Chapter 7: What is meant by “binding” and by “bonding”? What is the level of “binding” and the level of “bonding” in your school? What are some of your ideas to strengthen “binding” and “bonding” in your school?
School improvement is identified in a series of stages, two of which are leadership by binding and leadership by bonding. When binding is present, staff feel morally committed to performing beyond the expectations of the leader. Leadership by bonding, however, emerges when there is a community of practice present within the school. Staff learns to trust one another, support each other, and develop collaborative relationships. In the state of transformational leadership, my school is emerging into the binding stage. We have
In Leverage Leadership, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo presents seven principles or levers that great principles and other school leaders take to effectively transform their schools into greatness. These seven principles, or levers, enables continuous, about-face, and duplicable growth for schools and their leaders. More than half of a principle time is spent on things that does not transfer into student achievement and/or success. However, with purposeful emphasis on these seven levers, the exact time investment leverages more learning. School leaders plus the seven levers equal more student achieve, thus setting the school on the path for greatness.
Achieving a school district’s mission and vision requires the commitment of its stakeholders. In order to involve them in the process, it is necessary for educational leaders to “motivate staff, parents, students, board and community members” (Educational Leadership Constituencies Council, 2002, p. 4). The transformational leadership theory emphasizes the importance of educational leaders acting as role-models in order to motivate and inspire the school community. This approach has the potential to involve all stakeholders, leading to increased student success (Bush, 2007). The Assistant Director of Special Education in Northwest ISD directly supervised the school district’s assessment staff. Her education, experience, and passion set an example for her subordinates, stimulating them to achieve more, leading to her promotion to Executive Director of Student Services.
The “Investigating the link to improved student learning Final report of research findings” reported that transformational leadership practiced on student achievement had a weaker effect as to the effect of collective leadership. It is more beneficial to students if leadership is widely spread in a school.
One will examine the underlying philosophies, theories and principles that shape their professional beliefs about children’s learning (Brown, et al., 2012; Waniganayake et al., 2012; Duignan, 2006). For any obstacles they may encounter, through the contingency theory, an educational leader will work with the appropriate style of leadership most suitable in that circumstance (Rodd, 2006), and respond to various situations in times of change by critically reflecting on the purposes they see for their setting and the goals they are aiming to achieve with children and families. Understanding from the transformational theory, an educational leader will be inspiring others with visions that can enable the team to be directed and motivated toward creating ‘a culture of learning and professional growth’ (Duignan, 2006; Waniganayake et al., 2012; Sinclair, 2007; Rodd, 2006; Siraj-Blatchford and Manni, 2006; ACECQA, 2013). Moreover, distributed leadership approach, which falls under the transformational theory, is seen in the educational leader as they work collaboratively with others towards the same vision (Rodd, 2006). For instance, taken from ACEQA (2013), the educational leader would examine routines with each of the room leaders, and how to make them more effective for children’s learning experiences. Here, the educational leader is not only guiding staff along, but also problem-solving
W. Edwars Deming, American engineer and management consultant, wrote “a bad system will beat a good person every time.” This quote demonstrates the necessity for a school administrator to establish a school culture that is inviting and characterized by collaboration. In order to intentionally create a welcoming and collaborative school climate, clear, frequent, and inclusive communication is fundamental. Families, staff, and community members should be afforded the opportunity to become involved in enhancing student learning, the decision making processes of the school, and meaningful school-based activities. Opening the lines of communication about possible involvement at a school promotes a good system, in which good people can thrive.
In light of accountability requirements, fear of not meeting AYP (Annual Yearly Progress), and required school improvement plans, often the idea of “school improvement” is considered a negative attribute. Obviously schools do not want to be singled out or identified as in need of improvement. Teachers often take the same view towards the idea of improvement. We as teachers take very personal that concept of improvement; we often parallel the need for improvement to failure. However my belief is that effective schools are always in a school improvement process and effective teachers too also are constantly adapting their practice in a culture of continuous improvement and growth. Therefore it is important as an effective leader to build a community of trust and collaboration. I quote “We are all in this together. Once we know that we are, we’re all stars and we see that we’re all in this together.” (Disney High School Musical, 2006) These lyrics from a popular Disney movie put to light exactly the school culture where the goal is not personal but as a community to use data driven and research based approaches in reflection and growth that assist all stakeholders.
In Moral Leadership, Sergiovanni shows how creating a new leadership practice--one with a moral dimension built around purpose, values, and beliefs--can transform a school from just an organization to a community. He believes that this "community" can inspire the kinds of commitment, devotion, and service from all stakeholders that can make our schools great. Sergiovanni explains the importance of justifying emotion and getting in touch with basic values and connections with others. He reveals how true collegiality, based on shared work and common goals, leads to an interdependence occurring naturally among
During my second preclinical experience at Westview Hills Middle School, I learned the importance of cooperation and collaboration among teachers at a school. I was able to observe team and department meetings during this experience. It became clear that it is important for teachers to work together in order to provide a positive atmosphere at a school and in a specific department. Although it became obvious that personalities and teaching styles were different throughout the school, the teachers still acted professionally and used each other as resources in
Administrators and teachers must work together to develop the PLC plan addressing the needs of their students. This means administrators need to trust teachers and allow them to work in a way that is autonomous from leadership. Delegating more responsibilities to staff was a way of creating a more knowledgeable community that could cope with the diversity of demands created by schools moving from being relatively simple organizations to highly complex ones. It was also recognized as in accord with the rhetoric of distributed leadership recommended as a strategy for school improvement and raising pupil attainment (Bolam et al. 2005, Webb, et al.
In terms of becoming a mediator and consensus builder the authors detailed the need for principals to possess relational leadership skills in order to be able to both facilitate groups and coach others on staff in the ability to facilitate their own groups, and stressed that the key to this is the ability to effectively participate in conflict resolution (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009). The authors suggested that conflict is part and parcel of school reform and that in addition to being able to deal effectively with conflict the successful principal needs to develop the ability for bringing about consensus within the group, noting that interpersonal and intrapersonal skills were as much or more important than knowledge (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009).
First off, author Lucille Ruby states young children need guidance, support, and stability. Bonding with their teacher gives them these things. Donna Snyder professional developer expert declares that younger students can bond with their teachers by staying in one classroom all day. Giving this point, students who do not bond with their teach will not get the guidance, support, and stability they need if they do not bond with their teachers.
But the arrow on the left is made up of talented individuals who are headed in many different directions. I have, unfortunately, worked in school districts in similar situations, where leaders in central office were heading in different directions, or school board members were headed in different directions. As a result, the organization, or in our case our schools began to suffer. In contrast, the arrow on the right depicts a well-aligned team with shared vision, their abilities and strengths compliment each other’s efforts, there is commonality of directions and synergy develops. In my previous school, while I felt like the district leadership operated much like the left arrow, I was proud that at the building level, our instructional leadership team made up of administrators and instructional coaches operated more like the right arrow. As a result, we were seeing learning gains for our students. Three years in a row, our 8th grade math team had the highest MAP scores in the district. Building-wide, our ELA scores were continually increasing each
Marzano, McNulty and Waters propose five steps for a plan of effective school leadership. The first step is developing a leadership team with purpose. The definition used for a purposeful community is one with the collective efficacy and capability to develop and use assets to accomplish goals that mater to all community members through agreed-upon process (Marzano, et. al, 2005). The second step is distributing some responsibilities throughout the leadership team. The third step is to select the right work. The fourth step is to identify the order of magnitude implied by the selected work. The last step is to match the management style to the order of magnitude of the change initiative. The last step incorporates whether this is first or second order change.
As the leader of a 21st century school one must embody the qualities that best reflect the ever-changing face of education. Traditionally, the leader of a school focused a large portion of time and energy on typical managerial functions within the school. These tasks, although important, will not propel a school to achieve excellence. Today’s school leaders must be visionaries who create a sense of purpose driven unity. As a transformational leader, one must also be the beacon of learning in establishing and effectively cultivating professional learning communities. One must recognize and further develop the leadership skills of those within the school in order to ensure the vision and mission of the school is achieved. Keeping in
School improvement is transformation. It is one of the most important actions of a school. It is a process that schools must use with fidelity to ensure that at all students are given the opportunity to perform and achieve at exemplary levels. School improvement is vital to schools and it is a process that cannot be done in isolation. It requires team work, collaboration, and constant analysis of data and setting of goals. School improvement goals focus on how to meet the needs of students. Addressing the educational needs, funding, and achievement gaps between subgroups is collaborative effort involves everyone that has a vested interest in the schools. These basic measures set the foundation for improvement. And so, if it is the