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Principal as agent of change

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Kim Crawford
Kim Crawford

The principal plays a key role in facilitating school improvement and professional learning for teachers. As an agent of change, the principal must intentionally address barriers to teacher learning, such as focusing too much on confirming existing ideas rather than challenging them. Some strategies for interrupting barriers include using protocols to structure discussion, making preconceptions explicit, and viewing mistakes as learning opportunities. The principal also ensures school goals are aligned to student needs based on data and provides resources to support teachers in achieving goals.

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The Principal as Change Agent
Please complete the entry card and set it aside until the end of the presentation.
Agenda 1. Entry card. 2. Minds On: Finding focus 3. Alignment of board and school goals 4. Context (elementary, secondary, AMDSB) 5. Barriers to professional learning 6. Intentionally interrupting (breaking down) the barriers
We get results where we focus our attention. Think of a time when your attention was focused on achieving something very specific. Minds On
Principal as agent of change
Principal as agent of change
Available Data • Student Achievement • Program Data • Demographics • Perceptual Data
In Looking at the Data… • What does the data tell you? • What strengths and/or areas of improvement do you see? • Identify an area which you would choose to improve.
Principal as agent of change
Principal as agent of change
Principal as agent of change
Principal as agent of change
K-12 School Effectiveness Framework (2010) • To achieve equity of outcomes for all students • To build school and board capacity to identify strengths and areas which require attention and next steps • To foster reflective analysis and deeper understanding of school improvement needs
12 Key Purposes of the School Effectiveness Framework (K-12) • A support for school improvement and student success • A catalyst for improvement planning and implementation • A process to build collective capacity and facilitate professional learning
Process for Improvement: a) Decide on a school goal based on data. b) Align your school goal within the Board Improvement Plan. c) Use the Board Improvement Plan and corresponding indicators from the 2013 School Effectiveness Framework as a resource to support teaching and learning. d) Continuously work through a cycle of school improvement, shifting and refocusing based on student need. School improvement planning is not effective if the plan is set in the fall and then revisited at the end of the school year. The plans need to be continuously revisited and adjusted based on student need. TVDSB School Improvement Cycle “The Roadmap”
Principal as agent of change
Principal as agent of change
SIP Resources What resources could you use to help you to carry out your school goals? Quickly brainstorm as many ideas as you can, then write one idea on each post it note.
Resources • School staff members strengths- teaching partners • Collaboration / Networking time • Timetables aligned • Lesson Studies/CLIM-co teaching / co planning • Learning Coordinators • Itinerants and Coaches • Professional Development-monthly staff meeting focus…
• Specific programs • Technology • School organization / Assignments • Grants---$$/support • Events-’parent day’ • Resources---kits, books, stuff • Materials that support goals, i.e.: Questioning techniques-Q-charts Resources Con’t…
Resources Con’t… • Community members • Parent involvement • Communication • Address student needs-breakfast club, homework club after school
Principal as agent of change
Accountability Ontario Leadership Framework Building staff members’ sense of internal accountability -promoting staff to regularly use data and make connections between school goals and their own commitment to improvement efforts Meeting the demands for external accountability -clearly define expectations, measure and monitor -provide a accurate and transparent account of the schools’ performance to all stakeholders
Principal’s Role in School Improvement Planning OPC Handbook Chapter 23 • Communication • Professional Development • Leadership
How to start a movement
I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better. ― Maya Angelou What gets in the way of teachers learning new instructional practices that will impact student learning in areas where students need the most support?
Our job is to intentionally interrupt the barriers that impede professional learning. • We don’t think through all possibilities • We focus on confirming our hypotheses, not challenging them • We pay too much attention to things that are vivid • We consider ourselves to be exceptions • We hesitate to take action in a new direction • We don’t want others to see our vulnerabilities Barriers to Professional Learning: How Our Minds Get in the Way
How do we intentionally interrupt? • Protocols* • Making Preconceptions Explicit* • Ensuring That Activities and Interventions are rooted in problems of practice • Recruiting contradictory evidence • Viewing mistakes as learning opportunities • Encouraging a growth rather than a fixed mindset* • Ensuring that problems of practice are questions that people are curious about • Giving people autonomy in task and time
Quick Dilemma Protocol • On the back of your card, write a dilemma (problem of practice) that you face in your current role. • It should be a problem you don’t know the answer to and it keeps you up at night. • Share your problems of practice by reading from your card.
• Choose one problem that seems interesting and difficult to solve. • Group asks clarifying questions. The presenter answers briefly. (2 mins) • Group asks probing questions. The presenter says NOTHING and records the questions. (4 mins) • The presenter shares one question that caused cognitive dissonance and explains why.
Learning is the process through which experience causes permanent change in knowledge and behaviour. (Woolfolk, Winne, & Perry, 2012)
Exit Card • What did I hear today (a summary)? • How did this relate to what I thought about the principal’s role as an agent of change before today? What was confirmatory? What was surprising? • Learning is about a change in the way I think. What did I learn today about the principal’s role as an agent of change? • What will I do next based on what I learned today?
Entry Card What do I know about the principal’s role as an agent of change? Why is the principal’s role as an agent of change important for me to know about? What do I hope to learn?

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Principal as agent of change

  • 2. Please complete the entry card and set it aside until the end of the presentation.
  • 3. Agenda 1. Entry card. 2. Minds On: Finding focus 3. Alignment of board and school goals 4. Context (elementary, secondary, AMDSB) 5. Barriers to professional learning 6. Intentionally interrupting (breaking down) the barriers
  • 4. We get results where we focus our attention. Think of a time when your attention was focused on achieving something very specific. Minds On
  • 7. Available Data • Student Achievement • Program Data • Demographics • Perceptual Data
  • 8. In Looking at the Data… • What does the data tell you? • What strengths and/or areas of improvement do you see? • Identify an area which you would choose to improve.
  • 13. K-12 School Effectiveness Framework (2010) • To achieve equity of outcomes for all students • To build school and board capacity to identify strengths and areas which require attention and next steps • To foster reflective analysis and deeper understanding of school improvement needs
  • 14. 12 Key Purposes of the School Effectiveness Framework (K-12) • A support for school improvement and student success • A catalyst for improvement planning and implementation • A process to build collective capacity and facilitate professional learning
  • 15. Process for Improvement: a) Decide on a school goal based on data. b) Align your school goal within the Board Improvement Plan. c) Use the Board Improvement Plan and corresponding indicators from the 2013 School Effectiveness Framework as a resource to support teaching and learning. d) Continuously work through a cycle of school improvement, shifting and refocusing based on student need. School improvement planning is not effective if the plan is set in the fall and then revisited at the end of the school year. The plans need to be continuously revisited and adjusted based on student need. TVDSB School Improvement Cycle “The Roadmap”
  • 18. SIP Resources What resources could you use to help you to carry out your school goals? Quickly brainstorm as many ideas as you can, then write one idea on each post it note.
  • 19. Resources • School staff members strengths- teaching partners • Collaboration / Networking time • Timetables aligned • Lesson Studies/CLIM-co teaching / co planning • Learning Coordinators • Itinerants and Coaches • Professional Development-monthly staff meeting focus…
  • 20. • Specific programs • Technology • School organization / Assignments • Grants---$$/support • Events-’parent day’ • Resources---kits, books, stuff • Materials that support goals, i.e.: Questioning techniques-Q-charts Resources Con’t…
  • 21. Resources Con’t… • Community members • Parent involvement • Communication • Address student needs-breakfast club, homework club after school
  • 23. Accountability Ontario Leadership Framework Building staff members’ sense of internal accountability -promoting staff to regularly use data and make connections between school goals and their own commitment to improvement efforts Meeting the demands for external accountability -clearly define expectations, measure and monitor -provide a accurate and transparent account of the schools’ performance to all stakeholders
  • 24. Principal’s Role in School Improvement Planning OPC Handbook Chapter 23 • Communication • Professional Development • Leadership
  • 25. How to start a movement
  • 26. I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better. ― Maya Angelou What gets in the way of teachers learning new instructional practices that will impact student learning in areas where students need the most support?
  • 27. Our job is to intentionally interrupt the barriers that impede professional learning. • We don’t think through all possibilities • We focus on confirming our hypotheses, not challenging them • We pay too much attention to things that are vivid • We consider ourselves to be exceptions • We hesitate to take action in a new direction • We don’t want others to see our vulnerabilities Barriers to Professional Learning: How Our Minds Get in the Way
  • 28. How do we intentionally interrupt? • Protocols* • Making Preconceptions Explicit* • Ensuring That Activities and Interventions are rooted in problems of practice • Recruiting contradictory evidence • Viewing mistakes as learning opportunities • Encouraging a growth rather than a fixed mindset* • Ensuring that problems of practice are questions that people are curious about • Giving people autonomy in task and time
  • 29. Quick Dilemma Protocol • On the back of your card, write a dilemma (problem of practice) that you face in your current role. • It should be a problem you don’t know the answer to and it keeps you up at night. • Share your problems of practice by reading from your card.
  • 30. • Choose one problem that seems interesting and difficult to solve. • Group asks clarifying questions. The presenter answers briefly. (2 mins) • Group asks probing questions. The presenter says NOTHING and records the questions. (4 mins) • The presenter shares one question that caused cognitive dissonance and explains why.
  • 31. Learning is the process through which experience causes permanent change in knowledge and behaviour. (Woolfolk, Winne, & Perry, 2012)
  • 32. Exit Card • What did I hear today (a summary)? • How did this relate to what I thought about the principal’s role as an agent of change before today? What was confirmatory? What was surprising? • Learning is about a change in the way I think. What did I learn today about the principal’s role as an agent of change? • What will I do next based on what I learned today?
  • 33. Entry Card What do I know about the principal’s role as an agent of change? Why is the principal’s role as an agent of change important for me to know about? What do I hope to learn?