My present work environment lacks a developed team approach in many areas and operates with weak systems.\u00a0 I hesitate to say it has no systems and is without any teams since some teachers continue to work together as they did before my arrival four years ago.\u00a0 Our current leader has a micro-managing top-down approach and seems particularly antagonistic this year which is causing people to limit involvement in the broader school-wide activities; isolation in classrooms is becoming very common again. Trust is needed so that each team\u2014grade group, primary\/intermediate, teachers and educational assistants (EAs), leader\/follower\u2014can control its own destiny and operate with the most freedom and the best speed of execution for that team (Galbraith, 2014, p. 97).<\/p>\n
Zeeman\u2019s presentation of \u201cSenge\u2019s<\/em> Five Disciplines of Learning Organizations\u201d<\/em> (2017) reveal many missing elements in my current work environment.\u00a0 Shared Vision and Team Learning are two that seem particularly lacking and impactful at every level of our organization.\u00a0 If systems thinking is interrelated, we need to focus on long-term growth for our school community; since everything in a systems-thinking model is interconnected, it does not really matter where we begin to make those changes (Zeeman, 2017, para. 9).<\/p>\n Shared Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n Our leader\u2019s personal vision for our school is impeding the development of a shared vision.\u00a0 Since principals in our district are reassigned every five years, they seem to want to make a statement about their leadership in each school they govern.\u00a0 What the staff feel are necessary changes to make or what will most effectively meet the needs of the students can often take a suburban-sized back seat to the dictates of the principal.\u00a0 When people are not consulted, invited in, considered, or at times even ridiculed for their personal approaches, there is politeness but little buy-in to the leader\u2019s initiatives.\u00a0 Work is challenging, and relationships are crumbling.\u00a0 If we could focus on pertinent data, we could devise more immediate plans to achieve our long-term goals (Hughes, Beatty, & Dinwoodie, 2014, p. 207).<\/p>\n SMART goal setting includes everyone in the process (Haughney, 2014)<\/p><\/div>\n Inconsistent visioning is a bottle-neck to our school growth.\u00a0 We have such a range of staff with various years of experience all willing to work together, but we must fit into one model which isn\u2019t working.\u00a0 We need to mentor one another and learn from one another to tie together all the wisdom for effective functioning. As Atha reiterates, \u201cThe smallest changes can produce large results; to the positive or negative\u201d (2018, p. 5).\u00a0 \u201cIf your employees don\u2019t have a sense of ownership, nothing truly great can occur\u201d (Lepsinger, 2010, p. 14).<\/p>\n Team Learning<\/strong><\/p>\n If we are to develop stronger team dynamics, our school will need to focus on authentic team learning (Zeeman, 2017, para. 7).\u00a0 This will provide the platform for the discipline of personal mastery to move toward our shared vision.\u00a0 Team members need to set aside some of their individualism to become a more fully integrated team member.\u00a0 My current organization has a large gap between the vision for our school and the current reality.\u00a0 We need to change how we are doing our work (Lepsinger, 2010, p. 37) so that we can create a balance between our short-term and long-term goals and develop a better team climate (Hughes et al., 2014, p. 215).<\/p>\n A balanced school team (Hastings, 2014)<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Better Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n Some years ago my current school district brought in the Dufours to educate us on Professional Learning Communities (PLC).\u00a0 They inspired and made school teams seems possible and necessary for student success and for teachers to strengthen each other through team planning. \u00a0\u201cAs educators develop their capacity to function as a PLC, they create a culture that stretches the hopes, aspirations, and performance of students and adults alike\u201d (DuFour et al., 2004, p. 179). \u00a0Schools of every level are under intense scrutiny and enormous accountability to educate future citizens and decision-makers.\u00a0 \u201cSchools do not operate in a vacuum\u2014they must serve the public\u201d (DuFour & Eaker, 1998, p. 158).\u00a0 DuFour and Eaker promoted the development of mission, vision, and value so that each school can function as a team (DuFour & Eaker, 1998, p. 25).\u00a0 Creating a professional learning community within each school began to take shape, and then the logistics of releasing teachers to work together became too complicated, and there was no money to put towards team development.\u00a0 Just another great opportunity to make changes in a tired and work out system set aside for something more comfortable.<\/p>\n How can changes become necessary enough to maintain and nurture through the painful growing process?\u00a0 Growth necessitates change and is a sign of life.\u00a0 Atha encourages us not to lose hope when the system needs changing but is unable to handle the pressure of change (2018, p. 7).\u00a0 Finding the right options can happen through perseverance while keeping our focus on the long-term goals.\u00a0 Run the race that is before us. (Hebrews 12:1-3)<\/p>\n References<\/p>\n Atha, D. (2018).\u00a0 A systems-thinking primer: Seeing organizations in action. [Course learning activity 3.1]. Retrieved from https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/ldrs501\/unit-3-learning-activities\/<\/p>\n DuFour, R., and Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communities: Best practices for enhancing student achievement<\/em>. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.<\/p>\n DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., and Karhanek, G. (2004). Whatever it takes: How professional learning communities respond when kids don\u2019t learn<\/em>.\u00a0 Bloomington, IN: solution Tree.<\/p>\n Hastings, W. (2014).\u00a0 Image retrieved from http:\/\/waynehastings.blogs.com\/.a\/6a00d83451b74169e201156f930ac6970b-pi<\/p>\n Haughey, D. (2014). Smart goals.\u00a0 Retrieved from [October 17, 2018] https:\/\/www.projectsmart.co.uk\/smart-goals.php<\/p>\n Hughes, R., Beatty, K., and Dinwoodie, D. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader: Your role in your organization\u2019s enduring success.<\/em> San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.<\/p>\n Lepsinger, R. (2010). Closing the execution gap: How great leaders and their companies get results<\/em>. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.<\/p>\n Ungerer, M., Ungerer, G., and Herholdt, J. (2016). Navigating strategic possibilities: Strategy formulation and execution practices to flourish.<\/em> Randburg: KR Publishing.\u00a0 Retrieved from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Schools can no longer function efficiently without a systems-thinking approach to the many complexities of the daily responsibility for educating future citizens.\u00a0 As the educational demands have increased, so has the need for more effective and diversified leadership approaches.\u00a0 Mental health issues in our classrooms, new wholesale curricular changes without structure, and transitioning leadership bring…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1015,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,96,105],"tags":[107,99,108,106],"class_list":["post-314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-and-education","category-ldrs501","category-senge","tag-education","tag-ldrs501","tag-leadership","tag-systems-approach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sally81\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sally81\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sally81\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sally81\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1015"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sally81\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sally81\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sally81\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions\/315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sally81\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sally81\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/sally81\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Related](\"https:\/\/www.projectsmart.co.uk\/img\/goals-objectives.png\")