ED 256: Teacher Leadership Internship

ED 256: Teacher Leadership Internship

Fall 2015

Megin Charner-Laird, Ed.D.

OR

Purpose

The purpose of this fall seminar is to provide students in the teacher leadership program with a scaffolded experience that will allow them to gain feedback on their teacher leadership initiatives, learn key skills and tools to support their work as leaders in their school contexts, and to practice skills learned in summer coursework.

This course will focus on three main learning outcomes for students:

1. Students will learn from cases of teacher leadership from the field and consider how those cases can apply to their particular school contexts and leadership initiatives.

2. Students will continue to hone skills of facilitation in group settings.

3. Students will learn about and apply new concepts and skills related to teacher leadership and consider how those skills (e.g. meeting facilitation, having difficult conversations) can apply to their leadership initiatives.

Course Organization

The course will be organized into six units, each taking place over two weeks. Each unit will include:

·  Written dialogue regarding new strategies, approaches, skills, or ideas related to teacher leadership. For instance, students will focus on the skills of planning and creating effective meeting agendas or having difficult conversations.

·  Preparation for a case discussion of teacher leadership from the field. These cases will follow students’ trajectories over the course of the semester, beginning with challenges of entry and launching leadership initiatives, moving into the work of leading changes in practice, and finally looking at how teacher leaders reflect on their work and its impact (on themselves and others). Synchronous class sessions will focus on discussions of these cases and making connections from the cases to students’ own work on their initiatives.

·  Preparation for protocol conversations on “problems of practice” or “questions of practice” related to initiative implementation. Students will spend part of each synchronous session in small groups. Each meeting, one student will bring a problem or question of practice to the group. They will prepare relevant information and documentation (documents, video clips, etc.) ahead of time and work with the week’s facilitator (assigned ahead of time) to choose an appropriate protocol for the discussion. During the synchronous session, the facilitator will lead a protocol-based discussion of the work/data/documentation. At the end of each synchronous session, the whole group will reconvene in order to reflect on the role and work of facilitation as well as the role of protocol participants. Each student whose work was the focus of the week or who led the protocol-based conversation will submit a written reflection on the protocol process. Presenting students will also submit an action plan detailing how he or she will follow up in their initiative based on the feedback.

In addition, each participant will be meeting two times/month (in person, via Skype or other means of communication) with her or his coach who will be providing support and feedback on how your teacher leadership initiative is proceeding. The coach, who will oversee the experiential learning part of the course, will also consult with me during the semester.

Course Assignments

Asynchronous Online Work

During each unit of the course, there will be asynchronous online work to complete. This will include reading chapters and articles focused on a key skill or idea in teacher leadership and then engaging in written dialogue with other class members regarding the central ideas and strategies introduced in the readings. For each online discussion post, there will be guiding questions and clear expectations regarding the number and length of posts that each class member will make. Participation in these discussions is a vital component of your learning in this course and one way of staying connected to classmates and learning from their ideas.

Leadership Dilemma Presentation and Reflection

Each student in the class will have the opportunity to present a leadership dilemma to a small group of classmates during one of our synchronous course sessions. This will be done in the context of a protocol-based conversation. As presenter, you will first pinpoint a key dilemma, issue, or question that you have encountered in your teaching practice. Through an email dialogue with the instructor, you will focus the dilemma and decide what accompanying artifacts you will share with your group so that they can understand the issue or question. This might include a video clip of you leading a meeting, an agenda and/or handout that you have used at a meeting, or documentation that you have shared with other teachers or administrators at your school. You will then serve as the “presenter” during your small group session (during a synchronous course meeting), participate actively in the discussion, and take careful notes on classmate feedback. Within three days of the conversation, the presenting student will submit a written reflection on the process, including an action plan for incorporating peer feedback moving forward.

Facilitating Critical Conversations

In addition to presenting a leadership dilemma to a small group, each student in the class will serve as the leader and facilitator of a small group, protocol-based conversation during one of our synchronous course sessions. As leader, this student will work in conjunction with the presenter to determine which protocol will provide him or her with the most meaningful and effective feedback, given the particulars of the dilemma or question being presented. The leader will then facilitate the actual protocol-based conversation and, within three days of doing so, submit a written reflection on the process of leadership and facilitation, including reflections on how this facilitation experience will shape continued work on his or her leadership initiative.

Initiative Case

The final product for this course will involve the writing of a leadership case focused on each student’s leadership initiative. For this fall course, the case will focus on the experiences of entry and the initial work of leading peers, introducing new practices and structures into school settings, and supporting peer learning. Using case study structures, students will pinpoint key moments of their initiative work to highlight within the case, with a focus on creating cases that can be instructive to future teacher leaders as they delve into new leadership work. Work on this case will continue in the spring semester, as students round out their first year of the leadership initiative. The case will be paired with a written self-assessment, in which students will detail their initiative progress to this point in relation to their initial plans for the work. This self-assessment will also help students to frame the work that lies ahead in the initiative.

Grading

Asynchronous course work: 30%

Leadership Dilemma Presentation and Reflection: 25%

Facilitating Critical Conversations and Reflection: 15%

Initiative case: 30%

Grade Calculations

The letter grade that you earn for the course will be calculated based on your performance in the areas outlined above. It will give an overall evaluation of your performance in the course. Therefore, all assignments will be evaluated using the following percentages and grade ranges (note that rubric-scored assignments will have their rubric scores translated to an equivalent grade):

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A = 95-100 %

A- = 90-94 %

B+ = 88-89 %

B = 84-87 %

B- = 80-83 %

Below this range requires resubmission

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Required Texts

Stoelinga, S. R. &Mangin, M. M. (2010).Examining Effective Teacher Leadership: A Case Study Approach. New York: Teachers College Press.

City, E. A. & Boudett, K. P. (2014) Meetingwise. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.

Other readings will be posted on LATTE

Privacy

This class requires the use of tools that may disclose your coursework and identity to parties outside the class. To protect your privacy you may choose to use a pseudonym/alias rather than your name in submitting such work. You must share the pseudonym with me and your coach and course colleagues as needed. Alternatively, with prior consultation, you may submit such work directly to me.

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Weekly Syllabus

Note that the syllabus is comprised of a single synchronous meeting, followed by six units, all of which contain both preparation for asynchronous work and synchronous course meetings. Following that, there is one more set of asynchronous work. We will discuss this organizational approach during the first course meeting on September 10.

September 10 (introductory synchronous course meeting):

Note: This is a one-hour session, only.

Who are we now as a group? How will this course proceed? How am I thinking about my work now, and how do vignettes about teacher leaders help me to frame my current work?

·  Introduction to the course content and structures

·  Work out technological questions and approaches

·  Discuss the short vignettes from Stoelinga and Mangin

·  Sign up first facilitator and first presenter for September 24

·  Spend a few minutes in small groups (to practice technology) and to re-solidify norms and add any specific needs or requests of each other

Required reading: Stoelinga & Mangin, Examining Effective Teacher Leadership, pp. 15-34

Unit 1

Note that units are written to be completed in two-week chunks of time, leading up to our synchronous course meetings. There will be intermediary deadlines for some of your asynchronous coursework so that class members can respond to each other’s thoughts online.

Guiding Questions/Focus / Preparation for Asynchronous Work (to be completed between September 10—or earlier!—and September 24) / Preparation for Synchronous Session (September 24) / Small Group Facilitators and Presenters*
How do I manage the key logistics of launching and maintaining the work of my initiative? Focus on Meetings / City & Boudett, Meetingwise, chapters 2 and 4, pp. 19-38, 73-83
Entry and School Culture: How has the launching of your initiative worked within and been shaped by your specific
school culture? / Stoelinga & Mangin, Examining Effective Teacher Leadership, The Case of MaryAnn,
pp. 62-70
Lindle, “What can the study of micropolitics contribute to the practice of leadership in
reforming schools?” School Leadership and Management, 19(2), 171-178.

*We will fill this in after our first meeting on September 10.

Unit 2

Guiding Questions/Focus / Preparation for Asynchronous Work / Preparation for Synchronous Session (October 8) / Small Group Facilitators and Presenters*
Creating meaningful learning in groups: PLC creation and logistics / Lieberman & Miller, “Learning Communities: The starting point for professional learningin classrooms and schools” JSD, August 2011, 23(4), 16-19.
Hord, S. M. (2009). Professional Learning Communities: Educators Work Togethertoward a Shared Purpose. JSD, 30(1), 40-43.
Supovitz & Christman, “Small Learning Communities that Actually Learn: Lessons for
School Leaders” Phi Delta Kappan, May, 2005, 649-651.
Silva, “A Day in the Life of Schoolwide CFGs” Educational Horizons, Fall, 2005, 29-34.
Entry and School Leadership: In what ways have you worked with school leaders to launch the work of your initiative?
How will ongoing partnership with school leaders play a role in your initiative? What do you need from school leaders in order to achieve success? / Stoelinga & Mangin, Examining Effective Teacher Leadership, The Case of Jeff, pp. 71-79.
Pankake & Moller, “What the teacher leader needs from the principal,” JSD, 28(1), 32-36.
OPTIONAL: Wilhelm, “How principals cultivate shared leadership,” Educational Leadership, October
2013, 62-66.

Unit 3

Guiding Questions/Focus / Preparation for Asynchronous Work / Preparation for Synchronous Session (October 22) / Small Group Facilitators and Presenters*
Digging into the art of facilitation / City & Boudett, Meetingwise, chapter 5, 88-118.
Pomerantz & Ippolito, “Power Tools for Talking” JSD, February 2015, 36(1), 40-43.
Implementation Challenges and Leading
Learning:
How do you handle challenges along the way as you implement your initiative? What do
you do when participants like new ideas but fail to implement them? / Stoelinga & Mangin, Examining Effective Teacher Leadership, The Case of Janie, pp. 80-87.
Schmoker, M. “First things first: Demystifying data analysis,” Educational Leadership,
60(5), 22-24.

Unit 4

Guiding Questions/Focus / Preparation for Asynchronous Work / Preparation for Synchronous Session (November 5) / Small Group Facilitators and Presenters*
Challenging Conversations: How to proceed when there are conflicts, bumps in the road, or differences of opinion / Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, & Switzler, Crucial Conversations: Toolks for Talking when Stakes are High, pp. 33-72.
OPTIONAL: Stone, Patton, & Heen, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, pp.131-146.
Further Implementation Challenges and
Leading Learning:
How do you manage when some teachers are not “on board” with your initiative? How do you help teachers change teaching practice? / Stoelinga & Mangin, Examining Effective Teacher Leadership, The Case of Erin, pp. 45-52.
Bambrick Santoyo
“Stone Soup: The Teacher Leader’s Contribution” Educational Leadership, October, 2013, 46-49.

Unit 5

Guiding Questions/Focus / Preparation for Asynchronous Work / Preparation for Synchronous Session (November 19) / Small Group Facilitators and Presenters*
Assessment and Evaluation: How is your initiative going? / Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: Mapping the terrain.
Educational Researcher, 33(8), 3–15.
For a quick overview of evaluation, read the following: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tableofcontents/
evaluate/evaluation/evaluationplan/main
OPTIONAL: Boudett, City, & Murnane, Datawise, chapter 7, pp. 151-167.
A Different Type of Implementation
Challenge: How do you manage the tensions of moving your initiative forward while maintaining other elements of your job? How do you balance leading with classroom teaching? / Swanson, Elliot, & Harmon, Teacher Leader Stories: The Power of Case Methods, chapter 3, pp. 44-59.
Sacks, “The problem solving power of teachers,” Educational Leadership, October, 18-22.

Unit 6

Guiding Questions/Focus / Preparation for Asynchronous Work / Preparation for Synchronous Session (December 3) / Small Group Facilitators and Presenters*
Sharing our Work through Case Writing: How do I frame my work to share it with others? How do I identify the key learning moments in order to share them? / Swanson, Elliot, & Harmon, Teacher Leader Stories: The Power of Case Methods,
chapters 1 and 2, pp. 7-43.
OPTIONAL: Stoelinga & Mangin, Examining Effective Teacher Leadership: A Case Study Approach, Introduction, pp. 1-12.
What are our Cases? What is the key entry
or implementation success, learning, and challenge that shape your teacher leadership
work to this point? How do you frame and shape those elements of your own case? / Readings for today will consist of drafts of each other’s initial case framings of teacher leadership initiatives.
Boudett & Steele, Datawise in Action, chapters 5 and 6, pp. 87-124 (chapter 6, OPTIONAL)

By December 12 (asynchronous coursework): Deepening Practice and Moving Forward: