Growing your own
The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. – Ralph Nader
As a school leader, what have you done to cultivate teacher leadership in your building?
I don’t mean having your administrative intern handle all of your referrals this semester so that you have time for “more important things.”
How much have you invested in the teacher leaders in your school? Are you inviting them to share their practices — their successes and failures — with their colleagues? Are you encouraging others to listen to what they say? Are you listening?
Remember that not all leaders have titles.
August 11, 2008 at 06:47
This is very much in line with a blog post that I just wrote.
http://ssik12.com/2008/07/28/teacher-leadership-to-effect-change-in-education/
Here is an excerpt:
“But leadership does not need to happen solely at the principal, or administration level. Leadership can function at the teacher level as well.
Educators are great leaders and experts in consensus building, aligning students around a vision, gaining political capital, managing conflict, and driving change. But, educators are typically not trained in applying these skills to effecting enterprise-level change. In essence, teachers should apply their classroom leadership skills to their entire districts.”
August 11, 2008 at 11:15
I’m looked at as a quasi-administrator in my building, although I’m not really “officially” administration yet. Whenever I can, I try to encourage teachers step forward with their ideas, innovations, etc… for the rest of the building to see. I actually stepped down from our leadership team this year in order to get some newer faces on there. That lasted only a short while, though, as our superintendent wants all assistant principals to be on leadership team. So, I’m back on now.
In many ways, I believe it’s the job of a good school administrator to recognize innovation and promote leadership among the staff in the building.
Good post, Scott.
August 12, 2008 at 14:50
[...] I read a post from Scott Elias about Leadership, and the quote he used to jump-start everything was one from Ralph Nader: The function of [...]
August 12, 2008 at 22:29
Thanks Rick and Nitin! Being a teacher-leader is not always easy. I remember when I was going through my admin internship and doing “quasi-admin” stuff…
Some of the teachers started calling me “The Chosen One” and other names that made it seem like I’d gotten to where I was because someone liked me rather than by hard work. But at the end of the day I moved into an official, “titled” leadership role and they’re still looking for new people to mock.
October 14, 2008 at 20:40
Thanks for saying this…it is true…many of my collegues complain about our school but seldom give constructive suggestions for improvement. It is the leadership’s responsiblity to cultivate new teacher leaders. I would enjoy seeing leadership begin with each of our relationships with each other to make our school a loving, caring place.