Reflecting on being a teacher leader...

"When I was working through a leadership class during my Master's degree, I learned about the different areas of leadership within education.  I learned that leadership was not just the principal or the school board, but the teachers that step up and take on a role or leadership even if it's just for one task.  One of my favorite books I have read on teacher leadership is Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders by Katzenmeyer and Moller.  This book was required to read during one of my classes, but I enjoyed it so much I kept it for a future re-read and thought it was worth a shout out, and a moment of reflection, with other educators.  

The book provides a teacher leadership self-assessment.  The assessment provides statements where you score yourself based on how well it describes you in a given situation.  I really enjoyed this self assessment.  As someone who hasn't always seen myself as a teacher leader, this assessment affirmed that my  thoughts and beliefs are on track with being a good leader.  In all the categories, I scored a 27 or above except in the self-organization category where I scored a 23.  This surprised me at first because I consider myself a very organized person. When I went back to see where I scored low, it was the statement, “I exhibit self-confidence when under stress or in difficult situations.”  I scored myself with a 2 on this statement. I know I am a person that does not have a lot of self-confidence. It’s a lot better than it used to be but is still an area that could use a lot of improvement.

Katzenmeyer & Moller list seven factors that contribute to the uniqueness of teachers:  professional teaching skills, personal philosophy of education, generational needs, work perspectives, interactions with others, adult development, and personal lives.  Reflecting on my abilities on these factors are as follows:

Professional teaching skills:  This is an area I am very confident in.  I know that I am successful with my students.  I strive to meet each student where they are and help them grow.  This is a quality that has developed a lot over the past couple years.  Katzenmeyer & Moller (2008) state, “As teachers become secure in their professional teaching skills, they are ready to reach out beyond the classroom to share with others" (p. 43).  Up until the past two years, I never felt comfortable sharing my knowledge with others due to fear that I would be seen as incorrect. As I have had continued success with my students, I see that I do have the skill and knowledge to help my students succeed and should share that with other.

Generational Needs: I have never given this area much thought until reading about it in the text.  I do believe there are differences among generations in the teaching profession, but I take the approach that this gives all teachers the ability to learn new things from each other.  I have two teaching partners, one is right out of college, and the other will retire in the next couple years, and I’m in the middle. I have learned so much from both of these people.  There have been times we disagree on things, but I try always to take the approach that people with differing opinions provide opportunities for us to grow in our own thinking. **(This is also a topic for another time. I find generational learning very interesting!)

Work Perspectives:  Katzenmeyer & Moller (2008) state some “teachers may believe teaching is a mission and devote extra time and effort."  I personally truly believe the work I am doing is a mission. I believe God puts the children in my life that need me as a teacher and I need them as a student.  I put a lot of time and effort into my teaching because I truly care about the children in my classroom. I want nothing more than to see each of them succeed in their own way.

Interactions with Others:  Interactions are vital in teacher leadership.  Developing relationships with coworkers is essential to becoming a great teacher leader.  Katzenmeyer & Moller (2008) discuss people who enjoy working with others and those that prefer to work alone.  The majority of the time I do enjoy working and collaborating with others, but there are also times that I need to just focus on some things that I need to get done, and then I work better by myself.  I think it’s about finding that balance for each person.

Adult Development:  This was another area that I haven’t given much thought to until reading the text.  I have read hours and hours on child development, but it makes sense that we don’t complete stop developing at a certain age.  Looking back at my adult life, I know I think differently now at the age of 35 than I did at the age of 25.

Personal Lives: As a teacher leader already in my school I can relate to how it affects your life personally.  There have been many nights I have missed tucking my own young children into bed because of a late meeting or a school situation.  It is the nature of the job. Having support helps a lot.

I reflect on this book with you to encourage you to not only read the book, but take a moment to really reflect on these different areas of your life that effect your teacher leadership.

Tona

HE>I

Reference Katzenmeyer, M. H., & Moller, G. V. (2009). Awakening the sleeping giant: Helping teachers
develop as leaders (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.