The Language of Professional Development Leaders (original) (raw)

The Structure of Leadership Language: Rhetorical and Linguistic Methods for Studying School Improvement

Accountability and Educational Improvement, 2021

In this chapter, I discuss the justification for a linguistic turn in the study of school improvement with an emphasis on the language of leadership, and in particular persuasion, in the implementation of reform. In addition to exploring the ways in which discourse analysis can be used more generally to understand the nature of school improvement, I also focus on the particular method of rhetorical analysis as it can be leveraged to understand how the structure of language can be in and of itself an improvement strategy for educational leaders. After discussing the methodological approach, I share examples of studies of principals’ talk in the context of reform and the findings that emerged. I then consider the methodological implications of this rhetorical and linguistic turn, before ending with implications for future research and practice about the role of language in improvement efforts.

Leadership and the Limitations of Language

The elusiveness of our words, their inability to fully capture reality, and our natural tendency to hear only what fits with our existing framing lenses contribute to the limitations of language. These inadequacies are especially important when it comes to leadership since language is the leader's most important resource. In order to be effective, leaders must be aware that language creates contexts and that contexts are, by nature, limiting. This awareness doesn't immunize them from the limitations of language but it does position them to use language in ways that maximizes its impact. In order to create shared meaning and a shared vision, and to overcome these limitations of language, leaders must 1) be as clear and concise as possible about the organization's direction , values (culture), and performance expectations; 2) encourage dialogue and a rich diversity of perspectives, and 3) use transformative language to rewrite the future. Changing people's entrenched beliefs and behaviors that have been successful for decades almost always requires a story about the future that engages and captivates them. That future, which is only a possibility today, must be appealing enough to produce the necessary courage in people to take on the status quo. It must be " hittable " enough so that it shows up for people as feasibly solvable and they simultaneously show up for themselves as capable of tackling it. And, the new future must be inspi-rational enough to unite and align them so that their decisions and actions can be coordinated efficiently and effectively.

Teacher Leadership in Professional Development Schools: Emerging Conceptions, Identities, and Practices

Journal of School Leadership

This is a study of emerging teacher leadership in professional development schools. Twelve teachers describe how they reconceptualized leadership as they gained new experiences, confidence, and shifted their identities as teachers by working with colleagues within the school and in the university. These emerging leaders assumed responsibilities for school change and evoked leadership in others. They learned that engaging and persuading people in their schools to move toward change went beyond simply getting the job done. The findings reframe traditional notions of leadership from role and authority dependent to reciprocal, purposeful learning among adults in community. These new conceptions enabled participants to develop approaches whereby power, authority, responsibility, and resources can be redistributed in classrooms, schools, districts, and social organizations. Starting from the dock where you're all tied up, you're moored, you have four lines, and you take one line off at a time, and you wait until the winds are just right and everybody's ready, and you do careful preparation, you do safety procedures.. .. Then you start leaving the snug harbor. .. there is a breakwater area. .. with protection like teacher support groups, your professors, your master teachers and all of that.. .. It takes a little while to get out [and when you do] the wakes from the other boats start arriving from outside the breakwater. The farther you go, the rougher the waters get, and even though you set your course, you're constantly renavigating, de-6

Leading and Learning: Leadership, Change, and Challenge in a Professional Development Initiative

2012

LEADING AND LEARNING: LEADERSHIP, CHANGE, AND CHALLENGE IN A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE Dissertation in Practice by: TODD A. CURTIS MARK J. DIFABIO JODI L. FORTUNA KATHLEEN M. LAUZÉ TINA H. MCCOY KATHRYN M. NIKAS Dissertation Director: Lauri Johnson, Ph.D. Schools seeking to increase student achievement often employ professional development strategies to institute instructional reforms, yet research offers little guidance on how leadership behaviors might support professional development aimed at district reform and instructional change. This qualitative case study examined the following research questions in a suburban Massachusetts district: 1. What is the role of leadership in an initiative to change literacy instruction in a small, suburban district? (a) How is leadership distributed, if at all, in this initiative? (b) What leadership behaviors, if any, do teachers and administrators view as contributing to or limiting to positive instructional change in the literacy in...

Teacher development: De facto teacher leaders for English language learners

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2014

This qualitative study highlighted the redefinition of roles played by secondary-level, mainstream content-area teachers involved in an English as a Second Language (ESL) professional development (PD) program. The researchers examined how the practice of becoming an emerging leader in ESL, a new discipline for many teachers, was impacted by participation in an intensive 18 month ESL PD program. Specifically, this case study focused on the participants’ ability to translate newly acquired multicultural competence, second language acquisition, and ESL teaching strategies into training sessions for their content-area colleagues. The reflective statements from teacher participants following the delivery of what is termed ‘turnaround training’ revealed that the teachers experienced changes in professional self-concept both as teacher leaders and as advocates for English Language Learners (ELLs). This shift of teacher as leader benefits both teacher and student, according to Barth (2011)...

Getting Principalship Right? Piloting a Principal Professional Leadership Development Model

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES, 2013

This study, informed by the academic literacies approach, was part of a broader study that sought to establish students' perceptions of the efficacy of the English language interventions at a university using a case methodology. A sample of 142 students responded to a structured questionnaire on English Language Literacy Support Programmes for Students offered by the University's Writing Centre. The non-probability sampling method was used in selecting the students. Data were also collected through an interview with three university officials for triangulation purposes. Questionnaire data were quantitatively analysed (statistical frequencies) while interview date were qualitatively analysed by discerning themes. Paradoxically, the findings indicated that the students did not perceive themselves as weak in English (an aspect refuted by the interviewed officials) but indicated that they were in need of English language support. The study concluded that the English Language support services were therefore not as effective as they should be since few of the students made use of them. It is recommended that the English Language support services need improvement in terms of space, human and e-resources to support teaching and learning. Moreover university authorities should seriously consider implementing a compulsory assessment test for all new entrants whose mother tongue is not English to identify those in need of such support.