A. School Executive Micro-Political Leadership: The school executive develops systems and relationships to leverage staff expertise and influence the school’s identity, culture and performance.
Influencing the School's Culture and Performance
During my residency, I planned and facilitated a PD session for the full staff on the consequences of negative mindsets on our school’s culture. I approached the leadership team with this PD idea after conversations I had with a teacher who expressed some negative mindsets on my team. That conversation showed me that there were pervasive counterculture discussions occurring in the school and that there was a need for a reset to address how damaging these conversations and mindsets can be to our effectiveness as teachers. The idea being that if we only vent and don’t try to also seek solutions, we will never solve our problems. I wanted teachers to see the impact these mindsets can have on team success and not just hear about it. In order to achieve this, I created a role play scenario, without telling teachers why we were doing what we were doing, so that they could see how negative mindsets could hinder the entire effectiveness of the team. Teachers engaged in really rich conversation after the role-play, which led to a large shift in staff culture for the next several months.
During my residency, I planned and facilitated a PD session for the full staff on the consequences of negative mindsets on our school’s culture. I approached the leadership team with this PD idea after conversations I had with a teacher who expressed some negative mindsets on my team. That conversation showed me that there were pervasive counterculture discussions occurring in the school and that there was a need for a reset to address how damaging these conversations and mindsets can be to our effectiveness as teachers. The idea being that if we only vent and don’t try to also seek solutions, we will never solve our problems. I wanted teachers to see the impact these mindsets can have on team success and not just hear about it. In order to achieve this, I created a role play scenario, without telling teachers why we were doing what we were doing, so that they could see how negative mindsets could hinder the entire effectiveness of the team. Teachers engaged in really rich conversation after the role-play, which led to a large shift in staff culture for the next several months.
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Leveraging Staff
After mid-year evaluations, I pushed one of the second year teachers on my team to take on more leadership roles within the school. He has great relationships with students, and while he was a great team member, I pushed him to think about ways he could maximize his impact and step into new roles, because he has incredible potential. He was initially hesitant, thinking he needed to lead grade level events or similar roles to demonstrate leadership. By the end of day I suggested this push, he came to me asking to start a boys mentorship group for some students who were struggling in our grade level. We worked together for form a plan for his vision where he would meet with the gentlemen on Mondays and set a goal for the week. Any boys that met the weekly goal would be invited to participate in an after school earn it event with this teacher where they would reflect on the actions they took to help them achieve their goals, discuss the importance of setting goals for themselves and engage in a fun activity with the group. I was really proud of the way this teacher pushed himself to take the lead on this initiative and also thankful that our boys would have the opportunity to engage in this experience. |
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Macro-Political Interest
I also had the opportunity to engage in macro-political dialogue with Dr. Houlihan and my executive coach, Dr. Ward. As someone who has experience working in both traditional and charter public schools, in both rural North Carolina and inner-city Washington, D.C., I have been very interested in the charter school debate in North Carolina. The arguments for and against charter schools are very diverse and much different in North Carolina compared to other areas I've worked. As someone who completed their principal residency at a public charter school, but intends to return to a traditional public school for future leadership work, I wanted to learn more about the history of charter schools in North Carolina and be educated enough to speak on the topic as I navigate future spaces. I respect and deeply value the learning experiences I've been able to have working at Henderson Collegiate and I hope to continue a relationship once I transition back to a traditional public school. I love the original idea of charter schools being sites of innovation to push traditional public schools to new levels and I hope to work in a space where traditional and charter schools can learn from and grow with one another in the future.
I also had the opportunity to engage in macro-political dialogue with Dr. Houlihan and my executive coach, Dr. Ward. As someone who has experience working in both traditional and charter public schools, in both rural North Carolina and inner-city Washington, D.C., I have been very interested in the charter school debate in North Carolina. The arguments for and against charter schools are very diverse and much different in North Carolina compared to other areas I've worked. As someone who completed their principal residency at a public charter school, but intends to return to a traditional public school for future leadership work, I wanted to learn more about the history of charter schools in North Carolina and be educated enough to speak on the topic as I navigate future spaces. I respect and deeply value the learning experiences I've been able to have working at Henderson Collegiate and I hope to continue a relationship once I transition back to a traditional public school. I love the original idea of charter schools being sites of innovation to push traditional public schools to new levels and I hope to work in a space where traditional and charter schools can learn from and grow with one another in the future.