In the last issue of Leading Teacher Leaders you learned about the importance of intention. Intention is the first step in realizing your infinite potential as a teacher leader. It involves bringing to your awareness the endless possibilities of teacher leadership.
When I coach teachers to become intentional leaders, they’re often inspired and they can’t wait to use their knowledge and skills as leaders in their schools or districts. But there’s still this important question:
What should I do?
This is an important question because it raises the issue of purpose.
Purposeful Teacher Leadership
Many researchers, policy makers, and educators have written on the purposes of teacher leadership. The reasons for teacher leadership include:
- Professionalizing teaching
- Expanding teachers' influence
- Retaining the best teachers
However, the most important reason to involve teachers as leaders is the connection between teaching and learning. The chances for school-wide improvement in student learning are increased when teachers are meaningfully engaged in achieving school goals.
For some teachers, working on school improvement issues is a new matter. Their work as teachers is comfortably and effectively in their classrooms. However, persistent action, focused on the goals of the school, is the work of a leader – whether a principal leader or a teacher leader. To work as a teacher leader beyond the classroom can be new and intimidating territory. It is important to remember that even one action, when focused on achieving school goals, can be extremely beneficial.
Focus Your Actions
Some schools need improvement in many areas. For example:
- Lack of parental involvement
- Lack of resources
- Disgruntled school climate
- Poor professional relationships
- Unsatisfactory student achievement progress
And these issues are all important, but they can't all be effectively addressed at once. To try and tackle all of the needs of the school at one time will leave you feeling overwhelmed and ineffective. Instead, focus your actions on the highest priority of the school. You can do this by taking stock, planning your leadership actions, and taking focused actions.
Take stock of the school –
- Familiarize yourself with your school's student achievement data. It is important for you to know what the data say about student achievement at your school, including information about all subgroups.
- Review your school improvement plan or the document that states your school’s goals. Ascertain whether or not the stated goals are reflective of the data. Talk with the principal to learn how goals were determined.
- Determine if everyone in the school is on the same page with regard to the highest priority. Is everyone in agreement? Is there a shared understanding of what the goals are?
Plan for action –
- Prioritize the school’s goals.
- Based on what you learned about your school’s highest priority, establish your leadership actions ensuring that they are focused on student learning.
Take action –
- Ask yourself: What action can I take right now that will be for the highest good for my school?
- Do it!
Focusing your leadership actions on a single goal increases the chances for success.
Copyright ©2006, School Leadership Coaching – Evelyn Cortez-Ford
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The content of the Leading Teacher Leaders ezine may be forwarded in full without special permission provided it is used for nonprofit purposes and full attribution and copyright notice are given. For other purposes, please contact Evelyn Cortez-Ford.
