Standard 3 - Cultural Leadership
Principals will understand and act on the understanding of the important role a school’s culture plays in contributing to the exemplary performance of the school. Principals must support and value the traditions, artifacts, symbols and positive values and norms of the school and community that result in a sense of identity and pride upon which to build a positive future. A principal must be able to “re-culture” the school if needed to align with school’s goals of improving student and adult learning and to infuse the work of the adults and students with passion, meaning and purpose. Cultural leadership implies understanding the school and the people in it each day, how they came to their current state, and how to connect with their traditions in order to move them forward to support the school’s efforts to achieve individual and collective goals.
Element IIIa. Focus on Collaborative Work Environment: The principal/assistant principal understands and acts on the understanding of the positive role that a collaborative work environment can play in the school’s culture
At Neal, I had the opportunity to work with the Instructional Leadership Team in order to prepare the Beginning of the Year Staff Meeting informational session as well as our collaborative activity in which we learned about one another through a rating game. Additionally, I have been working to improve my connections with all people in my school by increasing my emotional intelligence as well as empathy for others. By continuously improving myself, I am continuing to build strong, transparent, trusting relationships throughout the school community. Responsiveness and sensitivity are extremely important skills that I attempt to highlight in my interactions with others in order to focus on a collaborative work environments.
Element IIIb. School Culture and Identity: The principal/assistant principal develops and uses shared vision, values and goals to define the identity and culture of the school.
At both Neal and Bethesda, I served as a member of the district Leadership Learning Network Team (L2N). At both of our schools, the L2N team members served as the models for a positive culture and continued culture-building. Our team met monthly with district leaders in order to use our shared vision, values, and goals to define the culture of our school. Below you will see a presentation that was created to ensure that all staff members had the opportunity to learn and grow together with our team.
Element IIIc. Acknowledges Failures; Celebrates Accomplishments and Rewards: The principal/assistant principal acknowledges failures and celebrates accomplishments of the school in order to define the identity, culture and performance of the school
At Neal, together with the Instructional Leadership Team; we celebrated the accomplishments of our teachers on a regular basis. Teachers were featured in our weekly newsletter for using strategies that were high-yield for either academics or behavioral expectations. I regularly contributed to this process by identifying teachers who were using high-yield instructional and behavior management strategies. Additionally, at each staff meeting, we recognized 6-10 staff members who were exceeding expectations based on the NCEES standards. At Bethesda, I collected data pertaining to the literacy initiatives that we were currently required. In order to receive teacher feedback and acknowledge what was working as well as what was not working, we sent out this survey to all staff members and then acknowledged the areas that were celebrations as well as those that were failures so that we could then move forward with the same vision and initiatives. Additionally, we celebrated the growth of students through individual teacher iReady growth conferences. At these conferences, we also acknowledged failures and brainstormed ideas which could be used in order to improve growth for all students. Below is an example document that we used with each teacher to track progress from BOY to MOY as well as the fidelity with which the individual student lessons were being utilized. These strategies created dialogue between our staff members that increased the culture of the school as a whole.
Element IIId. Efficacy and Empowerment: The principal/assistant principal develops a sense of efficacy and empowerment among staff which influences the school’s identity, culture and performance.
At Bethesda, I worked to build efficacy and empowerment by training our Instructional Assistants to have a stronger "toolbox" of teaching techniques. By empowering more adults in our building to be effective educators, we will continue to see growth in all of our students. At Neal, I observed my mentor principal regularly strive to build efficacy and empowerment. As a member of the Instructional Leadership Team, we decided on what the non-negotiables for lesson planning would be. We then presented the information to staff and allowed them to create their own templates for lesson and unit planning as long as it met the bottom line expectations presented below. For teachers who needed more guidance, templates were provided, but teachers who wanted to build their own plans and templates were empowered to do so.
Coursework
Distinguished Leadership in Practice with NCPAPA
Ron Clark Experience
School Visits
Professional Development and Specialized Training
Crucial Conversations
Social Justice Retreat
Readings
How to Win Friends and Influence People (Carnegie)
Reframing Organizations (Bolman & Deal)
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey)
Speed of Trust (Covey)
Whistling Vivaldi (Steele)
Leading in a Culture of Change (Fullan)
Leverage Leadership (Bambrick-Santoyo)
The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy, (Gordan)
Distinguished Leadership in Practice with NCPAPA
Ron Clark Experience
School Visits
Professional Development and Specialized Training
Crucial Conversations
Social Justice Retreat
Readings
How to Win Friends and Influence People (Carnegie)
Reframing Organizations (Bolman & Deal)
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey)
Speed of Trust (Covey)
Whistling Vivaldi (Steele)
Leading in a Culture of Change (Fullan)
Leverage Leadership (Bambrick-Santoyo)
The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy, (Gordan)