Jennifer Armenia
EDUL 6013 & EDUL 6014 Term Paper
March 11, 2007
From the readings I have done for this course I have
learned many things about leadership.
The most important thing I learned about leadership is that a leader
uses their position to empower the people they lead to make improvements. As I was reading Empowering Teachers: What
Successful Principals Do, I began to realize how important it is for
principals to use their leadership position to empower teachers by giving them
a decision making power, trust, respect and support for their decisions. As I continued to read, I learned that the
shared governance model allows for all these factors to be used to empower
teachers to help make a better school.
As I read about shared governance I
reflected upon my experiences in education and when and how shared governance
has been used. I realized that my school
is already using parts of shared governance through the alternative models that
were listed on page 51 in Empowering Teachers: What Successful Principals Do. My school currently has a Lead Teacher
Committee which meets on a regular basis.
The purpose of this group is to allow teachers in the school to be
involved in instructional matters and creating policies in the school. Beginning this semester I have been going to
the Lead Teacher Committee meetings, I have seen that the members of this
committee do have a say in what is done in the school as well as the
county. Their input is asked on subjects
ranging from how money should be spent to creating a school improvement plan to
things that should be changed in the school layout when building a new
elementary school in the county.
Throughout
Empowering Teachers: What Successful Principals Do, there are many
references that show if teachers are involved in shared decision making they
will work harder and want to be more involved.
I didn’t understand how giving teachers more of a say in the school
would want them to be more involved in the school. After attending a few of the Lead Teacher
Committee meetings the light bulb in my head went on and I realized how asking
the teachers for their input will empower a teacher to want to do more and have
ownership in the school. Since the
committee members input is valued and appreciated, it causes me to want to go
to the meetings because I want to have a say in what is happening in the
school.
Another major component of shared governance is using
teamwork and giving teachers ownership in the school. According to the study in Empowering
Teachers: What Successful Principals Do, Blase and Blase (2001) state,
“when the staff feels important and involved they have a sense of ownership in
the overall operation of the school and will contribute in a more positive and
enthusiastic way”. This quote shows that
it is important for teachers to have ownership in the school because it causes
the teachers to work harder rather than just do something to get it finished. This quote reminded me of an experience I had
last spring when the principal brought a proposal to a staff meeting and told
us to think about it and we would vote on it in our next meeting. The proposal was to eliminate computer lab
from our specials rotation and implement a Spanish class in its place. Since the school was already 30% Hispanic,
many of the teachers felt that having a Spanish class for 45 minutes a week
would not be as beneficial as learning how to operate a computer. The next staff meeting the teachers voted not
to have a Spanish class and to continue having computer class during
specials. The principal did not like our
decision and decided to have Spanish class anyway. This frustrated many teachers since we were
asked our opinion and she did not use our opinion in making her decision. Due to this decision the moral of the school
declined and many teachers lost trust and respect for the principal. Rather than empowering teachers and bringing
them together for the good of the students and school, she lowered the staff
moral and made division in the school that now has to be united before making
any progress forward. Pellicer (1999)
stated that, “leaders must constantly look to their left and to their right and
occasionally behind them to make sure that they are still in the center of the
group.” In this situation the principal
did not stop and look at everyone around her or she would have seen she was not
in the center of the group but apart from the group. This situation gave me the opportunity to
learn from her mistake and reflect upon the situation and what could have been
done differently.
As I continued to read on about shared governance I
began to see ways that using shared governance in my school would really make a
difference in the moral of the teachers.
A teacher’s comments from Blase and Blase’s (2001) study state, “I feel
more enthusiastic toward teaching in knowing that my opinions and goals are
values and important “. Since teachers
have a say in what happens in the schools, they are more committed and
energetic. This commitment and energy
end up going into the teachers’ lessons and the students’ receive the benefits
of the teachers’ attitudes, commitment and energy.
As I continued to learn about shared
governance I was extremely surprised to read that “enhancement of teachers’
reflective orientation” (Blase and Blase, 2001) is an effect of shared decision
making. At first this statement puzzled
me. I was unsure how the use of shared
governance would cause a teacher to consider the impact of their actions on
students. As I continued to think about
this I realized that if shared governance is effectively being used then
teachers are being listened to. This
means that if there is a problem in the school and it is brought to the
teachers, the teachers will think about a solution longer and probably come up
with a better solution since there are many people trying to find a solution to
the problem and not just one. Teachers
will also be willing to help in finding the solution to the problem if they
know their idea will be listened to and the burden of solving the problem is
placed on the teachers and not the principal.
The use of shared governance can be
used to impact the school by increasing teacher morale, student achievement and
parent support. Sergiovanni (2001)
states, “in creating community, what matters most is what the community shares
together, what the community believes in together, and what the community wants
to accomplish together.” I believe this
to be true in creating a successful school.
In order to have successful leadership in a school, it is important for
the school and community to have common goals and for the staff to support
those goals. My first three years of teaching I taught in a school where the
principal did not foster teamwork.
Because of this lack of support for teamwork the teachers were
constantly competing against each other to see who has the best writing, the
best artwork, or the best test scores.
Because of this when the whole team had to meet and make a decision it
turned into a big ordeal because everyone wanted their way and thought their
way was the best way to do things. When
the principal heard of this problem among the team, she did nothing to fix
it.
As an administrator I would address this problem by working
with the teachers to help them collaborate so everyone can contribute to the
decision being made and then a compromise can be made that makes everyone
happy. The competition amongst the
teachers not only interfered with student achievement, but it caused the
teachers’ morale to be low. I now work
in a school that uses teamwork on a regular basis. My grade level meets every week and shares
ideas and activities to help each other plan.
The teachers in the school are often talking to teachers in other grades
to ask for strategies that worked with specific students. Not only does teamwork help by improving
results, but the teacher morale is much higher because there is the sense of a
community working together rather than competition amongst the teachers. In schools the saying “two heads are better
than one” is definitely true. The
outcome of people working together greatly surpasses the outcome people working
alone.
Using shared governance in a school
allows principals to be facilitators in their schools as teachers are
facilitators in their classroom; it allows teachers to have ownership in what
happens in the school. I can see how
this will improve teachers’ moral in a school just like being a facilitator in
classroom will improve students’ moral in a classroom. As a teacher when I do activities where I am
a facilitator and the students have ownership in what they learn and do I see
that they are more excited about school and they do a better job on their
assignments. This would be the same for
teachers who have ownership in decision making in a school, they become more
excited and put more effort into their job rather than just muddling through
doing what they’ve always done.
Along with using shared governance
to build trust and increase morale to empower teachers, it is also important to
use praise to motivate teachers. Blase
and Blase (2001) found, “…evidence that a principal’s use of rewards has the
primary effects of facilitating teacher empowerment…” Teachers already receive
intrinsic rewards by attachment to students, knowing a child is learning, and
enjoyment from teaching. Teachers often fail to receive extrinsic rewards that
other professions receive such as bonuses and extra vacation time since funds
are not available to distribute these rewards therefore it is essential to provide
rewards to teachers by praising and respecting them. Teachers
are often taught to reward students with extrinsic rewards such as trips to the
treasure box, extra play time and even verbal praise. Why is it that once people reach a certain
age, we stop giving the extrinsic rewards?
Everyone likes to receive a pat on the back once in a while, weather it
be a written note or a verbal praise. I
believe that adults and children alike need to be praised even when they are
doing a good job to let them know that you are watching them and appreciate
their work.
As an administrator I think it is very important to
remember to praise teachers verbally and non-verbally. From the study Blase and Blase (2001) completed
praise had several effects on teachers which include teachers’ inclination to
work harder, increased efficacy, increased self-esteem and increase motivation.
Rewards (intrinsic and extrinsic) are important for
teachers to keep them motivated and let them know you appreciate their hard
work however, I can see how rewards may cause problems within a school if they
are not distributed fairly. If the
principal shows favoritism for one teacher over another, this could cause
animosity between teachers. I think that
favoritism with rewards can cause more harm than good if not administered
fairly. I have been in a situation
before where an administrator had her child in a teacher’s class. This teacher was constantly given early out
passes, recognition in PTA meetings and the class was constantly being
recognized for good behavior while the other teachers and classes in the school
were rarely recognized. This caused many
teachers to resent the principal for not distributing the rewards to all
teachers in the school and the teacher was resented for receiving all these
“rewards” even though she didn’t have control over who received the rewards. According to Blase (1984), “strong feelings
such as jealousy, hatred, disgust, hostility, rage and revenge were reported in
response to favoritism as practiced by school principals”. Because of the feelings that teachers exhibit
when favoritism is portrayed, as an administrator it is important to be fair to
all staff members. I believe this will
be a challenge since one would naturally make friends with some teachers;
however it is important to remember not to let personal relationships get in
the way of professional relationships.
Effective communication in a school
is extremely important. According to
Schmuck and Runkel (1995) without effective communication the school, “will
carry out only haltingly and feebly the purposes its members hope for it”. As an administrator it is important to have
effective communication skills with the staff whether it be speaking, writing
or listening skills. As an administrator
I will make sure that I am very clear when sending out memos or talking to
someone. Even though I think a memo is
as clear as glass, someone who reads it may not be clear and need clarification
therefore I will make myself available to answer any questions.
According to Blase (1984) in there
are several areas where principals fail to meet teachers’ standards. Some of these areas include lack of
knowledge/expertise, ambiguous and unreasonable expectations, lack of
consistency, lack of follow-through, failure to provide resources, lack of
support, and lack of opportunities for input.
Some of these areas are easier to improve upon than
others. One area that would easily be
improved would be lack of administrator knowledge. This could easily be improved by making sure
the administrator had experience in the area he will be supervising. For example, a teacher that taught 11th
and 12th grade should not be an administrator in a primary school
due to the differences in discipline, programs and educational
philosophies. Blase (1984) states that,
“principals were most often criticized for their lack of knowledge of special
areas, particularly early childhood and special education programs”. One way I am preventing this right now is by
making sure I have experience in several different grade levels before going
into administration. As an administrator,
I would prevent this from happening by continuing to take staff development
classes so I can stay current on the education trends. I would also spend time in classrooms by
substituting a few days a year so I don’t lose touch with what it is like to be
in a classroom.
Another easy problem to fix would be ambiguous and
unrealistic expectations. This could be
prevented by providing teachers with all information necessary to complete any
task I ask of them. I would make sure
that teachers have the opportunity to read over the directions and ask
questions before holding them accountable for something. I would also make sure to tell any new hires
unwritten rules of the school. My second
year of teaching I had a class with several behavior problems. One day my class was not behaving and I made
the whole class stay in for recess since there were very few who were behaving
and I couldn’t pick them out. The next day
a parent complained that Johnny didn’t get recess. The principal told me that I was not allowed
to keep the whole class in during recess however, I was never told this until
the situation happened. It is very
common for new hires to not know hidden rules of the school and therefore it is
imperative to make sure that these rules are known to all.
Lack of Consistency is an area I will have to work
on. I think some students require
different punishments for the same behavior depending on the student. I have
been in several situations where students have the same offense but I have
given them different punishments. One
year I had a student who was extremely talkative. Since my class earned money for good behavior
and paid money for bad behavior this student was constantly losing money for
talking at inappropriate times. One day
he and another student were talking. The
student he was talking to very rarely got in trouble. When I saw them talking I just looked at the
one student and he stopped, the talkative child kept talking so I asked him to
give me a dollar. The student complained
that the other student didn’t have to give me a dollar however, I felt that
this was fair because the talkative student was a repeat offender where as the
other student was not. Since students
respond differently to different punishments I believe that is it important to
treat each situation individually.
Lack of follow-through is a major factor of teacher
stress. According to Blase (1984),
“teachers reported feeling useless, powerless, apathetic, frustrated, and angry
when working with principals who are not inclined to follow through…” This is very common to see in schools
especially with NCLB. Many schools adopt
new programs with the intent of increasing test scores. The teachers are trained and many hours and
put in to implement these new programs.
The next year a new program is implemented because test scores did not
rise. I have been a victim of lack of follow-through. I have been trained on “the new thing” and
the next year I’m trained on something else.
I get extremely frustrated with this practice because whatever the staff
is being trained on will not be as effective the first year of implementation
since the staff is just learning how to implement it into lessons.
Because of my experiences with the lack of
follow-through, as an administrator any program that is implemented will be tried
for three years. I feel that this is
ample time to learn the program and begin to successfully implement it. If the goal that caused the new program to be
implemented didn’t work I will form a committee to see why the goal wasn’t
reached and try strategies to improve the adopted program rather than adopt a
new program. Perhaps the teachers needed
more assistance on implementing the program as opposed to the program not being
successful. This also addresses the issue
of failing to provide resources.
Along with providing teachers will assistance on
implementing new programs, it is important to make sure that ALL teachers have
the necessary materials in their classrooms to be an effective teacher. This year I am an added classroom in my grade
level. Because I am an addition to an existing
school I do not have materials that I need to teach. I am constantly going from teacher to teacher
looking for manipulatives and materials that they have but I do not have. This is extremely frustrating to me since I
am in the same grade level and teach the same curriculum they do, but I do not
have the necessary materials to be an effective teacher. As an administrator I will make sure that all
the teachers in each grade have the necessary materials to be an effective
teacher.
Another area teachers said they felt principals fail
to meet standards is providing teachers with support. This was partially discussed earlier by
supporting teachers through motivation.
Standing behind teachers during parent confrontations is also an
important characteristic for principals to have. I am currently at a school with a lot of
parent involvement. Sometimes parents
are too involved in school and parent issues arise. It helps me to know that my principal stands
behind my classroom policies whether it is grading or pedagogical
practices. I strongly believe the phrase
“praise in public and punish in private.”
Even if a teacher is wrong, I think it is important for a principal to
support the teacher in front of the parent and behind closed door discuss with
the teacher their decision and problem solve together to prevent a situation
from happening in the future.
Another important aspect to remember as an
administrator is to allow teachers to have input in the school. As an administrator who is practicing shared
governance, this should not be an issue, since the shared governance model is
based on teachers being involved in decisions that are made in the school. There are some decisions that should be made
by the principal such as routine maintenance however; there are many decisions
that should be open to discussion among the staff.
As a teacher I am constantly
learning and reflecting upon my pedagogical practices. As an administrator it is just as important
if not more important to continue to reflect upon my work since my actions not
only affect me but the whole school. Reflection
is one tool that I have in my tool box which I can use daily that will help me
to be a better administrator.
References
Blase, J. (1984). School principals and teacher
stress: A qualitative analysis. The
National Forum of Educational Administration and Supervision, 1(32), 35-
43.
Blase, J., & Blase, J.R. (2000). Empowering teachers: What successful
principal do (2nd Ed.).
Pellicer, L. What Is a Leader, Caring enough to lead: Schools and the sacred trust.
Schmuck, R. & Runkel, P. (1995). Clarifying
Communication, The handbook of
organizational development in schools and colleges (4th Ed.). Waveland
Press:
Sergiovanni, T. (2001). Becoming a Community of
Leaders, The principalship: A reflective
practice perspective (4th Ed.).