Of course I am a fan of teacher leadership and I am also a fan of re-looking at and redesigning educational systems so that those systems are more modern, positive, and inclusive. I believe that we should take the research seriously that supports autonomy, mastery, and purpose as main structures that lead to organization success. I believe we should look at ways to lesson the numbers of administrators and those without direct time on task with students in favor of more hybrid roles where educators lead and teach at the same time. I've proposed organizational structures to administration and continue to look for ways to positively build this kind of system where I teach.
One important element of teacher leadership is the ability to speak your truth without ridicule, reprimand, or threats. There needs to be positive, authentic channels for educator share--the kind of share that truly uplifts the work we do. Research demonstrates that this is a need in schools everywhere since recent reports point to the dismal results of traditional professional learning events in schools. What can we do to uplift educator share that results in greater teacher voice, choice, and leadership?
I think that share has to be coupled with metrics, facts, and research too. Often people share, but we never really analyze the benefits of the work relayed. There's lots of conjecture and hearsay involved, but few facts. How can we change this? What is the best ways to collect and analyze evidence in this regard? We may analyze, but we may not be using the best evidence or analytical processes for this work.
First, I think it would be a good idea to create protocols for share. Protocols that work against the ridicule, insults, and threats that teacher share sometimes receives. Next I think it's important to think about teacher voice and choice, and where that's advantageous. For example, I teach a lot of math. One area of share that I would really like is the ability to hear my colleagues share their best practices. Currently, due to very tight curriculum parameters and expectations, many educators are afraid to share as they are afraid that their share will demonstrate deviation from the tight parameters and expectations, and therefore their share will become evidence of insubordination. When rules, parameters, and expectations are too tight, unattainable, and perhaps outdated or ill-directed, this creates a culture of silence where people don't want to share for fear of reprimand or reprisal.
Instead, a culture that welcomes innovation, bright ideas, apt curation, and share also welcomes open exchange, trusting collaboration, and good growth. So it's essential to think as a system, where is share desired, and how can we create processes that invite apt exchange and collaboration. With that share, we should also increasingly ask those that present their ideas and practice to include evidence about why they believe the practice they share is positive--what do the formal and informal assessments related to this practice show?
We should also be able to create and discuss goals too. Goals need to be inclusive, well-directed, and the result of good process. The more that all stakeholders own the goals, the better those goals will succeed, and it's best if those goals are based on critical needs that answer the questions:
- What do we really stand for?
- Why do we believe in these goals--what's our collective rationale?
- How are we going to measure our success with these goals in ways that are truthful and helpful with relation to our continued positive growth as an organization?
It's essential that teaching/learning organizations are inclusive organizations where all stakeholders have voice and choice. It's also essential that these organizations are trusting organizations that invite collaboration, innovation, and positive growth and change. Further, the processes we use to forward goals and growth need to be modern, streamlined, inviting, and representative of inclusive voice, choice, and leadership, and those processes need to be transparent so that people can look to them again and again to gain direction, understand how to partake in systemwide efforts, and stay faithful and respectfully work for change.
Teachers need to speak their truth, respect each others voices, and work for the best possible teaching/learning communities for all students, families, educators, administrators, and community members. The potential to elevate the places where we teach and learn each day is amazing--we can do better, and how we move in that direction matters. This is a message to self as well as others. I will continue to think on the subject as I complete my daily study and teaching efforts. Fortunately the level of share I enjoy with my grade-level team and close colleagues is beneficial and I will continue to think about how that share may grow systematically and beyond. Onward.
