** Luke Skywalker: Alright, I’ll give it a try.
** Yoda: No! Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.
What we learn here is easily understood. It’s about committment to success, determination to succeed no matter what the obstacles placed in our paths.
As an education leader, we are continuously confronted by seemingly impossible situations. There might be, for example, a lack of resources, a lack of motivation, a lack of support, inertia, etc. The list of possible reasons for failure to achieve extraordinary results is a never ending story.
Success, achievement at high levels, begins with a basic philosophy that defines the educator as a leader. That principle is a very simple one: committment.
In my own case, I’m extreme. My committment is not only to achieve success in everything I do. No, I go beyond that. My committment is to achieve extraordinary success as an educator.
Out of that committment, everything else flows. Let me give you some concrete examples. Three come to mind immediately, and will be enough for the moment. Firstly, let me mention continuous professional development, or CPD.
For me, my own knowledge, skills, and abilities as a teacher needs to be equal to or above those of the people I lead. Consequently, I am always learning, in both informal and formal learning situations. CPD is therefore essential to achieve excellence. I do not wait for my employer to provide me with CPD. It is my responsibility as a professional educator and leader.
Secondly, I am clear that whatever I can achieve as an individual educator is inferior compared to what a team can accomplish working together. Put another way, the collective capacities of a team, in terms of intelligence, wisdom, knowledge, skills, abilities, etc. is always going to be better than a single individual working alone. Thus, developing a team that works well together is crucial to achieving ultimate excellence.
Thirdly, technology must be employed to make the work of the team more efficient and more effective. We live in the most technologically advanced age and time that mankind has ever experienced. Indeed, nowadays, we are educating students who have always used technology, from the earliest possible moments of their lives, even as infants.
We can not turn our back to technology. As we have seen, the future success of our students, not to mention the whole planet, is tied to our ability to use technology wisely, to create, to innovate, to motivate and engage the imagination of our students. At the same time, we are tasked with never losing sight of our humanity, in terms of values, in our interactions with others.
In summary, the fundamental pillar of leadership is committment to excellence. Achieving excellence is the goal of leadership. We are in search of excellence, continuously, relentlessly, and purposefully. Continuous Professional Development, teamwork, and technology form a tryad, or triangle, for our efforts to be based on: three important aspects that leaders must be aware of, each individually and collectively a part of our ultimate success as leaders…
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Teacher Professional Development
Book Description
Publication Date: March 9, 2012
Teacher Professional Development: Reflections. What’s the difference between a great teacher and an average teacher? That’s a complicated question, with many variables. For me, the answer is a simple one, however: Teacher Professional Development. I share my reflections and my personal experience on this topic with you…
Amazon Author Page: Thomas Jerome Baker
