TY discussions
Part 1
Fundamentally, school administration consists of two primary functions: management and leadership. Management generally applies to processes, operations, and the efficient use of resources, whereas leadership focuses on the purpose, direction, and people of the school, or the human dimension.
Discuss the distinctions between management and leadership. To illuminate your discussion, provide examples of management functions and leadership functions that you have observed or participated in during your work in schools.
Part 2
Leaders generally espouse one of the following two primary belief patterns:
Autocratic/bureaucratic (theory X).
Democratic/collaborative (theory Y).
As noted by Northouse (2020, p. 79):
McGregor was interested in how managers view the motivations of workers and their attitudes toward work. He believed that understanding these motivations was central to knowing how to become an effective manager. To explain the ways that managers approach workers, McGregor proposed two general theoriesTheory X and Theory Y. McGregor believed that by exploring the major assumptions of each of these theories people could develop a better understanding of their own viewpoints on human behavior and the relationship of these viewpoints to their leadership style. Below is a of both theories. As you read, ask yourself if the assumptions of the theory are consistent or inconsistent with your own attitudes and philosophy of leadership.
Using the Leadership Style Worksheet [DOCX], determine your personal beliefs: Strong Theory Y Beliefs, Theory Y Beliefs, Mild Theory X Beliefs, Theory X Beliefs, Strong Theory X Beliefs.
Part 3
Most schools today incorporate into their vision statements two essential themes: educational excellence and educational opportunity.
For this discussion, you will need to conduct an informal study of four teachers in your school concerning the school’s vision. Do not use the real names of teachers in your post. Ask the following questions:
What is the vision statement of your school?
Is the vision statement posted prominently in the school?
Does the vision statement inform your teaching in any way? If yes, can you give an example?
Do you think most students know the school’s vision? Most teachers? Most parents?
What could the school community do to make the vision better known?
As an introduction to the results of the study, complete the following in your post:
Describe your schoolfor example, a middle school with approximately 400 students.
Provide the official vision statement of your school.
Discuss whether it is a true vision statement, a mission statement, or a combination of the two, using Evans’s definitions from the Psychology Today article, “Vision and Mission: Unleashing the Power of Vision and MissionLinks to an external site..”
State whether in your opinion the vision statement fosters student learning, considering that schools are essentially about student learning.
State whether you believed that the vision was shared among administrators, teachers, staff, students, and parents, before you conducted the teacher survey.
Summarize and analyze the results of your interviews.
Include the steps you would take as a school leader to improve the school’s vision, given your analysis of what you heard from the teachers. How would you steward the vision, monitor its realization, and provide leadership to ensure all stakeholders maintain focus on the vision of the school?
Part 4
Marshall stated, “We must create a learning culture that provides a forum for risk, novelty, experimentations, and challenge that redirects and personalizes learning” (Marshall, S.P., 2016). School culture is defined most simply as the way we do things around here.
Reflect on Marshall’s list of descriptors of an effective learning community that supports a culture of learning. Choose two descriptors and discuss their importance for sustaining a positive school culture. Include examples of how these principles are realized in schools.
Marshall’s DESCRIPTORS (2016):
Personalized, flexible, and coherent. Questions that are significant to the human condition drive the curriculum, and knowledge is not separated in distinct and unconnected disciplines.
Internally and externally connected. It is not bounded by physical, geographic, or temporal space (because learning happens everywhere, student learning must transcend classroom and school boundaries).
Rich in information and flexible and diverse learning experiences. It has pathways for all learners (students are actively engaged in meaningful research and inquiry; they study “big and important” concepts in the context of interdisciplinary problems that matter and that are relevant to the real world; students are engaged in meaningful research and serious inquiry).
Intergenerational in the configuration of learning experiences. Margaret Mead has said that the healthiest learning environment occurs when three generations are learning together.
Grounded in collaborative inquiry. Students engage with adults and peers and draw on the experiences of the entire group; learners are honored as capable of creating and generating knowledge, not just acquiring information.
Focused on complex cognition, problem finding, and problem resolution. Students are engaged in authentic and meaningful dialogue with members of the internal and external community; they are taught skills that enable them to deal with complexity and with ambiguity and paradox.
Part 5
Either in person or by telephone, interview four parents on the topic of how they see themselves as part of the educational mission of the school. Use the following questions to get your interviews started, and summarize the parents’ responses in your post.
What is the vision of your child’s school? How do you see yourself as part of that vision?
How do the teachers value and respect parents as assets in supporting your child’s learning?
What are the methods the school uses to communicate with students’ households? Are they effective?
Are teachers available, if you have a problem? Do they generally help you solve the problem?
What do you think the school could do to improve the role of parents in the education of their children?
Do you have any further comments?
Part 6
In your initial post, address the following:
What has been your most significant learning experience in this course to date?
How would you evaluate your course experience so far, in terms of increased knowledge and skills as described in the program outcomes?
What could the instructor do to help you be more successful in this course?
What questions do you have at this point?
Part 7
In this week’s studies, you listened to Dr. Florence Aitken talk about teachers as leaders. Review this media piece, Teachers As Leaders: Principal Perspective, as background information for your teacher interview.
Interview the principal of your school on the topic of leadership and collaboration. As a start, ask the questions listed below, and post a summary of the responses in the discussion thread. It is not necessary to quote directly, but you may do so if you wish. Do not use the principal’s real name.
How would you describe your school (for example, a suburban high school of approximately 1,500 students)?
What is your school’s vision statement?
Do you think your school has a culture of collaboration?
How is collaboration important to the success of your school?
Part 8
Provide examples, from a school you know, of how the school leadership developed and promoted a positive, effective culture of professional development.
Part 9
For this discussion, you will attend a meeting in your school of the school improvement team or a meeting of the leadership team. You will be an observer at the meeting and will only participate if asked to do so by the chair. You will observe the meeting to determine if any of the topics discussed relate to NELP Standards 6.1 and 4.4. You will analyze the dynamics and outcomes of the meeting to see if you think what is done there will have a positive effect on student outcomes. Finally, you will provide your thoughts on how the meeting might be improved.
Your post should address the following required components, and it must be presented in the sections indicated below.
Committee: Describe the type of committee and the composition of the members, including whom they represent. Do not use real names.
Summary: Provide a summary of the discussions at the meeting and show how the topics relate to NELP Standards 6.1 and 4.4.
Analysis: Analyze the meeting, including the dynamics and the outcomes.
Improvement: Summarize the steps you would take to improve the meeting and any future meetings.
Part 10
Educational leaders are called upon to make tough decisions during their work in schools. The most difficult decisions often involve ethical and moral issues. Stakeholders may hold very different beliefs about what is right and what is wrong. In these situations, leaders must carefully examine the values associated with competing views.
In this discussion, examine your personal game plan to demonstrate ethical leadership. How will you make the ethical choice when you must decide between right and right? How do ethical leaders choose between two opposing right things to do?
Provide at least one example that illustrates a right versus right dilemma you might face as an educational leader, and provide the steps you would take to critically evaluate the competing alternatives. (Note: You might need to refer back to this unit’s introduction to fully understand what is being asked in this discussion question). Explain the potential moral and legal consequences of decision making in a school and strategies you would use as an educational leader to prevent these types of issues from arising. How do you model principles of self-awareness, reflective practice, transparency, and ethical behavior in your role as a principal?
Part 11
https://mpb.pbslearningmedia.org/
Visit the websites given in the reading list below. Choose one and discuss how an educational leader would use this resource to find innovative ideas and then move these ideas into practice to bring about meaningful school improvement. Look for an “About Us” page to get a better sense of the mission and purpose of the organization.
Provide specific examples, including the sequential steps a leader should take to bring about change, keeping in mind and referring to the NELP Standards you have discussed throughout this course.
Part 12
https://www.aasa.org/
Educational leaders must be lifelong learners. The world of education is forever evolving; therefore, effective school leaders must stay abreast of what is happening in the profession. Affiliations with professional organizations provide school leaders with continuing opportunities to learn, grow, and become better leaders.
Review the professional organizations given in the reading list below. Choose one organization that most interests you. Explore that organization’s website to discover school improvement resources. List and describe resources or initiatives that you believe have potential to transform schools.
In your analyses, include your rationale for the selected school reform initiatives, that is, why the initiative has merit, how it will make a difference, and so on. Include the steps you would take as a school principal to implement change for school improvement, again keeping in mind and referring to the NELP Standards you have discussed throughout this course.
Part 13
What were the three most significant areas of learning for you in this course?
Are there questions that the course has generated that you would like to investigate further? Share at least one question.
In what ways have you translated the concepts and skills learned in this course to practical, everyday, useful ideas?
