My story as the Cooperating Teacher

At the beginning of 2012, I reflected on teachers being learners too – where teacher professional development practice lack scaffolding, showing of different strategies, involving self-directed and collaborative approaches ideas. Individual teachers are left to “get on with it”, whatever, “it” might be, considering that they are already not knowing what to start with. This time round, I was provided with the opportunity to recreate the purpose of development experience with one of the trainee teachers as her cooperating teacher.

Being a strong believer that the quality of professional development depends on the quality of collaborative relationship between the trainee teacher and myself, I set out to develop my collaborative work with her. We started off by developing an understanding of what a range of successful lessons is like, by selectively structuring her learning experience and giving her time to understand the issues in teaching. In this way, such experiences will provide her with a solid basis for good teaching. It is my belief that a training teacher or even a first year teacher who has successfully experienced a variety of lesson types, and has been given the opportunity to reflect upon them through focused discussion and collaboration with many teachers, rather than just solo teaching lots of lessons, is able to take on the “heavy” workload more easily because she understands what she is trying to do.

I hope that through this structured experiences, my trainee teacher’s learning will improve. Now I will look for evidence to put once and for all to the myth that teachers are “born and not made”. Of course, I recognize that some qualities of a good teacher may occur in some trainees and not in others, but my belief is still –  all teachers can be developed!

How will our story End?

After my seventh year in my stationary teaching journey where there were many exciting stories of me and my students, of me and my fellow teachers which I have been relating, I came to realize that such individual stories will not set me free. It will simply end. So I suppose it is time I stop to tell my story and let others tell my story.

Just as my many batches of students, who were simply on their educational journey, always moving along. Today, when I with 2 other teachers (their form teacher and subject teacher) were asked by my graduating students to speak their story in their graduating video – I came to see how these students see themselves as opposite of a popular and welcoming class – instead they think they have two or three strikes against them already by their fellow peers of other classes and worst, by their teachers.

As such, I saw the need to help these students “trade” their victim stories up to heroic. From repulsive to attractive. I told them in the video tapping:

            “ It has been two amazing years! I am definitely going to miss all of you because you have reminded me of why I went into teaching in the first place! You all are such a wonderful and talented group of students. I admire your tenacity in class and your involvement in our school. I am proud of all of you for hanging in there and not give up. Thanks for making me laugh and from bringing smiles to my face every day. I have many fond memories of all of you. You all will do well as I know, YOU ALL CAN DO IT ONE!”

And up, up and up the stories went… stronger and stronger I hope my students will become as they journey towards their examinations. Their moments of joys and action? And as the few students were filming, I could see it in their eyes… their true story.  Now to show the rest of the students… to be contined.

The Not so simple Things

During my beginning years working with my colleagues, one of the key essentials elements in mathematics teaching and learning which was agreed upon – to make learning fun (seen in our yearly Maths Carnival). Although there were no evidence in terms of student motivation and achievement, this goal is supposedly sensible.

Nowadays, I believe that such goal was not sharply defined as it should have been. I now think of mathematics teaching and learning as being “engaged” instead of “fun”.  I do not opposed to students experiencing “fun” in their learning, as we all know pleasure is a kid magnet after all. It is just that I have come to understand that some things that are hard and most distinctly not fun can also be engaging and deeply satisfactory when we learnt them.

I am a believer that teachers are willing learners who inspire their students about content in proportion to their own aspiration about the content. The teacher who ask his/her students to do hard things – then show the students the results from the doing those things. The teacher who ignite the students’ imagination and grow their intellect, thus remind everyone of – quoting what my vice principal mentioned during the recent staff retreat “the power teacher know that is part of teaching and learning.”

Teachers teach their students who will find satisfaction in learning – either with what we teach or outside of it. Teachers teach students who will have to solve problems even teachers cannot begin to articulate – and who will never be able to do that with a list of facts. Teachers teach students who have a critical need to make sense of the world around them.

Simple as it seems – and hard as it is to master, I endeavor to address those needs in my journey in educating my students well.

Learn something new about leadership – 5 levels of Leadership

I have been seeking to learn more about developing my leadership skills for some time now, having consulted many sources. That is why I was particularly excited to come across the book “5 levels of leadership: Proven steps to maximize your potential” by John C Maxwell.  

As I started reading the book, I begin to see a leadership model which I thought could serve as a learning tool to broaden my leadership skills. In this book, he speaks on five levels of leadership, namely

1. Position – People follow because they have to.

2. Permission – People follow because they want to.

3. Production – People follow because of what you have done for the organization

4. People Development – People follow because of what you have done for them personally

5. Pinnacle – People follow because of who you are and what you represent

The book describes each of the five levels in details, articulating behaviors that best characterized the different levels. The reading also provides examples of what sometimes keep leaders from going to the next level. Perhaps more importantly, the book provides explanation on how to help me grow from one level to the next level of leadership with the people I lead (and the accompanying checklists for assessing my own leadership were especially helpful).

I was drawn by the discussion of the book on the importance of people, in teaching them, empowering them and growing them. During today’s SMC discussion on leadership, it struck me as to how leaders will always be limited by what can be done. As what was concluded today, a leader’s true influence on leading others is only possible if the leader himself is willing to move in the direction - guided by his moral compass. I am in total agreement.

Hence, as I endeavor to use the tools to help me lead, I hope to discover, ascertain and appreciate the positive impact it will have on my teachers…. To be continued.....

Revisiting my leadership role

 
Since the last review more than a year ago (8 Apr 2011) on my leadership role, my guiding sense about leadership is that it is not about the person or a group of people. Rather, leadership is a process – a process of influencing work towards a common goal. Having read the article on “First, Let’s Fire All the Managers”, especially on the 4 step approach on self-management confirmed my belief.

I now see a leader as a person who influences an individual or a group to do work towards such a common goal – in our case, the teaching and learning of our students. Of course, in order to reach one goal will require accomplishing many other sub-goals. Consequently, I view leadership as a continuous process by which the achievement of one goal will lead to taking on a new goal.  Hence, the leader need to be the motivator to keep the process going – empowering others at the initial stage, making them a part of the dynamic process so as to continue on at the later stage with or without the leader (A legacy!). Such understanding of a leader and leadership now sets my foundation in working towards the common goal.

The article on “First, Let’s Fire All the Managers” speaks of mangers, in fact to do without manager. In the story of Morning Star, a highly successful tomato processor demonstrated how the organization combines managerial discipline and market centric flexibility – without bosses, title or promotion. To me, it is important to distinguish between manager and a leader – in particular reference to instructional IP leader. A manager’s role often is not focused on improving students learning but, in simple terms, on documenting compliance with standards and procedures. In other words, compared to leadership, management is a process that will keep the school running smoothly, in order and deals with problems that arise from within the system – it helps maintain the status quo of the school. I have seen some of my fellow middle managers being effective in this role. This management function is necessary but I do not think that it will act as a change agent.

I believe that a successful leader will need both management as well as leadership function. This I have seen in my school leader. To totally disregard the as important function of an effective management practice will be a mistake while to focus on management totally will result in no change happening in school. On the other hand, to have excessive change – with leaders continually shifting directions – success will not happen. I seek to maintain a balance between the two functions and I started by making the distinction between manager and leader.  I now need to work on my responsibilities in both management as well as leadership function, knowing that ignoring any of these would be harmful to the teaching and learning process.  

Reference:

http://whispersandshouts.typepad.com/r1112b-pdf-eng.pdf