What is your general definition of teacher leadership?
My general definition of teacher leadership is a teacher
that has a vision beyond just the classroom, someone who understands that
student learning stretches beyond school to home, the community and onto the
world. A teacher who has the desire for a greater responsibility beyond just
the typical duties of a teacher, someone that works towards the larger goal of
school improvement even up to influencing the education environment at a state
or national level. A teacher leader works toward improving education through
improving oneself with continuous learning, a positive open attitude, and a
willingness to act when they see or create an opportunity to improve the
learning environment. A teacher leader has a willingness to help colleagues and
the school work towards greater changes.
What examples of teacher leadership have you observed or
experienced?
During my time as a high school art teacher in West
Virginia, I attended weekly meetings where the art department chair would
discuss art department happenings, ideas, upcoming events, fundraising efforts
and suggestions. We would also discuss what was happening at school, any
problems we were having, etc. and other teachers could lend suggestions or talk
about what their experience had been. It was a beneficial meeting and I know
that I learned a good deal by talking with my colleagues at this weekly
meeting.
Moving to Virginia
Beach has also offered me a few opportunities to encounter teacher leadership; my
first semester in VBCPS (Virginia Beach City Public Schools) I was hired to
teach one art class at a middle school that had an overflow class of 8th
grade students. Being a new teacher to the district I was required to attend a
monthly meeting of all new art teachers in the system. There was a presentation
about the learning plan and examples were shown, and anyone could ask questions
and receive good feedback. Also every new teacher brought in an example of a
successful art lesson that they had taught in their class or were currently
working on. I got suggestions and even contacts to other teachers in the
district and a person who lived in the community to help with the project. It
was a great opportunity for me as a new teacher to the district.
How is leadership for meaningful technology integration
different from other kinds of leadership?
The basics of leadership would remain the same, the openness
to change, the ability to encourage others that there is a need to change,
creating the opportunity to change and working towards the end goal. The
difference between being a leader and being a leader for meaningful technology
integration is that a technology leader would need to be well versed in
technology; how to use it, how to teach others to use it, and also how to
incorporate the technology into all classrooms. A technology leader would also
have to help find funding for the technology because most schools do not have
the resources necessary.
From your perspective, what are the benefits and the
challenges of teacher leadership for technology (for teachers, for students,
for schools, for the profession)?
Many of the challenges for technology in schools will stem
from the lack of resources as funding technology is a huge undertaking. A
technology leader will need to be knowledgeable in the process to acquire
grants and funding. After the schools receive the technology, then time is
needed to teach the teachers how to effectively use it in their classrooms
which also requires time and money. The benefits of technology for teachers are
almost limitless, teachers can access many things to enhance the lessons that
they are teaching such as videos, educational website, etc. Also there are many
programs that can make record keeping such as grading faster and making assessments
easier.
The challenges for students can be access to such
technologies at home; many may have the opportunity to use it at school but may
not be able to contribute to the project or assignment when at home. Also not all schools have the same resources
so when students move from one to school to the next they may not know how to
use the new technologies. The benefits to students are plentiful, they may
learn better given technology that they are familiar with using and access to
the internet provides students with many avenues to seek out the knowledge for
the project or assignment that they have been given. New technologies also
challenge students in new ways as they may be required to create web pages or
contribute to an online forum, where they could interact with people outside of
their classrooms. Any new technology that students encounter and learn about
will help them to become better prepared for their futures.
The challenge for schools is going to be acquiring the
funding and support needed for new technologies, and then the ability to keep
updating the technology when needed. Another challenge is going to be getting
everyone at the school onboard with the new technology and the time needed to
make the changes. The benefits to the schools are that they will be teaching
students with current technologies and helping students to become better
prepared for college or the work force.
The challenges for the profession are going to be attempting
to keep up with the changing technologies and keeping schools in the forefront
with these technologies so that students are not being trained in using
outdated equipment. So again resources and funding are going to be a huge
challenge. The benefits to the profession would be better more technology focused
teachers and administrators and this in turn could possibly make the
educational field more desirable as a profession.
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