A great portion of our class was spent discussing the idea of change, whether it be inflicting positive change on a school's culture or altering the way we "do school" altogether. As I hope to develop into a strong educational leader, the idea of having a positive influence over a large number of students and staff alike is one of the things that appeals to me. I feel that one can have the best idea in the world, but that idea will not amount to anything if the leader of a building cannot get buy in from it's most important stakeholders. Too many people get caught up or emotional over the idea that we need 100% buy in, but if that is the case then the idea was not a good one to begin with. Any sort of meaningful change is going to create some resistance, and I feel meaningful dialogue with opposing viewpoints can be a building block for a strong leadership presence in a building as all voices will begin to feel like they are being heard. Therefore, an effective leader will concentrate on their best people when they hope to bring about change.Once you have those people on board, all of the other staff will follow suit as they start to believe this great idea came from one of their own and not a top down initiative. Breaking down the status quo is something I anticipate being a challenge as a future leader. A culture has been created in which too many educators are fearful of taking risks out of fear of losing their jobs, poor evaluation, etc. This has led these folks to become entrenched in the status quo out of the belief that " if I don't make any commotion, I am relatively safe , and after I have done this awhile people will start to assume I am a decent teacher". As a leader it is imperative we make decisions with the students in mind, not what we are comfortable with or what we have done for 70 years in mind. Will there be failures? Most certainly, but if we don't make an effort to continually take risks and advance towards an educational experience that is truly student centered, and not just different colored worksheet for different groups of students then it will be 20 years before any meaningful change occurs. The comment about how one would have to be blind to not see education legislation coming as it takes years upon years to implement really struck a cord with me as it seems that too many of us are too stubborn with holding on to what we comfortable with and our neat, quiet little rows when in reality the students of today are just yearning to cause a ruckus while having meaningful experiences at school. We do hold the power, and could likely win the battle and maintain the status quo, but the cost of that war and the generation of students we are failing to engage is not a price I am willing to sacrifice.
|
AuthorRyan Huels is a 1st Grade teacher in Northern Illinois. A graduate of Northern Illinois University, Ryan places an emphasis on being a connected educator eager to put the needs of all students first! Archives
October 2015
Categories
All
|