Leadership Essay

North Carolina State University

Kristen Votta
4/16/15

Over the course of this semester I have investigated leadership

in many forms, through readings, lecture material, hands on
experimentation and learning and growing with my colleagues. As I
reflect on leadership, and how I have come to understand and
define it, I can identify the following leadership themes: passion,
communication, vision, risk taking and life long learning.
First, passion is a theme that has been repeated through the
readings, leadership interviews and finally through my video review
and presentation. My passion, or heart, as Roland Barth describes it,
is at the root of my successful teaching. Having passion gives me
the drive and determination to be a continual learner and work
towards bettering my classroom, my profession and myself.
Risk taking is necessary to develop 21st century learners.
Human learning is most profound, most transformative, and most
enduring when two conditions are present: when we take risks and
when a safety strap (supports us when we fall), so that we dont get
killed (p 188). It is clear that if, as professionals, we do not take
risks, we will improve or grow ourselves. If our fellow teachers and
administration is acting as a cooperative group, they become the
safety net, and it frees teachers to try new things in their classroom.
Communication is a critically important leadership skill. As a
teacher leader, I need to be able to express my ideas, to the right
people, at the right time, and in an organized fashion. This requires

having a deep understanding of the school community in which I

teach, as well as having a good working relationship with my
principal. In addition to being a mouthpiece for change, leadership
requires outstanding listening skills. Katzenmeyer and Moller
express that, we counsel teacher leaders to think about listening
rather then telling if they want to be successful in their leadership
(p 106).
Teacher leaders need to have a vision. The vision creates a clear
path for other leaders to follow with you. Typically the vision is quit
different from the practices that are currently being followed in the
school. Roland Barth, and other life long reformists encourages this
is teacher leaders. He writes, In this era of reform school people
are invited to think otherwise (p ) Divergent thinking is critical. This
leads to innovation, creation and otherwise not previously thought
of solutions to problems. Change is necessary and important for
growth. If you continue to do what you have always dont, you will
continue to get what you have always gotten ( p ). Furthermore
when teacher leaders share their vision with other teachers in the
building, a community vision can be crafted this shared vision can
be very empowering.
In addition to having vision it is critical to reflect, refract and
reinvent yourself and your vision. Bath uses the analogy in his book of
a group of people standing on the ground level of an auditorium. At the

ground level you can interact with other people, and you can see the
people directly around you. However, if you were to ascend to the
rafters, you would be able to see a whole new perspective. This visual
of the micro versus the macro level of analysis is important. When
leading it reminds teachers that it is imperative to take a step back, to
ascend to the macro level and to see the big picture, to make changes
where it is necessary. In addition, through the process of refraction the
teacher leader needs to look at them to assess where improvements
can be made. From this process emerges the final theme of teacher
leadership, continuous learning. Barth states, you cannot lead, where
you are not willing to go ( p ). If, as teacher we expect our, students,
are fellow colleagues and our administration to be continuously
improving, and then we need to do it as well.
By synthesizing these five themes I have arrived at the following
definition of leadership. To be an effective leader you have to be
passionate about your cause, and have a clear vision for the future.
Leaders need to be excellent listeners and communicators, they need
to be organized and observant, they must be willing to constantly
reflect on their practice in an effort to show continuous growth and
improvement. Finally they must be risk takers, because as Roland
Barth points out in his book, Learning By Heart, risk taking is a critical
part of change.

This definition has been informed by the learning and professional

growth that I have made throughout this course. Based on the growth,
and a strong inner desire to view myself as a teacher leader I have
developed the following action plan to be implanted at my school, Atlas
International School in Cary North Carolina.
Atlas school is a one of a kind establishment. They have created a
partnership between home school families and traditional private
education. As a result of this, the week is shortened from 5 days to 4,
with no school on Fridays and the school day is shortened, ending at
2:00 p.m. The school itself has been running for over ten years now
growing steadily in popularity. However, the current leadership, the
director and the principal, have a fixed mindset as to how the school
should look and operate. They are not overly willing to accept change
or welcome new thoughts and ideas. This is a very significant downfall
of the school. Through my growth as a future leader in this class my
goal is to motivate the formal leadership as well my colleges and
parents, to develop a summer reading program for the school.
I am passionate about reading, my colleges and supervisors at Atlas
school are well aware of this. Furthermore both in the classroom, and
professionally outside of the classroom I have demonstrated my skill of
teaching and remediating students reading problems. The first step
that I need to take in this process is to approach my director. I have a
good working relationship with her, and I feel comfortable and

confident approaching her with my idea. If she gives me permission to

move forward with my plan, my second step is to develop a written
proposal and contact my other reading colleagues to see if they might
be interested in developing this reading program with me. In addition
to this, I plan on reaching out to several of my graduate professors to
assist me in making sure that this program is concurrent with the most
relevant research and overall best practice.