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Instructional Leadership Philosophy

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It is an exciting time to be an instructional leader in public education today. With public education undergoing reform with Common Core Standards, changing pedagogies, technology, and the task of preparing students for the unknown jobs of tomorrow, teachers and principals are finding it critical to be innovative and forward thinking so that they and the schools they teach and lead don’t become irrelevant to the students they serve. It is with this knowledge in mind that I reflect and envision the type of leadership I hope to cultivate and bring to a school in the near future. I understand that who I will be as an instructional leader is an extension of who I am now as a person. My values and beliefs today will dictate my choices as a school …show more content…

Staying current with best practices, new methodologies, and new information is an important part of my personal and professional life. I embrace learning new skills and better, more efficient ways of doing things. As an instructional leader, I will seek to inspire and motivate this value to my staff and encourage and support their continued learning as well. In these changing times and shifting paradigms, it is more important than ever to maintain the attitude of life-long learner. If we want our students to be curious and life-long learners, then all members of the staff should be too. Being reflective and open to change as well when new ways of conducting business are implemented is important. If results are not what was expected and hoped for, honest evaluation and self reflection with permission to iterate and try again is important for all members of the school to engage in and learn from. In Introduction to Educational Leadership and Organizational Behavior, Yukl stated that effective school leadership should be a model of solid values and integrity (Chance). I believe, as Schein (1985) proposed, that the function of leadership is to shape and direct the organizational culture. Additionally, Hanson (1996) stated that leadership is focused on purposeful vision and ability in garnering support from followers to actively participate in pursuing the vision. My philosophy is that if you lead with integrity you will create a school …show more content…

Treating adults and children with respect is very important to me because it is a simple but very powerful way to demonstrate to others that I care and can be depended on. As a leader, I will strive to create an open culture that is respectful and professional. I will be respectful of teacher and classified staffs’ time and treat them as professionals. Creating a culture that is supportive of one another and open to new ideas and ways of thinking is important to me. As a school leader, I will adopt a distributed leadership model (Chance). This model would allow for interdependence among staff, and I feel this would be empowering. I understand that I will not be expert at everything and want to honor and respect the people I work with and allow them opportunities to lead within their areas of expertise. Everyone’s job is important to the whole of the school and affects all students’ achievement. By adopting the philosophy of distributed leadership, my goal would be to lead with respect and transparency. I will welcome feedback from teachers and the community and act upon this information to adjust policy, goals, and agendas when

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