Dare to Lead Collaboration - In and Out of the Classroom

I recently discovered one of Brene Brown's Dare to Lead resources for educators, Daring Classrooms - a free resource that is built around the Dare to Lead book. There are lesson plans, videos, and a leadership assessment that you can take to learn more about your strengths and opportunities for growth with respect to the ideas presented in the book.

I visited the site and took a closer look. I was really pleased with the ideas there and decided that I would like to implement some of them in my classroom this year, as well as work with other educators in a collaborative fashion with the goal of improving the leadership of all involved. To this end, I asked if anyone wanted to collaborate with me this school year.

Lots of people responded and said that they were interested so I started a Google Document titled Daring Classrooms Collaboration with some ideas about how we could connect and work together. If you haven't checked out the document, please do so. If you like what you see, put your name down and let's work together!

In addition to the opportunity of building a safer space for my students, work with other educators and their students, I get to learn about myself and put into action what Brene writes about in Dare to Lead. At first, I was apprehensive about tweeting an invitation to collaborate with others. I sat with the feelings that came to me - I acknowledged them and worked with them for a bit. I realized that this was a growth opportunity for me and that I needed to take action.

I took the first step and now I am looking forward to what comes next. After the tweet and creation of the document, I started to reflect on the Ontario Catholic Leadership Framework and how the idea of Daring Classrooms Collaboration fits with the expectations of the Leadership Framework. Many of the expectations in the Leadership Framework connect well with my vision of the Daring Classrooms Collaboration.

One of the pillars of the framework focuses on developing people and building relationships. The idea behind the collaboration project is to help people (teachers and students) grow and develop - to understand themselves better, and to take action that will hopefully lead to continuous improvement.

Another pillar of the framework focuses on developing the organization to support desired practices. Several of the educators who have indicated an interest in participating in the collaboration are from my school board which means that the work we do will align with our Board Improvement Plan for Student Achievement. The Board's plan prioritizes nurturing our Catholic community, building capacity to lead, learn, and live authentically, and student engagement, achievement, and innovation. My vision of the collaboration project, along with the content of Dare to Lead, fit nicely with the priorities of the my School Board.

Last but not least, collaboration is a key ingredient of the Leadership Framework and the Board's plan for student achievement. I will do what I can to continue to work with others and offer them opportunities to work with me with the goal of growth and improvement for all involved. I don't know how this will play out but I do know that I will dare to lead!

I Almost Quit

I have been taking an additional qualification (AQ) course over the last few months. We are in the last week of the course. I almost quit with the course, three times.

When I was provided with the opportunity to take the course I was quite excited. I enjoy learning, especially when it is self directed and can have positive implications on my teaching practice. I started off great, like most people do. As I moved through the modules I found that I was bumping up against assignments where I wasn't sure how to answer them and sometimes I didn't even know where to start. The feelings I experienced were interesting - fear, confusion, excitement - all at the same time.

When I would feel the emotions I listed above, I would step away from the assignment and come back to it at a later time. I found that the time away  gave me the opportunity to let the task sink in and have some time to process what was being asked and the concept that was being examined.

When it came time to deal with the "big" assignments, I would feel the same emotions but there was an added thought that would manifest itself. It involved thinking and self talk that I would just not do the assignment and forfeit the course. I did that three times throughout the course. That was the fear talking. I would walk away and give my heart the chance to defend itself from my brain.

After some time away from the course I would do two things. I would tell myself that I could quit after I finish the assignment, and that I needed to start the assignment - whether it put me on the right path or not - I needed to act rather than think. These two things got be back in the game and have led me to completing the course.

More importantly, I am much more aware of how the two things I decided to do can be applied to almost any issue I encounter in life. If I am doing something that I just want to give up on, I can tell myself that I can quit after I complete the task at hand. If that doesn't work (or even if it does work) I can do something rather than do nothing. If I am going to quit, it isn't going to be due to inaction. I am going to do something rather than nothing.

When I compare my experience with the Catholic Leadership Framework I see the importance of personal leadership resources - a section that don't often look at when examining the expectations that make up the document. The reason I didn't end up quitting is because of the strategies I used and the some of the social and psychological resources that the document refers to. Being able to manage my emotions, be optimistic, and resilient helped me get through this experience - like it will for almost any difficult experience.

I almost quit. I suspect I will feel like this again, especially when I am in a tough position. From a leadership perspective, it will be important for me to look back on this reflection to help me regroup and activate my social and psychological resources in order to act and save quitting for another day.

Mentorship Up Close

I've been talking a lot about mentorship lately. I consider myself fortunate to be a mentor in a variety of settings/circumstances. I am a formal NTIP mentor with my school board, I am a mentor for Google for Education through their certified innovator program, and I am a mentor through OnEdMentors Connect (my reflection on Phase 1 of the OnEdMentors Connect experience below).

Around 10 years ago I expressed interest in becoming a formal mentor with my school board. I contacted the person responsible for mentorship in my board and was told that they had all the mentors they needed. I ended up working with a Vice Principal who had been a formal mentor before becoming an administrator. I asked him if he would be willing to speak to the mentorship gatekeepers on my behalf, thinking that the word of someone they knew would help, no luck.

I recall feeling frustrated. I felt like I was doing a good job in the classroom and was on top of my game (as much as one can be). My Principals were supportive and said that they thought it would be a good idea to be a mentor. It seemed like I had the prerequisites - just wasn't the right time.

Fast forward to the birth of the NTIP program. In our Board the system put out a request for teachers to put their name forward to be added to a list so that new teachers could connect with a mentor of their choice. Prior to this, it seemed like the people running the program would decide who to put together.

Since the roster of mentor teachers was created I have been lucky enough to work with three teachers in my system, one of which decided to make it formal as we had started working together through the digital OnEdMentors Connect initiative. I have to say that I am enjoying the mentor/mentee process and look forward to continuing to assist teachers if and when the opportunity arises.

From the perspective of the Catholic Leadership Framework, being a mentor allows me to work with others in order to set direction, build relationships and develop people, develop the organization to support desired practices, improve instructional programs, and secure accountability.

Setting Direction
The opportunity to work with a new teacher to set a a shared vision - one that includes what our schools and our system value, that energizes our work, and is embedded in the Gospel values - is  beneficial to all stakeholders in education.

Building Relationships and Developing People
The mentor/mentee experience also allows both parties to create a strong professional relationship with room for both parties to grow and develop as educators.

Developing the Organization to Support Desired Practices
From the perspective of a mentor I see my role as one that involves developing the organization by sharing my knowledge and practices to support desired practices that connect to our board's mission, vision, priorities, and improvement plan.

Improving the Instructional Program
From my experience, the time and work that is done around the organization's priorities ends up leading to improving the instructional program. As a mentor my role involves guidance/support on matters involving assessment/evaluation, pedagogy, classroom management, innovation, and anything else that the mentee would like to ask about/work on.

Securing Accountability
Last but not least, discussions about accountability are critical. How are we sharing what we are accountable for and why is it important to do so? Building a sense of internal accountability is important for us as it supports our professional learning and practice. A big one for me lately has been self reflection and how I document my thinking in order to track my development. This is something I share with my mentees, that is if they are interested in the topic.

Can you see why I am so pumped about being a mentor? I really enjoy it. I also enjoy being a mentee. Hopefully I can put together a blog post about being a mentee from afar. It's now been added to the list of things I would like to reflect on!

The RIGHT People (in my opinion)

For the past several years (based on what I can recall) my school board has posted their call for VP pool applications a month or two after the school year gets underway. The same thing happens every year after the posting comes out - emails start getting bounced around between colleagues about whether to apply or not. Part of it is fun and part of it is stressful, but it always gets me thinking about whether I am ready and/or willing to put my name forward to be considered for a formal leadership position in Education.

I recently heard about some of the people that have been successful in making it into the leadership pool. I was ecstatic to hear that some of the people I have been learning with over the last few years were successful in their applications. All of us differ in how we run our classrooms and operate at our school sites but we are all the same with respect to our core beliefs about leadership, particularly in Catholic education.

I feel very good about the time I have spent learning with them and look forward to learning from them as formal leaders in our system. When I think about the experiences I have had with them, and connect those experiences to the Catholic Leadership Framework, I clearly recall the conversations we had and the work we did around building relationships & developing people, improving instructional programs, and developing the organization to support desired practices.

Sean Kritz (Head of Guidance at RCSS) and I moments before recording a webinar about deep learning.
Working to develop the organization and support desired practices.

I feel like they are the RIGHT people for the job and, selfishly, I consider myself fortunate to be connected to them. It makes me think that the work I have been doing and the way I have been thinking are good for the system and that there may be a place for me in formal leadership if I decide to pursue it in my school board.

Don't get me wrong, I have some thoughts and ideas of my own around innovation and disruption that I believe would benefit student learning and achievement but so do my colleagues! It will be fun to see them grow and change as they move out of their current roles and into the main office of a school.

Before I hit "publish" on this post, I want to say thanks to Brian Aspinall for the unintentional nudge on Twitter this morning that led to this post.  

Connect and Work Together

I see my leadership journey as a marathon, not a sprint. My thoughts and actions are geared towards a long term goal but because of this fact I don't always give it the time it deserves. I am fortunate to have a colleague in the same building that has a similar goal but I feel like more is needed to keep me engaged and aware of my thoughts and actions and how they can be viewed through the lens of the Catholic Leadership Framework.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the people I know in my school board who are interested in formal leadership. I took some time today to think about why I haven't reached out to them to talk leadership and engage in discussions that can benefit all of us with respect to our work and development as leaders. This thought led to action as I contacted several colleagues and asked them if they wanted to participate in discussions around leadership by examining leadership literature (articles/readings), the use 21st Century tools to connect and grow our professional learning community, and examining our portfolios to prompt further discussion and growth.  

I believe that participating in this type of learning community can benefit my practice, the practice of my colleagues, and our school board by meeting the following Catholic Leadership Framework expectations:

• establish, in collaboration with staff and other stakeholders, a commitment to purpose and vision which is embedded in the Gospel and energizes our work
• help staff and diverse stakeholders understand the relationship between the school’s vision and board and provincial policy initiatives and priorities
• regularly encourage staff to evaluate their progress toward achieving the school’s goals (sipsa/bipsa)
• encourage staff to develop and periodically review individual goals for professional growth, as well as the relationship between their individual goals and the school’s goals (sipsa/bipsa)
• model collaboration in our work
• help staff (colleagues) make connections between school goals and ministry goals in order to strengthen commitment to school improvement efforts

The above expectations will provide us with a great start! I am excited to see what comes from our learning as we start our leadership learning experience.

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.

Innovation in Education Conference

In cooperation with OECTA, the Board hosted its second annual Education Innovation Conference on April 7 at St. Mary’s (OECTA PD Day - AM). I facilitated a hands-on, open spaces session on the use of Social Media 1) in the classroom to benefit student engagement/achievement, and 2) to assist educators in creating an online professional learning network. 

It was a great experience! I enjoyed connecting with people in the school board that I wouldn't normally get to interact with. I ran two sessions and both were full of questions that affirmed the use of social media in education and pushed back against its use. Great conversation ensued and people left feeling like they had a better understanding of how the use of social media can assist them in their work and growth as educators. 

From a leadership perspective, it was great to present timely and valuable information to my colleagues. With respect to the Catholic Leadership Framework, the work I was engaged in falls under the pillars of Building Relationships and Developing People, Developing the Organization to Support Desired Practices, and Improving the Instructional Program. As I meet new people and connect with them I am always encouraging them to step outside of their comfort zone to stretch their thinking and learning.

I look forward to more leadership opportunities where I can connect with people outside of my school in order to positively impact the system.