Minnesota Educator November 2009 : Page 3
Danielson encourages teachers to take leadership Teacher leaders are an absolutely essential element of school improvement, Charlotte Danielson told her audience Oct. 16 at the Education Minnesota Professional Conference. The author and consultant argued that while formal leadership in a school often is thought to reside mostly in the principal’s office, he or she has too many administrative duties to be an expert in what works in the classroom to improve learning. Additionally, she said, teacher tenure often exceeds that of principals, so teachers care for the institutional memory and culture of the school. That ’s where teacher leaders are invaluable, Danielson said. Some teachers have formal leadership roles, such as literacy coach or team leader, but informal leadership among grassroots pract i t ioners improves understanding of the school’s culture, sharing ideas with others, focusing on a goal and organizing to reach it. What i s leader ship? D a n i e l s o n d e f i n e s i t a s t h e a b i l i t y t o mobilize collectively. She made her point with a story about a classroom teacher who took her students to the zoo one day. After the trip, Danielson said, the teacher was concerned because the students didn’t seem to get much out of the trip to advance their knowledge. She thought it over, asking how could a zoo field trip support real learning. The result was a structured five-day program at the zoo. Each student spent at least an hour a day observing one animal and asking questions about it. Students later shared their knowledge with the class. The five-day trip also included group learning Conference Cont. from page 1 And because upward mobility is stalled, it will be far more challenging for new Americans to rise than it was when the economy demanded unskilled labor for an expanding industrial era and a high school education propelled a worker upward. At the same time more educ a t ion i s c ruc i a l , it is becoming harder to demons t rat e to f i r s t - generation Americans that a college education will pay off for their children as a ticket into the middle-class. Suarez called for public education to invest early and adequately in today’s immi g r a n t c h i l d r e n , abandoning what he saw as the wrong-headed notion of applying equal resources in children who are advantaged and in those who are disadvantaged. His observations were tailored to Minnesota, where, he said, the proportion of new arrivals who come as refugees is much higher than in the rest of the country. Suarez praised Minnesotans as “a place ready to do the heavy lifting” of helping new neighbors who have fled war and other catastrophes to make new lives. Educators attending the conference demonstrated they are working on the challenges and seeing the opportunities Suarez described. The Oct. 15 workshop surveying Hmong, Somali and Latino cultures drew an overflow crowd. The session was presented by Neighborhood House, which has worked with immigrants and low-income people since 1897 in St. Paul to provide for basic needs and education. The professional conference session condensed material from Neighborhood H o u s e ’ s c u l t u r a l proficiency workshops. activities, led by the zoo’s experts. The model was so successful that other teachers began asking for the lesson plans so they could do the five-day zoo field trip with their classes. The innovative teacher shared her plans and the idea behind them so more students could have an authentic learning experience at the zoo. This, Danielson said, is what teacher leadership looks like: one practitioner using her expertise to develop better teaching and learning experiences. As for informal leadership, Danielson defines it as taking informal initiative in matters of purpose and practice. Leadership may be exerted, she said, in promoting change or simply improving teaching and learning. Inversely, her criteria for teacher leadership do not involve managing large-scale change, taking managerial leadership, sharing decision-making or distributing leadership. These, she said, are traits of the formal leadership exerted by administrators. Teacher leaders, Danielson said, use evidence and data in their decision-making, take initiative when they recognize an opportunity, mobilize people around a common purpose and moni tor progress. She said they also sustain the commi tment of other s and deal with negativity as they contribute to a learning organization. Her session also relied on audience observations about when and how informal leadership works. The common theme from teachers was how easy or difficult it is to take on leadership, depending on individual circumstances in the workplace. Danielson confirmed this observation, saying the r e ar e two determinatives for successful teacher leadership: the school’s culture and a climate of trust. Discussion ranged from how to ac commodat e Somali students’ religious obligations to why some Mexican-American parents’ high esteem for teachers inhibits involvement in their children’s education and how Hmong attitudes about educating girls have evolved. An encore workshop described changes to support the unique difficulties of children in military families. The session, presented by the Minnesota Nation Guard Families Program, taught participants about how to foster resilience in students who experience their parents’ military deployments, often to combat zones. Among the more than 60 workshops on Oct. 15, it was clear that the changing face of education also includes rapid innovation in technology, from social networking to media management to exploring via Google Earth. An array of sessions looked at education from the perspectives of stress, self-care and working with student behavior problems. In counterpoint to high- stress, social - isolat ion trends, real world explorer Dan Buettner brought his investigations of human longevity to an enthusiastic audience. He described so-called Blue Zones, where people live remarkably long, healthy lives. On Oct. 16, educational consultant and leadership expert Charlotte Danielson opened the day’s presentations with an interactive talk about the essential impact teacher leadership brings to improving school s . Danielson also held a session with Teachers as Learners and Leaders professional development participants. TALL is celebrating its 10th anniversary. W W W . E D U C A T I O N M I N N E S O T A . O R G | N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 P A G E 3 Photos by Janet Hostetter Professional Conference participants focus on workshop activities, left photo, and what the exhibitors have to offer.
DANIELSON ENCOURAGES TEACHERS TO TAKE LEADERSHIP
Teacher leaders are an absolutely essential element of school improvement, Charlotte Danielson told her audience Oct. 16 at the Education Minnesota Professional Conference.<br /> <br /> The author and consultant argued that while formal leadership in a school often is thought to reside mostly in the principal’s office, he or she has too many administrative duties to be an expert in what works in the classroom to improve learning. Additionally, she said, teacher tenure often exceeds that of principals, so teachers care for the institutional memory and culture of the school.<br /> <br /> That ’s where teacher leader s are invaluable, Danielson said. Some teachers have formal leadership roles, such as literacy coach or team leader, but informal leadership among grassroots practitioners improves understanding of the school’s culture, sharing ideas with others, focusing on a goal and organizing to reach it.<br /> <br /> What is leadership? Danielson defines it as the ability to mobilize collectively.<br /> <br /> She made her point with a story about a classroom teacher who took he r students to the zoo one day. After the trip, Danielson said, the teacher was concerned because the students didn’t seem to get much out of the trip to advance their knowledge. She thought it over, asking how could a zoo field trip support real learning. The result was a structured five-day program at the zoo. Each student spent at least an hour a day observing one animal and asking questions about it. Students later shared their knowledge with the class. The five-day trip also included group learning activities, led by the zoo’s experts. The model was so successful that other teachers began asking for the lesson plans so they could do the five-day zoo field trip with their classes. The innovative teacher shared her plans and the idea behind them so more students could have an authentic learning experience at the zoo.<br /> <br /> This, Danielson said, is what teacher leadership looks like: one practitioner using her expertise to develop better teaching and learning experiences.<br /> <br /> As for informal leadership, Danielson defines it as taking informal initiative in matters of purpose and practice. Leadership may be exerted, she said, in promoting change or simply improving teaching and learning. Inversely, her criteria for teacher leadership do not involve managing large-scale change, taking managerial leadership, sharing decision-making or distributing leadership. These, she said, are traits of the formal leadership exerted by administrators.<br /> <br /> Teacher leaders, Danielson said, use evidence and data in their decision-making, take initiative when they recognize an opportunity, mobilize people around a common purpose and monitor progress . She said they also sustain the commitment of others and deal with negativity as they contribute to a learning organization.<br /> <br /> Her session also relied on audience observations about when and how informal leadership works. The common theme from teachers was how easy or difficult it is to take on leadership, depending on individual circumstances in the workplace. Danielson confirmed this observation, saying the reare two determinatives for successful teacher leader ship: the school’s culture and a climate of trust.
