2014

Professional Growth Plan

Submitted to Dr. Thomas ALsbury – EDAD 6580Keri Levinson

Professional Growth Plan

Introduction

Leadership can take many forms: adaptive, autocratic, coaching, instructional, motivational, sustainable, moral, transactional, top-down, transformational, etc. (Owens & Valesky, 2011) I would define my own leadership style as transformational and distributive. Transformational leaders, “looks for potential motives in followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower.” (260) Distributive leadership is defined as, “the type of leadership that is used in organizations that purposefully empower teams and individuals to make important decisions.” (Owens & Valesky, 2011, 263) Spillane and Diamond also describe it this way, “Leadership refers to the activities tied to the core work of the organization that are designed by organizational members to influence the motivation, knowledge, affect, or practices of other organizational members.” (263) The result of these leadership styles is, “a relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents.” (Owens & Valesky, 2011, 260)

Perhaps I have adopted this style because I have always taken on leadership roles during my teaching career. As a future administrator, I am passionate about building the capacity of the leaders in my building be they teachers, support staff, students, even parents and community members. When we can utilize the talents of our greatest resource, the people invested in the school, we have the potential to impact students to the greatest level.

I began my journey in education as a coach. Coaching is all about building the capacity of each player. Tapping into and enhancing their strengths to have them perform at their highest level. Being on a team sport you must do that both individually and corporately for we are only as strong as the weakest among us and even with the greatest talent, if we don’t work together, we will fail.

This professional growth plan will provide an insight into my leadership style, values, and ideals given the opportunity to lead a school as an administrator.

Standard 1 – Visionary Leadership

A school or program administrator is an educational leader who has the knowledge, skills, and cultural competence to improve learning and achievement to ensure the success of each student by leading the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by school/program and community stakeholders.

Strand 1 - Advancing a school or program-wide share vision for learning

A strength I have is that I have experience developing and implementing our school’s vision as a teacher leader. As a current member of my school’s leadership team I am at the center of this

Professional Growth Plan

type of work on a daily basis. Currently, we are developing our school vision and mission as part of a school and district wide initiative to move to a PLC model [Dispositions 16, 17, 18]. Some of my duties include the development and implementation of the PLC model for our building, developing and leading staff professional development, and leading my grade level PLC team in gathering and sharing data in order to advance student achievement. [Disposition 17, 20] I believe I am successful at this work because of my leadership style. On the Blake and McCanse managerial grid I scored a 9,9. I have a “high concern for both results and people.” I work to be sure all voices in the room are heard and take a collaborative approach to discussions. Similarly, on the X-Y theory questionnaire I was an overwhelming Y leader. Again, this leads to a collaborative environment where each member’s work is valued. I see that my leadership style helps to build a “strong commitment among members” and it builds a trusting and positive environment. [Disposition 21, 24, 26, 27]

An area of weakness could be a tendency of mine to be task oriented when it comes to completing the work at hand. As a 50% ENFJ and a 50% ENTJ, my thinking side can take over instead of my feeling side. “ENTJ’s have a natural tendency to marshal and direct.” (Butt, 2014) I need to be aware of that and be sensitive to my staff and their varied needs. I can’t expect them to be completely task oriented and at times might need to give more think time for decisions or provide more training and explanation to be sure the vision of the school is one we can all work towards.

Strand 2 – Putting the vision for learning into operation

Again, as a teacher leader in my building, one of my main responsibilities was to develop the implementation plan for our PLC work in our building seen here –

Professional Growth Plan

A strength I have is the ability to analyze current systems and identify areas of strength and areas we could improve in. Writing school improvement goals based on data and current achievement of students while setting goals for advancing student achievement consistent with the school and district’s vision is another area that I have experience in and feel I am particularly strong in. [Dispositions 17, 18, 20, 23, 26]

An area of weakness for me is being a “big vision” person (ENFJ) Being 50% ENFJ, I can miss the details in the implementation. I have to be very careful to not overlook those details and to be sure that systems are in place to ensure a smooth and careful implementation. I desire to lead a school so that whether I am there or not, the work continues on, it should never be dependent on me. It should not be “my” vision, but the vision of my staff and our school community as a whole. Developing teacher leaders to be successful in their work and leading our school will be key to this standard. [Dispositions 18, 21, 24]

Strand 3 – Developing stewardship of the vision

I believe a key component to a healthy school is a well designed and implemented decision making model. A model that all staff and stand behind and count on is key to a successful implementation of a school’s vision. Involving all stakeholders and ensuring that all voices are heard when it comes to decisions impacting the school and its vision is key. [Dispositions 18, 21, 27] This cannot be “my vision”, but needs to be “our vision”. These are “our kids”, not just test scores or bodies counted for attendance. They have names, faces, families, and dreams. As a visionary leader I need to work for that to be the forefront of our work and not be caught up in numbers, data tables, and the next agenda item to be checked off. Utilizing the PLC model will ensure that all staff have a shared vision for “our kids” including a focus on the Four Critical Questions – What is it we expect our students to know? How will we know when they have learned it? How will we respond if they don’t learn it? How will we respond if they already know it? Further, utilizing a Response to Intervention (RTI) model for those students to get the help the need and not be overlooked or just moved on. [Dispositions 16, 17, 18, 20, 27]

An area of strand 3 that I feel I am weak in is how to “evaluate how the vision serves the needs of students, staff, and community.” The students and the staff I feel very confident in, but effectively communicating and evaluating how the vision is meeting the needs of the community is a difficult one for me. In the past our school has had quite a contentious relationship with our parents. I struggle to have a trusting and open relationship with parents and as a leader I know that is a key component to my job. One way I can use a strength I have to work on this is through writing. Using a principal newsletter to communicate our vision can keep it at the forefront of our conversations with parents and the community. I will also strive to be present and available to parents. Attending PTSA meetings and keeping an open line of communication will be something I plan to do.

Rationale

Professional Growth Plan

As a result of my efforts to meet Standard 1 – Visionary Leadership, the students in our school will have clear picture of what they should be learning and working to achieve each day. Instead of just words on a page, it will be lived out in the adults in the building and communicated and modeled to our students each day. Through our PLC work and data teams, student achievement will rise and more students will be showing growth at a higher level. Parents and the community will be actively involved in implementing and fostering the vision of the school and they will have a clear idea of the ongoing work towards that vision through clear and open written and verbal communication.

Standard 2 - Instructional Improvement

A school or program administrator is an educational leader who has the knowledge, skills, and cultural competence to improve learning and achievement to ensure the success of each student by leading through advocating, nurturing, and sustaining district/school/program cultures and coherent instructional programs that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.

Strand 1 – Advocating, nurturing, and sustaining an effective school/program culture.

Schools exist to teach and ensure that our students are learning. As an administrator my strengths will lie in the extensive experience I have as a teacher and teacher leader in two districts over 17 years. Using a culturally responsive approach to our student population is key to ensuring all students are successful and learning. All students need to come into our school knowing that we all believe they can learn. Whatever their home language, socio-economic status, race, religion, etc. all students can and will learn in our school. Based on the LEAD Leadership Survey I am a Quadrant 2 leader both High Task and High Relationship. I am strong in building and maintaining the relationships that are key to our school to have a positive and supportive environment. As much as student achievement is key to our vision and mission, ensuring all students are in a school environment and community based on acceptance, respect, and civility is a central tenet in my leadership model. [Dispositions 19, 20, 22, 27]

An area of weakness I can identify in this strand is becoming more task oriented than having a balance of relationship and task. Being overly task oriented would not lend itself to being culturally inclusive and would end up alienating the diverse population which may exist in my school.

Strand 2 – Advocating, nurturing, and sustaining student learning.

As the Professional Growth and Evaluation teacher leader/trainer for my building, I have been at the forefront of the training and implementation of the new teacher evaluation state standards. I have done extensive work with both the Danielson and Marzano models and I have a deep

Professional Growth Plan

working knowledge of the Washington State Teacher Evaluation Criteria (State 8). Being both trained at a high level and designing and facilitating staff development in the new teacher standards has afforded me a high level of competency and even expertise in this area. I feel exceptionally strong in how to support and encourage my staff and in turn provide our students a meaningful and productive learning experience. In addition, utilizing a PLC model will ensure that “all students have equitable and sufficient opportunities to learn and meet high standards.” [Dispositions 16, 17, 18, 19, 10, 22, 27]

An area where I could have weakness is in the staff selection process. Not having experience in this area I will have to rely on my classes in human resources and experience gained during my internship year in order to overcome this as an area of weakness.

Stand 3 – Advocating, nurturing, and sustaining coherent, intentional professional development

I have developed and taught several professional development classes in my building and current and former districts. From the implementation of new curriculum (EnVision math) to the new state evaluation standards, to the PLC model of team collaboration I have a depth of experience that gives me a strength in this strand. I strongly support a coaching model for staff development and support. Building capacity in my teacher leaders and having them come along side new or struggling staff members will take the evaluation and supervisory pressure off of the staff and allow them to truly grow and learn so that they may improve their practice. I feel that my role as an administrator is to facilitate that learning and growth, but take a back seat to support my teacher leaders taking the lead role. [Dispositions 18, 24, 27]

An area of weakness could be wanting to maintain all control over the staff development process. I will need to remain in a “Y theory of management” vs. an “X theory”. Facilitating and nurturing a collaborative and supportive environment which encourages teachers to move into leadership positions including leading staff development, will serve to create and maintain that “Y” environment vs a model of “X” leadership.

Rationale

As a result of my work in Standard 2 – Instructional Improvement, I believe we will see significant gains in our students’ achievement. Due to the increase in focus on high quality instructional strategies and staff training, students will benefit from teachers who are highly trained and qualified to drive student learning each day. In addition, staff relations, personal commitment, and satisfaction will rank very high as they are able to showcase their talents and strengths through teacher leadership opportunities. Under the PLC model we will have a clear vision and mission as to where are students currently are and where we want to take them ultimately resulting in an increase in student achievement.

Professional Growth Plan

Standard Three - Effective Management

A school or program administrator is an educational leader who has the knowledge, skills, and cultural competence to improve learning and achievement to ensure the success of each student by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.

Strand 1 – Uses a continuous cycle of analysis to ensure efficient and effective systems.

Areas of strength for me in this strand are having experience in data collection and analysis, using data to drive our work; “outline options for action”, “implementing chosen action”, and “gathering evidence to check progress and to judge effectiveness.” Our PLC team currently uses a similar design in our planning and implementation of our Third Grade curriculum and work with students. Taking this model to a school-wide setting is a natural progression of my work. Knowing that I need to be in continuously self-reflection and analysis of effectiveness of our school wide systems. I can utilize my 9,9 managerial style as seen on the Managerial Grid to strengthen our team (staff) performance and create an atmosphere of openness where members do not have to fear retaliation, but can pursue their goals and have “a personal stake in outcomes”. [Dispositions 18, 21, 24, 26, 27]

Areas of weakness for me in this stand could again be a tendency to be task oriented and expect results at the sacrifice of my relationship with my staff. I need to be careful and purposeful in building capacity in my staff and creating an atmosphere of “we” and not “me”. This needs to be their work that they feel fulfilled and purposeful in and I need to guide them in that, but not be the dictator of it.

Strand 2 – Ensuring efficient and effective management of the organization

Studying organizational theory has caused me to pause and reflect on my theories of management. I clearly am a Y theory of management scoring 73 out of 75 and 75 out of 75 on the ‘X-Y Theory’ Questionnaire. Using the LEAD instrument I scored highest in Quadrant 2, high task and high relationship with Quadrant 3 coming in next, high relationship and low task. In addition, the LEAD instrument showed me to be highly flexible +14 in my leadership style. A strength I have is being a “chameleon” and being able to adapt my leadership style and actions based on the situation and circumstances while still maintaining a consistency and predictability for those I manage, be it students or staff. My students know what to expect from me and they are not surprised by my actions in situations, but they also know that they will be heard and understood. I am not reactionary and I always hear all parties and consider all information presented to be fairly and unbiased. My students may not always like their consequence for their actions, but most often they will say that their consequence is fair and they leave feeling respected and understood. [Dispositions 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27]

Professional Growth Plan

As an administrative substitute when my principal is out of the building I have had the opportunity to deal with many student behavior issues. I consistently seek to understand the entire story, seeking knowledge from both the adults and students involved. In my experience, students are often not fully listened to by the adults around them and this leads to frustration and further behavior issues. My goal is to always hear, understand, and empathize with students and use the behavior issues as a means for personal growth for each student. That being said, there is a level of accountability to our school rules which must be adhered to. In most cases, students understand this and discipline issues become learning opportunities.

An area of weakness that I can identify is in school safety. In a time where we have true fears of school shootings and ensuring student safety, I don’t feel adequately prepared to make these decisions for my school. I will need to do further work in this area and surround myself with a qualified and experienced safety committee. Utilizing district resources will also be a key goal of mine in this area.

Strand 3 – Ensuring efficient and effective management of the operations.

As I referenced above, an effective and widely supported decision making model is key a building’s efficiency and positive work environment. Having been a contributor to in the development and adoption of our building’s current decision making model I feel very confident in facilitating and promoting that process. Using my strengths as a collaborative (9,9) leader I believe that I have strengths in creating an atmosphere of openness and high standards where each member has a voice, feels heard and understood, and is a part of the decisions of the building. Hopefully I will be in a building where I can trust that my staff will make good decision and further, I can utilize their expertise in making those decisions. A tool I could use is the Normative Model for Participative Decision Making. Just keeping in mind the idea of expertise and trust in who should make decisions is a key aspect to the decision making model.

An area of weakness I can identify in this strand is understanding bargaining and other contractual agreements. While I have some experience as an LWEA representative for our school, I feel that I am lacking in true, deep, working knowledge of the various contracts and bargaining agreements. This will be an area of growth for me.

Strand 4 – Ensuring management of the resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.

As a member of our school’s leadership team one of our primary duties is to work with the principal, parents, and community to establish and maintain a “safe and orderly learning environment.” I have worked to provide this both in my classroom, but also school wide. Working with city agencies we have improved our traffic environment both for drivers and more importantly our population of students who walk to and from school. Within the school we have

Professional Growth Plan

worked to create an equitable environment as to the allocation of resources both human resources and consumable resources. As a school over capacity, space is a prime commodity and as a team we have worked to equitably distribute that resource across the staff for the betterment of our students. In addition, I have contributed to creating the specialist schedule in our building and worked to streamline that process while providing for an equitable distribution of time and consistency in the schedule.

As the administrative substitute for our building I have gained experience in real situations. I have been involved in CPS cases as an administrative designee. I have had to call the police in for custody issues. I have worked with first responders during emergent student situations. These experiences have made this an area of strength for me. [Dispositions 16, 24, 26]

I have identified two areas of growth in this strand, managing human resources and understanding state law governing this area. In the coming months I will be addressing those two areas in classes that I am taking. I am confidant following those graduate classes I will have the tools necessary to move into an administrative position with confidence.

Rationale –

During my student teaching in a Title 1 school a key mantra resonated with our staff, “Children can’t learn until their basic needs are met.” Standard 3 – Effective Management, meets those needs. When I fulfill this standard my students in our school will have their basic needs met. Needs for safety, resources, and a productive learning environment will be filled so the real work of learning may begin. Students’ positive behavior will be a priority and students’ emotional and personal needs will be met and not just managed. In addition, my staff will feel that their needs are met. They will feel personally fulfilled and supported in a positive and collaborative learning environment. All voices will be heard and understood and have an equal opportunity to participate in the decisions of our school. Equitable distribution of resources will be in effect and all parties will know that we work towards a common vision of all students being successful and achieving their personal best.

Standard Four - Inclusive Practice

A school or program administrator is an educational leader who has the knowledge, skills, and cultural competence to improve learning and achievement to ensure the success of each student by collaborating with families and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.

Strand 1 – Collaborating with families and community members

Professional Growth Plan

My school houses an ELL program and we have 20% of our population on free/reduced lunch. While not overly impressive in number, these students have brought a diversity to our school that in the past was not seen. I spent my early teaching years in a Title 1 school where receiving a student for a short time from a nearby shelter was common place. These experiences have created strengths for me in the area of engaging families and community members. I am passionate about all students and their families being welcome and accepted into the schoolhouse. For many this is a place where they have a tainted past and did not often or ever feel welcome. Our job as educators is to ensure our students learn and achieve their best while they are with us. In order to do that we must involve and engage their parents. This can be done in a number of ways. Through the PTSA and parent involvement 101 seminars. What does it look like to be involved in your child’s education? Do you have to be at the school 24/7, no! It is to make learning a priority in the home. Do you talk about school? Do you help with homework or find a resource who can? Do you set goals and revisit if they are met? All of these are ways parents can be involved even if they are working two jobs and can’t be volunteering in the school every week.

Another area of strength I feel I have is engaging community resources. We have a vast array of local businesses that we have used to provide support to our students and staff. From school clean up days to lunches for staff in-service days, our community has supported our school. As an administrator I would work to see what the needs of our student population are and try to match community resources to that. For example, having a back to school rally and inviting community health, food services, transportation, and other groups to have booths set up for students’ families to connect with right there. Making the school house a community hub where all needs are addressed and resources are available to support families for the betterment of their child’s learning. [Dispositions 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27]

However, I could be weak in this area by taking having the “big vision”, but not a clear read of the community and support behind me to make my initiatives successful. Being 50% ENFJ, I can tend to take on the big projects and do too much. I will have to guard against that and elicit the support and help of my staff and PTSA to reach out the community on the school’s behalf in order to bring about the true community hub I envision.

Strand 2 – Collaborating with and responding to diverse communities.

As stated above, my school houses an ELL program which brings a diverse and culturally rich group of students. In addition, we have Microsoft and Google in close proximity which bring us many students from other countries and cultures. . Over 17 different languages are represented at Lakeview and as many or more countries. This year alone we have had new students move in from the UK, Norway, Korea, Japan, Germany, Greece, Iran, and Ontario, Canada. This experience with diverse cultures is a strength in my practice. We embrace our cultural differences and also look for commonalities between us. Hosting a cultural study program in our third grade and a school wide multi-cultural night brings these diverse students together with

Professional Growth Plan

their families to showcase their uniqueness and aligns the “academic and interpersonal goals of the school.” [Dispositions 16, 19, 21, 22, 26, 27]

A weakness I could have in this area is with my style of conflict. Using the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, I found that I am 50/50 between the collaborative – problem solving and the compromising – sharing conflict style. I recognize that many cultures have different norms for conflict and professional conversation. I need to be culturally aware and demonstrate my cultural competency in my interactions with our diverse populations.

Strand 3 – Mobilizing community resources.

It is a priority to ensure that all students have “equal access to learning”. I know that there are significant community resources to ensure this can happen for my students especially in the area of technology. I have written four successful grants to the Lake Washington School Foundation and funded a relationship with Zeno math for my building. Resources supplied by the grant were afterschool math club curriculums, monthly math challenge boards, family math night organization and support, staff professional development, mathematician in residence (math coach), and access to online resources and training. Utilizing grants to bring about equity to my students in the academic and technological areas is a commitment and strength I have. In addition, attending school board meetings to keep the “face” of my school at the forefront of district decisions could be a benefit to our students and families. [Dispositions 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27]

An area of weakness I can again identify is my tendency to take it all on and do it myself if I feel that that job will not be done well or in a timely manner. Going into a new building and not knowing or understanding the staff norms and working relationships, I would have a tendency to do things myself. I need to be purposeful about building capacity in my staff so that my teacher leaders can also drive this work. [Dispositions 21, 26, 27]

Rationale

As a result of meeting Standard Four – Inclusive Practice, the students of my school will show increased student achievement as a result of having their individual and cultural needs addressed and met. All students will know and prove that they can learn in our diverse and supportive environment. Community resources will be utilized to meet the needs of all students and ensure a comprehensive and equitable learning environment for all students.

Standard Five – Ethical Leadership

Professional Growth Plan

Ethical Leadership: A school or program administrator is an educational leader who has the knowledge, skills, and cultural competence to improve learning and achievement to ensure the success of each student by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.

Strand 1 – Using the continuous cycle of analysis for self-assessment of professional leadership.

As a member of my school’s CIP (continuous improvement plan) leadership team I have worked to ensure that our plan leads to school improvement and increased student learning. Developing and leading professional learning opportunities for our staff has made me reflect on my own practice and drives my work to be continuously improving and developing my practice. As a white female in a primarily white/female dominated profession, I realize that I am the “status-quo”. I need to be mindful and culturally aware of the cultural and ethnic diversity within my school. IN addition, utilizing a Response to Intervention (RTI) model will ensure that all students’ needs are met in a unique and timely manner. Some of those interventions could result in guidance team, a 504, or even an IEP. All of which will be provided for those students in need of that in an equal and timely manner. [Dispositions 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 26]

I see that one area of weakness I could have is that in places where I assume others to be competent and confidant I tend to be “hands off”. Being confidant in my staff would be a great thing, when I know and trust them and their abilities. I tend to assume that they are doing their best until I am presented with a problem. Being a “Y’ leader and one who operates in the 9, 9 managerial quadrant, I am about delegating to my staff and assuming good intent. This standard may require a higher degree of management causing me to move to 5, 5 managerial style or even a 9, 1 style in some cases. While this may be uncomfortable for me, I must make that adjustment to ensure that our continuous cycle of analysis is occurring and benefitting our students’ achievement.

Strand 2 – Acting with integrity, fairness, and courage in upholding high ethical standards.

The basis for my decision making is, “What are our core values as a school?” When presented with the daily dilemmas of our work we must have a solid value based system to stand on in order to uphold high ethical standards. As an administrative leader it is even more imperative to model those values of integrity, fairness, and courage in all the daily decisions and in furthering the mission and vision of our school. Having served as a teacher-leader in my building for several years, I feel that I have a unique strength in this area. I have walked the line as a teacher and vice-principal for the past two school years. I am equally at home in my classroom and in the office and administrative areas of our building. I am looked to as a staff member with knowledge and expertise in both the classroom and as a building administrator. As such, my actions, are

Professional Growth Plan

highly scrutinized and my values and actions are there for all to see and critique. I identify my strengths in this area are to be true to myself and to live out a value based code of ethical conduct including treating all people fairly, equitably, and with dignity. [Dispositions 21, 24, 25, 26, 27]

My weakness in this area stems from not having direct experience as a full time school administrator. I don’t know how this strand with live out in real time and on the job. I know that how I live my life both personally and professionally is driven from a distinct values based system, but when trying to reconcile that with a deeply diverse community whose own values may differ from mine, there could be conflict. However, I am encouraged by the knowledge that the underlying values of mankind are universal. Relying on what our core values are as a school and operating from that mindset will keep us on the same straight path to our students’ success.

Rationale -

Students will benefit when this standard is met by having their academic and behavioral needs met in a timely manner. Using the continuous cycle of analysis will ensure that no student is left behind or overlooked in their academic progress. We will be a school where all students are working and achieving at their highest potential. Students will see consistency throughout our school, both in the messages they receive regarding academics and behavior. All members of our school community will be working together toward a common goal with what is best for kids at the forefront of our decision making.

Standard 6 – Socio-Political Context.

A school or program administrator is an educational leader who has the knowledge, skills, and cultural competence to improve learning and achievement to ensure the success of each student by understanding, responding to, and influencing the political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.

Strand 1 – Understanding the role of schools or programs in a democracy

The absolute right of all children to have a free and public education is a pillar of our society. Schools play a central role in our society and in that regard our democracy. My strengths as an administrator will be the “big vision” I bring to this position. I understand the key role we as a school play in our community. I understand the importance of having the parents and community as key stakeholders who have a vested interest in the success of our school. I can foster and promote this relationship through frequent and open parent communication, parent conferences, developing teachers to achieve their personal best in their own professional goals, and

Professional Growth Plan

collaborating with district staff around AYP and continuous improvement. In addition, attending and presenting to the school board will be key aspects of my job that I look forward to and embrace. [Dispositions 26] As stated in the introduction, my leadership style of transformational leadership lead to, “a relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents.” (Owens & Valesky, 2011, 260) If my staff moves to a place of being “moral agents”, we can be transformational and influential in our community and beyond.

I see a possible area of weakness being my naiveté in regards to the underlying motivations and intentions of people. I tend to trust that everyone has the best interest of the group and its members. However, personal experience at a failed implementation of a program in our school made me realize that a person’s own core beliefs and ideals can taint and sway them against the school even when the majority of people do not support their view point. This almost tore our school apart and is a fear of mine as I step out into being an administrator in my own building.

In addition as a pragmatist and existentialist, I believe in inquiry based learning. I see benefit in mistakes being made by students and having them work through them leading to deeper sustained learning. Many of the current political initiatives including NCLB lend themselves to standardized testing and prescribed and formulaic way of teaching that fundamentally I do not believe in. Entering a socio-political arena as an administrator will force me to being flexible in my thinking while not compromising my core values and fundamental beliefs. One way I can go about this is practicing the value of openness. “Openness involves letting things in, especially things you don’t want to hear, and letting things out, as in openly speaking your truth especially, when it is not popular or good politics. (Houston, et al. 2008)

Rationale –

In meeting Standard 6, my students will be a part of a school environment which works as a cohesive unit to foster and ensure student success both academically and behaviorally. Students will benefit from a staff that has working knowledge of their place not only within the school house environment, but as a working member of the public school system as whole. Discovering, advancing, and persevering through the difficult job we do every day to motivate and inspire our students to reach heights they could only dream of. As educators we will not only understand and support the political, social, economic, legal, and cultural contexts, but we will work to influence them for the betterment of our students.

Conclusion

What is best for kids? That is the driving question behind all the work I do and behind my motivation and desire to lead and serve as a school principal. My dedication to students, their education, and their achieving their personal best is what motivates me and drives the work I do

Professional Growth Plan

every day. It is my desire to take that passion and drive into my work as a school principal. I believe that I have the experience and leadership style that will translate well into that role. Ultimately I will know if that is true when my staff, the school community, and most of all the students are thriving and successfully achieving to their potential.

However, there are areas of weakness that I must address as I continue through my internship and into a principal position. First, as a “Big Vison” ENFJ I must guard against taking too much on and trying to do the job by myself. While I am aware there are others who are equally or even more talented and competent to do the job, I often take on jobs myself to ensure they are done well and in my timeline. I need to be sure to build my leadership team and trust them to do the tasks set out for them so I am free to move onto other areas of need for our building. I must also nurture relationships and not forsake them by being only task oriented. Knowing when and how to balance task and relationship is key to a leader’s success. Additionally, I need to gain more experience and acquaint myself with the various contracts and bargaining groups. Fortunately, that is built into the remainder of my principal certification training including my internship. I am confidant following that time I will be prepared to successfully enter a position as a building principal.

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