Ryan Morrow

A New Road Travelled

Month: September 2018 (Page 1 of 2)

Response to Christina Beaulne

September 30, 2018 / / 0 Comments

In her blog post  Christina discusses leaders and those who follow them.  She asks “Have you personally experienced the stark differences between a leader and a manager? How did it impact the work/change/difference that you produced?”

As a follower within an organization, my position was distant or removed from the influence of the person in leadership.  From my perspective, this occurred because the leader was able rely on several successful managers.  The impact it had on me as a follower was that I became focused on two things, meeting the goals of the manager, and achieving my own personal goals.  Of course it was important for me to do quality work but I don’t recall that my focus was ever on the larger goals of the organization.  In the end, I didn’t stay to contribute to the organization as long as I may have, I moved on to further achieve my own personal goals.

I really appreciate this question and find myself challenged to ensure that as my leadership role expands, I maintain the ownership of how the organizational goals are promoted and developed among the followers.  Thanks Christina.

Response to Monica Grace’s Learning Assignment 4

September 30, 2018 / / 1 Comment

In  her blog post, Monica Grace discusses the balance of management and leadership. She raises some discussion around whether these two roles should be separated between two different people. Grace asks “In your context, do you think there should be a distinctive management role and leadership role, for two seperate people or do you think that it should be combined into one role, for one person?”  This is a great question and one which I have frequently considered as the leader of a small organization.

My natural inclination is to trend toward elements of leadership rather than management. In the years when my organization was small and I was responsible for both, I would have prefered that there had been someone in place to take on many of the management elements of my position. Over time I have come to appreciate the management responsibilities that I have.  Having an involved knowledge of the day to day workings of my school has helped me to understand how it functions, what the needs of the community are and where the heaviest burdens are on our resources (time and money).  As the organization has grown and doubled in size, there are others who oversee more and more of the management tasks I was once responsible for.  In time, I can see that my role may be largely or even entirely a leadership position.  When that time comes, I know that I will be better prepared to be successful because I have developed a functional knowledge of the day to day and would then be able to anticipate how management needs would change as our vision continues to  grow and unfold.

To conclude, I think that organizational size has a lot to do with how management and leadership is divided. I have learned that in my context, to be an effective leader, a comprehensive understanding of organizational management is important.

Blog Post Three

September 28, 2018 / / 2 Comments

Servant leadership requires the application of many different characteristics, three of these are listening, building community and conceptualization  (Northouse, 2016).

Jesus often faced challenging situations. Instead of debating or displaying his power he often asked questions and then listened.  People require someone to listen in so many situations.  When we are frustrated, stressed or facing tough personal challenges having a sounding board is important.

Being a good listener is important to me.  I am intentional about shutting doors, turning off screens and silencing devices when listening to someone that is sharing something that is important.  This practice often has great value for me so I can better understand and support a staff member, friend or family member, thus building our relationship.  I know that it also helps these same people to maintain emotional health because they have been heard and supported.

Our school community includes students, staff and parents.  All three of these groups understand their place in the community in different ways.  They are able to contribute in different ways and they may have different needs.  Servant leadership in this setting would involve making sure the needs of the community are being met and providing experiences for all three parts of the community to interact and work together in a way that builds positive culture.

Conceptualization is about looking beyond the day to day and understanding the long term vision and plan. For many years our school has been a kindergarten to grade 9 school.  Recently, we have worked to establish a small high school group who learns with us but is formally assigned to another school.  As this program becomes more successful, shaping an identity for it will be important should it become our own program.  It will be a conceptualization exercise to determine which identity would best suit this program so that it would reflect the culture and direction of the school.

The most challenging of these three concepts has been conceptualization.  In many ways I lead a young school with a parent group and school board who contribute thought toward understanding exactly what our school is about.  At times it is a challenge to balance day-to-day needs which could involve time, money or other resources with the more long term perspective guided by vision. We are learning to work together to make sure  the long term vision of the school shapes our understanding of what it needs today.

In regard to conceptualization, how does vision practically overcome the constraints of time and money?

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (Seventh ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Follow the Leader

September 27, 2018 / / 2 Comments

George Couros is an author, speaker and passionate educational leader.  I discovered George through his book Innovators Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent and lead a Culture of Creativity. His ideas had me hooked and I now follow his blog, The Principal of Change: Stories of learning and leadership (https://georgecouros.ca/blog/). Three times a week he writes to share ideas, wrestle with his own thoughts, and to create a library of his own thinking.  Couros covers topics which challenge educators to empower students to think critically and creatively and to work outside of the box to lead innovation in learning.  He writes to challenge traditional thinking and processes so that students and educators can be their personal best.  Couros has regular and timely responses to his blog posts, which encourage his thoughts, celebrate a statement or share a personal experience of similar struggles or ideas.

On September 18th he challenged his reading audience with the question “Could a student be doing this?” or “What are you currently doing for your students that they could be doing themselves?”  (https://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/8534).  When students have the opportunity to take on something that is important and real they take pride in their learning and extend themselves far beyond what they might do with an artificial assignment.  As a leader I have been reflecting on this idea.  The Remembrance Day assembly is an important assembly in our school year. Instead of inviting a speaker or speaking myself as I did last year, I have offered this portion of the assembly to a group of students.  It is my hope that their engagement and presentation will be more powerful and meaningful than I would be as a principal.

Asking questions to get better answers  This interesting post challenged traditional thinking in a variety of ways.  Couros shares of a time when he asked a group of teachers which skill students need more, the ability to write an essay or the ability to write a blog post.  Even though some teachers said both are important, Couros challenged them with another question. “Are you teaching both?” (https://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/8528). Rather than influencing through power or coercion, Couros suggests asking questions to promote reflection about what is best for students.  This approach draws people into a conversation allowing them to be heard.  It also allows a school leader or teacher to know what is truly important to the people that will be actually carrying out the work.  If this interaction is genuine, then the result will more likely involve growth for all involved.

I value that Couros does not promote forcing ideas or change on educators.  He asks questions, listens to the needs of those he works with and develops opportunities for people to reflect on what is best for students.  He is not one to prescribe a mold but rather understands that every school culture, classroom of students, or learning activity is unique and should be treated that way.  I like that the process is messy and the end may be unknown.  For this reason, trusting those we work with is important.  Teachers will have to trust students and I as an administrator will also have to trust my teachers, especially if their work takes them outside of the box and toward innovation.  This is a model I am working toward as a leader.  It is important for me to build trust with my staff and encourage them to move forward.  As they do, I will listen, equip and support them.

I find it difficult to describe a way that George Couros could use his blog more effectively.  Couros is always driving at creating situations because they are best for students.  If it is space in a classroom the motivation is students not Pinterest; if it is a new program in a school, the motivation is students not academic results.  This theme continues as he uses his blog effectively to target many topics which challenge educational leaders at any level to be reflecting.  Three posts a week provide opportunity to maintain a rhythm without being overwhelmed.  His writing is personal and reflective allowing any leader to relate to the experience of being in the trenches. As a speaker, author and blogger he has his bases covered, however I am sure that as a reflective innovator, should his blogging process require an update, he would be on it.

https://georgecouros.ca/blog/

Couros, G.(2015). Innovators Mindset: empower learning, unleash talent and lead a culture of creativity. San Diego. dave burgess consulting.

@GeorgeCouros

Unit One, Blog Post Two

September 25, 2018 / / 1 Comment

And then I was assigned.  At the beginning of my role as principal, the shift in my position involved changing desks from the classroom to the office.  I had been assigned a new position in the school, but for many months or even a year or two there were staff who had strong opinions about the way our school should run, I was not yet the leader. I eventually emerged as a leader once I was able to look up from the day to day management of the school and more formally implement vision, direction and plans for development.  Today, I must balance both responsibilities suggested by Northhouse, (2016) I must manage and lead.

Management and leadership are complementary concepts and are mutually dependent. Management is essential for maintaining day to day success. Managers keep schedules, balance budgets, and place staff as needed; managers get the job done (Northhouse, 2016).  Once healthy daily function is achieved, a leader is free to create vision, communicate goals, build teams, and empower followers (Northouse, 2016). Between the two, leadership is most important.  If an organization is left only with management, then the status quo quickly becomes stale and the endeavor obsolete.  In a small organization, is it possible for the same person to effectively hold both positions?

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (Seventh ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Blog Post One

September 25, 2018 / / 5 Comments

In his book Leadership: theory and practice, Peter Northhouse describes leadership as a “process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” (Northouse, 2016. pg. 6).  While there are many complexities involved when a person is placed in leadership over a group, Northhouse (2016) simplifies this by describing their relationship as a process.  Both leaders and followers are dependent on each other and must work together to achieve a common goal.  While a designated leader is crucial, the idea of process allows for members of the group who are followers to take ownership of the common goal and contribute to it.  In this way all of the skills and knowledge of the group are leveraged and the overall ceiling of potential in regard to the goal is raised. For this to happen leaders must influence through well developed personal power. (Northouse, 2016) That is, leaders must influence by forming effective relationships built on respect and trust and continually equip themselves to serve those they lead.

Without a group there is no leader. Both parties in this relationship must work together in a way that accomplishes a goal that is greater than either of them.  Followers must always be valued and empowered to develop personal goals which align to support the greater common goals of the group.  How then should a leader respond to an individual who is no longer working toward the common goal?

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (Seventh ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Sound Effect Story

September 24, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I really enjoyed working with Audacity.  With some practice, it could definitely be a great tool to use in a variety if ways.  All sorts of applications come to mind for my middle school classroom.

I had been thinking of a possible story line that could be developed with sound clips that I would find online as I don’t have a collection of sounds stored on my computer.  The sound story that I chose was built with sounds all from soundbible (http://soundbible.com).  These clips were easy to find and easily imported into Audacity. They were:

falling rain,

a snoring man,

a barking dog,

a crying baby and an

alarm clock.

I am sorry to say that there is nothing to enjoy here, however I feel as though this sound story may evoke an emotional response.  We have all been here and can therefore relate to this sequence of sounds.  Please click below and listen to Monday Morning.

Tracking the Trackers

September 19, 2018 / / 0 Comments

In someways, searching the internet with Lightbeam turned on is like watching a Hollywood movie come to life, everyone is watching!  Recently, I have overheard conversations about our smart phones listening to us and people being afraid that there is some old codger sitting behind a mahogany desk in a dark room chuckling to himself in a maniacal way as the data about us all gathers on his screen.

It was really interesting to watch the data collect on Lightbeam.  I wasn’t surprised that there are servers that track people who connect to particular sights.  I am sure that in most cases it is driven by economic motives.  I had expected that the sites would independently gather information.  What was a little more shocking to watch was the development of interconnected webs which appeared.  Doing a youtube search connected instragram and a Craigslist search that I had done which had previously been separate.

This activity was helpful as I was talking with my son who is in Grade 9 and starting a 1-to-1 computer program at his school.  We were discussing some of the important foundational ideas around digital citizenship.  He was rather unnerved to see that there were third parties tracking our internet activity.  It was a good connection to demonstrate that the darker the site on the internet, the more devious those trackers could potentially be, both for his health and the health of his computer.

I have definitely been more careful about good internet practices like logging out and closing windows and browsers.  I have also been curious to see if my browser settings can be adjusted to make my internet experiences less of an invasive experience.

Recording and Sharing Audio

September 18, 2018 / / 2 Comments

This was a great exercise for me.  I have often wanted to create an audio or video clip but have not.  Whether there was not enough time, confidence or expertise, bringing this type of recording into my teaching or leadership repertoire is just something I have not done.  I found that the recording function on Anchor.fm was easy to activate and use.  Once saved the file easily embedded into the blog post using the Add Media button.  Using SoundCloud was also straight forward.  As there was no recording option that I could see, I uploaded the same file I had recorded on Anchor.fm.  Embedding the SoundCloud file was even more simple than with Anchor.

The track that is shared between these two platforms is the reading of the final paragraph of chapter 1 in Bob Goff’s book Love Does. https://lovedoesstore.org/collections/love-does/products/love-does-softcover-unsigned

Sound Cloud Recording

 

Anchor recording

The Great Googly Moogly

September 16, 2018 / / 0 Comments

This has been a great reminder of the power the corporate internet machine has to shape our own thoughts.  I have been aware for awhile now that Google will return the search results which are most in line with what we appear to be interested in or value based on previous searches.  The challenge in this, is that we are continually reinforcing our own limited perspective with the assumption that everyone who populates google agrees with us.  Knowing this, I wasn’t surprised when the search terms for professor, boy, girl, teenager, etc. yielded the results they did.

I heard Alan November speak a few years back and he lead us through the same exercise covered in the article.  His encouragement to consider our own bias as we search for information is important. Like he suggested, I thought I knew how to do a google search but as I have a again been reminded using the google search tools suggested in this exercise gives us much more control on how we gather broad, unbiased information.  In this case, instead of simply reinforcing our own perspectives, we can be challenged with a new one.

Like learning any new skill I think it will take a while but I know I will become more proficient with practice.  I may eventually even form my own search style and habits.

Initially I tried to include to many elements into the search and it came back with no results.

Eventually I settled on  university research loc:canada leadership

It was not too challenging to find a .pdf about being a principal however finding a podcast related to my hometown took several tries.  Eventually I simply used vernon bc + podcast  and came up with a page which yielded some search results.

 

Over all this was a good exercise in being more specific in how I use Google.  As an additional skill, I also learned how to insert a screenshot into a document.  I explored both the function built within WordPress for this as well as the Windows snipping tool.

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