teacher leadership project - critical analysis

8/12/2019 Teacher Leadership Project - Critical Analysis

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TEACHER LEADERSHIP FINAL PROJECTCRITICAL ANALYSIS

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JENNIFER SIGMAN

CS 470WINTER 2014

March 12, 2014

Critical Analysis

My intention in creating this project is to improve student learning; however, I do not

think teachers can concentrate on student improvement unless they are comfortable in

their working environment. I surveyed four of my colleagues and two of my former high

school teachers to gather information about how they view and define the professional

learning communities at their schools and how perceived challenges can be overcome

through dialogue and teacher leadership.

After completing interviews, I identified several common themes among the

interviews that I would like to address with other colleagues, instructional coaches, and

administrators. In each interview, teachers identified the following institutional

challenges:

Lack of administrative leadership and teacher oversight In absence of principal, confusion about where to go and who to talk to in order to

complete some tasks

Inadequate or scarce communication between instructional coaches, which resultsin confusion for teachers in regards to curriculum maps, unit plans and/or

classroom observations


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Insufficient opportunities for in-school professional development; insufficientfollow-through of in-school professional development toward a goal

Insufficient opportunities and/or funds for out-of-school professionaldevelopment; insufficient opportunity to share information gathered at outside

professional development with others in school

Little to no staff input requested in identifying areas of need in professionaldevelopment or in scheduling professional development

Fair amount of work normally done by instructional coaches is thrust uponvarious members of academic departments each month

Low staff morale affected by: high turnover; unambitious salary scale; inadequatepay increases for additional work; little to no opportunity for teacher leadership

Perceived lack of trust by administration for teacher-led decision-making Perceived bias in appointment of teachers to leadership positions; no formal call

for applications in this process

Teachers asked to provide input about great academic decisions that affect largegroups (or all) of the entire faculty

In order to address these concerns, I (and my colleagues) will turn to the texts we have

studied in CS 470 to provide us some guidance in creating more opportunities for all

teachers to lead, for all teachers to participate in bettering the school organization and

culture in order to ultimately improve learning for all students.

When employees in any institution are asked to directly participate every day to a

greater extent, they will be more inclined to take ownership over the decisions that are

made within the organization. [G]reater employee participation leads to greater


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ownership and commitment to organization goals (York-Barr & Duke, 2004, p. 258).

When teachers are asked to participate in decision-making that affects the entire school

institution, they will take more ownership over the task. To an extent, we have some of

this buy-in already at my school; I hope to use my research to assist the administration in

realizing that teachers have much to offer in terms of making organization-wide decisions

that affect school culture and student learning.

The access to ownership is a key in creating and sustaining a professional learning

community that is collegial and works for the betterment of student learning. York-Barr

and Duke (2013) state that providing teachers more leadership opportunities can

acknowleg[e] their expertise and contributions [to teaching and school culture] and

provid[e] support for growth and influence [in] support [of] these objectives (p. 259).

When teachers are provided the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the school

community and are supported in this endeavor, they will feel more comfortable

collaborating with colleagues and avoiding what Lortie called isolationism, felt by

most teachers in classrooms across the country (1975).

I also hope that the collaboration between my colleagues and I will foster a new

culture of enthusiasm, energy, and hope between all of us to re-identify our moral

purpose and why we became teachers in the first place (Fullan, 2007, p. 4). As teachers,

we often lose sight of our moral purpose in teaching, which can decrease our enthusiasm

in our daily interactions with students. I want for us to come together as a staff and work

on these problems using Fullans (2007) framework for leadership so we can build

relationships with one another; make sense of the challenges we face and how solving


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I. ReferencesAhmed-Ullah, N. (2013, November 4). CPS arts school could get building of closed

school. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-11-

04/news/ct-met-chiarts-move-20131105_1_neighborhood-schools-cps-run-charter-

schools

Berry, B., Byrd, A., & Wieder, A. (2013). Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers Who

Lead But Dont Leave. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Fullan, M. (2007).Leading In A Culture of Change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Ihejirika, M. (2011, May 11). Controversy raised over relocation of citys only public arts

school. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5324644-418/parents-oppose-site-of-arts-

school-relocation.html

Lortie, D. (1975; 2002). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. Chicago, IL: University of

Chicago Press.

Smith, C. (2014). Mayors office and CPS announce ChiArts moving to permanent

location. The Chicago High School for the Arts website. Retrieved from

http://chiarts.org/uploads/files/New_Home_Press_Release.pdf

Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium. (2011). Teacher leader model standards.

Washington, D.C.: Council of Chief State School Officers. Retrieved from

http://teacherleaderstandards.org/downloads/TLS_Brochure.pdf.

The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts). (n.d.a). School history. Retrieved from

http://chiarts.org/about/history/


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The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts). (n.d.b). School profile. Retrieved from

http://chiarts.org/about/school_profile/

York-Barr, J. & Duke, K. (2004). What do we know about teacher leadership? Findings

from two decades of scholarship.Review of Educational Research 74(3), 255-316.

teacher leadership project - critical analysis

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