My Philosophy of Educational Leadership

-Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership

and Postsecondary Education
University of Northern Iowa
-In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the
Master of Arts in Education
-by
Corinn N. Randolph
American International School of Egypt
Cairo, Egypt
May 13, 2014
-Dr. Tim Gilson

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The decision to pursue leadership is one that takes careful consideration as well as

reflection on behalf of each teacher. Students, teachers, and the community, need leaders
who are confident in their abilities; are continually learning new strategies for creating
high-achieving students; and maintain high expectations on a daily basis. I would like to
present to you my personal educational leadership philosophy that discusses what I believe it
means to be an effective leader.
I have known that I wanted to become a teacher since I was in the second grade. The
decision to move into leadership roles has been one that has developed within the past three
years. While working as a classroom teacher for the past eight years, I have interacted with
many different administrators as well as leader teachers and have developed a personal
philosophy about the kind of leader that I want to be. I want to share with others what I have
learned to be effective methods to increase student achievement and community involvement
and support my colleagues as they work to reach the needs of diverse groups of learners. I
feel it is important to encourage growth in my colleagues so they are continuously learning
new classroom practices that enable them to reach each of their students. I also feel it is
important to continue my own professional growth by learning effective leadership qualities
that I can use in the future. In the past I have held several different leadership positions,
including lead teacher and serving as a new teacher mentor. Next year I will be moving into
a leadership role at my current school and will become grade-level chair. I will be
supervising five classroom teachers and six teaching assistants. My educational leadership
philosophy will help me to effectively lead my fellow colleagues as they work to fully
develop each of their students.
While there are many different components to the success of any leader, I believe
there are several characteristics that are extremely important. I have modeled these as a past
teacher leader as well as a classroom teacher. These include being enthusiastic and positive

during routine day-to-day activities, and holding myself accountable for my actions and
decisions. It is also important to strengthen the educational team by developing each of my
colleagues and allowing them to bring their expertise to the group setting. I strongly believe
in enabling my colleagues to do their jobs successfully by helping to provide them with the
tools and resources necessary to help all of their students achieve. I also have firsthand
experience of how important it is that a leader communicates with team members. While
there are many other qualities of an effective leader, I have chosen these five to reflect upon.
The effective leaders with whom I have worked in the past have been enthusiastic and
positive. They approach change with an upbeat personality and a smile. Ramsey (2006)
suggests that maintaining a positive attitude is crucial in creating a productive workplace
when he discusses cultivating a positive school culture is the real work of real leaders. I use
my enthusiasm for new school procedures, educational reforms, and daily day-to-day changes
to model for my colleagues a positive way to handle change. It has been my experience that
positive behavior is contagious. When administrators and teachers model that behavior for
students, they learn to apply that positive behavior to their school life, their personal life, and
their interactions with the community.
I believe effective leaders need to be accountable for their actions, the results of those
actions, and take ownership of their mistakes. Author Michael Hyatt (2012) addresses the
issue of accountable leadership on his personal blog by stating, no organization can grow
and prosper until the leaders are willing to step up and take responsibility (para 15).
Teachers need educational leaders who do not accept blaming, denying, or making excuses
and do not allow that from others. If a mistake is made, it is important that a leader model
appropriate ways to handle that mistake and work to correct it in a positive manner.
Effective leaders work to build up their teams and to use each teachers unique
educational background to benefit the students. Domains One and Three of the Teacher

Leader Model Standards (Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, 2011) refer to

fostering a collaborative culture to support educator development and promoting professional
learning for continuous improvement. Each teacher has individual strengths that can help
colleagues strengthen teaching practices. By giving teachers the opportunity to share their
wealth of knowledge, you are creating a collaborative culture that is rich in professional
development. You are also fostering an environment where sharing is the norm and teachers
feel comfortable turning to each other for support. In my personal experience, I have found
that I learn more from talking with colleagues than I do from reading articles or books on any
given subject. Having the chance to learn from other teachers and leaders has been extremely
important. I believe that as an effective leader, I need to give others those opportunities as
well.
Teachers need to be given the proper tools to ensure that they are able to do their jobs
to the best of their abilities. Effective leaders need to provide those tools, resources, and
professional development necessary for all teachers to help their students succeed. It is
important that leaders are aware of what things are lacking in regards to materials, supplies,
or teaching training, and address those issues to help the students, teachers, and community
move forward with success.
One of the most important components of a successful leader is the ability to use
honest and open forms of communication. Leaders need to communicate their expectations
to students, teachers and the community so that everyone can continue to work towards the
same goal: student achievement. Ramsey (2006) presents some very good ideas on how to
keep communication from breaking down. These tips include using multiple delivery
channels, avoiding information overload, being sensitive to cultural differences, and
acknowledging other viewpoints when appropriate. I have worked in schools where there is

very little communication between leaders and teachers. I have seen how important it is to
keep clear lines of communication open, at all times.
While there are many other characteristics that help leaders become effective, the five
that Ive presented are personally important to me because they are those qualities that I have
been taught by a number of past administrators and teacher leaders. These are the people
who continually inspire me to pursue teacher leadership. Many of them do not have an
official leadership title but are teachers who have taught alongside me that continually fight
for what they believe in. They work tirelessly to do the best for their students and are
genuine advocates for the teaching profession. They devote hours outside of the school day,
weekends and holidays to ensuring that their students are receiving the education and support
that is necessary for them to all experience success. As I work towards pursuing future
leadership roles, the passion of these colleagues makes me work towards becoming the best
leader I can be.
Schools are looking for leaders who have a clear definition of their expectations for
the students, colleagues, and the community. Expectations need to be clearly communicated
to students, teachers, and the community. There needs to be consequences for not meeting
expectations. Expectations should also be logical, based on common goals, and best serve
our students.
I believe in setting high expectations for students. It has been my experience that if
students are held to high expectations most will work to meet them. I expect students to be
active participants in their learning and to build relationships with their peers, teachers, and
community. Students will create physical and emotionally safe learning environments for
themselves and their peers as well as always working to their highest potential.
I also believe that effective leaders expect greatness from their teachers. Teachers
should be involved in grade-level planning, school committees, and community projects as

well as build meaningful relationships with their students. Creating a healthy balance
between their personal and professional lives will ensure they maintain the mental clarity
needed to do their best while educating their students and nurturing their families. Teachers
should continually challenge themselves and dedicate time to learning new strategies to help
their students achieve.
The community plays a vital role in student education. Community members will be
expected to be present, volunteer their time or services to help students in the school, and
voice their opinions on the education of their children. We are preparing our students to
become successful members of the community. It is crucial that we hear the needs of that
community so that we are correctly preparing our children to meet the challenges they will
face when they graduate high school. Risbee (2009) discusses how great principals make an
effort to include families by offering opportunities for parents as well as provide many forms
of communication to facilitate the school and community relationship.
There are many things to consider when working towards becoming an effective
leader. Individual characteristics such as being positive and holding yourself accountable, as
well as strengthening the skills of others, providing teachers with the necessary tools to do
their jobs, and open and honest communication are the characteristics that I will work to
develop within myself and others as I work to be the best leader I can be. I will work to
strengthen the expectations that I have for others and myself, to ensure we are educating
students to become productive members of society. It is my goal to also foster future teacher
leaders and guide them as they work towards become effective leaders themselves.

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References

Hyatt, M. (2012, March 22). How real leaders demonstrate accountability. [Web log post].
Retrieved from http://michaelhyatt.com/leadership-and-accountability.html/
Ramsey, R. D. (2006). Lead, follow or get out of the way: How to be a more effective leader
in todays schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Rigsbee, C. (2009, February 18). What makes a principal great? Education Week Teacher.
Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2009/02/18/021109tln_rigsbee.
h20.html
Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium. (2011). Teacher Leader Model Standards.
Retrieved from http://teacherleaderstandards.org/downloads/TLS_Brochure_sm.pdf