Standard 6: Communication and Collaboration
Standard
6 states teacher leaders communicate and collaborate with a variety of
stakeholders. To complete this standard I took the course of Communication and
Collaboration and Engaging Communities.
Both courses focused on thinking outside of your classroom and focusing
on the faculty, staff, and surrounding communities. As a Teacher Leadership student not intending
on enrolling in the principle certification route, I was skeptical on the
usefulness of learning how to engage communities specifically. Why would I need to learn about the details
of engaging with the surrounding community when I teach music? Aren’t those broader issues for
administrators? My teacher training thus
far has only focused on the classroom practice and not on the broader community
of the school. The Engaging Communities
course shed light on the importance of not only engaging with the community but
taking steps to understand and acknowledge the space in which you work. The
Communication and Collaboration course focused on this exact area, focusing on
professional development and mobilizing the faculty and staff to achieve more
for the students. Prior to EDU 6600 I
had two main thoughts. 1) I viewed professional development as a separate entity,
not apart of the regular workings of the school day. Teachers teach, and then attend meetings and
professional development sessions. Most
teachers don’t engage with the material and simply “get through” the PD sessions
and eventually return to the classroom and focus on their own teaching. 2) Adults can’t learn or are resistant to
change and implementation of new ideas and practices. I assumed this to be true of all teachers as
the veterans have found their methods and don’t seem to need anymore advice or
direction.
Between
these two course there were many takeaways on what it means to effectively
communicate and collaborate with all stakeholders in a school. For the sake of
clarity, I broke this reflection down into the two largest communities in a
school: faculty community and parent community.
Faculty Community :
Professional learning is no easy task. There is a constant struggle to engage
faculty and staff to dive into a topic, sometimes out of there realm of
teaching. Engaging this community, and implementing quality profession
development and adult learning comes down to three words: 1) Relevance, 2)
Empowerment and 3) Efficiency. Each of
these play a vital role in creating a culture in which faculty and staff feel
connected to each other and the desired topic.
1.Relevance
The
entire process of adult learning can be summarized through this quote:
“Professional
development leads to better instruction and improved student learning when it
connects to the curriculum materials that teachers use, the district and state
academic standards that guide their work, and the assessment and accountability
measures that evaluate their success” (AERA, 2005, p. 2). In short, professional development must
connect to the teachers in multiple ways.
Relevance to both the teacher’s classroom and the standards and
curriculums in which they teach is paramount for the engagement and ultimate
success of the professional development.
As stated by Zepeda (2013), “Regardless of its form, adults learn if it
is ongoing, long term, and relevant” (p. 8).
Teachers have a lot on their plate at any given time of the year. Asking the faculty and staff to add one more
thing does not sound like a big deal, but it certainly is. Professional development must not only
relate, but compliment something teachers are already doing in their classroom.
When these factors are taken into consideration the professional development
has much higher likelihood for positive teacher engagement and
implementation.
2. Empowerment
Teacher
leadership does not equal teacher power. Being in a leadership does role does
not make you an authority figure or boss.
However, being a leader places the responsibility on you to mobilize
others. As stated in the article Redefining the Teacher as Leader (IEL,
2001), “it is about mobilizing the still largely untapped attributes of
teachers to strengthen student performance at the ground level” (p. 3). Instead of seeing teacher leaders as being in
a position of power, I now think of them being in a position of
empowerment. When individuals are
empowered they act with confidence and trust.
Their is a sense of faith is established not only between peers but in
themselves. By empowering the faculty
and staff, this community will feel valued and take ownership of the learning
at hand.
3. Efficiency
Teacher
leaders need content specific knowledge, skills, and dispositions to be
successful change agents. Simply calling someone a teacher leader is not
enough. To be successful in this role,
teacher leaders need development. Teacher leaders require guidance and
resources to effectively lead and mobilize others. But how can we share resources and learning
opportunities when a teacher’s day cannot spare an extra minute? One of the best strategies for doing so is
through job-embedded learning. Defined
by Wood and Killian (1998), job-embedded learning is simply “learning that
occurs as teachers and administrators engage in their daily work activities”(p.
52). One of the many benefits of this
model of adult learning is the respect of time.
By embedding learning into the daily workings of the school day,
teachers can maintain their normal schedules while expanding their learning
opportunities to become better, more productive educators. Likewise, if the adult learning occurs within
the school day, teachers are more likely to buy in to the program, thus
engaging the community more deeply.
Parent Community
Educators
understand the basic principle in which the parents are the primary educators
of their children. We need their help in
fully supporting the growth of their child.
For most educators, asking for parent involvement usually takes the form
of volunteering in the classroom via stations, field trips, guest speaking, or
organizing papers and other materials.
However this is not conducive for all families as some cultures do not
view this kind of involvement as positive or even respectful. As told by Debra Malone (N.D.),
“Traditionally, minority ethnic subgroups have views of PI that differ from
those of their Anglo-American
counterparts. Such differences
should not be assumed to be negative, however, as parents from various
ethnicities have clearly supported their children’s academic achievement” (p.
15).
Similarly noted by Malone, “Generally, minority families
assisted their children with homework and inspired them to perform well in
school so that they would have greater opportunities for successful futures”
(p. 15). Parent involvement can take
many forms and educators must recognize all the forms this crucial role can
take in and outside the classroom.
Moving Forward
First,
I will spend ample time analyzing the true needs and desires of the faculty
prior to implementation of any teacher leader idea. Whether it is a formal professional
development or a simple tweak to an operating procedure, If I am asked to lead
such decisions I will ensure the decision is relevant and connected to the
teachers. Granted, some decisions might
not be relevant for all teachers, but a majority of the teachers must agree the
decision or plan being implemented directly affects them and their students
positively. Second, I will focus on the
empowerment of others. If my peers feel
empowered, they will have faith in themselves. This is key for progress to
occur. When a teacher leader is caught
up in try to lead on not empower, they might be constricting other’s
potential. In short, too much “you do
this, and you do that”. This might warrant success, but that is not a
guarantee. However, if the focus is
placed on empowerment, the teacher leader is building others up, ensuring not
only a successful plan, but the growth and maturation of the faculty and staff.
In regards to the parent community I plan to work towards getting to know the
parents better as a whole. Most classroom’s
utilize some sort of “getting to know you” form for the students, so why not
create one for the parents? At the
beginning of the school year I will ask a series of questions for the parents
to answer in an online survey. One of
the questions will relate to handicaps.
Simply asking if the parent has a handicap in a straightforward but
trustworthy manner is important. Parents do not have to disclose this
information if they choose not to. The
other question will be related to parent involvement, asking in what ways the
parent feel best suited to volunteer their time either in or out of the
classroom. Working with their child at
home will be an option for volunteering, something most schools might not
recognize.
Artifacts:
Final
Project-Teacher Leader Actions for Improving Student Learning through
Communication and Collaboration:
CEP: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EmbOISE8ZwQcLM5wEPPId75n19uatOg0Chp0ihgsa3w/edit?usp=sharing
Sources:
American Educational Research Association.
(2005). Teaching teachers: Professional
development to improve student achievement. Research Points: Essential Information for Educational Policy, 3(1),
1-4. Retrieved from www.area.net/
Institution for Educational Leadership. (2008).
Teacher leadership in high schools: How
principals encourage it how teachers practice it. Washington, DC.
Malone, D. (ND). A
potential challenge for parental involvement in schools. The Delta Kappa
Gamma Bulletin: International
Journal for Professional Educators, 14-17.
Wood, F. H., & Killian, J. E. (1998).
Job-embedded learning makes the difference in school Improvement. Journal of Staff Development,19(1),
52-54.
Zepeda, S. (2013). Professional development: What works. New York, NY: Eye on
Education.
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