Georgia Linnenbank (18366570)

Contemporary Teacher Leadership 102098 2H 2019

Georgia Linnenbank (18366570)
Assessment 2 Part 1: Group Presentation

Group: 13B Dena Mary Baniamen (18003550), Candice Ceglar (19188094), Georgia
Linnenbank (18366570), Callum Lofts (19277194) and Nicholas Purdevski (17826961)
Title: Learn, Return and Earn
The Strand: Sustainability
Link to video: https://youtu.be/IDTRfPh2TJQ

Assessment 2 Part 2: Critical Reflection

Contemporary teacher leadership is a complex concept. This essay considers the

relationship between leadership and collaboration and reflects on the strengths and

difficulties of working in and learning community to complete the presentation for

assignment 3.

During this unit I was particularly interested in learning more about the concept of

leadership. At all my previous jobs there had been a clear chain of command, a string of

managers that increased in importance. I had related this to a flow from classroom teacher,

to head teacher, to deputy and principal and so on, however, this is not necessarily the case

for teacher leadership. I was fascinated by Hamel’s definition of ethical leadership as being

“not defined by the exercise of power, but by the capacity to increase the sense of power

among those who are led” (in Branson & Gross, 2014, p.2). This definition highlights the

importance of making ethical and considered decisions that positively effect both colleagues

and students, thus demonstrating the difference between “management” of staff and

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students and “leadership” in the school. In my reflections for week one I considered the idea

that a teacher leader is anyone working to make a change, and that lateral collaboration and

seeking support is central to being a successful teacher leader. Several weeks later these

ideas were cemented by Senge’s work on ‘learning organisations’. A ‘learning organisation’

is defined by Garvin, Edminson and Gino as an organization where “employees excel at

creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge” (2008, p.110), it is stated that such an

organisation relies on three pillars; the learning environment, learning processes and

learning leadership. Again, this theory emphasized the importance of employees sharing

ideas and knowledge. During the course of this unit and particularly during the completion

of assignment 2 I got first hand experience of what it means to be a teacher leader and how

to work in a learning community.

Working alongside others is not only imperative for those who want to be successful

teacher leaders, it is also compulsory for all teachers, with focus areas 6.3 and 7.4 of the

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers stating that teachers must “engage with

colleagues and improve practice” and “engage with professional teacher networks and

broader communities”. While sharing ideas, experiences and workload was a primarily

positive experience for our group, creating a successful learning community was not without

it challenges. One of the most significant challenges was working with 5 conflicting

schedules which took into account placement, work rosters and holidays. Because

responsibility and decision making was shared amongst out learning community it was

important that all group members were present and given a chance to share their work and

ideas. To alleviate this issue, we met up in person only once and relied on instant messaging,

emails, video conferencing and document sharing a majority of the time. Flexibility about

communication and meetings was essential to the completion of this unit.

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The allocation of specific jobs to certain people was very important for the success of

our group. This was effective as a fair distribution reduces work load for each individual,

ensures that every person understands their responsibilities and keeps everyone

accountable to the group. Though there was still issues about commitment and work ethic

for different group members. To help us navigate our group task it was helpful for me to

consider the heuristic tool for leadership introduced in week five. Lovett, Dempster and

Flückiger (2015) describe a heuristic tool for developing competencies in five ‘focus points’

of teacher leadership, being pedagogy, people, place, systems and self (p.131). The heuristic

tool encourages teachers to acknowledge the complexities of leadership and develop their

leaderships style over time by learning more about the five focus points, for example,

building communication skills and working with others to achieve common goals, gaining

knowledge of the micro and macro environment of the school, understanding systemic and

legal requirements and reflecting on personal and professional values, strengths and

weaknesses (Lovett, Dempster and Flückiger, 2015, pp. 132 - 138). Engaging in this group

project gave me the opportunity to work on all five of these focus points by working

alongside my group members, considering the environment of our chosen school,

considering the systemic requirements of the assignment, and reflecting on my own values

and actions. This process helped each group member to hone their skills as a teacher leader

and improve their overall professional practice. The skills that I have learnt throughout this

process will certainly assist my in my future as a teacher leader. Lovett, Dempster and

Flückiger (2015) also state that “the moral purpose of school-based leadership . . . [is] to

engage in and facilitate actions that enhance learning outcomes for students” (p.131).

Overall it is important to remember that the main point of this exercise is to make an

improvement to the school, and our collaboration should reflect this.

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From the first tutorial for this unit I have been forced to confront my underlying

beliefs about what teacher leaderships means, far from the hierarchical business model,

teacher leadership is about collaboration from within and implementation of new systems

to make a positive change within a school or school community. Throughout this unit and

through the creation of the group project I have faced the difficulties and joys of being part

of a learning community of teacher leaders. I realized that successful leadership is about

developing skills to manage pedagogy, people, place systems and the self in a way that will

ultimately benefit others.

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References

Australian Institute for Teachers and School Leadership. (2011). Australian Professional

Standards for Teachers. Victoria, Australia; Education Services Australia. Retrieved

from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-

framework/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers.pdf?sfvrsn=5800f33c_64

Branson, C. M., & Gross, S. J. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of ethical educational leadership.

Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Garvin, David A., Edmondson, Amy C., & Gino, Francesca. (2008). Is yours a learning

organization? (Tool Kit). Harvard Business Review, 86(3), 109-16, 134.

Harvard Business Review. (2008, December 15). The Importance of Learning Organisations

[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUP4WcfNyAA

Lovett, S., Dempster, N., & Flückiger, B. (2015). Personal agency in leadership learning using

an Australian heuristic. Professional Development in Education, 41(1), 127-143. doi:

10.1080/19415257.2014.891532