Leadership Portfolio: Reflect, Connect, Learn

When I started my teaching career way back in 2000, my professional portfolio was a big binder full of artifacts of my learning. It was a bunch of "stuff" that I used to show others what my learning journey looked like. That binder also included "leadership" artifacts. I combined the two at that time. 

A bunch of artifacts, but no reflections attached to them...until I participated in Part 2 of the Leadership development course in my school board. During this course, emphasis was placed on creating/revisiting/re-imagining a portfolio connected to our leadership journey. We were provided with ideas and emphasis was placed on engaging with an idea in a way that worked for each individual. That is when I decided to ditch the binder of artifacts and create what I have here today:

A blog where I reflect on leadership opportunities/experiences as they connect to the Catholic Leadership Framework and the goals of my school board. 

My participation in leading school/board/provincial initiatives is great and I can list all kinds of things I have done and been part of BUT thinking about what I learned from those experiences and how they help my leadership journey are the gold nuggets for me. 

Let me provide an example of  how I reflect on what I have done and how I learn more about my leadership style, capacity, and continued growth. 

Artifact of Leadership

After I completed the Part 2 leadership course, I was invited back to speak to Part 2 participants about my Leadership Portfolio - my blog and why I decided to use this format to track my leadership journey. The presentation I provided to the participants is a leadership artifact for me. I was invited to speak to a group of people about something I was doing - a great example of me stepping up to try something new, scaffold the process for others, to lead them to try something new, and a way to gain confidence in my leadership ability/skills. 

Connection to my Board's Goals and the Catholic Leadership Framework 

For me, it was pretty awesome to be invited to speak to participants of the Leadership course about my portfolio. Someone thought it would be great for me to do this and I did it!! I could now list this experience as an artifact of me "leading". Well, so what? 

"Leadership is the exercise of influence on organizational members and diverse stakeholders toward the identification and achievement of the organization’s vision and goals." - this is listed at the top of the Catholic Leadership Framework document. 

This is the part of my process where I reflect on what I did and how I was able to positively influence my colleagues towards my board's goals with respect to leadership development. Speaking to the course participants about my portfolio choice, my process, and the benefits to my leadership and learning provided them with "real life" application and one more option for them to consider as they journey toward leadership. My presentation to the participants of the course aligned with the goals of the district with respect to their leadership development strategy and provided me with an opportunity lead. 

I will get to my learning after I make a connection to the Catholic Leadership Framework.

With respect to the Leadership Framework, I could make a number of connections but for the purposes of this blog post, I am going to focus on the 'Building Relationships and Developing People' pillar. 

When I look at the leadership indicators under the 'building relationships' pillar, my presentation connects with the following:

• encourage staff to reflect on what they are trying to achieve and how they are doing it 
• lead discussion about the merits of current and alternative practices
• facilitate an opportunity for staff to learn from each other 
• suggest new ideas for learning 
• encourage staff to develop and review their own goals for professional growth and the relationship of those goals to board goals and priorities 
• encourage staff to try new practices that are consistent with both their interests and board goals
• demonstrate the importance of continuous learning through visible engagement in my own professional learning
• exemplify, through my actions, the board’s core values and its desired practices  

For me, making connections to the Framework provides an awareness of how my experiences align with the what is expected from Catholic leaders in Ontario. As I make connections to the Framework I also become more familiar with the indicators so I can consider incorporating them in the work that I do.  

The Learning

I've identified a leadership activity that I lead/engaged in and reflected on how it connects to Board goals and the Catholic Leadership Framework. So, what have I learned from reflecting on my experience??

• I can present my work to others and the more I do, the greater my confidence to speak to groups will grow. This is important for me because I believe it is an important skill as I work on positively influencing the people I work with to do great work.
• Leaders in my school board value my work and believe others can benefit from it. The relationships I establish with people in my district are important for my learning and hopefully for their learning as well. 
• I am in alignment with my Board's goals and the indicators listed in the Catholic Leadership Framework. It is important for me to innovate and take risks by trying new things but it is also important that I am working towards a collective goal to improve staff and student achievement. 
• I have things to work on. I need to continue to engage in leadership activities, reflect on what I did well and what I need to improve on. I speak about my lived experience but how can I improve on my communication skills to better deliver my message??

This is it, folks. This blog is how I process my leadership experiences. It's all about reflecting, connecting, and learning. The artifacts are just a small part for me. I mean, it is important to refer to the ACTIVITIES I engage in to demonstrate that I am putting in the work BUT the real work for me involves the REFLECTION on the ACTIVITIES and the LEARNING that comes from them.

Do you have a leadership portfolio? How are you learning more about you as a leader? I'd love to hear from you about your process!

Finding the Fuel to Excel

Since March 2020, I have been in a hyper state of reflective practice. The global pandemic flipped my work life upside down - causing me, and really the entire education world in Ontario, to re-evaluate how teaching and learning works when we are not face to face with our students. 

In addition to the pandemic, there have been a number of other events (George Floyd, BLM, US election, the Ford government, the 215 children in BC, etc) that have caused me to be more disciplined in looking after my mental health by entering into a reflective state with respect to my life, how I see myself, and what I need to do to become a better version of myself - in all aspects of my life (partner, parent, educator, friend/ally).

Between the curveballs thrown at me as a classroom teacher and the things happening around me with respect to race and equity, I have had to examine my personal leadership resources and take stock of what I have in abundance, what I am depleted of, and where I can get more of what I need. The Catholic Leadership Framework identifies cognitive, social, and psychological resources that effectively enact leadership practices. I have spent a significant amount of time thinking about how I am doing in terms of my problem solving ability, my professional practices and how they lead students to success, dealing with my emotions, being proactive, resilient, and optimistic. As the school year comes to an end, I can say that the reflective practice I have been engaged in has allowed me to "check in" with myself often and evaluate what I am doing well and where I need to pay more attention. 

My constant "check ins" lead me to want to engage in activities that would positively feed me. Mentorship sessions with leaders inside and outside of the WCDSB, the Catholic Leadership Through an Equity Lens initiative, and coaching the Girls Who Game program at my school are the main things that brought me a sense of value and joy. Those three things provided me with the fuel I needed to keep making a positive difference in myself and the staff and students I work with no matter what was happening around me.

  

Through the lens of The Catholic Leadership Framework, my practice of reflecting on what is working and what isn't working helps me set direction, build relationships, support desired practices, improve the instructional program, and secure accountability. When I think about the purposeful conversations I have had with formal leaders this school year, I immediately recall learning about the importance of setting high expectations and meeting the demands of the different stakeholders I work with/for. The Catholic Leadership Through an Equity Lens initiative provided me with the opportunity to share my leadership discernment story, the importance of building trusting relationships, and staffing the instructional program in a purposeful way to serve the diverse needs of our students and community. Leading the Girls Who Game program allowed me to work on being accountable to my administrators, the outside groups supporting the program, and most importantly, the students themselves. The program also stimulated growth in staff members who were part of the collaborative process, allowed me to monitor progress in student learning, and allowed me to help build a sense of internal accountability in myself and the other adults working with me. 

As I approach the end of this very interesting and unprecedented school year, I am walking away from it feeling successful. The stress and adversity lead me to dig deeper into who I am, the blessings I have in my life, and where the fuel is to keep me going in the right direction. 

Self Awareness and Next Steps

We had our "back to school" staff meeting this week. It was great to see my co workers and hear about their summer adventures. As the day progressed I found myself reflecting on my professional goals for this school year. I was thinking about my growth as an educator and the possible obstacles that could get in the way.

One of the things that came to mind was how important self awareness is - knowing your own personality, who you are, and what you are about. It sounds easy, but I don't think it is for everyone. For example, as I reflect on my perceived strengths and weaknesses, it isn't always easy to acknowledge my weaknesses/next steps because the areas I lack in are becoming ever more important in an educators toolbox.

Nevertheless, I thought about and verbalized my weaknesses to a few of my colleagues and that got me started on considering next steps to work on in order to improve myself. By having an awareness of the things that I need to work on, I moved into action (a small one) and talked to one of my teaching partners about it. This provided them with a little bit of an understanding of my perspective and why I do (and don't do) certain things. Fortunately, this led to a great discussion about how we can collaborate in a way that honours who I am and who they are.

In this case, things seem to be turning out to be positive. I am sure it won't always be that way. We all have to start somewhere and in my case I think I'm off to a good start.

With respect to the Catholic Leadership Framework, self awareness would fall under the "Personal Leadership Resources" pillar. Specifically, my attention is drawn to the "Psychological Resources" subsection. The subsection mentions optimism, self-efficacy, resilience, and proactivity. I believe that being self aware is another important resource. Knowing about yourself will provide you with valuable information about your limits and why you believe and act in certain ways. By knowing these things you can work to change them and/or to minimize the negative impact they may have on others around you. For example, if I am the Principal of a school, I am responsible for effectively working with and providing my best self to those that I work with each day. Therefore it is important that I know my strengths, weaknesses, and have a plan to work on myself in order to minimize negative effects on the school community that I am "leader" of.

I am certain that I will have good days and bad days as I journey on becoming a better version of myself. Looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.