Rethinking Leadership Section 3 Leading the Learning community Administrative Leadership Emily Chen & John Tai Presentation: Sep. 24 Instructor: Dr. Grano

Learning Communities (p.97-98)  In schools as learner-centered communities connections are based on commitments not trades.  Learner-centered communities seek to connect members to what is right and wrong, to obligations and commitments, to moral agreements, and to other characteristics of norm-based social covenants.

Learner-centered Community (p.98)  Community of relationships  Community of place  Community of mind  Community of memory  Community of practice  Community of action

Activity 1: Role-playing  How can the faculty become more of a professional community where everyone cares about each other and helps each other to grow, to learn together, and to lead together?  Group 1: Principal  Group 2: Administrators  Group 3: Teachers

Practice & Action (p.99)  The defining benchmark for identifying the learner-centered school is the presence of a community of practice.  Individual practices are not abandoned but are connected in a way that they comprise a shared practice (Sergiovanni, 1994).

Conclusion  Teachers and principal not only principal ship too becomes a practice shared with teachers who accept responsibility not only leadership roles but for the success of the school.  The principal ’ s leadership is particularly important in developing and shepherding this community of action.

Section 3: Leading the Learning Community Article #1 Changing Our Theory of Schooling By Thomas J. Sergiovanni p. 101~110

Changing Our Theory of Schooling  Ferdinand Tonnies ’ s (1957) Theory of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft as a framework for understanding the differences between communities and other organizations.  Why community understandings and community characteristics are important to students and their engagement in schools and fundamental to the teaching and learning work of the school.

Discussion  Give some examples of which challenge that leaders will face or what kind of struggle that schools will face as the schools strive to become a community (organization).  Separation from people  Self-interest  Evaluation  Pattern of rewards and punishments  Management and leadership

The Community Metaphor (p )  In communities, the connection of people to purpose and the connections among people are not based on contracts but commitments.  This social structure bonds people together in a oneness and binds them to an idea structure and the binding of them to shared values and ideas are the defining characteristics of schools as communities.  Community members connect with each other as a result of felt interdependencies, mutual obligations, and other ties.

Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft  Gemeinschaft – “ community ” “ community ” Natural will Natural will living organism living organism springs from our common past. Share common rituals, beliefs, and customs. springs from our common past. Share common rituals, beliefs, and customs. intrinsic meaning and significance intrinsic meaning and significance no tangible goal or benefit to the relationship no tangible goal or benefit to the relationship Moral ties (thick and laden) Moral ties (thick and laden)  Gesellschaft - “ organization ” or “ society ” “ organization ” or “ society ” Rational will Rational will mechanical and artifact mechanical and artifact obtained towards the future and achievement of specific goals. Focused on doing. Everyone is by himself and isolated. obtained towards the future and achievement of specific goals. Focused on doing. Everyone is by himself and isolated. Reach some goal and gain some benefit Reach some goal and gain some benefit Calculated ties (thin and instrumental) Calculated ties (thin and instrumental)

Gemeinschaft (p.104)  Gemeinschaft exists in three forms: gemeinschaft by kinship, of place, and of mind ([1887]1957, p. 42).  Gemeinschaft of mind is essential to building community within schools.  The connections that emerge among people from family-like feelings and relationships and from sharing a common place contribute to the development of shared values and ideas.

Gesellschaft (p.106)  In gesellschaft every person strives for what which is to his own advantages as he affirms the actions of others only insofar as and as long as they can further his interests … all agreements of the will stand out as so many treaties and peace pacts (Tonnies, [1887] 1957, p. 77).  In gesellschaft, rational will is the prime motivating force. People relate to each other to reach some goal, to gain some benefit. Without this benefit the relationship ends.

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft in School (p.110)  Gemeinschaft and gesellschaft are mental representations that can help us categorize and explain the opposites, and track movement along this continuum on the other (Weber, 1949, p.90).  Schools are never gemeinschaft or gesellschaft. They possess characteristics of both.

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft in School (p.110)  In the extreme both gemeinschaft and gesellschaft create problems.  Too much gemeinschaft blocks progress; too much gesellschaft creates loss of community.  The answer is not to turn the clock back to a more romantic gemeinschaft world, but to build gemeinschaft within gesellschaft.

Section 3: Leading the Learning Community Article #2 Leadership as a Practice By Thomas J. Sergiovanni p. 112~119

Leadership as a Practice (p.113)  Shared leadership implies that leadership belongs to a designated leader. It is the leaders ’ choice to share or not to share.  Shared leadership is to view leadership as an entitlement that is linked to a practice.

Leadership as a Practice (p.114)  Bennis and Nanus (1985) reminds us to provide the management support to ensure that people do things right at the same time we focus leadership on doing right things for teaching and learning.  Sharing power means more power for everyone — power has the capacity to expand, and distributing more power within an organization resulted in more power for everyone — including the designated leaders.  More power for everyone seems to be linked to both increased satisfaction and performance.

Liberating Leadership (p )  Viewing leadership as a groups activity linked to a practice rather than just an individual activity linked to a person helps match the expertise we have in a school with the problems and situations we face.  If leadership is a practice shared by many, then it must be distributed among those who are in the right place at the right time (situation) and among those who have the unique competence to get the job done correctly (ability).

Distributed Leadership (p. 116)  Leadership involves the identification, acquisition, allocation, coordination, and use of the social, material, and cultural resources necessary to establish the conditions for the possibility of teaching and learning.  The school improvement literature identifies several functions that are thought essential for instructional leadership: constructing and selling an instructional vision; building norms of trust, collaboration, and academic press; supporting teacher development; and monitoring instruction and innovation ”.

Communities of Practice (p. 117)  Within communities of practice, leadership activity takes place at the level of the community rather than at the level of individuals.  What is important is the kind of leadership this community needs and whether this community is indeed getting the leadership it needs.

Friendship and Distributed Leadership (p )  Leaders usually have a solid though invisible support system that not only helps build their capacities to lead but compounds the effects of their leadership (deep friendships).  When leadership and friendship are linked there is usually a set of ideas, values, or purposes that knits the two together.  Friendship is a way that leadership can be distributed across individuals who are partners to a relationship.

Activity 2: School-community Relation Inventory  The Illinois State Board of Education(1994) has developed the following parent involvement inventory to determine strategies for increasing family involvement.  Please check each box that applies throughout your school and then share some personal opinions.

Conclusion  Donaldson (2001) argues that good leadership in invitational leadership and accepting this invitation requires the distribution of roles and responsibilities among many people.  A significant aspect of this distribution creates a strong web of relationship that include teachers, parents, and students as well as administrators and include informal leaders as well as formal leaders.

Section 3: Leading the Learning Community Article #3 Section 3: Leading the Learning Community Article #3 Getting Practical By Thomas J. Sergiovanni p. 120~133

Introduction  Collegiality and intrinsic motivation are the value-added leadership dimensions that are necessary to build a professional culture of teaching with standards, norms, and practices aligned to excellence.

Congeniality and Collegiality  Congeniality – friendly human relationships characterized by loyalty, trust, and easy conversation for a knit group.  Collegiality – high levels of collaboration characterized by mutual respect, shared work values, cooperation, and specific conversation about teaching and learning.

Congeniality and Collegiality (Cont’d)  Congeniality – development of strong supporting social norms that are independent from professional standards and school purposes.  Collegiality-- development of strong supporting work norms that emerge from professional standards and school purposes.

Congeniality and Collegiality (Cont’d)  Collegiality combined with congeniality actually reinforce work- enhancing value and norms but not necessary for excellence.  Many researchers support the importance of developing a professional culture of teaching that supports and extends collegiality, and link it to the success of schooling.

Coordinating strategies  Four different kinds of coordinating strategies: --Direct supervision --Standardizing work processes and work output requirements --Enhancing and standardizing --Collaboration and collegiality (Henry Mintzberg)  Complex organizations like schools does not make it possible to directly supervise.  Under direct and close supervision teachers teach according to the system ’ s recipe; but when alone they teach in ways that make sense to them.

Opportunity and capacity are key  Limiting options of educators is bad educational policy.  Opportunity refers to the perception educators have of the future prospects for advancement, status prestige, challenging work, knowledge, skills and rewards.  Capacity (power) refers to the ability to get thing done, to mobilize resources, to get the resources needed for the goals.

Team leadership can help  Principal of the Webster School, Robert Stephens practiced teamwork and collegiality by involving teachers in the recruitment and hiring of staff.  Shared leadership helped Webster to grip its basic purposes and commitment and made Webster become known as a team-based school.  Opportunity and capacity, teamwork and collegiality, when combined with purposing, leadership by outrage, are powerful ideas for building an excellent schooling.

The motivation challenge  Getting extraordinary performance from teachers and principals requires throwing away policies and practices that are based on traditional conceptions of motivation.  Extrinsic motivations based upon the value a person receives from the external context of the work.

The motivation challenge (cont’d)  Extrinsic factors such money can get people to do what they are supposed to but not more, at least not on a sustained basis.  Extrinsic factors with hazards can actually diminish one ’ s intrinsic interest in the work, resulting in reduced commitment and lower performance.  Intrinsic motivation, by contrast, is based upon the value received from the work itself.

The secret of motivation is in the work itself:  Enhanced commitment and extraordinary performance were more likely to be present in the following situation: 1. When workers found their work to be meaningful, worthwhile, and important. 2. When workers had reasonable control and influence over work activities and circumstances. 3. When workers experienced personal responsibility for the work and were personally accountable for outcomes.

Intrinsic motivation and student achievement  Efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and commitment are qualities in teachers that are linked to gains in student achievement.  When efficacy is high, teaching behaviors were characterized by warmth, accepting responses of students, accepting of student initiatives, and attention to students ’ individual needs.

Activity 3: Group Discussion  How can school as a learning organization to achieve higher levels of student achievement? Think about some strategies that can be provided in your school.  Group 1: School climate  Group 2: Collegial values  Group 3: School culture

Section 3: Leading the Learning Community Article #4 Section 3: Leading the Learning Community Article #4 The Eight Basic Competencies By Thomas J. Sergiovanni p. 134~139

Introduction  By emphasizing learning and by emphasizing the involvement of people in making important decisions, leaders focus more on developers and community-building roles.  To be successful as developers and community builders, leaders will have to master eight basic competencies: the management of attention, meaning, trust, self, paradox, effectiveness, follow-up, and responsibility.

Management of Attention  The management of attention is the ability to focus others on values, ideas, goals, and purposes that bring people together and that provide a rationale, a source of authority for what goes on in the school.  Leaders manage attention by what they say and reward, the behaviors they emphasize, and the reasons for the decisions they make.

Management of Meaning  The management of meaning is the ability to connect teachers, parents, and students to the school in such a way that they find their lives useful, sensible, and valued.

Management of Trust  The management of trust is the ability to be viewed as credible, legitimate, and honest.  Trust is a key ingredient correlated with the development of human capital.  Many researchers link the amount of trust to the students ’ academic performance.

Management of Self  The management of self is the ability to know who you are, what you believe, and why you do the things you do, that others also understand and respect.  The management of self is an art worth developing — but one not easily achieved without a measure of practical intelligence.

Management of Paradox  The management of paradox is the ability to bring together ideas that seem to be at odds with each other.  The management of paradox is easier when leaders look to ideas, values, and visions of the common good as a moral sense of authority for what they do.

Management of Effectiveness  The management of effectiveness is the ability to focus the development of capacity in a school that allows it to improve performance over time.  Three sets of questions about school success: What is being accomplished? What are they learning about their work? Is everyone working together as a community of practice?

Management of Follow-up  The management of follow-up is detailed, careful, and continuous supervision to monitor what is going on and is accompanied by assessment.  Teacher leadership is critical to successful follow-up. Without teacher leadership we change how things look but not how things work.

Management of Responsibility  The management of responsibility involves the internalization of values and purposes that obligate people to meet their commitments to each other and to the school.  The best way to manage responsibility is to evoke duty and obligation as motivators.

Conclusion  The eight basic competencies are the basis for developing and using an idea-based leadership.  This use changes the sources of authority for leadership from bureaucratic requirements and from the leader ’ s personal charm quotients to purposes, values, theories, and other cognitive framework. Activity 4: Group Discussion  Please read this article: “ A Plea for Strong Practice ”. Make a short summary of what you read and share your viewpoints with class. Group 1: NCLB design flaws Group 2: Who inherits NCLB ’ s problems? Group 3: What can educators do?