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Contemporary Teacher Leadership Assessment 2

Contemporary Teacher Leadership Video Presentation URL


https://bit.ly/2z8EjWR
Contemporary Teacher Leadership Critical Reflection

Contemporary Teacher Leadership (CTL) allowed me to self-reflect and to consider how I can be
an agent for change. Unlike, other subjects, CTL was mainly focused on us as teachers and the
way we interact with our colleagues, rather than how we interact with our students. In this critical
reflection, I will first discuss my professional identity including my roles, responsibilities and
personal attributes at university, practicum and in future teaching positions. I will then reflect on
the concept of being an agent of change. I will also examine how theoretical concepts surrounding
change and teacher-led development are applied in a practical setting.

It is critical to pose teachers as leaders of change. It is the role and responsibility of a teacher to
identify problems within their school and put plans in place to rectify these issues. As stated by
Robinson (2010), we must modify the way we see education in order to develop innovative and
effective ways to overcome challenges within the school context. When I think of myself as an
agent of change, the main role I think about is being a proactive participant and leader of change. I
see my role as an innovative and creative thinker in order to generate solutions that may not have
been attempted before. I think the trend towards inquiry-based and project-based learning is
aiding teachers in developing innovative and exciting programs that improve engagement and
attendance among students (Rotgans & Schmidt, 2011). At university, I exercised my role as
being a proactive agent of change in the group assignments we conducted. I took a leadership
position in my group assignment by designating roles to my colleagues in order to get the job done
efficiently. The roles I designated to myself within the group assignment included developing the
section of the assignment dedicated to one of my KLAs- Technology, formatting the final project
proposal, writing up the script for the video presentation and leading the group discussion in the
video presentation. The reason why I was able to achieve so much in our group project was
because I am a proactive group member with ambitions to generate change.

Generating change is more effective when it is done collaboratively and cooperatively (Quinn,
2016). Another responsibility of teachers, in regards to generating change, is to work as a team
with their colleagues to develop changes necessary to solve problems within their school. As
stated by Lunenburg (2010), the success of the change often reflects the relationship shared by
the change agents involved. This responsibility involves, fostering strong relationships with
colleagues and open communication in order to get the job done. I demonstrated my collaboration
skills whilst working on the group assignment within CTL by attending meetings, replying promptly
to emails and building professional relationships with my colleagues. I was also able to work
cooperatively during my practicum as I shared classes with other teachers and had to ensure that I
was communicating effectively in order for lessons to run smoothly.
Another responsibility of teachers and myself when generating change within a school is self and
peer-reflection. As a teacher, it is our responsibility to carve out time in our schedule to reflect on
our practice (Queensland Government, 2006). Self reflection allows us to recognise what worked
and what did not and improve from there. If we keep implementing the same programs with the
same learning activities, we become stagnant in our progress as a teacher and we may be
disadvantaging our students by not remaining current in our practice. Participating in peer
reflection allows our colleagues to provide us with constructive criticism in regards to our content
coverage, delivery and behaviour management strategies. Peer reflection is also beneficial when
we observe other colleagues’ classes so we can provide them with constructive feedback and we
gain a new perspective on how to do certain things within the classroom e.g. new behaviour
management techniques that we have not thought of before.

Along with being proactive, cooperative and reflective, I encompass other personal attributes that
aid in becoming an effective agent of change. The practical attributes that I have that aid in
generating change are that I am organised, open to new ideas, willing to try, resourceful,
enthusiastic and assertive. These attributes allow me to be open to other people’s innovative ideas
and willing to try new and creative practices suggested by my colleagues. Organisation helps with
all aspects of being a teacher, including generating change within a school. Organisation will help
me in my future teaching profession when generating change through time management, data
collection and record keeping. Resourcefulness is another important attribute in being an overall
effective teacher but specifically in generating change as this often involves thinking out of the box
and using the resources you have, even if they are limited. My enthusiasm and assertive nature
will allow me to confidently stand up in a staffroom to be a leader of change and to express my
ideas and concerns when necessary.
Before studying the content in CTL, I did not consider teachers or myself to be agents of change.
Through this course, I have learned that it is imperative for teachers and myself to be agents of
change in order to improve the overall workings within the school. In contrary to Coucicci’s (2013)
list of reasons why teachers show aversion to leading change, it is my opinion that I must be
proactive, collaborative and manage my time well in order to generate change within my future
workplace. I cannot leave it up to someone else to fix, if I notice a problem within my school, I
have to lead the change to fix it. This was something that I had the privilege observing first-hand
when I attended the Rural & Remote Teacher Trip to Tamworth as part of my second Professional
Practice (PP2). One of the main key learning experiences I had at the school we visited (Peel High
School) was the staff culture surrounding change, innovation and creativity. The school was
evidently a solutions-based school where the teachers and principal had created a work
environment revolving around innovation and solution rather than complaining and complacency.
This was so refreshing to witness and sparked another wave of excitement in me to start teaching.

Word count: 1,040 words


References
Coucicci, A. S. (2013). Five beliefs that hold teachers back from leading. Education Week
TEACHER.
Lunenburg, F. C. (2010). Managing change: The role of the change agent. Sam Houston State
University.
Queensland Government. (2006). Early years curriculum materials: Reflecting on my teaching
practices. Queensland Studies Authority.
Quinn, S. O. (2016). Transformative education through collaborative learning design: Participatory,
communicative and emergent processes for deep meaning and engagement in the middle
years. University of South Australia.
Robinson, K. (2010). RSA ANIMATE: Changing education paradigms. TED Talk. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=zDZFcDGpL4U
Rotgans, J. I. & Schmidt, H. G. (2011). Cognitive engagement in the problem-based learning
classroom. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 16(4), 465-479. 10.1007/s10459-011-
9272-9

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