Supervision and Instructional Leadership

Supervision and Instructional Leadership

Chapter 1: SuperVision for Successful Schools

1. Describe your classroom atmosphere in one word?
2. What does a successful school look like? Structure?

Collegial School- successful school; establish learning goals for all students consistent with the responsibility of education in a democratic society. These schools are always studying, teaching and learning, setting common priorities, making decisions about integral changes and resource allocations and assessing effects on students learning. These schools are focused on 1) a covenant of learning 2) school-wide democratic decision-making 3) critical study process for the informing of these decisions and conducting action research plans

Relationships as seen through a collegial school:
-Not hierarchy between teacher and supervisors
-Focus on teacher growth rather than teacher compliance
-Teacher collaboration in improving instruction
-Teacher involvement ongoing through reflective inquiry

Word association with supervision-all negative

When teachers accept common goals for students and complement each other’s teaching and when supervisors work WITH teachers in a manner consistent with the way teachers are expected to work with students, only then will school goals be accomplished.

Who is responsible for supervision? Mentor teachers, principal, lead teachers, peer-coach

To fully engage teachers, supervisors need to move away from heroic individualism to communal leadership

Why Communal Leadership?
-Promotes democratic schools and democratic education
-Allows the school to take advantage of teacher experience and teacher expertise
-Helps the school to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers
-Increases the likelihood that teachers will accept curriculum since they are involved in choosing
-Promotes a more professional learning environment

Chapter 2: The Norm: Why Traditional Schools Are as They Are

When you were a first year teacher, who helped you?

Many teachers still have the one-room schoolhouse mentality.
ISOLATION- our classroom is our world, personal domain, no access to colleagues ideas; your classroom, your students, your teaching. We are limited to seeing other adults in a day

Teachers are asked to deal with serious aliments of students, autism, emotional disorders, chronic illness, etc.,. We deal with these student encounters and need by routine. Routine allows us to avoid decision-making and being overwhelmed.

Teachers with the least experience are given the greatest challenges and most difficult responsibilities:
1. Inadequate resources–room raiding, least desirable room
2. Difficult work assignments- least interesting course, low achieving students
3. Unclear expectations
4. Sink or Swim mentality- “trial by fire”, wont ask questions because their competence is called into question
5. Reality shock- not what was expected
6. Environmental difficulties – physical and emotional problems, negative feelings about themselves and students after 1st year
7. Inequality- Low income school vs. upper-middle class schools (class sizes, racism)

20-year teacher has same class sizes, class space, and requirements as 1st year teacher, not so with lawyers and other professions.

Chapter 3 The Dynamic School

Shared Leadership & Community Involvement

Successful schools have a “Cause beyond Oneself” mentality. It is not just about what goes on within your 4 walls but the vision of the school.
-Professional Development for new teachers. EFFECTIVE PD is when it is shared.
-Positive learning climates- safe environment, moral tone (mutual respect), relationships, and sense of empowerment (you can do this!)

-Curriculum that is high level thinking and learning; authentic assessment, portfolios, presentation, service learning, etc.

Democracy- supervisors, teachers, students, and community are all involved in school

Inquiry based schools- way of life, data gathering, reflecting, improving teacher instruction, and student learning.

Dynamic schools are cultural schools- students learn diversity and backgrounds outside of their own, different perspectives rather than their own

Schools need external partners: business, networks, parents, and universities

Chapter 4 Adult and Teacher Development within the Context of the School

Is there a difference in the way adults and children learn? When was the last time you really learned something? You had an “a-ha” moment?

Fluid intelligence- depends heavily on physiological and neurological capacities, peaks early and explains why youth excel at quick insight and short-term memorization

Crystallized intelligence- judgment, knowledge and experience

Theories of Adult Learning
-Adults have a psychological need to be self-directing
-Adults bring experience that can and should be tapped into learning situations
-Adults ready to learn are influenced by trying to solve a real-life problem
-Adults are performance centered and want to apply knowledge immediately

How to make teachers continual learners:
-Involve them in leadership roles
-Encourage collaborating with other teachers
-Mentoring
-Reflection through writing and dialogue

Psychological Learning and life experiences affect teachers
The following changed the way teachers looked at their roles, teaching strategies and the way the saw students;
Cognitive Development
Moral Development
Levels of consciousness
Stages of Concern

Adult Learning:
Learning begins with a trigger event that shapes a person’s worldview
Lessons are learned
Outcomes are assessed

Teaching is ebb and flow. Experience is a relative term. Change the expectations of the job or clientele served and suddenly there is an inexperienced person trying to figure out how to survive.