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Though the concept of Professional Learning Communites has been around for over 10 years, the concept has been brought back to life throughout our local schools and the province. The ministry has funded active professional learning communities through the OFIP (Ontario Focused Intervention Program) schools. These schools are given extra funding and provided with support through Ministry staff that help lead the teachers through a process called The Teaching Learning Critical Pathway. This has proven to be very effective in that it puts students achievement at the centre of the learning and it is a focused action research type project that the teachers take on. They are given the time to collaborate and share best practices around instruction of expectations directly from the Ontario Curriculum. “Creating a collaborative environment has been described as the most important factor for school improvement initiatives and the first order of business for those seeking to enhance the effectiveness of their school (Eastwood and Louis, 1992, p.215) Reading Dufour and Eaker’s book “Professional Learning Communities at Work” will give leaders the tools and motivation they require to get the ball rolling. We also need to urge our superintendents and Districts to follow and begin to support PLCs in all schools with financing and district wide foci. One particular quote from Dufour and Eaker’s book sums up the importance of PLCs: “It is clear that the effort to transform a school into a professional learning community is more likely to be sustained when teachers participate in reflective dialogue; observe and react to one another’s teaching; jointly develop curriculum and assessment practices; work together to implement new programs and strategies; share lesson plans and materials; and collectively engage in problem solving, action research, and continuous improvement practices.” Though we have come a long way and have begun the process, the tradition of teacher isolation is still common practice within schools. It is within our moral imperative in schools, as instructional leaders, to change that culture and foster meaningful collaboration. Thanks to everyone for sharing your point of view and differing practices across boards:)

I don’t think at any point is it okay to act against your moral purpose. Yet, at times it may seem as though there are some diffiicult decisions that an administrator must make that may not seem appropriate. But, if one sits down, looks at the big picture and reflects, usually all decisions made are to benefit students and instructions. Sometimes, the decisions do not clearly seem that way to others as they do not know the big picture. This can be very difficult for principals, as the community and staff see decisions made as wrong and inappropriate. It comes back to building relationships. If the relationships in the community and building are strong and trust exists, then people will not question your decisions. I think this takes a while to establish. In the beginning people question everything you do. I think it’s important to be transparent to everyone, have an open door policy about decisions and be proactive and intuitive by preventing problems. It is imperative that people trust that every decision you will make will always have the students at the centre of the decision. The only problem that exists with that is contractual obligations and as long as people understand that those decisions are out of your hands, they will support you.

What a great topic! I think that I will take it one step further and say I have witnessed that YOUNG males seem to be treated different than young females. I have seen two teachers who are similar in their teaching styles-good but not great. They are both the same age-one is a young mom and the other is a young “hip” male. Well, the female got a lot of criticism in that she was not engaging her students, was too strict etc. The male teacher has never received a complaint and has similar teaching style. I also would agree with the image of female administrators. I have often heard people call firm female administrators “B@*” I rarely hear people saying that about male administrators. Also, being a woman administrator and a mother, people expect you to be more empathetic. I ‘m not saying that you shouldn’t be, but at times it can be a slippery slope and you have to be very cautious as it may get to the point that people are taking advantage of your empathy. Also as a female administrator, I quite often get asked how I could possibly do my job and raise children. I find that offensive as a female and have turned the question around and have asked those people if they have ever asked a male that question. Though we have come a long way, statements such as these tend to reverse the clock.

I don’t think school character education programs are replacing parenting responsibilities. I believe we are formalizing something that has been happening for many years in our classrooms. Bringing a formality to it will intensify the process and will make it more explicit to students, staff and parents. I personally think it’s a great way of connecting our instruction to character education. I believe that as we change the way we instruct students and look more at critical thinking, we can easily tie in many character attributes of great leaders around the world. I believe students need to explicitly be taught about what makes people successful and character is key to success. I also think that for character education to become a way of life, rewards are not always the way to go. In some schools this is successful, but in others I find that students must be intrinsically motivated to achieve. When I first got to my school, there were little rewards (stickers, small tokens) for everything and I found that students were not appreciating these items. We have taken on charitable work with Free the Children and have created many leadership opportunities throughout the school. Over the past two years, I have seen more students come forward with proposals to give back to the community including food drives, coat drives, bake sales to raise money for animals shelters etc. I still see many students in our area that are self absorbed and somewhat material, but my hope is that the seed we plant will provide them with a strong background they will need to carry on and be successful and caring adults.

I think Building Relationships and remaining postive is the way to keep everyone focused on what’s important to everyone—instruction. Once the groundwork is laid, keep on building relationships and be intuitive. If you see there are teachers who are falling apart due to personal problems, then take the time to make extra connections with that person. Find out how you can support that person. I find that if you take the time to get to know everyone and make a conscious effort to support people when they are going through rough times, they will respect you and your position. The difficulty I often have as a principal is that sometimes people go too far in asking for favours I definitely cannot accommodate. For example, you have great relations in your building with people and show them a high amount of respect. But then a teacher comes to you and asks you to leave early the day before Winter Holidays because they can only get an early flight out to their destination (which happens to be back home to visit their 90 year old grandmother and be there for her birthday which is the next day). It puts you in an awkard spot to say no, but it is not acceptable for them to be leaving early the day before a vacation. If you say yes, you set precedent. If you say no, you look like a mean person who is not understanding. What would be the right thing to do? I know I have probably made many mistakes in my first principalship and am not sure if I should be tougher on these types of situations at my next school.

This year, I have taken an active role in allowing teachers to share their practices by participating in a professional learning community with another school. I found that teachers at the beginning were reluctant to ask questions as they were nervous about their colleagues’ opinions. As time went on throughout the year, I saw more people sharing in the hallways and in the staffroom. I began to see teachers setting up time to watch each other teach. I even began to see them taking their prep to learn from each other. Just recently, I saw one of our Long Term Occasional teachers teaching our grade 5/6 teacher a new Computer program called Comic Life. I was thrilled to see it happening. I still feel we are on the beginning of our long journey of sharing. Historically teachers have been isolated and have not wanted to share, but I feel it is my responsibility as principal to provide these opportunities and have teachers follow up on them. Though I am seeing more sharing, we are still at the very beginning of the continuum. I feel for staff members to truly learn from each other, it has to be programmed into a timetable and formally set up. This is my goal for next year. I also feel that principals need to learn from each other. We do a great job of sharing resources but we don’t truly collaborate. I believe that principals need to visit each others’ schools and do walk throughs with them. They then can truly collaborate on their important role of instructional leadership.

I think to truly implement change, the groundwork must be laid first. A prinicipal must work to build relationships and get to know the people that may be the resistors. Also, be visible extensively in classrooms, in the hall and out in the yard. Thirdly, ask many questions before implementing change. A principal must be credible when implementing change. When a principal walks the walk and talks the talk, staff are respectful of change. Also, true collaboration must be in place. It can be the principal that initiates the change, but ultimately it must be the staff that works together to form a plan on how to put the change into effect. The principal can then follow up through his/her walkthroughs. I strongly believe that in every school there are some strong resistors to change and sometimes nothing will work with these people to get them on the bus of change. My first position as a VP, I was faced with a similar situation. My superintendent at the time had some words of wisdom for those resistors “Don’t Water the Rocks.”

This discussion is very interesting and though I agree that sometimes the higher up people get, the less inspiring they are—I do believe there are exceptions to the rule. I find that if you are truly passionate about your purpose, it will come through in the way you speak. Your tone is key and if you truly believe in something, it will inspire people and they will not think of you as boring. Look at Barrack Obama. The way he presents himself is passionate, yet at the same time diplomatic. I believe it is important for administrators to choose their words carefully while believing in those words. Being passionate can often lead to some blunders along the way. I see this as risk taking and believe it is part of being a good leader. Though we are under the microscope, as Anthony stated, I believe that as leaders we need to stand out and speak up. Too often, people become afraid of stepping out of the box and taking a risk by speaking out! I look forward to hearing Dr. Chris Spence, our new Director of Education for the TDSB address our Board. His new book is called Leading with Passion and Purpose. I hope to hear the passion in his voice as he articulates our Moral Purpose!

Though I do believe that teachers can inspire students with their passion for learning; I strongly believe that teachers must be aware of all the different cultural backgrounds that are represented in their classroom and their school communities. Also, knowing about students’ cultures is not enough, it must be continuously brought into the classroom through instruction. For example, teachers must use a broad range of picture books that bring many different cultures into the classroom. Even if the cultures are not represented in the classroom and school, it is important to bring them to life so that students can become aware and accepting of the diversity that is represented in our city. As a principal, I think it is very important to try to hire staff that will reflect a diverse set of skills and backgrounds. It is true that a large majority of teachers are white females. I strongly believe that Boards must go out of their way to promote teaching as a profession and entice a variety of people with different cultural backgrounds into teaching. I believe that having a diverse staff allows for better awareness of cultural differences and fosters equity within our instructional practices.

Personally, I am a fan of distance learning as it allows the flexibility that I need to balance my personal and professional life. Though, as distance learning becomes more common at all levels of learning, I fear the breakdown of social skills. I worry about many courses being offered online as it takes away human contact. So much of today’s world revolves around technology (emails, PDAs, Blackberries). Are we forgetting how to interact with each other? When Goleman analyzed data on emotional intelligence, social skills was one of the components of an emotionally intelligent person. He goes on to state that one can learn to be emotionally intelligent. Though one can learn how to be emotionally intelligent with coaching in their own schools. I believe that taking leadership courses in person allows one to interact with many different types of leaders and learn from them. Also, it allows one to practise their own leadership skills when in discussions with others. If we take away the valuable collaboration and discussion that occurs during these classes, do we isolate ourselves more and become less emotionally intelligent?

I totally agree! I always question people when they say I don’t take a lunch. I also am concerned about the fact that people are responding to emails at 2.a.m. I believe that by reacting immediately and not respecting your personal limits, you set precedent and people continue to expect you are available.