“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”

-Socrates

 

Philosophy of Education:

 

Education is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life. I feel that as educators we need to do all of these things in a short amount of time for learning to take place. I believe that every child that walks, crawls, or rolls, through the doors of the school has the ability to learn. I work on and develop strategies that allow me to work with students and staff on many levels. Every child and teacher has the potential to do amazing things, and everyone is different in their own unique and special way. As educators we need to empower and provide all of the above for our students and colleagues so that they can become the best that they can be.

 

Education can take place anywhere and in many ways. I feel that we need to always keep this in mind as educators. Abraham Lincoln once said, What ever you are, be a good one.” I live by this quote and try to inspire my students and fellow educators to do the same. To be great educators we need to make sure that our students don’t get the bare minimum, but the full spectrum of what we can offer in the confines of our building and classrooms. Every child that we encounter will be coming from different backgrounds and walks of life that we may not even fathom, but we have them for eight hours a day. We need to infuse their minds in the means necessary so that they are successful, thus teaching every student in a way that they can learn and have success. Success to me is helping students and staff, reach their individual “ah-ha” moments, and they are the most exciting times in education. These little epiphanies are what keep our students engaged and coming back, no matter how big or small.

 

With that said, teaching and learning are life long processes, and I feel that motivating students and helping them to discover value beyond school of what they are learning, although difficult, is the most rewarding thing an educator can do. I am often reminded of a quote that I read everyday on my desk as a constant reminder of what I want to be:

 

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

- William Arthur Ward

 

I am on a constant endeavor to be a great teacher and educational leader. I aim to inspire. I will always continue to improve myself to elevate the profession of education and teach all of my students and staff. I also know though, that no one can accomplish great things, or teach young minds alone. It is when we work as a team, and use all resources, that the end results and opportunities for our students are limitless

 

 

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”

-John Quincy Adams

 

Philosophy of Leadership:

 

With publications like "How Leadership Influences Learning" finding that school leaders were responsible for as much as 25% of the total school effect on student learning; knowing what characteristics define an excellent administrator becomes vital in ensuring that we are preparing our future generations to be the best that they can be. There are many things that separate the great leaders from the good leaders and countless books have been written discussing this very topic, but I feel it can be narrowed down to being a visionary, great communicator, adaptive, selfless, knowledgeable and knowledge seeking, and having a sense of humor as the most important characteristics.

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As a visionary, an administrator needs to make sure that they can see where their school is at and know where they want to be. This takes time and effort of garnering input and trust from all stakeholders, and then they need to be able to take what they learn and communicate the vision effectively to everyone.

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An excellent school leader must also be an excellent communicator. The job of a school leader revolves around the ability to communicate everything from a lunch menu change, to the newest initiative and why it is so important. It is important to learn what form of communication is best for each stakeholder group so that you can be as effective as possible.

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A great leader is also adaptive. Schools are not stagnant and predictable. The challenge of leading a place where very few things are the same from day to day means that the leader needs to be able to be on their toes and adapt to the many situations that may present themselves. A strong adaptive leader solves problems as they present themselves in a timely manner, is responsive to input, gets support for the tough-to-sell opportunities that present themselves, and is open-minded to multiple viewpoints so that things can be solved and orchestrated in the best manner possible for students.

No one could ever do this job alone, and because of this, great administrators are selfless. They are the first to give credit where it is due and the last to take credit for the successes of students, teachers, or the district. Excellent educational leaders support and build the opportunities for success to happen. They hire and coach staff members to effectively achieve at high levels. They know the strengths and weaknesses of staff, programs, and students, and use this, along with a growth mindset to provide the setting and tools for them to be successful. They admit when they make mistakes, and then seek out solutions from their network and stakeholders.

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To be a leader in learning, you must also be knowledgeable and knowledge seeking. Excellent administrators are constantly building and working on their professional learning networks so that they can always learn from other experts in their fields. They know that standing still will only result in the world passing them by and the ones that suffer the most from this are students.

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The last thing that an excellent administrator needs to have as a characteristic is a sense of humor. The pressures of school reform, budget cuts, ensuring that every child shows growth, seeing the homes that some students come from, and many other things that educators are witnesses to everyday are no laughing matter. Some of these things pull on our hearts to the point of causing frustration, anger, stress, and tears. Which is why being able to laugh is even more important. School is the most important part of many students’ lives and they need to see leaders that can embrace challenges and have fun doing it, with a smile on their face. They need to see leaders that will laugh at the funny moments and work harder than ever to make the stressful and tough moments worthwhile. Education is not all happiness and rainbows, but excellent leaders embrace the moments that are and celebrate them, because these are the moments that the generations that will be making up our future society will remember.

 

Vision for Teaching and Learning:

 

Relationships are at the heart of all learning. The relationships that as a leader, I can develop with my staff, colleagues, and peers will only open more doors of learning for me, just like the relationships that our teachers have with their students do for each individual child. Ensuring that these relationships are built and supported are of a top priority of mine. The best schools have a positive climate and supportive culture that allows for open communication and mutual respect. We need to create an environment where faculty and staff are motivated through rewards/recognition, challenges, and personal and professional growth. To ensure this I will always look at the best practices in instruction of not only core subject areas, but also in regards to behavior programs and character development.

 

Vision for Teachers:

 

One of the single most important things an educational leader can do is maintain a staff that possesses a growth mindset, and hire staff to push what is currently happening in the school to the direction of where the school needs to go. Todd Whitaker talks about how important it is to hire staff with “talent” first, because of their ability to become one of the best teachers in your building. As a leader I need to look to develop the current staff and establish a mindset of growing to be the best that they can be, and when given the opportunity, hire someone that will take our school to a new level, not what will make my life easier. When looking to keep the growth mindset, my goal is to ensure that every teacher sets up an improvement plan and sets goals for their learning. If there is ever an area that we specify together as an area for improvement, I will work to get them the resources to make sure that they can be as successful as possible.

 

Vision for School Improvement:

 

There are many things that go into improving schools. Curriculum choices, approaches and practices to teaching, the types and uses of student assessments (both standardized and common formative), development of staff, and use of resources like technology or college students all play roles in improving a school. When it comes to these, I am passionate about each facet.

 

• When it comes to curriculum, I feel that there is no need to adopt something that wouldn’t allow growth right away. Many curriculum companies discuss and throw out the term “implementation dip” and act as though this should be normal. I feel that if there is an implementation dip then the implementation was done the wrong way, or the curriculum was the wrong choice. As a leader, I will work to ensure the best possible implementation for our staff and students that will set them up for success and not failure.

 

• Approaches and practices in teaching are ever evolving. Education constantly changes because our clientele often change on a daily basis based on attitudes and needs. Teachers need to be encouraged and empowered to make those necessary changes in their classroom when and where they see fit.

 

• Student assessments need to be used to guide instruction, and if there is no merit in the assessment then we need to seek a better solution or better way to use the data. Data can be used to show almost anything, and the same data can be manipulated to show positives and negatives. When looking at data we need to start with the end in mind first and ask what it is that we are looking for, then follow up with how can we use the data to help us reach that goal.

 

• When developing staff, the needs of our students need to be at the forefront guiding the decisions and directions that we decide to go in. I strongly believe in teacher-led PD, coupled with district goals, and self-led PD. When a teacher can develop himself or herself in a direction that they feel will best help them and their students then we are moving in the right direction.

 

• Utilizing the resources and tools at our disposal is another thing that separates great schools from good schools. It also shows a forward thinking and progressive school leader versus leaders that are okay with the status quo. I am constantly looking at ways we can use the outside resources like volunteers, industries, colleges, and so on to help solve problems that arise within our day-to-day operations. Technology has been one of these resources that is often under utilized. Students often use the tech as a toy and not a tool. We need to ensure that we model the amazing uses for technology and teach students how to use it appropriately.

 

Vision for the Organization:

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Management and discipline are often thought to be two of the biggest jobs of an administrator, but they cannot become those. If all a leader does is hammer out schedules and work to dole out consequences to students and staff, they are never helping their district grow in capacity to better equip our students, staff, and community with the needs that life is going to demand from them. To make sure that this doesn’t consume my role as a leader I will empower others to help with the management of the school and work to adopt and adapt a culture and climate system that will focus on strengths development. When structure and order are in place, the system can work like a machine, and then the process can become automated, allowing for more leadership and more work on building the best school that we can.

 

Vision for Developing Communities:

 

For a lot of communities, schools are the lifeline, one of the biggest single components that keep their community going. With this being the case, we need to ensure that our community and schools are partners in raising our most valuable assets, our students. I feel that an open line of communication, transparency, and devotion to incorporating them in the educational process of our youth is paramount in developing a community that supports learning. As a leader, I will work daily to establish and maintain the relationships with parents and community members. I will try to host events at our school to showcase what our students are doing, while also providing an opportunity for them to learn and see how we are doing it. I will also promote the open door, open ears, and open mind philosophy to ensure that parents and community members can always come to me with ideas or concerns so that we get better in all that we do, and address what the needs of the community are.