ETL 504 Module 2 Reflections: Leading Change

Tapscott’s Sharing
My classmate Kiana posted that sharing is difficult because “Some teachers are afraid of opening their doors to judgment. Others work hard to create learning experiences for their students and want to be the sole owners of their success”  She succinctly summed up why teachers are reluctant to share.  As TLs we need to encourage teachers to share with one another and recognise that it will make us better as individual educators and as team.
In the “scenario” post from Module 2, many of the comments encouraged me to think about how the TL can be an instrument of change.  In the BNET “7 Steps to Problem Solving” video, data collection was necessary as relevant stakeholders need to see if the change is needed and is it effective.  This poses a problem as the type of data required seems questionable: students results?  teacher well being?  What is the “data” that would prove TLs are a valuable impact?  John posted that testing a pilot programmes is key to which Lee responded “let the results speak for themselves” and later posted that successful TLs “Start small, model success; teach the teachers how to do it themselves; then water it and keep it flourishing”.  This has encouraged me to start working with the teachers I feel a connection with and hopefully encourage and facilitate more collaboration when other staff members see the success (ideally!) that we’re having.  In Robin Sharma’s video on building a winning team he notes that appreciation is key to building a team of collaborators.  By highlighting the positive contributions of others, you’re likely to alleviates some of the anxiety that Kiana noted in her post and slowly bring about change.

In my last post I was frustrated by being labeled as being labeled the “Nice” leader in an on-line survey, but recognised that the need to be liked may not be effective in initiating change.  In a more recent “Conflict Resolution” survey I was categorized as a “Teddy Bear”.  I can’t say this is how I see myself or how I think others view me, but I do understand that I may be more accommodating than assertive.  But I think we play a dangerous game in using corporate/business leader models in the field of education.  The types of leaders needed in the business world will not always translate to the types of leaders needed in education.  That’s not to say that understanding these leadership types is not relevant, but we need to consider that  students are not commodities to buy and sell, so we need to ask ourselves to define what “profit” is in our schools.  It seems a more cut throat approach is accepted and successful in the business world in which profits can be quantified.  However, education does not have the same goals as most businesses, nor does it define (or quantify) “profit”  the same way.  Grades?  Well-being? Educational institutions must ask themselves what “profit” means to them and then chose a leadership style that serves those intentions.  This “teddy bear”  guesses that it is likely to be a more accommodating style than the assertive styles that fit financially driven institutions.

Sources:
TED. (2012, June 28). Don Tapscott: Four principles for the open world [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfqwHT3u1-8

BNET video. (2011, June 8). 7 step problem solving [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXDGQSuF9