Strengthening PLC Communications and Leadership - … · 2015-02-09 · Strengthening PLC Communications and Leadership ... I regularly reflect on the leadership practices and effectiveness

Strengthening PLC Communications and Leadership

A Solution Tree Event

Designed and Facilitated by Cassandra Erkens

PLC and Assessment Associate [email protected]

Leading by Design, © Erkens & Twadell, 2012 Page 1 of 14

Common Strategies for Collaborative Leadership

Erkens & Twadell (2012)

1. I strive to create organizational coherence and clarity; this means I engaged teams in finding and explaining the compelling why before engaging teams in the how. Then I tie all of our collective and individual efforts to our mutually adopted rationale for our work.

2. I work to create shared responsibility among all staff such that we are interdependent upon each other for our success. This involves setting the context and the structures for the right work to happen in the right places by the right people.

3. I have aligned the organization’s systems (practices, policies, and structures) to reflect our public promises (vision, mission, values and goals) so that success is inevitable.

4. I personally collaborate, and require, support, and empower collaborative teams to act; this means I identify and celebrate strengths, remove barriers, and address conflict as it arises in ways that continue to build a collaborative culture across the organization.

5. I model the actions, beliefs, and practices that I require of others at all times; this means I lead by doing – clarifying my expectations, showing people the way, and working to earn trust and respect along the way – as I create a culture of collective efficacy.

6. I regularly reflect on the leadership practices and effectiveness of myself and others from the place of experience and best practice research; this means I begin from a place of humility and strive to learn from and enhance my craft-knowledge almost daily.

7. I strive to develop leadership capacity in self and others as an integral part of my work as a leader. This means I explicitly teach leadership throughout my organization.


Building Coherence and Clarity

• Showing Links within Programs and Initiatives (focusing on learning)

• Common Vocabulary, Common Definitions

• From I, My, and You to Us, We, and Ours – “All leaders are leading language communities.”

• Teachable Points of View

o We have to come together to prioritize and unpack our standards so we know what and how to assess the learning.

o We have the professional obligation to work collaboratively to develop common assessments with clear targets at consistent levels of rigor so that we can make strategic instructional decisions. This will help us achieve our individual and collective goals for teaching and learning.

• Getting the Message Back - generating opportunities for everyone to restate rationale and key messages

o Susie is a transfer student (made up case study). We know . . . . about her. If we

believed in our vision/mission, what else would we need to know? How would we respond to her?

o If a parent walked our hallways today, what evidence would s/he see to demonstrate we are living our vision and mission? What evidence might s/he find that we have not yet arrived?

o If you walked into my office today, what evidence would you see or hear to demonstrate I am modeling our vision and mission? What evidence might you find that I have not yet arrived?

o If I visited your team meeting this week, what evidence . . . .


Exploring Our Communications Systems and Messages

What messages have been clearly and accurately received? What messages are still unclear or missing all together? What strategies have we previously employed that have worked? What have we learned about our communication systems and processes over time? How could we improve? Identifying areas of need for future communications: create a communications plan

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Leading Through Understanding Team Needs

“. . . [T]he collaborative team is the fundamental building block of the organization. A PLC is composed of collaborative teams whose members work interdependently to achieve common goals—goals linked to the purpose of learning for all—for which members are held mutually accountable.”

—DuFour, DuFour & Eaker, 2008, p. 15

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Healthy,

but Unproductive

Healthy and Productive

Low

Unhealthy and Unproductive

Unhealthy but Productive

Low High Team Productivity

(Source: Erkens & Twadell, 2012, p. 42)

Select a quadrant to discuss: What might be happening regarding the team’s health and productivity for the team to belong in that quadrant?

• Team health:

• Team productivity: How do you move that team forward? Preventing the “Un’s” from ever occurring? Removing the “Un’s” that already exist?


Decoupling Position, Power, and Authority In Moral Leadership, Thomas Sergiovanni (1992) identifies the five sources of authority that shape a leader’s understanding of his or her role and relationship with those he or she leads: (1) bureaucratic authority, (2) psychological authority, (3) technical-rational authority, (4) professional authority, and (5) moral authority. When leaders rely on professional and moral authority as a basis for their leadership practice, they answer the what and why questions commonly asked in traditional school improvement initiatives differently. Effective leaders answer the what question of change and new initiatives by identifying the district and school mission and vision statements that articulate the “shared ideals that define” the community and the professional responsibilities of community members (Sergiovanni, 1992, p. 35). These leaders answer why question by pointing to the collective commitments that community members made to one another in support of the mission, vision, values, and goals of the school. Effective PLC leaders rely primarily on moral authority to answer to the why and what questions “because [the work] is the right thing to do” (Sergiovanni, 1992, p. 37).

The Collaborative Administrator

The Collaborative Coach

The Collaborative Team

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Facilitating Shared Responsibility

A Dialogue / Case Study Approach 1: Reciprocal Relationships “Effective teaching—like leading—is a reciprocal relationship that rests on shared commitment and personal responsibility.” 2: Accountability versus Shared Responsibility “The difference between accountability and shared responsibility is significant. In a general way, the difference lies in how leaders frame the work to be done and their expectations of teams and teachers. we have found that a strong focus on accountability at the expense of shared responsibility is not uncommon.” Table 4.1: Shifting Perspectives: From Accountability to Shared Responsibility

Accountability Shared Responsibility Places priority on getting things done Places priority on doing the right things Focuses on answering for decisions and choices made when desired outcomes are not met (responding)

Focuses on creating new or alternative responses when desired outcomes are not met (learning)

Increases desire to blame while simultaneously decreasing motivation

Increases ownership while simultaneously decreasing stress

Emphasizes external motivation Emphasizes internal motivation Perpetuates micromanagement Inspires empowerment

“I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do, I know” ! Confucius


Modeling – Teaching Skills, Craft Knowledge & Personal Qualities

Positive Characteristics Positive Behaviors Teaching Skills

Remains aware of role • Engages in self-talk relative to role and • Ties comments and actions to vision and values

Explicit about what is modeled

• Employs think aloud strategies for identification of what’s being done and why

Makes time for teaching • Engages in advanced planning • Utilizes strategies for prioritizing decisions during instruction

Shows respect for learners needs

• Uses formative assessment strategies with timely feedback embedded in a caring orientation

Encourages reflection in learners

• Asks timely and thought provoking open ended questions regarding content and process

Craft Knowledge Develops depth and breadth

of knowledge and skill regarding effective teaching

and learning

• Engages best practice research to study educational craft knowledge • Uses action research strategies for focused practice to learn by doing specific to

educational craft knowledge • Shares insights regarding new learning with others

Develops depth and breadth of knowledge and skill

regarding leading professional learning

communities

• Engages best practice research to study PLC leadership craft knowledge • Uses action research strategies for focused practice to learn by doing specific to PLC

leadership craft knowledge • Shares insights regarding new learning with others

Provides effective communication

• Anchors comments to mission, vision, values, and goals • Asks open, honest questions • Responds to questions and concerns with answers that provide clear and timely

responses • Employs best practices in offering feedback

Offers sound craft reasoning • Draws on research and experience to support decisions and dialogue opportunities Personal Qualities

Exhibits confidence and competence

• Uses actions and words intended to demonstrate craft knowledge and skill

Displays sincerity • Remains sensitive to needs of self and others • Remains true to the mission, vision, values, and goals in word and deed

Demonstrates reliability • Demonstrates consistent action over time • Acts to follow through with commitments

Extends caring orientation • Displays a willingness to solicit feedback, listen for understanding, anticipate needs, and respond in kind

Exudes honesty and integrity • Speaks the truth • Confronts issues and unethical behavior to hold all accountable to organizational

values and beliefs Practices positive

interpersonal skills • Chooses words carefully

• Attends to the will of the group • Employs a spirit of playfulness and appropriate humor • Responds with sensitivity to needs and concerns

Committed to excellence • Creates a high standard for professionalism • Uses organizationally identified or industry-wide commonly accepted criteria and

quality indicators to frame decisions for self and others Exhibits collegial nature • Frames and facilitates collaborative conversations

• Invites participation from others


Developing Leadership Capacity in Self and Others

Quality Leadership Practices for Collaborative Cultures © 2010 Erkens & Twadell, Leading by Design

The following leadership practices have been used by exemplary leaders across North America as they lead professional learning community based organizations. Take a moment to consider where you stand with each practice, using the scale to the right as your guide and considering ‘evidence’ to support your self score as you go. 8. I/we strive to create organizational coherence and clarity; this means

I/we begin with the compelling why before engaging teams in the how and I/we tie all of our collective and individual efforts to our mutually adopted rationale for our work.

1 2 3 4

What could I/we do to improve?

9. I/we work to create shared responsibility among all staff such that we are interdependent upon each other for our success. This involves setting the context and the structures for the right work to happen in the right places by the right people.

1 2 3 4


10. I/we have aligned the organization’s systems (practices, policies, and structures) to reflect our public promises (vision, mission, values and goals) so that success is inevitable.

1 2 3 4


11. I/we personally collaborate, and require, support, and empower collaborative teams to act; this means I/we identify and celebrate strengths, remove barriers, and address conflict as it arises in ways that continue to build a collaborative culture across the organization.

1 2 3 4

1- I can do this with the support of others. 2 - I have been able to do this on occasion, but I

am not yet consistent with this practice. 3- I have been able to do this with consistency

and others would identify this as a strength of mine.

4- I am able to model this, and teach it to all of my staff, and I have monitored for their success in doing it too.



12. I/we model the actions, beliefs, and practices that I/we require of others at all times; this means I/we lead by doing – clarifying my/our expectations, showing people the way, and working to earn trust and respect along the way – as I/we create a culture of collective efficacy.

1 2 3 4


13. I/we regularly reflect on the leadership practices and effectiveness of myself/ourselves and others from the place of experience and best practice research; this means I/we begin from a place of humility and strive to learn from and enhance my/our craft-knowledge almost daily.

1 2 3 4


14. I/we strive to develop leadership capacity in self and others as an integral part of my/our work as a leader. This means I/we explicitly teach leadership throughout my/our organization.

1 2 3 4



Personal Commitments to Leadership

1. Of the identified leadership practices, which is/are strength(s) for me/us? What evidence do I/we have to support that those are strengths?

Leadership Practice Evidence •

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2. Of the identified strengths, which leadership practices will you commit to grow in others? What strategies will you use to do that? How will you monitor for your success in growing that capacity in others? What evidence might you seek?

My/Our Commitment:

Strategies I/we will employ to grow leadership in others:

Evidence I/we will monitor as I/we grow leadership capacity in others:


Personal Commitments to Leadership 3. Of the identified leadership practices, which is/are areas of growth for me/us?

Leadership Practice My Commitment: What will I/we commit to ‘grow’ in myself/ourselves as a leader/s over the course of this next year?

Strategies I/we will employ to support growth Evidence I/we will monitor for success

Documents

Strengthening PLC Communications and Leadership - … · 2015-02-09 · Strengthening PLC Communications and Leadership ... I regularly reflect on the leadership practices and effectiveness