Essay Instructions: Please write 3 pages that satisfy Part C plan and criteria, which is based on previous work in parts A and B shown below. This is at Masters Degree level and should be at A grade standard.
I would like you to use the following sources plus others. (some of which I will send)
Argyris, C. & Schon, D. (1974). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Berliner, D. (1987). Simple views of effective teaching and a simple theory of classroom instruction. In D. Berliner & B. Rosenshine (Eds.), Talks to teachers. New York: Random House.
Carini, P. F. (2001). Valuing the immeasurable. In P. F. Carini (Ed.), Starting strong: A different look at children, schools, and standards (pp. 165-181). New York: Teachers College Press.
Earl, L. M., & Katz, S. (2006). Putting data at the centre of school improvement. In L. M. Earl & S. Katz (Eds.), Leading schools in a data rich world: Harnessing data for school improvement (pp. 1-15). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Fasoli, L., Scrivens, C., & Woodrow, C. (2007). Challenges for leadership in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australian early childhood contexts. In L . Keesing-Styles & H. Hedges (Eds.), Theorising early childhood practice: Emerging dialogues (pp.231-253). NSW: Pademelon Press.
Fink, D. (2005). Leadership for mortals: Developing and sustaining leaders for learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hammerness, K., & Darling-Hammond, L., et al. (2005). How teachers learn and develop. In L. Darling-Hammond & J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world (pp. 358-389). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Henderson-Kelly, L. & Pamphilon, B. (2000). Women’s models of leadership in the childcare sector. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 25(1), 8-12.
Le Fevre, D. M. (2004). Designing for teacher learning: Video-based curriculum design. In J. Brophy (Ed.), Advances for research on teaching: Using video in teacher education. New York: Elsevier.
Robinson, V. M. J. (2010). Fit for purpose: An educationally relevant account of distributed leadership. In A. Harris (Ed.), Distributed leadership: Different perspectives (pp. 219-240). Berlin: Springer.
Santamaría, L. J., & Santamaría, A. P. (2011). Applied critical leadership: Choosing change. New York, NY: Routledge.
Toole, J. C., & Louis, K. S. (2002). The role of professional learning communities in international education. In K. Leithwood & P. Hallinger (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational leadership and administration (pp. 245-279). Great Britain: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Part C: Plan for action (3 pages)
• Explain some possible leadership actions that might address the issue described in Part A and also refer to Part B below (These should be referenced and informed by relevant literature and research).
• Explain how you would know whether leadership effectiveness was improved by application of these ideas (what evidence would you need?).
Part C Assessment Criteria
• Provision of rich examples of practice to back up claims.
• Evidence of accurate understanding concepts/ideas discussed and logical approaches to evaluating leadership effectiveness provided.
Part A
Description of professional learning context and issue
A challenge faced by many schools and particularly my school is having a system that places accountability on teachers for their effects on student outcomes. Since joining the school, it has been my responsibility to develop an appraisal system that focuses on improving student outcomes by improving the quality of teaching. After several months of researching different models of appraisal and professional development in other schools, the issue of accountability was partially addressed with the launch of an appraisal system based on the New Zealand Registered Teacher Criteria that links to professional learning needs.
Currently teachers reflect on their effectiveness, comparing attributes to a rubric that describes effective teaching. Through reflection and comparison the teacher identifies and sets professional learning goals which they work towards over the year. Although clear goals have been established, it is not clear that they have led to improved student outcomes and in many cases it is apparent that the goals were written retrospectively. I will use components of applied critical leadership from Santamaria & Santamaria (2012) to improve communication of the philosophy of professional development for staff to take ownership of the process. Applied critical leadership emphasises the need to “recognise and exploit existing needs of followers” to engage them. (Santamaria & Santamaria 2012: 3-4)
Identifying a challenge
The challenge is to improve the quality of education through accurate self-appraisal. Improvement in teaching must be an integral part of the professional development process and an important aspect of the school’s philosophy. Teachers have shown varying ideas about teaching as inquiry so implementing a cohesive system of teaching as inquiry requires careful and effective leadership to ensure on-going teacher improvement. “When energies are directed towards multiple, sometimes conflicting initiatives that are not part of an overall plan” they are unlikely to be successful (Le Fevre 2010: 75).
To manage the process of setting appropriate teacher goals, the self-evaluation stage must have better structure and closer monitoring. Teachers must be made aware of expectations and the school’s goals. While the high trust model is a non-threatening way of identifying less effective attributes it is also ineffective for monitoring development goals. Being personally involved with the identification and monitoring stages and engaging in dialogue with teachers will allow them to have input about their progress and the process. Continuing in a transformational model of leadership should lead to a collective change process and a sense of ownership for the teacher.
The goal to improve the quality of teaching and raise student attainment must be given priority. While teaching must be of a high standard and can be developed, factors influencing student outcomes outside of the learning environment is difficult to assess (Fenstermacher & Richardson 2008: 187) so a link between them should be established.
The significance of issue in relation to relevant research and literature
All school change must be built in a collective fashion (Le Fevre 2010: 72). The changes made in the school have been directed by the leadership. Although the appraisal system requires evaluation and analysis for effectiveness, the importance of linking teaching as inquiry to professional development must be highlighted for teachers to accept and understand. In identifying goals, school leaders must engage in professional learning discussions, obtain feedback, involve teachers and use research.
Part B
To maintain an environment that is conducive to professional dialogue and thus allow for a smoother running of the school, an atmosphere of relational trust should be encouraged. This will help with the process of improving teaching in line with the school wide goals and strategic plan. Mutual respect of teachers and leaders should exist with both parties being open to learning from the experience of others. To be reassured that teachers are working towards the goals they must trust that the goals are realistic and achievable. However, in the context of working towards goals for professional development there is an absence of this trust; Teachers perceive the school goals is to be unrealistic and and unachievable while the leadership feel that teachers are not contributing or cooperating with improvement.
Organisational improvement is needed in the area of building relational trust as it is evident that the teachers and leaders are working against each other. Bryk & Schneider (2002) asked
"What factors make the difference between schools that got better at educating children as measured against improved test scores and schools that did not? The answer was relational tust between teachers and leaders, teachers and parents, teachers and teachers. Schools with relational trust and/or leaders who cared about it had a much better chance of serving students well than schools with less relational trust" (Cited by Barkley 2008).
Schools without relational trust have many cliques that usually work toward satisfying their personal interests rather than the interests of students.
To encourage accountability, teachers are required to compare the current teaching effectiveness against a rubric which describes attributes of teaching. The teachers are then asked to identify their own professional learning goals, which they work toward for improvement. As results have not shown marked improvements in student outcomes a question must remain over the suitability of the teachers learning goals. The leadership is lacking trust of whether learning goals have been adequately selected. Teachers doubt the leadership's direction with the effectiveness of the program to improve student outcomes. Engaging mentors in the dialogue for professional learning goals and expectations to help teachers set more realistic targets leading to improvement in classrooms is a transformational approach to leadership. "Applied transformational leadership encompasses the act of empowering individuals to fulfil their contractual obligations, meet the needs of the organisation and go beyond the "call of duty" for the betterment of the organisation" (Santamaria & Santamaria, 2012:3). Unless organisation responds to the personal needs of teachers and students, the benefits of the transformational approach will not be realised.
In order to engage staff in the process of realising the leadership's direction, relational trust needs to be built. Louise Anaru sees face-to-face interactions as an important aspect. She did this by meeting with all staff one-to-one asking what they saw as successes, values, aspirations, improvements and career development (Building relational trust, 2013, Educational Leaders). The career development (professional development) aspect is an area which requires improvement as change is impacting the teachers without real 'buy-in. Transformational leadership should include building relational trust in order to understand and respond to the needs of teachers and thus include them in the change process.
Part of the problem with the appraisal process is the way it was implemented, rather imposed on teachers. Leadership developed the process to enhance student outcomes and teacher accountability. Teachers were guided towards self-reflection to highlight areas for professional development that would lead to improved outcomes for students. As the process was loosely controlled and also required an increased workload, teachers were able to disguise their present development needs with paperwork used for past development.
In modifying the appraisal process, four core elements of building relational trust should be considered. Respect: Acknowledging dignity and ideas, interacting courteously and listening and talking as indicated by Bryk & Schneider 2002 (as cited in Barkley, 2008). In context the process is in procedural form with very little interaction and dialogue. The second element is competence: believing in each other's ability and willingness to fulfil responsibilities effectively. (Bryk & Schneider 2002) In context there is a lack of confidence among teachers that the process is of benefit them or the students. Furthermore "Incompetence left unaddressed can corrode school wide trust" (Bryk & Schneider 2002). A lack of improved teaching and student outcomes gives weight to those who argue against the leadership's plans and reducing the level of confidence and trust in the measures introduced. The process of identifying areas for improvement suggests that teachers are not competent in some aspects of their teaching. Naturally, teachers are cautious when identifying incompetence and admitting to it indirectly through requests for professional development to the leadership. While leadership want to see teachers develop, teachers are reluctant to show they are incompetent but that they have made improvements. The third element of relational trust is personal regard: Taking an interest personally and professionally and outside formal roles and responsibilities. Going the extra mile if necessary (Bryk & Schneider 2002). In context personal regard for teachers by the leadership is not evident; teachers have been given the task of identifying improvement goals by the leadership without regard for their feelings to the process and without providing any form of professional support. Leaders have not gone the extra mile to ensure that teachers are comfortable with the appraisal process. Teachers have responded by making 'half hearted' attempts of completing the appraisal process, they have not set appropriate or meaningful goals. A hands-on transformational leadership approach to support, model and communicate the process is necessary. The final element of relational trust is integrity: Can we trust each other to put the interests of children first, especially when tough decisions have to be made? Do we keep our word? (Bryk & Schneider, 2002). Although the intention of the appraisal system is to improve student outcomes by improving teaching, the focus is distracted by accountability leading to friction between the leadership and teachers. Redirecting the focus back to school outcomes as opposed to accountability, while maintaining that an honest reflection is beneficial for teachers as well as students is necessary to reaffirm integrity. Reassuring teachers that they need not feel threatened by showing weaknesses because it is a part of the teachers’ inquiry into improvement requires trust but ultimately on the integrity of the leadership. An open dialogue based on evidence from research is needed to help break down barriers.
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