The Importance of Self Analysis for the School/Community Leader - Wolfe
Summary: In Summer 2007, a Virginia Tech Doctoral cohort completed EDAE 6924, School Community Partnerships. Here is a personal reflection authored by Christine Wolfe.
Know Thyself Reflection
Christine Wolfe
- I completed the Communication survey, and then I had a member of the Leadership Team at the school I serve complete it. While we did not have the exact scores, we both had the highest number of points assigned in the “Helper” category, followed closely by “Thinker”. When I look at the strengths for “helper”, I do feel that many of them are accurate descriptors of my communication style. However, I do not see myself as smothering, self-denying, or without principles. When I am communicating with staff, parents, and students, I try to promote a sense of modesty and respect for their opinions or beliefs. I do exhibit a sense of support, devotion, and caring. Also, I have been faulted many times by staff for being “secretive”. I maintain a high sense of professionalism and respect for confidentiality; however, several staff members believe it is their right to know everything about specific situations dealing with discipline of students or personnel matters. In terms of looking at the “thinker” category, I am thorough, methodical, analytical, and orderly, and I have perseverance. I am generally very open to others’ ideas; however, there are those situations that are non-negotiable. Therefore, I am viewed at times as being rigid and cold. On surveys, I am consistently marked very high by parents for communication and my commitment to the school and students. There is a small number of staff, on the other hand, that see me as being obsessive and nit-picking. I frequently ask staff members about their children, impending adoptions, and their aging parents. I have sent newspaper clippings to them on family members and have called and left them messages on their home phones to thank them for a job well done. Yet, because I keep separate professional and personal, I have been faulted for paying little attention to people’s feelings. To me, from a professional standpoint, we all need to be held to high standards. Also, I am not trusting of others. Just as I feel that I need to earn the trust of others, I feel that others need to earn my trust. That is done through “walking the talk.”
- I completed the Listener Survey. On this survey, I scored very high as a listener. I attribute this to a class that I took during my Administrative Studies and from experience. I have tried to show each person that I truly care about their concern. Many times, parents will say, “I hate to take your time with something so small…” I try to tell them and show them with my actions that no matter how small it may seem, they need to be their child’s advocate and I want to hear their concern. It is critical that you truly understand what the other person’s intended message is and to continue to clarify during the discussion so that an accurate understanding is possible. As a building administrator, it can not matter whether you personally like the person who is talking to you. Their gender, age, and level of intelligence can not be a factor either. I try to use body language that encourages the speaker to continue with his/her thoughts. Clarification of the ideas is the key, though, in being able to be an active listener.
- Communication
Select – Communication between home and school is essential if each child is to reach his potential. Year after year, survey results and informal comments reflect that parents and community members are extremely pleased with the way the school communicates with home and the way the school reaches out to families in order to enhance success of the students. Feedback is also extremely positive in terms of the way communication between home and me is viewed. Yet I do not have that same positive feedback from a small portion of my staff. This concerns me, particularly as I leave one school division and go on to another. One particular example involved putting a first-year teacher on a plan of improvement. Prior to developing the plan there had been numerous discussions between the two of us, peer observation time with coverage for the class provided, mentoring from a retired teacher in terms of lesson planning and instructional delivery. Once the plan was mutually developed, the teacher decided that teaching in a public school setting was probably not the best match, and she resigned in November just two weeks after the plan went into effect. There was a small segment of the staff population that felt that the administration just went in and fired someone with no support or guidance provided.
Describe – In the above case, there was a small percentage of staff members that interpreted the situation as being one of unfairness on the part of the administrator. Despite the aggressive supports put in place for this teacher, the students were still not progressing academically and the behaviors in the class were extreme. The risk of letting a class of students fall behind in all areas was too great to leisurely look at solving the problem.
Analyze – There are several key factors that need to be reflected upon in this situation. First is the fact that educators must think first, “What is best for the children?” My entire reason for going to work every day is for the children. I can honestly say that everything I do is Child-centered. Parents and staff agree on that. Personal feelings must be kept separate from professional expectations. The situation could not be left to go on and there had been no improvement with all of the support given. It should be expected that first year teachers are going to require additional support; however, it should also be the expectation that a person who has graduated with a degree in education and licensed by the state should not require additional support for 100% of the job responsibilities. A second factor to address is that the staff I am going to be leaving is very close knit and they feel that they need to know everything. In this specific case, it was a personnel issue. I could not, nor would not, share any details with the staff (or parents) as to why she really left. The person’s departure was vaguely described. I have not been able to help the staff understand that there is a difference between “keeping things secret” and respecting professionalism and confidentiality.
Appraise – Does this all come down to trust? I think it does. Yet I have very difficult time trying to pinpoint why there isn’t the trust that needed to exist. I have always honored and respected what people told me in confidence. I have worked to try to explain why I am not always able to share as many of the details as they might like; however, I have also had numerous teachers come and talk to me and say that they know what they say will go no further. Some have said that it is only a few on the staff and they have always been this way and always will. Many have voiced frustration that principals never seem to stay. I tend to agree, but I do feel that if I am to grow as an administrator I need to learn to overcome obstacles with the most difficult of situations – staff included. I feel that on the surface, my actions do support my beliefs. The part that has continued to be a barrier is the trust. As I move to my new division, school, community, and staff, I really need to focus on developing trust with everyone.
Transform – As I begin to transition from one school to another I need to focus on doing activities that will promote “team” and “trust.” Activities will be planned with this in mind for parents, community, and staff. Initially there will be several opportunities for parents and community to meet with me in social settings, informally. I will also plan meetings with individual staff members over the first two weeks and plan team/trust building activities during the first few weeks of school. I also feel that I need to communicate more about why I may not be able to share everything. As the year unfolds, I will reassess where more emphasis is needed – parents/community or staff.
Participation
Select - Parent and community involvement is critical if a school is to strive to be one of excellence. It should not just be that small core of volunteers that are seen, to always be there doing all of the work of special projects.
Describe – Active involvement of parents and community members should be a school-wide endeavor. It should not just be the PTA who finds the volunteers, nor should it be the principal of the school. Rather, all staff should “walk the talk” that parent and community involvement is valued. Further, this should be evident every day, not just when there is a special event planned and the school needs 50 volunteers to man the stations. Just as every child should be made to believe that the teacher cares most about him/her, the school and administration need to make each stakeholder feel that they are truly invaluable to the success of the school and ultimately the students.
Analyze - I think back to this past fall when I was told by the PTA president that she couldn’t find volunteers for the first week of school to help unload the buses. Within just a few hours of personal phone calls from me, I had twenty parents for an entire week of bus duty. I made a point of calling parents, retired teachers, and business partners that are not the ‘regulars”. I made a point of trying to make those feel especially welcome who maybe had bad experiences in the past. I had had a difficult time breaking through with one particular parent. I had the other parent from that family come in to break the ice. (In this particular case, I worked at this situation and finally made the breakthrough with mom around the holidays.)
Appraise - If you don’t step outside the box, those that are always the doers begin to feel unappreciated. Those that never get the call feel ostracized. Using the same volunteers, in the same manner is much like the teacher who opens the “September” folder every year and teaches everything the same way she/he did 10 -15 years ago.
Transform – I have been very successful in creating a welcoming climate for community and parents where I currently serve. As I begin this transition, I want to respect the traditions that have been established at the school. One of the biggest attractions to this school is its sense of “Community”. The expectation of the community is to feel involved, so I believe it will be a good fit with my beliefs. I know that I am the one who will need to prove myself to them, rather than the other way around. The key will be for me to be open, receptive, and sincere.
Governance
Select – I can not begin to think that I am the only person who has the solutions to everything involved in leading a school. Three years ago, I developed a leadership Team that met monthly.
Describe – Prior to my appointment, the leadership team had consisted of a grade level representative that was selected based on “whose turn it was” and the building administration. I continued with the grade leaders, but asked the person on each grade level that I felt was the strongest in terms of cohesiveness and instructional delivery qualities. I also added 3 lead teachers – language arts, math, and technology. We met the first Wed. after school for at least 60 minutes to discuss/plan upcoming events, instructional activities, benchmark testing and data analysis.
Analyze – This approach to leadership supports the concept that all people need to feel valued as a stakeholder. Often, I would “throw” an idea out on the table and it would be discussed, thrashed about, and refined into something I could not have possibly developed alone.
Appraise –This concept of a leadership team was effective to a point. I think in some ways it was very “out of the box” for the school I was serving. The Leadership Team had very few changes in three years in terms of who served on the team. I believe that this continuity was beneficial. However, Central Office added several positions and the team grew quiet large. For two years we have struggled with the role of the grade leaders on the team and the role of the lead teachers and who should be at what meeting. The first year almost seemed to be the most effective of the three. The team members themselves voiced concern that there were too many on the team; however, since the positions had been added by central office I did not feel that I had the flexibility to not include the positions. We tried developing specific roles for the two different types of members. In the second year, we decided that the grade leaders would serve as a liaison between the team and the grade level colleagues and would only come to the first part of the meeting. In the third year, we went back to having all members participate in the meetings in their entirety. The team format is being re-designed by Central Office for next year. I also think that it would have been more effective with better communication to the whole staff as to what the expectation of the Leadership team and the individual staff members were.
Transform – I am not clear on the way Leadership Teams are handled at my new school. I believe that there are grade leaders, but am not certain what their roles are. As I have already said, I will be meeting with all staff members individually over the summer to formulate ideas on their perceptions of what works and doesn’t work and what could possibly be changed and what shouldn’t be touched. As I begin the year, I will begin by building a strong partnership with the assistant principal (who had applied for the principalship) and then together demonstrate the importance of shared leadership by including stakeholders in the decision making process.
4. I believe that for a school to be one of excellence there must be a united partnership between home, community, and school with the students at the center of their focus. The school division where I will be serving says it best, “One Voice, One Vision, Dream High.” If I could paint a picture of the ideal, it would be one where everyone shoulders the responsibilities together. We work tirelessly each year so that we do not leave any child behind. We need to do the same for parents and community. There is no one person who willingly does a bad job in helping a child to grow. However, just as with students, some stakeholders need more support than others. In terms of my role as the principal, I see myself as the facilitator. It should begin with communicating through my actions and words the importance of being a community of learners; this will build trust. Then we will be able to build teams and support so that there truly is One Voice with One Vision where we can all Dream High.
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Last edited by National Council of Professors of Educational Administration on Jun 12, 2007 8:17 am GMT-5.