Transcript Supportive Leadership Getting Behind Your Teachers to Lead

Supportive Leadership
Getting Behind Your Teachers to Lead
Rantoul Township High School District 193
Traditional leadership model
Collective Wisdom Model
“Groups are inclined toward stupidity the more they believe
an answer lies outside themselves, including a belief that
an answer lies with the leader.”
“Inversely, when a leader brings attention to the challenges
and complexity that are inherent to the circumstances a
group faces together, group members can begin to
bring their own unique talents and special qualities. “
Alan Briskin, blog at
http://heartlandcircle.blogs.com/circle/2007/03/collective_wisd.html
Instead of teacher buy-in….
We asked the question:
What would happen if we
require the administration
and board to buy in to an
idea?
Where did we start?
We had a problem:
Graduation rate had fallen
to 65%
We had an AYP problem
and more importantly, a
problem with not enough
students graduating in our
community.
It was a big problem.
Our options:
We could have gathered the board and
community to think of what we can do.
We could have gathered out Administrative
Leadership Team to find a program to institute to
respond to the program.
We could have asked the teachers and then
done what the board wanted to anyway.
We could have just ignored the problem.
We could ask the teachers to exercise collective
wisdom to find a solution.
What did we do?
Went to the teachers as a group
and began a dialogue within the
faculty.
Started by stating the problem and
then we asked the teachers….
“What will you be telling a reporter
about how we turned our
graduation rate problem around 5
years from now?”
We asked them to brainstorm…
No matter the cost
No thought of practicality
No argument
No commentary on other
ideas…
or people
Just ideas…
Did they have any ideas?
224 of them…
With that mountain of ideas…
We stopped for a deep breath….
Not permanently but we waited to
let those begin to soak in for a
while.
We did not take over the process.
We waited for it to develop within.
We set up a re-visitation of the issue
for the faculty to begin to refine the
ideas.
We gathered our wisdom again…
We presented the 224 ideas for the teachers to
combine, categorize, reduce duplication and
prioritize.
This was done as a whole with facilitation.
Categories were suggested by the faculty as we
wrestled with the problem of reducing the ideas.
They reduced to three big areas we could
pursue in further study and analysis.
Then the tough part…..
Everybody signs up to study one of
the three ideas…
Creates cross-disciplinary teams to work toward
a common goal including collaboration between
regular ed and special ed
The existing collective wisdom is increased by
study to gather more information
The Alternative Ed Study Group
 Carefully evaluated the needs to address the right
problem
 Gathered research on alternative programs
 Studied existing programs in other districts
 Avoided repeating a previous model but took elements
that seemed useful for the current needs
 Analyzed costs with directions to plan the best program
for the students to see if the district could afford the best
The Alternative Ed Study Group
 Studied staffing needs, facility needs, resource and
equipment needs
 Prepared a report including all elements and
requirements
 Set out the full outline of how the program would operate
 Reviewed the proposal with the administration
 Invited teachers to attend the board meeting where the
proposal was presented…33% of the faculty attended
Meanwhile, back at the board…
Board was not directly involved in study or
planning
Board was informed of the ongoing process and
upcoming result by administration
Board checked resource availability with
administration before presentation
Meanwhile, back at the board…
Board listened to a professional presentation of
the plan
Board supported its teachers in the
improvement effort
Leadership came through support and
encouragement of teacher ideas, creativity and
planning with resources
What is the big idea?
A school board can provide leadership by giving
the teachers an opportunity to develop solutions
to school improvement and supporting that effort.
Together the board and teachers made a
difference.
By using the collective wisdom of the teachers
and supporting their efforts, the district has a
successful program.
How successful?
Eagle Academy
Students who were not graduating earned full diplomas and the
AYP requirement for graduation was met in one year.
Any questions?
Thank you for attending.
You can contact us at:
Eagle Academy
Rantoul Township High School
Sandy Davis, Principal
Mindy Moberg, Lead Teacher
Marla Deem, Board President
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
This presentation will be on our web site on Monday for you to
copy if you wish.
www.rths.k12.il.us