Leadership Development EDL 500

Spring, 2016 WIU QC Campus

Department of Educational Leadership Western Illinois University

Name: Stuart Yager Rank: Professor Department: Educational Leadership Office Location: Macomb, HH 81

Office: 309-298-1070 Cell: 309-255-0955 Email: so-yager@wiu.edu Office Hours: Before and After Class

Course Description EDL 500 Leadership Development. (3) Assessment of leadership capability in tandem with leadership theory, followed by development of leadership in others, participative leadership, and distributive leadership. From there, the broader issue of organizational (school) capacity development follows, which leads into staff development, followed by hiring and other personnel functions.

Prerequisites: Admitted to the Program or Permission of the Instructor

Purpose Candidates will understand and practice the theories of management and effective leadership and reflect on the talents, abilities, and experiences they bring to school level leadership. This course will provide candidates with experiences in leading professional and support staff in the school setting. Candidates will learn the importance of school culture, climate, and communication.

Objectives The student will

1. Based on a review of leadership theory, identify and describe the skills, behaviors, and

characteristics of effective leaders.

2. Demonstrate an appreciation of the complexity of combining impartiality while remaining sensitive to diversity, respecting confidentiality, and maintaining honest interactions.

3. Describe appropriate policies, criteria, and processes for the recruitment, induction, compensation, and separation of personnel.

4. Describe effective strategies for consensus building and collaboration for school faculty and staff.

5. Describe four principles of contract implementation at the school building level, using examples for each principle.

6. Describe the cultural competencies needed by principals to ensure equality, social justice, and respect for diversity in all its forms (ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, gender, religious affiliations, etc.).

7. Develop a plan for personal growth based on leadership and management theory and the challenges of school leadership.

8. Develop and evaluate job descriptions and interview questions for preschool, elementary, middle school/junior high, and high school regular education teachers and teachers requiring endorsements for special areas such as early childhood, bilingual, special education, and talented and gifted.

9. Discuss the meaning of professional integrity in the principalship in terms of the 10 points in NASSP’s ethical code for school administrators (http://www.nassp.org/Content.aspx?topic=47104).

10. Use internal and external sources of information to collect, organize, and analyze data to identify one or more personnel areas of concern, applying knowledge of human resource processes to address the concerns within a school improvement plan for the employment of effective, competent preschool, elementary, middle school/junior high, and high school teachers and special needs personnel.

11. Use several criteria to compare organizational leadership and management theories and how these can be applied in the principalship.

Required Texts Maxwell, J. C. (2007). The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. ISBN: 13:978-0-7852-8837-4 Carroll, L. (1865). Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass ISBN: 0-553-21345-8

Brinkman, R., & Kirschner, R. (2012). Dealing with People You Can't Stand: How to Bring Out the Best in People at Their Worst, Revised and Expanded Third Edition ISBN-13: 9780071785723

Blanchard, K. (1985, Revised 2013). Leadership and the One Minute Manager. ISBN: 978-0-06-230944-0

Calendar of Topics (Tentative)

Date Topics & Learning Activities Readings Due

Day 1 Program Orientation and Graduate Study Plan

1/9/16 Effective Leadership for Effective Schools

Leadership Beliefs

Peter Northrup:

http://www.sagepub.com/northouseintro2e/main.htm

Day 2 Leadership Capability #1

1/10 Leadership Ethics and Personal Integrity

Distributive Leadership

Leadership within Organizational Context

Day 3 Interest-based Strategies #2

1/23 Group Facilitation and Quality Tools #3

Developing a Culture of Open Communication

Day 4 Personnel Planning #4

1/24 Interviewing, Hiring and Personnel Policies #5

Contract Implementation

Right Seat on the Bus – Areas of Strength

Day 5 Intercultural Competence #6

2/20 School Culture and Climate #7

Culture, Climate, and Peace at Night #8

Leadership Development Plan

Day 6 Team Building and Active Listening #9

2/21 Future Plans Final Exam

Field Experiences

1. Diversity. Select a cultural, ethnic, or religious group within the school or district community;

research historical context and a minimum of ten significant indicators, traits, or beliefs associated with the group by interviewing at least one member of the selected group.

2. Leadership Plan. Identify personal attributes related to management, planning, and personal behaviors/habits as self-reported and seen by building colleagues to develop a Professional Growth Plan to address these attributes and also to continue personal growth toward becoming a principal.

Grading

Percent Grade Notes

92-100 A A = Superior Graduate Work

80-91 B B = Good Graduate Work

70-79 C C = Unacceptable Work at the Graduate Level

Point Values for the Course Assignments

ASSIGNMENTS Percent Individual (100%) Class Participation 15 One Minute Manager Presentation 5 Laws of Leadership Presentation 10 People You Can’t Stand Presentation 10 Hiring Process Presentation 5 Interest-based Strategies Presentation 10 Inter-cultural Competence Presentation 10 Social Justice Presentation 10 Professional Development Plan 10 Alice Handout and Presentation 5 Final Exam 10 Total 100

Assignments

All assignments are to be submitted by posting them in their designated folder in “Discussions” AND in the Dropbox in Western Online.

1. Choose two key points from the one minute manager text. Prepare a five-minute power point presentation about the key points. Tell why you chose the two key points and share several examples of how you’ve experienced the key points in your professional work.

2. Choose one of the irrefutable laws of leadership from Maxwell’s book that you consider to be a

personal favorite. Prepare a five-minute power point presentation that explains why the law is a favorite and share several examples of how you’ve experienced the irrefutable law in your professional work.

3. Choose one of the thirteen most unwanted behaviors from the dealing with people you can’t stand text that you’ve observed when working with people. Prepare a five-minute power point presentation and in the presentation explain how the person exhibiting the unwanted behavior was dealt with by either you or a supervisor. Discuss how you will try to deal with the unwanted behavior in the future based on the strategies explained in the text.

4. Prepare a five-minute power point presentation that tells about the hiring process you’ve been through in your current or a previous position. Discuss the pros and cons of the process. End the presentation with a discussion of how you’d structure an interview/hiring process for a teaching position in a school where you’re the principal.

5. Based on the interest-based strategy process presented in class, prepare a scenario and include two or three examples of what could likely happen in each step of the process. Prepare a five-minute power point presentation that highlights the scenario and each step of the process.

6. Choose a cultural, ethic group, religious group, or race that is found in your school or school district. Present the historical context as it relates to your geographical area and at least ten significant indicators, traits, or beliefs related to the group you’ve selected. If possible, interview at least one member of the group you are reporting on. Prepare a five-minute power point presentation to report you findings.

7. Research social justice. Prepare a five-minute power point presentation that defines social justice and presents a specific example of social justice being an issue in your school or a school you have researched. Explain how the issue was resolved or how it still remains an issue. Discuss how leadership was involved in the social justice issue. Present an example or examples of how you would resolve the social justice issue if you were the principal.

8. Write a Leadership Development Plan (3-5 pages in APA style, written or outline form). This plan must integrate your learning from class activities (MBTI, Surveys), text, (characteristics and behaviors of effective leaders) and class presentations. Review your strengths and weaknesses from the assessments; develop clear goals and activities for your personal growth in leadership now and for your future career path. Articulate the ethical standards for school leaders and your commitment to professional integrity. Goals, activities, and indicators should be clearly written, specific, and realistic based on several of the assessment instrument results. A grading/scoring rubric will be provided to guide you on this assignment.

9. You will be assigned to work in a learning team for this assignment. Based on the characters in the “Alice” book, prepare a handout (two to three pages) that identifies characters in the book to positions held in a typical school district. Start with the character “Alice” as a new teacher in a school building. Share the handout with the class and explain why you choose the characters and positions that are in your handout.

Appendix A

Class Participation

In addition to contributing to class discussions both during class time and online, you will need to be prepared to share a current event related to course topics during each in-class session (one per weekend). Use the “question guide” in Appendix B to guide your class discussion.

Appendix B

Article or Current Event Analysis

“Analyzing the Message”

1) What is the main purpose of this article?

2) What concept/s or information would the reader need to know in order to fully understand

this article?

List any terms or concepts in the article that you do not understand?

3) What are the key questions or issues the author is addressing in this article?

4) What is the main point of view presented by the author of this article? OR What are the

main assumption(s) underlying the author’s thinking?

5) If readers take the article seriously, what conclusions might they draw from the article?

6) What are 1-2 key points that you want to remember from this article?

Appendix C

Feedback on Assignments

I will be using the Written Assignment Feedback Form and the Oral Presentation Feedback Form as a guide to grade all written and presentation work. These forms are printed below.

Guidelines for grading written assignments will follow APA format and the rubric printed below.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT FEEDBACK

Student/Group Name(s)

Course

Date

Assignment

Content/Development 50% Subject Matter:

Key elements of assignments covered

Content is comprehensive/accurate/persuasive

Displays an understanding of relevant theory

Major points supported by specific details/examples

Research is adequate/timely

Writer has gone beyond textbook for resources

Higher-Order Thinking:

Writer compares/contrasts/integrates theory/subject matter with

work environment/experience

At an appropriate level, the writer analyzes and synthesizes

theory/practice to develop new ideas and ways of

conceptualizing and performing

Organization 20% The introduction provides a sufficient background on the topic

and previews major points

Central theme/purpose is immediately clear

Structure is clear, logical, and easy to follow

Subsequent sections develop/support the central theme

Conclusion/recommendations follow logically from the body of

the paper

Style/Mechanics 30%

Format--10%

Citations/reference page follow guidelines

Properly cites ideas/info from other sources

Paper is laid out effectively--uses, heading and other reader-

friendly tools

Paper is neat/shows attention to detail

Grammar/Punctuation/Spelling--10%

Rules of grammar, usage, punctuation are followed

Spelling is correct

Readability/Style--10%

Sentences are complete, clear, and concise

Sentences are well-constructed with consistently strong, varied

structure

Transitions between sentences/paragraphs/sections help

maintain the flow of thought

Words used are precise and unambiguous

The tone is appropriate to the audience, content, and

assignment

Guidelines for grading oral presentation assignments will follow the rubric printed below.

Oral Presentation Feedback

Student/Group Name(s)

Course

Date

Assignment

Content (30%)

-Presentation content clearly follows the written paper upon which it is based (if applicable) -Topic is relevant and addresses assignment specifications -Content presented is comprehensive, accurate, and believable -Key points are noted -Topic is researched adequately

Organization/Structure (20%)

-Presentation is well-organized, clear, and effectively structured

-If this is a group presentation, it is integrated rather than being a disjointed series of individual presentations

-There is an introduction to gain the audience’s attention and explain the purpose of the presentation

Style/Presentation/Appearance (15%)

-Dress and grooming are appropriate to the setting -Non-verbal cues/gestures are appropriate to presentation and flow of ideas -Content knowledge/confidence are evident -Time was used well/not rushed

Use of Visual Aids (15%) -Visual aids are used where appropriate -Visual aids are appropriately professional given the presentation’s context -They are easy to see/read -Media are used correctly--i.e., overheads, videos, computer generated slides, charts, etc. -Visual aids contribute to the overall effectiveness of the presentation

Audience Participation (10%) -The presenter(s) involved the audience and solicited feedback -Questions from the audience are effectively addressed and answered correctly

Adherence to Time Limit (10%) -The presenter(s) stayed within the allotted time limit (Failure to do so may result in a deduction of points)