The Importance of Self-Analysis for the School/Community Leader

Module by: Laura Hebert

Summary: In Summer 2007, a Virginia Tech Doctoral cohort completed EDAE 6924, School Community Partnerships. Here is a personal reflection authored by Laura Hebert.

1.-2.Analyze your findings after taking the Communication Style Survey and the Listener Survey.

According to the Communication Style Survey, based upon my personal evaluation, my preferred method of communication is Helper. When surveyed, my co-workers also scored me as Helper as well as Thinker. Interestingly, all scores for Helper were around 18, which leads me to believe that this is the most accurate characterization of my communication style. Before taking the survey I glanced at the descriptive words for each category and would have thought that my numbers would have come out as a Battler. I think that I am self-confident, enterprising, ambitious, organizing, persuasive, forceful and quick to act. I also thought that some people would view me as arrogant, opportunistic, ruthless, controlling, pressuring, dictatorial or rash. Since my job is mainly dealing with discipline, I think that I display those characteristics as I go about the business of dispensing discipline. However, in my other duties, i.e. heading up the School Climate Initiative, Staff Development Coordinator, and Recertification and Licensure Liaison, I do think that the characteristics of Helper and Thinker are more evident (trusting, optimistic, loyal, idealistic, helpful, modest, devoted, caring, supportive, accepting, polite, and adaptable as well as gullible, impractical, slavish, wishful, self-denying, self-effacing, self-sacrificing, smothering, submissive, passive, deferential or without principles). I tend to attack problems or ideas from an emotional level, and try to make rational arguments to fit my emotions. I do, however, want to focus on the big picture, rather than the details, which is more idealistic than methodical. I tend to want everyone to be happy with whatever the results are, so the idea that I could be passive or deferential is possible. I may seem to be without principles as I am open to agreeing with what the opposing view on a subject may have to say, however, in the end I think I am adaptable; I incorporate the opposing view into my new and improved idea.

On the Listening Survey I scored myself at 86%; my colleagues scored my listening skills in the 92-99% range. Both work out to be a good listener versus just an average listener. Looking at the questions on the survey, such as “do you listen even if you do not like the person who is talking” and “ do you listen equally well to a friend, acquaintance, stranger?” my score reflects my communication style as outlined above; a Helper or Thinker is fair and supportive, which is reflected in my listening style.

3. Use the steps of the Reflection Cycle (select, describe, analyze, appraise, and transform) and write a reflection for each of the following areas: communication, participation, and governance. Select artifacts that demonstrate how you have met each of these areas and write your reflection concerning these artifacts.

Applying the Communication Style Survey and the Listener Survey to my work, I would use the example of my leadership in the School Climate Initiative for a reflection based on the cycle mentioned in the reading. The School Climate Initiative is a reaction to the School Climate Survey administered at the end of last year (2006). This survey showed a marked lack of morale among the staff and several other areas of concern. The survey was given by the county to each school in the district, and the results were shared at the beginning of the school year. The use of the Climate Survey Initiative and my leadership role with this initiative represents “events, leadership issues or beliefs, circumstances, and/or decisions”. I took the survey results and set up 7 Roundtable Discussions based on the seven categories of the survey (Academic Achievement, General Environment, Interpersonal Relationships, Teacher Professionalism, Leadership/Administrative Support, Employee Satisfaction, and Instructional/Curricular/Extracurricular). The faculty was asked to choose their preferences for which roundtable they would like to participate in and I assigned them to the roundtables based on their choice and group dynamic possibilities. I also selected group facilitators ahead of time. I wanted people who were content to guide the discussion in a positive way, rather than let the session devolve into the proverbial complaint session. The School Climate Initiative is an excellent example of an event that demands leadership ability; the entire climate and morale of the school depends on a positive experience in the Initiative – both the roundtables and the ensuing resolutions to the problems identified by the survey. The Initiative also depicts my leadership beliefs as it pertains to decisions on what and how they are to be addressed. The initial Roundtable was scheduled for September. Each group was given the results of their categories and was asked to generate both positive and negative examples of why the numerical score was given in that category. For example, if the school scored low in the area of Academic Achievement, the group would need to give concrete example of why…class size, use of technology, remediation opportunities, inconsistency of applying the make-up policy among the staff, etc. Then, I took their ideas and identified three to five areas in each category that we would announce as our areas of focus, and could track for improvement over the school year. A second Roundtable Meeting was called in April to revisit the identified areas and to track progress or lack of progress toward the identified goals. Each time a Roundtable was held, all faculty were given a list of the roundtable groups, the main purpose of the meeting, and a directive to provide me with detailed notes of the meeting. This Initiative was handled in a very organized way, and the purposes and goals of the Initiative were communicated clearly and frequently during the school year. However, I do think I used too much written communication, and could have done a better job of verbalizing the same material during a faculty meeting or by visiting the Roundtable Discussions personally.

Using the School Climate Initiative as my point of reference, I think my beliefs about participation are clear; I believe wholeheartedly that the entire staff needs to feel ownership in the necessity of improving school climate, and that it can only be achieved by allowing open discussion and faculty-generated ideas for resolutions to perceived climate issues. The Roundtable idea is a concrete example of my desire to include the entire faculty in the decision making with regards to setting goals. However, I failed in making this a part of the entire event. Instead of asking the faculty to prioritize or rank the concerns, I alone decided what goals would be worked on or tracked. Instead of allowing the groups to meet at their convenience, I mandated the time and place of the discussions. Instead of allowing a democratic choice of leadership, I identified the Roundtable discussion leaders ahead of time. Although I had good reasons for all of those decisions they actually diluted the sense of inclusion in the process. In retrospect, I think more employee choice and participation would have helped the overall goal of the Initiative – to improve School Climate. In the future, I would ask the faculty for a prioritized list of goals so there wouldn’t be a feeling of an administrative agenda.

The governance system in place at my school needs to be examined in relation to the School Climate Initiative. If the opinions and ideas of all stakeholders in the decision-making process are valued, then a public relations campaign needed to be undertaken to get the faculty behind the idea of the Roundtable discussions. This would lead to improved dialogue and a more results-oriented outcome of the Initiative. I want the faculty and staff to be encouraged to participate (rather than required) and have a majority of the faculty and staff want to be included in the Initiative. By choosing the goals to be worked on and tracked during the school year, I effectively discouraged outside (faculty) involvement in the actual decision-making process and made the Initiative a chore rather than a vision.

The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education “advocates the involvement of parents and families in their children’s education, and fosters relationships between home, school, and community to enhance the education of all our nation’s young people.” (http://www.ncpie.org/AboutNCPIE/AboutPartnerships.html) According to the NCPIE, the benefits of Family-School Partnerships are many. First and foremost, the NCPIE posits that students will do better in school and in life which should be the overarching goal of all schools. Secondly, Family-School Partnerships help parents become empowered. Teacher morale will inevitably improve due to the positive achievements of their students, and by virtue of the above the schools become stronger. This will eventually lead to stronger communities because parents become invested in the schools and the schools are more responsive to the needs of the community. Using the above as a point of reference, my philosophy of leadership in parent and community involvement and relationships is fairly simple. The school leader should be the facilitator of dissemination of information that will lead to a stronger student, a stronger parent, a stronger school, and finally a stronger community. The philosophical model that I would create would be a simple circle, each component dependent on the others and leading to the next step no matter where the starting point would be.

The school leader should communicate information about any policies or programs to the teachers, parents, and community. This communication should take place at the planning and implementation stage so that as many stakeholders are involved in the process as possible. This will create a feeling of ownership and commitment that is not easily attained otherwise. The communication could take the form of training, forums, town hall meetings, workshops, newsletters, pamphlets, videos, etc. so that the public can make themselves aware of the information in a format that is most comprehensible to them. In this way all people will have an understanding of what they can contribute to the process of improving student learning, empowering parents, building a strong school and finally in creating a vibrant community. Once the information is out there for public consumption, the school leader will become the facilitator of change through guidance, encouragement, and motivation. This is the critical stage, where participation becomes the number one issue; all stakeholders (students, teachers, parents, and community leaders) must have an avenue. The school leader needs to make sure that those avenues are accessible and worthy of participation. The participation cannot be nominal nor only for show, but must have true and concrete power so that commitment and dedication to the cause is realized. Finally, school governance should allow the above to occur. Although the school leader will have the final say in policy and program changes and improvements, the parents and the community must feel that they have democratically involved themselves in the decision. Committees, roundtables, position papers, etc. must be utilized so that input is seen as being used in the appropriate manner.

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This work is licensed by Laura Hebert under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0).

Last edited by National Council of Professors of Educational Administration on Jun 10, 2007 3:53 pm GMT-5.