share. Starting up a facebook or twitter group or a blog or google document specific to a school or issue at a school may be a start to sharing information online. Involving outsider input is also beneficial, even if the context may be different. I often send out a monthly or bi-weekly article, blog or video to all the staff concerning a hot topic in Education. Some have even generated a discussion or two, which is the hope.
I admit that I don’t always like to share my box of chocolates. But information sharing has always been second nature for me. As society shares more and more information via online media, so should our schools, as micro chasms of society. An ideal school has staff and students who are digitally literate; who work together utilizing their individual strengths for the betterment of the school; and last but not least, who ask and attempt to answer questions which bring about change. Lighting the match that starts the fire is the role of a successful leader.

Practice informs theory

I thought I would highlight some of my understandings from the amazing Quest Conference I attended. I don't know that I have a handle on many of these concepts or that I have represented the ideas correctly. Also, some ideas may warrant further investigation. I thought I would capture them in a few meaningful words.

Here goes:

Dr. Michael Fullan: We need “whole system reform”

Our work needs:

1. To be precise
2. To go deeper
3. To adhere to the speed of quality change

Change the mindset: Practice determines the Theory
Teachers have a “moral imperative” to “Raise the Bar” and “Close the Gap”
”Interdependent Practice” - essential between student, teacher and admin.

Dr. Douglas B. Reeves:

Mistakes and Perfection:

Teachers have “initiative fatigue” – so keep it simple: IDEAS=ACTION
Take risks, get up from the falls and KEEP GOING because MISTAKES lead to PERFECTION
Malcolm Gladwell – Expertise is equivalent to 10, 000 hours of performance
Data = Efficacity
PASSION is STRESSFUL – so we need “harmonious passion”- examine data based on classroom by classroom and teacher by teacher
SUCCESS = defined by the Greater Good

Formative Assessment:

FEEDBACK must be: 1. Accurate 2. Specific 3.Timely
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT – is derived from People & Practice and NOT Programs
Do your assessments match goals? Do you involve students in designing assessments?
What are the consequences of not doing the work? = Do the work.

Role of Leaders:

Listen more than you talk
Have focused meetings without a single person “in charge”
Principal participates as a “learner”
Examine need for TIME/SPACE/PEOPLE

Role of Teachers:

Individual and Shared Responsibility to teach and learn
Intelligent Accountability
Job Embedded Learning – Interactive Collaboration = increases depth/focus

Importance of Writing:

Non-Fiction writing improves student scores in Math and Science
Teachers should also try to write non-fiction for their own practice and engagement

Know Thyself

One of the sessions I attended at last week’s amazing Quest Conference had to do with “Cultural Proficiency”. The first activity the presenters asked us to do was to think of 3 great things that described ourselves and explain them to a colleague. Needless to say, it ended up sounding like a job interview. The second activity was to write down 5 descriptors that were used to explain who we were and that were integral to the “core” of our being. Next we were asked to remove them from the list one by one based on any criteria we wanted to establish. What we were left with would explain our priority/priorities or most accurate descriptor. The last one standing on my list was “mother.” The presenters explained that in order to know others, we must look within and know ourselves.

This activity undoubtedly helped explain why being away from my kids for 9 days was so difficult. What did I miss while I was touring France and Belgium with 60 kids and 6 other teachers? My daughter’s first tooth came out. As I told this story to a fellow teacher at the conference, she asked: “Did the tooth fairy still come?” I replied: “He did.” To my disappointment, when I came back, my daughter lost her second tooth while I was catching up on my jetlagged-but-much-needed sleep. This one went down the drain and so a letter to the tooth fairy was in order. My daughter decided she would politely ask the tooth fairy what her name was instead of asking for a certain amount of money which I told her would be ill-advised. She left a pen under her pillow for the tooth fairy to respond. In the morning, the tooth fairy wrote a single name: Fatima. My daughter carried around the letter all day informing all her friends of the breakthrough in finding out the tooth fairy’s name. It almost made up for my absence.

My trip to France and Belgium was incredibly amazing and it was the first time I had been there. The tour included: La tour Eiffel, Montmartre, Mont-St.-Michel, Caen, Rennes, Dieppe, Juno Beach Centre, Arras, Le Louvre, L’Arc de Triomphe, Versailles, Ieper, the Menin Gate, Passcheandale and Vimy Ridge on Remembrance Day. They were sites I will never forget and that I can share with my kids someday. But for now, I am happy to be home and happy to be spending time as a “mother” with my family.

Welcome Back Global Citizens!

As September looms on the horizon, teachers are beginning to think about the first day of school, the activities and rules they will be establishing in their classroom and the approaches to discipline they will take. In addition to establishing routine and learning names, teachers should give some thought to knowing their audience. Students come from all different backgrounds, religions and social classes. Exposing students to news events, books, articles, movies etc. that do not only represent a particular segment of society is paramount. The most important item in my classroom, for instance, is a map of the world.
It is essential for students in North America to realize that they are not the centre of the universe and that the world is a bigger place. All perceptions they have regarding what life is are just that: perceptions based on their experiences. What if I told them that where I come from, children walk barefoot in the streets? If they lived in Malawi, children would be working on tobacco farms where they would be exposed to so many carcinogens that their lungs deteriorate only after a few years. More than 75 000 children work on such farms in Malawi. (Monday August 24th,2009 Globe and Mail ) The Canadian government has decreased most of its aid to Africa and is now concentrating on South America. The argument is that problems of corruption and dependence on foreign aid have weakened economies in Africa to the point they cannot self-sustain. Africa has already received billions of dollars in aid with deplorable long-term results for its prosperity. Does aid really inhibit sustenance? How can aid be used more effectively to guarantee a country’s prosperity?
My most vivid memory of my time in Nairobi was on my birthday. My aunt took me to a slum area in Nairobi. We picked up bread and milk. Our driver went about to gather the people and they all lined up. My aunt instructed me to hand out a portion of bread and a bottle of milk to each person. They were mostly women and children in the line-up. For that day they would be full. But what would happen the next day? And the day after that? Was I doing a disservice to these people? Or was I just keeping them from going hungry for one more day?
Why not start the year up with a debate or discussion relating to the “real world” in one of your classrooms?

For the tech savvy

Living with a software developer has not always been easy. In this day and age, having someone in the house who is technologically savvy can often be regarded as a bonus. It’s nice to have someone to rely on when the technology eludes you. It’s also nice to have access to free downloaded movies, songs and TV shows that we missed. Unfortunately, keeping it simple has never been my husband’s forte. He is constantly on the search for better and better use of technology and the ease of use it provides. Easy for everyone, except me. When we first got married, my husband set out to simplify my teaching life by writing a program to keep track of my marks. Despite my repeated protests, he spent every night in front of the computer ironing out this marks program and occasionally showing me how he had created the next box or diagram or whatever. I explained that I was already using a great marks program called MARKBOOK that works really well and contains Ontario Curriculum Expectations, rubrics etc. After many nights at the computer, he eventually abandoned the task. It was a good thing since the following year, our school board mandated MARKBOOK as the only marks program that we could use.
My husband loves to, in my words, “mess” with the computer. If he could, he would have a computer in every room. As soon as I got a laptop from work, he pounced on it and found a way to network it to our computer and then hook it to the TV so we could watch our free downloaded movies or TV shows. Since he got his iphone, he has no longer needed my laptop and has been playing movies from there using a cable from China?? Don’t ask. I don’t know. He just “jailbroke “ his iphone and can now do videos, access our home computer and so many other things that are too long and crazy to mention. He now wants to mess with my phone and I said, “stay away”!! Not that I don’t want to have access to all this cool gadgetry that I will never use, but I would like to keep it simple. Simple means things don’t go wrong. Somehow, at the most crucial times in my life, the computer has always failed me. For instance, on a couple of occasions, our computer got “infected” with a “virus” and therefore I lost all my marks! No I didn’t back up. With all the “questionable” applications running on our computer, it was no wonder we got a virus. But, not to fear, my husband has discovered a new virus scanner that is superior to all others. Only problem – it takes twice as long to access anything on the internet because of its security features. Yes we do have high speed internet but what is the point?
My husband reformatted our computer recently and neglected to save any of my bookmarks and so I lost them in the shuffle.
“You don’t use GMarks?” he said.
GMARKS, schmarks – what in the world are GMARKS???? No, I use the simple, basic bookmarks that come with the computer okay! So I discovered that as a result of the reformatting, our internet is much faster, however, my WORD processing software has been upgraded and everything looks different. Now, in order to save a file, it takes 5 minutes as opposed to 30 seconds. Today I needed to open up a power point presentation for my online course, and guess what? No power point has been re-installed. Today our home phone, or should I say internet VOIP phone doesn’t work. Sure we save lots of money every year by using an internet phone and we get long distance practically free – but TODAY it doesn’t work!!
My husband’s latest project is hooking the iphone to our car stereo system and DVD player. He has also figured out how we are going to make practically free long distance calls from the States when we go to Vermont next month for our family vacation and use a roaming data plan for under $20.00. I sure hope it works.

Perspicacity

It's a nice sounding word. Now try to say it 5 times and fast! Stuck?? Perspicacity, perspicacity, perspicacity, perspicacity, perspicacity. It reminds me of part of a poem I once wrote:
Try as we might;
To shed some light;
Clarity (or Perspicacity)
Forever
Remains
Out of
sight.
On any topic, there are always more unanswered questions than answers. On love. On life. On kids. On death. On education (yes I did throw that one in!). So this summer, I am setting out on a quest to acquire a better understanding of some of these and other areas. In terms of education, I am taking an online course - yes teachers do spend their summers thinking about the fall. Until now, I wasn't really interested in the course I had signed up for. It was simply a course that I need to take another course that I plan to do next year. A stepping stone. Much to my surprise, I am really enjoying the course because I can still make links to secondary education and my prodigies are my kids. I was never interested in primary education because I felt it wouldn't challenge me in the way that I need to be challenged. I was wrong. It is the old adage: "You never know something until you try it." The course has really been interesting in terms of deciphering what kind of learner you are and what kind of learners your students are. Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory has been poked an prodded on so many levels that now there are so many types of quizzes used to describe learning style. So here's a really good one done by the Birmingham Grid for Learning:

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/index.htm