Contemporary Teacher Leadership - 102098

Contemporary
Teacher Leadership
102098

Critical Reflection
& Group Presentation

Group Presentation: https://youtu.be/zcdS6y5zRaE

Contemporary Teacher Leadership - 102098

Contemporary Teacher Leadership Critical Reflection

Reflection of unit

It is important for schools to be constantly analysing and evaluating school

programs in a continuous cycle to improve education for all students
(Broemmel, Jordan, & Whitsett, 2015). The main reason for this is that we
want students to enjoy learning, we want the teaching to be equitable, and we
also want to ensure our teaching is up to date with the latest scientific
research to obtain the best academic achievement possible. Since no two
students are the same and new research is being released every year, our
teaching practices are going to have to adapt to these new environments and
new information. To achieve this, schools need to implement a cycle of
continuous improvement to make sure we are keeping up to date with current
research and providing the best possible education for all students.

However, no single individual can undertake this kind of task on their own. This
must be a school-wide approach with collaboration across faculties. Research
has shown that teachers working as a team not only helps the teachers, but
students’ achievement has also been seen to increase in schools with a strong
collaboration of teachers (Ronfeldt, Farmer, McQueen, & Grissom, 2015).
Teacher collaboration is also a requirement as a teacher in Australia. According
to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers the implementation of
professional dialogue within the school amongst colleagues that is informed
by feedback and an analysis of current research will increase the academic
achievement of the students (aitsl, 2017). The main focus of teachers is
students learning and the findings of research has found that collaboration,
Contemporary Teacher Leadership - 102098

along with strong instructional leadership, will lead to an improvement of

teachers’ practices which improves students learning (Goddard, Goddard, Sook
Kim, & Miller, 2015).

Across the globe, it has been shown that leadership is an extremely important
factor in educational organizations (Boylan, 2016). Despite this fact, it seems
the role of teachers as leaders is suffering due to certain factors and it is up to
researchers to find a complete understanding of the role (Wenner & Campbell,
2017). It is also important for universities to promote students to become
agents of change, so that they will have the tools necessary to go into the
workplace and influence change in the system for the better (Fullan, 1993).
Beginning teachers may find it hard to implement change, but they are not
expected to come in and change the system immediately. Instead they should
strive toward making little changes here and there until the opportunity comes
to do something bigger.

Reflection of team process

Overall, the team worked quite well together. There was some struggle with
meeting times due to the set up of the semester, however, we were able to
make it work with the help of online meetings. The group was composed of a
diverse group of people from all different key learning areas including
Mathematics, Science, Technology, and English. Due to this wide range of
subject areas, the team also had a wide range of skills with each person being
able to implement something into the project that the other 4 had not though
of or were unable to do. Some of us were better at formulating ideas, while
others were more creative, understood the programs and took control of
presentation. Those from an English background we better writers and were
able to piece the ideas from the rest of the group into a formal proposal that
Contemporary Teacher Leadership - 102098

made sense and flowed well. Despite all team member being busy teaching as
well as taking on second jobs after work, more planning could and should have
been implemented to stay on top of the project. While there was
communication and work was being done, it could have been more organised,
had each person been set specific tasks. However due to a lack of leadership
early on, this did not happen.

While having a group of people with diverse personalities is good for the team
according to Belbin (as cited in Mathieu, Tannenbaum, Kukenberger,
Donsbach, & Alliger, 2015). Mathieu et al. show that for a team to be effective
it needs to have people who will be able to fit in various roles, such as ‘Doers’,
‘Organizers’, and ‘Challengers’ (2015). In this team’s case, no one seemed
willing to step up to the plate and not only begin discussion, but also to
allocate roles for the other team members. This is where I first surprised
myself as I became a leader to organize the group and set us on track.

Professional appraisal

This assessment forced me to come out of my shell as a follower and I become

a leader and organizer. This project forced me to take on a role I otherwise
would not have undertaken. This illustrated the importance of collaborating
with colleagues and how building a rapport with others outside my own KLA
can help with the education of the students. This is something that is required
of all Australian teachers according to the APST.

I believe that I, as a teacher, am a crucial in promoting change in the school

setting and in the learning of students. There is a constant flow of new
research providing new and better strategies for improving learning and these
Contemporary Teacher Leadership - 102098

should be constantly read, reviewed, and implemented as I see fit depending

on my own classrooms. I need to see how the implementation of new
strategies -whether it be from new research or my own action research and
observations – affects the learning environment and determine whether it is
having a positive or negative effect.

It’s not just about my own classrooms, however. It is my role as a responsible

educator to try and improve the learning of all students, not just my own. It is
important to make any implementation of new research a schoolwide
approach which can then feed into the greater education network and
community.

In order for this to be successful we need to keep a sense of accountability,

understand the importance of data and collaboration, and decide what kind of
people and teachers we want to be and setting targets based on that. We must
lead our own professional development and take responsibility for the
education of all students.
Contemporary Teacher Leadership - 102098

References

aitsl. (2017). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers [Ebook] (1st ed.).

Retrieved from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-

standards-for-teachers/standards/list

Belbin, R. M. (1993). Team roles at work. London, England:

ButterworthHeinemann

Boylan, M. (2016). Deepening system leadership: Teachers leading from

below. Educational management administration & leadership, 44(1),

57-72.

Broemmel, A. D., Jordan, J., & Whitsett, B. M. (2015). Learning to be teacher

leaders: A framework for assessment, planning, and instruction.

Routledge.

Fullan, M. G. (1993). Why teachers must become change agents. Educational

leadership, 50, 12-12.

Goddard, R., Goddard, Y., Sook Kim, E., & Miller, R. (2015). A theoretical and

empirical analysis of the roles of instructional leadership, teacher

collaboration, and collective efficacy beliefs in support of student

learning. American Journal of Education, 121(4), 501-530.

Contemporary Teacher Leadership - 102098

Mathieu, J. E., Tannenbaum, S. I., Kukenberger, M. R., Donsbach, J. S., & Alliger,

G. M. (2015). Team role experience and orientation: A measure and

tests of construct validity. Group & Organization

Management, 40(1), 6-34.

Ronfeldt, M., Farmer, S. O., McQueen, K., & Grissom, J. A. (2015). Teacher

collaboration in instructional teams and student

achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 52(3), 475-

514.

Wenner, J. A., & Campbell, T. (2017). The theoretical and empirical basis of

teacher leadership: A review of the literature. Review of Educational

Research, 87(1), 134-171.