Marzano's 21 Responsibilities of a School Leader Reflection

When completing the individual self-assessment I was in the mind frame of when I was a leader in the building, as a technology teacher. Teachers and administrators came to me for technology assistance. I reflected on how I thought I was a leader. When completing the “Balanced Leadership” profile, I was thinking about how the principal I had operated. I noticed some items were very similar, while others were different.

I think the major differences occurred when I thought about how that principal operated and how I thought I made a change to be better than what I witnessed. For example, flexibility, I scored myself as a 4 and my principal as a 1.50. As a technology leader, I often had to stop what I was doing to help other teachers with their technology. I had to work on demand and make the best of the situation even if it put me out. My principal was, quite obviously, “thrown off” when things changed from the original plan. I witnessed this and saw how other faculty members read her and learned that I needed to be flexible in order for other teachers to feel comfortable coming to me for help. 

There were some examples in which I scored similar to that principal. For example, with visibility, I scored myself as a “3” but when thinking about the principal, it was scored a 2.67. However, when I had interaction with teachers and students it was to provide assistance. When that principal interacted with teachers and students it seemed to be in a more judgmental role than supportive. So while we were scored the same, the purpose was different.

I have only seen one-person function in the role of principal and I know she was not the best example. However, I see it as a learning experience and will use it grow as an administrator. This survey and the reading make me compare how I am as a leader now to how I want to be a leader in the future.

Here are my top areas of strengths and improvements:

I see my biggest area of needing improvement as being an “agent of change”.  I know this is my weakness because I believe things need to be change but I am afraid to “rock the boat” too much in my school district. I have seen other professionals wreak the consequences of trying to fight the system. When I am a principal, I know I will have to be the change agent for my school especially since, according to Marzano (2005) an increase in a principal’s effectiveness in being a change agent correlates .25 with student academic achievement (63). This means that if I can increase my effectiveness as a change it could increase overall student achievement.

References

Marzano, R.J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B.A. (2005) School leadership that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Transformational Leadership Reflection

I would define transformational leadership as a leadership that creates change. Individuals who are part of the transformational leadership are motivated to work toward the goals of the organization and are inspired to take leadership roles and responsibilities which allows the individual to grow and develop on a personal level. When people within an organization grow, develop and change then so can the organization. Kenneth A. Leithwood (2007) describes transformational leadership as a leadership that "emphasis emotions and values and shares in common fundamental aim of fostering capacity development and higher levels of personal commitment to organizational goals" (192). Within a transformational leadership organization, the motivation to work comes from within the individual to want to perform for the organization.

In a learning environment transformational leadership can flourish by the people. When transformational leadership exist within alearning environment the people involved understand that it is not about working to achieve personal goals but to work as whole. Like Richard Cox describes in the Transformational Leadership Report (2007), "this approach to leadership takes us from a constricting model of competition between individuals, teams or nations, to a connection with a whole of a situation, and leadership for the good of all" (p. 19).   The people involved work together to bring out the best in each other and the organization.

Transformational leadership can impact a way an administrator leads a school because they would no longer be running a school in the sense that they make decisions and then make sure they are carried out. Instead they would be providing the environment for stakeholders (teachers, parents, community members, etc.) where they feel respected, trusted, and empowered. The result is an environment where people feel connected and are willing to lead and contribute so the school can achieve vision. I think a principal that is a transformational leader would focus less on "red tape" and would focus more on the people.

I think when integrating technology into instruction, if a principal (who is a transformational leader) provides the nurturing environment and the technology then, teachers will feel empowered to try and learn to use it in the classroom. The hardest thing when having new technology in school is getting teachers to use it. However, if they already feel empowered by the principal to make decisions for the school then they will feel comfortable enough to try new technologies and introduce new technologies to others.

References

Cox, Richard. (2007). The Transformational Leadership Report. Retrieved from: http://www.transformationalleadership.net.

Leithwood, Kenneth A., (2007). Transformation school leadership in a transactional
policy world. (pp. 183-196). In Educational Leadership (pp.183-196). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.