Educational Leaders

I think a really good example of an educational leader using a blog would be to set up a line of communication for parents and staff.  Some parents do not was emails to clog up their inbox, but with a blog the parent can visit the site as they wish to get information about their child’s school.  I think a superintendent could easily use a blog to disseminate information from board meetings to administration and teachers in the district without sending out mass emails that may get deleted or overlooked.  In the blog the superintendent can pose questions or give suggestions for engagement.  Most importantly when a superintendent visits a school and has positive experiences, they should blog about these to motivate other schools to have these same types of experiences. 

Action Research!

Action research is a newer type of inquiry that leads a principal to find problems by asking questions and then searching for solutions to these problems.  The problems can be discovered through coursework, leadership meetings, campus teams, or personal learning communities.  The problems may be school specific, district specific, or general to education.  The problems at one school or district are different from other schools or districts.  Different from traditional types of research, action research incorporates information obtained from people in the classrooms and at the schools.  The foundation of action-research is that teachers and principals use introspection to identify problems and “wonderings,” which leads them to make better choices and decisions.  I have found a greater respect for my administrators after reading the Dana text, because I never really thought of them as daily ‘firefighters” looking for solutions to problems on a constant basis.  The picture painted in the reading describes a principal in constant distress throughout the day.  When I think of the principals as a firefighter, I see more clearly for the need to reflect on a daily, if not at least weekly, basis.  It is important for the administrators to emphasize the need for staff members to reflect as well, because teachers should think about what they are doing and then try to do it better.  After all, we ask are students to go home and reflect (study) on the days lesson and see where they can improve.