EDL 500: Leadership Disposition Reflection
EDL 500 Leadership Disposition:
School leaders will model the school’s core principles (mission, vision, and core values) in all aspects of leadership.
Background
Northridge Elementary is a diverse school community that strives for equity and inclusion in everything we do. Our students collectively speak over 40 different languages and represent countries all over the world. We also have a Discovery program spanning grades 2-6 that provides specialized instruction for our district's highly gifted students. Many of our students also need specialized instruction due to learning disabilities, Autism, cognitive disabilities and serious emotional disabilities. To celebrate all of our students and foster our inclusive culture, we designate one week per school year as "Neurodiversity Week." We use this as a platform for teaching about brain science, how neurodiversity impacts learners and celebrating all ways of thinking and doing.
This year I led a team of four staff members charged with developing the menu of lessons and daily activities for classroom teachers to use throughout the week. Together with my mentor, I created a leadership goal aligned with this project and developed action steps to achieve the goal.
Leadership Goal
Develop and model a small group, interactive activity focused on the principle of equity to staff members and provide them with the necessary materials to use with students during Neurodiversity Week in April 2024.
Action Plan
The following steps were used over the course of three weeks in the month of April, culminating with our Neurodiversity Week.
- Meet with Principal Mentor to discuss proposal.
- Determine dates and resources needed.
- Create the activity for staff (see speaker notes on slide two for description)
- Collaborate with and solicit feedback from my team at weekly meeting.
- Make adjustments based on input from team.
- Prepare materials, including reflection questions, talking points and hands on materials.
- Present to staff during a monthly staff meeting.
- Observe activity in a classroom setting and solicit feedback from students and staff
Successes and Areas for Improvement
My objective for this activity was multifaceted. First, I wanted to develop and model a relevant and engaging activity that teachers could use in their classrooms (without much preparation) to prompt meaningful discussions about the concepts of equity and equality. Second, I wanted the staff to engage in the activity as students to simulate how learners with diverse needs might feel when presented with a daily assignment. Finally, I wanted to create a space for staff members to reflect and engage in meaningful discussions about how equity and equality exist in their classrooms.
The activity succeeded in providing an engaging activity for staff members and students. Staff members appreciated the "simulation" aspect of the activity and commented that it helped them with perspective-taking. Overall, the participants enjoyed the activity and it sparked meaningful dialogue about equity and equality in schools and the importance of teaching both within the context of Neurodiversity Week.
For future growth I would formalize participant feedback and allow for additional time for the reflection component of the presentation. Unfortunately, the staff meeting had a full agenda and the presentation felt a bit rushed in order to stay within the allotted timeframe.
Throughout my career, I have taken pride in upholding the values of my organization through my daily interactions, quality of work and dedication to the collective goals over my own personal gain. My mindset was that if I simply uphold and model these values, that is sufficient. Through this exercise and reflection on the Leadership Dispositions introduced in the course, I learned that school leaders have to push beyond this and create space for explicit and intentional dialogue about the school's vision, mission and values (Strike et. al, 2019). I learned that modeling the values is only the first step. Distinguished leaders meet their stakeholders where they are in the change management process and guide the organization to achieve its shared goals through "knowledge and understanding, approachability, accessibility, and resiliency" (Strike et. al, 2019, p. 56).
In order for all stakeholders to work toward a shared vision, mission and core values these need to be discussed, named and entwined in the daily workings of the school. Strike, et. al. assert that everyone in the school community, not just leaders, should know and exemplify the school's mission, vision and core values (2019, p.53). In the absence of this, our most foundational principles risk being reduced to a catchy slogan on the website or a banner on the wall.
This particular staff meeting included a variety of topics and it was an already busy week with state testing. While the activity itself was successful, I realized that I did not explicitly outline the link between Neurodiversity Week and our school vision. In the future, I will foster competency in this disposition by explicitly linking these types of activities to our school vision, mission and core values to promote staff buy-in. I will also create an extension of the learning through soliciting feedback on the activities during team meetings. This step will serve to continue the dialogue, measure effectiveness of the programming, determine next steps and evaluate the impact of the initiative on students and staff. At the end of the day, educators have a lot on their plates. If something is worth giving our time and energy to, it should be aligned with school-wide goals.
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