Leadership Initiative

1.

Motivation

Teaching / learning approach at my school is extremely traditional and stagnant; there is a status quo that fixates any initiative to improve or create or progress. In the past 5 years, all PD sessions resulted in a 100% attendance (compulsory) and below 5% implementation. Teachers are used to a specific way of teaching (inherited from their own teachers) and do not see the need or use to embrace new, more dynamic approaches. It seems to me that the core of the problem resides in the teachers perception of their role and profession; while they see themselves as qualified teachers who possess enough knowledge and experience to master the subject, the reality is different: teachers need to continuously work on improving their skills, reflect on their teaching, and work collaboratively with other teachers to improve their teaching.

2.

Vision

My vision was about initiating Professional Learning Communities and a collaborative culture at school towards improved teaching and learning. Based on researches and evidence on adult learning styles, I believe that fostering PLCs at the Lebanese School is the starting point for resolving the existing status quo; empowering teachers and getting them to sit together and hold meaningful, rich conversations about students learning, based on results, and actively seeking solutions for improved learning is essential to coach teachers towards improvement.

3. 1.

Steps Create a Sense of Urgency: Through a carefully prepared presentation, I have

introduced my vision to the primary teachers, going over the existing problems and status quo and inviting them to join my initiative. 2. Pull together a Guiding Team: I then approached teachers on a one-on-one basis,

especially the ones I believed had potential, and enrolled them on my team.

3.

Develop the Change Vision and Strategy: As a team, we held enriching professional

conversations to start, dialogued and brainstormed to come up with a plan as a team; at this point, I empowered the team to choose the approaches and strategies they believed were a priority.

4.

Communicate for Understanding and Buy in: The team then prepared a presentation

to the rest of teachers, to explain to the bigger community about our PLC initiatives and future plans. 5. Empower Others: This was followed by a survey to all the teachers, to base future

actions on the community needs and perceptions. 6. Produce Short-term Wins: A new Teacher evaluation system was then developed by

the team, based on the teachers responses in the survey; the results and new survey was shared with the teachers. 7. Dont Let Up: Continuous meetings ensured that all members were on board and

continued to hold professional conversations; the meetings were an opportunity to discuss challenges and obstacles and support each other. 8. Create a New Culture: The teachers are now busy drafting strategies for next

academic year; they operate as a team, and embraced a positive attitude towards change.

4.

Challenges

The initiative encountered some resistance from existing teachers; long used to inertia and repetitive traditional approaches, it took careful and persistent orchestration from the Team side to establish a new culture revolving around collaboration and learning. Another challenge was in the different abilities of the Team members; where as some were young, qualified and up-to-date teachers, others were somehow traditional, with obsolete approaches and attitudes; the group dynamics were not always positive.

5.

Successes:

Initiating a PLC is in my opinion was the first step towards improved learning and learning results; the teachers are now no longer in a bubble, focused on teaching and covering curriculum content, regardless of whether the students are actually acquiring the learning points; the focus now is the student, his results, and how to best help him improve.

In step 3, the Team chose to work on the teachers evaluation system, and the result is a success; teachers now feel involved and empowered in their own evaluation, and are more motivated to improve and contribute. There is also another success, which is about professional, enriching dialogue, and collaborative environment; the Team members are now used to engage in meaningful conversations, sharing, planning ahead, and most importantly, engaging the rest of the teachers on board.

6. -

Take Away: The initial step of recruiting the team is crucial to the progress of the project;

when members join in because they are convinced, then success is probable. Finding a realistic balance between the existing Administrative System and

Structures and the teachers requests to change. The leader needs to continuously work on Improving his management skills

(preparing meaningful meetings, keep a focus on achieving the goal, delegating tasks ) I have come to place more focus, along with my committee, on the importance of

data; throughout our work, we have become more focused on basing our decision-making on data (students results, surveys, ) Celebrating success is very important to keep members motivated and on board.