TEACHER LEADERSHIP FINAL PROJECT CRITICAL ANALYSIS

JENNIFER SIGMAN CS 470 WINTER 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 results in confusion for teachers in regards to curriculum maps, unit plans and/or classroom observations

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

Insufficient opportunities and/or funds for out-of-school professional development; 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 professional development or in scheduling professional development

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

Low staff morale affected by: high turnover; unambitious salary scale; inadequate pay 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 large groups (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

them will improve student learning; create and share knowledge with one another; renew our commitment to teaching in this building; and make more good things (and fewer bad things) happen (Fullan, 2007, p. 4). In the coming weeks, I will meet with my administration and colleagues to share the findings of my project and to come up with solutions that help foster collaboration among teachers and administrators in my school to address concerns surrounding school organization, culture and student learning. I think if we work together and teachers are given more trust and space to work on projects that showcase their leadership skills, we will be able to create a school much like Loris in Teacherpreneurs (Berry, Byrd & Wieder, 2013). The Denver MSLA is a great example of how all schools could function if leadership were shared across all stakeholders and teachers were trusted to take more of the responsibility of leadership and decision making every day in the building. I hope to work with my colleagues to create a culture similar to the one at MSLA in Denver and I believe this research will help open the door to having these conversations in coming years.

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I. References Ahmed-Ullah, N. (2013, November 4). CPS arts school could get building of closed school. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-1104/news/ct-met-chiarts-move-20131105_1_neighborhood-schools-cps-run-charterschools 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-artsschool-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/

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.