· Describe why reflection is an important skill in leadership.
Reflection is identified as an emergent skill, important to gaining and acquiring knowledge in EDLD 5399 Week 4 lecture. Dr. Arterbury states that reflection is valuable because it has the potential to lead to an in depth understanding of information, causes you to retrace conversations and actions, and helps one avoid the natural tendency to make the same mistakes over and over. During my superintendent internship, reflection has become a valuable tool for me. Not only have I been able to reflect on the actions and activities from the superintendent internship process, I have been able to reflect on the actions of a former superintendent and a new superintendent in the same district. Because I changed jobs and school districts, I have been able to reflect on and compare the roles and responsibilities of two different districts central offices. Lastly, I have been able to reflect on my actions when joining a central office team in the past with my actions around joining a central office team this year. I have learned so much in this process – both from things I would like to replicate and things I never want to do or repeat. Without reflection a leader’s actions are less purposeful and effective. “Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” Peter Drucker
· Course assignment activities – Course assignment activities were the key to building collaboration in the superintendent internship. During the Finance course there were several problems that developed around communication and the assignments. Those problems created the environment that brought the cohort together. I realized that without that problem our cohort would have continued to work, for the most part, in isolation. Through observation and reflection I have come to realize that this is how most networking between superintendents takes place – over commonly shared problems. Without the course assignment activities, I am not sure that this would have been so obvious.
· Blogs – Blogs are an interesting tool in the reflection process. Posting my thoughts and reflections for others to view and read has done two important things for me. First, it has made me accountable for reflecting. The recording of the reflection provides meaning and the written reflection becomes a mental model of the process. It helps me repeat the things that I would like to do again and avoid those that I do not want to do again. Secondly, it allows my peers to comment on my reflections. This has been a validating experience. The positive comments have been encouraging and the coaching comments have been appreciated. I also found it beneficial to be able to read and post to my peers’ blogs. I learned so much reading their insights and other’s postings. I think that all leaders can learn from the “blog” experience. I am hoping that I can find a way to incorporate it as a superintendent.
· Course and campus supervised logs – The reflection piece embedded in the course logs contributed to my ability to analyze my superintendent internship experiences. Because it was reflection I could elaborate on my feelings and observations.
· Assessments - One of the tools used during the superintendent internship program that incorporated reflection was the use of pre and post-assessments. Several times during the internship, pre- and post-assessments were used to help me focus on strengths and areas to strengthen throughout the course. I could pay more attention to the areas that had been identified as areas of need. It has helped me also as I have been preparing for the superintendent’s TExES. I am spending time studying the areas that I know are weaknesses.
· Other intern reflection experiences – Another experience from the internship that has encouraged reflection is the interview calls with Dr. Creel. Those calls have been helpful in identifying goals and processes in the planning for professional growth and interactions.
Describe how you plan to use reflective practice to improve your leadership skills – provide some specific suggestions for applying the skills of reflection.
I have always used reflection. As a teacher, I would reflect daily about the lessons, students and peer interactions in order to help students learn. Sometimes the reflection took place from class to class in order to refine the lesson. As a central office director, I currently use reflective practice to improve my interactions as a member and leader of teams. I find that reflection helps me analyze the strengths and weaknesses of tasks so that I can improve. One of processes I use to help with reflection is solicit feedback from other team members. When leading a team, I always have the members provide a written response about the team work so that I can read their comments. As the team member, I ask my team leader or my team members to provide feedback. I tell them what I am working on and ask them how I am doing. For example, I might say to a team member, “I am working on letting others contribute in the team meeting and not always having to contribute. Would you let me know at the end of the meeting how I did with that today?” When people you work with and work for see that you are honestly open to their suggestions and help, transparency within the organizational group improves. Their input provides even greater opportunity to reflect. This is a process I want to take into further leadership roles that I may have – including the superintendency. Lastly, I feel that journaling is an excellent way to continue the written reflection process.
No comments:
Post a Comment