r.dewey philosophy educational leadership paper

MY PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 1

My Philosophy of Educational Leadership

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Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership

and Postsecondary Education

University of Northern Iowa

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In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the

Master of Arts in Education

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by

Randee L. Dewey

International School Manila

Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines

May 9th, 2014

--

Dr. Timothy Gilson


Tony Blair once said, “The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy

to say yes.” Educational Leadership allows one to build relationships with colleagues, develop

confidence and communication skills, and continue to be a lifelong learner and a good model in

the school community. Leadership opportunities are currently present in my career as I work

with teacher assistants, join committees and continue to study in the field of Early Childhood.

My long-term goal is to take on leadership roles that will allow me to contribute to the Early

Childhood field. By having a leadership career goal, I am committing to be a lifelong learner

and grow as a leader.

Understanding oneself as a learner and a leader is key to being successful in a school

environment. From past and current experiences, I have learned that I am a progressive and

humanistic leader and educator. I believe it is important to create an environment that allows

students, teachers, leaders, parents and community members to be active in the school, build

problem-solving skills and allow personal growth. Being an effective leader is knowing when to

say yes and when to say no. One needs to find a balance with professional commitments,

initiatives that one is involved in and a healthy personal lifestyle.

Pursuing Leadership

Becoming a leader is a choice that allows personal and professional growth. By choosing

to be a leader, I have set a goal to grow as an educator and role model within the school and

education field. Leadership has presented itself to me quite early in my career as I have been

responsible for leading teacher assistants each year. I have found myself in situations where I


am unsure of what to do or how to handle situations as a leader. I find it beneficial to study and

learn how to be an effective leader and good role model to my teacher assistants. As a teacher

leader, I believe it is my duty to create an environment where my colleagues feel welcome,

trusted and comfortable to collaborate and share ideas. Ramsey (2006) states “real leaders…

achieve results by working through others” (Chapter 3, para. 1). As a leader, I need to find a

balance of completing tasks on my own and utilizing the skills and strengths of colleagues

around me. We teach students to collaborate and problem solve to help be successful in school

and in society. I believe I need to model my expectations and skills for them to witness in a real

world application.

To be an effective leader and colleague, one must be able to understand others’ points of

view and decisions. One does not have to agree with every decision or point of view, but it is

important to understand where another person is coming from. The Teacher Leader Model

Standards state that the teacher leader “models effective skills in listening, presenting ideas,

leading discussions, clarifying, mediating, and identifying the needs of self and others…”

(Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, 2011, p. 14). As a teacher pursuing leadership, it

is my responsibility to be a good role model that demonstrates skills to help create a culture and

atmosphere that fosters collaboration and trust to ensure problem solving and implementing

policies that are beneficial for student learning and the school community.

Skills and Dispositions of a Leader

A leader should want to take responsibility and create an environment that is beneficial

for everyone in the school. A leader must understand oneself and his or her habits before


committing to leading a group of educators and students. Stephen Covey (2013) defines “a habit

as the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire” (p. 55). A leader should demonstrate skills

such as being an effective communicator, lifelong learner and planner. By developing the habit

of being an effective communicator, I will be able to create an environment where faculty trust

me to listen, respect my responses and leave the conversation feeling valued and understanding

the decision that was made. Being a lifelong learner will allow me to show faculty and

administration that I value learning new and emerging ideas or initiatives in the education

world. Through modeling this disposition, I will instill the value and importance of education to

students and teachers. I believe by planning daily, weekly and monthly, I will continue to have a

proactive mindset and have end goals in mind. I will be able to focus my thoughts and efforts to

initiatives that benefit the students and the school. As a teacher leader, I will strive to be a good

role model in all aspects of life whether it be as a learner, educator, or being active in the

community.

Type of Leader

As a teacher and leader, I believe in the progressive, humanistic approach. Both

approaches allow educators and students to develop skills that can be applied in the real world

and other areas of education. The progressive leadership style allows learners and educators to

develop problem solving skills, experience practical skills and transfer learning to everyday life.

I believe that each person should be presented opportunities to learn skills that will set them up

to be a lifelong learner, apply skills to different areas of one’s life and learn how to

communicate effectively to solve problems that occur within one’s work or personal life.


A leader should encourage input and ideas from other colleagues. This benefits the

leader by creating an open environment and allowing others to contribute to the initiative. One

way that a leader can create an open environment is by being proactive. Stephen Covey (2013)

states that “proactive people aren’t pushy. They’re smart, they’re value driven, they read reality,

and they know what’s needed” (p. 95). Covey’s definition of being proactive fits in with my

beliefs because it allows the leader to model good values, thinking proactively instead of

reactively and allowing for an environment that others feel comfortable in sharing their ideas

and thoughts.

I believe it is important to take responsibility for one’s choices and work towards the

greater goal of finding solutions that will work with the project or issue at hand. As a leader, I

want to develop good habits that will allow me to model skills to my colleagues and students. I

believe it is my duty as a leader to value other people’s ideas and work together to create a final

initiative, strategy or project that benefits everyone, not just the leader. The final outcome with

being a teacher leader should always be what will benefit student learning and what will help

further the learning of students and teachers in the school.

One of the first leader’s that I read and could implement into my quest of being a better

leader was Stephen Covey. Covey focuses on leadership in general, not education leadership,

but I believe it can applied to any leadership field. Covey (2013) presents seven habits that

effective leaders understand and learn to implement into their lives. I agree with Covey that

each leader needs to reevaluate the type of person they have become and work to become a

more reflective person. By understanding what type of person I am and work to be more

proactive, thoughtful and understanding of others will allow me to develop a form of leadership


that will work on interdependence, not independence. Covey (2013) states that “the Seven

Habits are habits of effectiveness. Because they are based on principles, they bring the

maximum long-term beneficial results possible” (p. 60). To be an effective educational leader, I

will need to work on building good habits that allows me to provide results that will allow the

most stable change in the school and with student learning.

Expectations of students, teachers, and community

Educational leaders interact with many groups of people each day. They work with

students, teachers, administration, families, and community members. As a leader, my first

expectation from all of these groups is open communication and collaboration when dealing

with issues or concerns that occur within the school. As a leader, it is my role to understand or

try to understand where the other party is coming from and where their concern lies. Covey

(2013) discusses empathic listening as “you listen with your ears, but also, and more

importantly, listen with your eyes and with your heart” (p. 252). By demonstrating empathic

listening, my expectation of open communication should be easily met by students, parents, and

community members. After this initial meeting, further conversations can be had about possible

solutions and ideas to better provide for student needs and learning.

My second expectation from students, teachers and community members is

collaboration. This allows an open discussion on what issues need to be discussed; therefore

providing a chance to develop a plan that allows all students’ needs to be met. The Teacher

Leader Model Standards’ Domain VI states “the teacher leader collaborates with families,

communities, and colleagues to develop comprehensive strategies to address the diverse


educational needs of families and the community” (Teacher Leadership Exploratory

Consortium, 2011, p. 19). By collaborating with these groups of people and creating a trusting

and open environment, I expect students, teachers and families to share information and

research they find to help better the school community. As a team, all of these people, including

the teacher leader, can create a system and develop strategies to set up the most beneficial

learning environment for a diverse group of learners.

Conclusion

Teacher leadership allows educators to share their passions and strengths with

colleagues to create a learning environment that values all types of learners (students and

adults). I began my career as a teacher because I believe every person should be granted a

learning environment that supports his or her needs and diverse learning habits. As a teacher

leader, I will need to continue to demonstrate the lifelong learner attitude and continue to

research and learn new strategies and skills that benefit teachers and students. Being a lifelong

learner is not enough; I will need to practice collaboration and effective communication skills to

promote working together to further the needs of students and educators. Ramsey (2006) shares

Covey’s (2013) seven habits when he states “they make a wonderful list of self-improvement

goals to work on” (Chapter 8, Section 5, para. 12). As a leader, I need be aware of myself and

how others view me as a leader. I believe it is my job to create a learning environment that

allows students and teachers to take ownership in their learning. It is my job to provide the

opportunities and feedback that supports individual and group growth.

References

Covey, S.R. (2013). The 7 habits of highly effective people. New York, NY: Rosettabooks


Ramsey, R.D. (2006). Lead, follow or get out of the way. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium. (2011). Teacher leader model standards.

Retrieved from: https://bb9.uni.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1312107-dt-content-rid-

5588657_1/courses/2133-7154/content/TLS_Brochure_sm.pdf

r.dewey philosophy educational leadership paper

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