Leading From The HeartThis post was inspired by this passage from Teachers Should be Seen and not Heard by Anthony Mullen in EdWeek, Jan. 7, 2010. “What do you think?” the senator asked…. …”I’m thinking about the current health care debate, “I said. “And I am wondering if I will be asked to sit on a national committee … Who tells you how to teach?
A norm that I aspire to, however difficult it can be at times is this one: Seek to understand before being understood. I just read a story about an administrator who practices this norm. From Karen S. about a Kindergarten student in trouble in Talking Him Off the Ledge at Talkworthy: “In a few minutes, … ‘Seeking to understand’ in action
Came across this quote on my iGoogle page today: Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. – Peter Drucker I’m reading this in terms of classroom leadership. And in light of the recent conversations about teaching and teachers that have been erupting across the blogosphere. (Read my last few posts to … doing the right things or doing things right
The more I think about recent conversations around teaching – about why some people leave, and others don’t, about why some choose it over more lucrative or socially respected professions (in some circles) – the more this phrase spins in my head: The quality of teaching is not strained Of course, that was stolen from … The quality of teaching is not strained
Please, Administrators of Canada (and probably the US and Australia, and South Korea, and New Zealand, and Morocco, and…), please stop jumping headfirst into change initiatives and expect your teachers to jump on with you as if they had been there from the start. Do you know that some of the least effective PD (wish … Leadership for any kind of change.