Shared Leadership Are Used for Capacity Building

In my school, distributive leadership is encouraged by our administrators. Everyone is held accountable for their actions and that each individual plays an important role in the school environment. The school also stresses the importance of capacity building and have developed leaders to take charge of initiatives that would be practice throughout the school.

Capacity building is seen throughout the school curriculum when the school board decided to implement the Common Core State Standard Initiatives. As teachers come together to understand this new change the school administration left it up to the teachers to help each other. We all took charge of the standards and trained those who were having a difficult time understanding it. Now, we are all sharing assessments so that we can present these results to the rest of the school so that we can discuss how we could sustain our students' strength and what we can do to support their weaknesses.

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say; we did it ourselves."  -Lao Tzu

Punishments or Rewards-Which Would You Choose?

Transactional leadership is where leaders in an organization promotes rewards and punishments for group performances. When under this type of leadership, one's work is scrutinized for successes or failures so that the leaders may determine how to reward or punish.

My school falls under this type of leadership. Our leader (principal) constantly checks up on each of us to make sure that instructional time is not being wasted. When she is not satisfied with the way we are performing, she would write us up rather than talk to us; which is why many of us fear getting on her bad side. For those who do well and take charge of the many tasks assigned to our group, it is evident that she "favors" those who do, this behavior is a reward in and of itself. Knowing that we are doing well is determined by the way we feel we are treated by the principal. Although it may seem as favoritism, we look at it as a way to earn the things we need. If we show her that we do well in our job, she rewards us by approving our requests, because she knows it will be put to use.

I've somehow managed to be accustomed to the way the school is being run, however, many are concerned about their fate. I try to insinuate every time they talk about their performance that unless they are doing something wrong, or not giving their full effort when performing a task, then there should be nothing to worry about. This type of leadership benefits my school because it keeps people on their feet. It gives everyone the opportunity to bring out their best. Individuals who are punished, are punished for a reason.

"We will receive not what we idly wish for but what we justly earn. Our rewards will always be in exact proportion to our service. " Earl Nightingale 

Power is Shared

The benefits of teaching in a small school is that we all work together towards doing what is best for the school and making changes that is agreed upon by all stakeholders. From the administration level down to the support staffs, our school invites all personnel to partake in decision making processes that will benefit the school. Given that not every individual understands the changes to be made, we are sometimes broken down into departments to make the changes which will then be presented to the whole school body. When making big decisions, the public is invited to comment on the changes and make recommendations or suggestions. We include them in this process because they too, are affected.

Having the dynamic of my school makes influencing others seem effortless. As long as the changes that are being made are backed by research and data, my colleagues would jump at the chances of making our school better. Even when it comes to making cuts, all school personnel are understanding if enough information is shared with them.

Power is shared among all staff. Boundaries are set in place so that no one individual can gain control over the others or administration is not stricken in terms being disrespected or stepped on.

"You only have power over people so long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power - he's free again." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Community of Leaders

We deal with people of different personalities, character traits, and attitude. When working with a group of people, we work together to find out our areas of strength or weaknesses then using each of our strengths to fill in the gaps in each of our weaknesses. Working as a team, assigning roles, providing and receiving feedback, assisting peers, and communicating effectively, are some of the traits each one must possess in order to work in an environment free from conflict.

Fostering a positive working relationship will create an atmosphere where everyone will feel included. It becomes a cause and effect or can be seen as paying it forward, in any case, assistance is always being offered. When one helps another, it will cause the person being helped to apply that same method towards those seeking help.

When individuals work together towards a common goal, possessing some of the traits mentioned, then they become a group of leaders, ready to work in unison.

Ken Blanchard stated, "In the past a leader was a boss. Today's leaders must be partners with their people...they no longer can lead solely based on positional power.

"Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile." -Vince Lombardi

It isn't easy being a leader, especially in an environment that is unfamiliar. Teaching was not my area of study when I was an undergrad. In fact, I had no knowledge on teaching techniques or strategies when I started my first year of teaching. Although teaching was not my first choice, I always had that interest in being a part of a child's educational path.

In order to become an effective teacher, I signed up for as many professional development one can take. I spoke with colleagues who have been in the system for years and asked them questions that would help me manage my classroom. I took leadership roles in several tasks in order to address concerns in the school. I did what ever it took to ensure that the students receive quality education. I studied hard for the Praxis I and II which ended up with the school system certifying me as a highly qualified teacher. I sacrificed my time, because I knew that if I went into a classroom without the knowledge needed to teach a class, I was setting the students up for failure.

Personal Leadership will further enhance my ability to teach and lead. I don't plan to stay in the classroom for the rest of my career. I hope that one day, I will be able to lead and guide a school. I am expecting this class to provide me with the skills and tools to manage a range of individuals from a small group to a larger scale, the whole school. With my level of commitment, I am determined to branch out and become a versatile member of my school.