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What is Leadership to Me?
What is Leadership to Me?
Allow me to explain leadership from the foundational education level. It is in Chinese Mandarin because I am keen on remaining up to date on international practices.
*Click CC for subtitles.* Creating a Shared Vision and Mission
Creating a Shared Vision and Mission
For this class, a group of us students were to choose a school and rework their mission and vision. It is highly important that a mission and vision statement are clear enough for all stakeholders of a school to remember and contextualize. Teachers will have a good idea of whether or not their teaching style matches the school, students and parents could have confidence in how to set their own goals based on them and prepare for a future with the school and possibly beyond.
I'm no stranger to entrepreneurship and fawning over certain traditional brands, so for me in particular, it was quite shocking to see what most of the schools from our cohort had established as missions and visions. They didn't quite seem to entice a spirit of motivation and purpose.
The School
The School
The school that my group chose for this project was called C.A.T., a school in Mexico that prides itself on a bilingual curriculum that results in students obtaining a US high school diploma. After a few changes in leadership, they are currently planning for changes to both their mission and vision through the implementation of new guiding principles.
Original Mission
Original Mission
Colegio Americano de Torreón is a bilingual bicultural nursery to 12th grade institution based on the best teaching practices. Through a rigorous college preparatory curriculum, we are dedicated to preparing our students to be socially committed leaders and responsible citizens who are successful in a global environment. Core classes are taught in English. Graduates earn a U.S. high school diploma as well as a Mexican “Bachillerato” certificate.
Mission from Our Group
EDIT:
Our mission is to prepare students to be socially committed leaders, generating responsible citizens who are successful in a global environment using fluent English through a project-based curriculum.
Why we thought this should change.
While we really resonated with the part about "preparing students to be socially committed leaders and responsible citizens successful in global environment", we couldn't help but feel that the entirety of the statement seemed more like an "About Us" explanation. We were left with questions such as, 'Is college prep the same as life-long learning?'. Literally speaking, preparation for college won't necessarily transpose into skills for life or a character set on life-long learning.
Original Vision
Original Vision
Excellence for life
Vision from Our Group
EDIT:
We aim to inspire learners to be global citizens and agents of change that seize opportunities for their community by building connections through their English skills to solve real-world issues.
Why we thought this should change.
For us, a vision should feel more like a goal that can be accomplished within three to five years, depending on how long a student should expect to be involved with the school. It should also inspire all stakeholders to look forward to the fruits of their efforts. Both teachers and parents will be able to asses whether or not students are on the path of success based on the clearer vision statement.
In Conclusion
In Conclusion
C.A.T. is currently planning to make changes to both their mission and vision through the implementation of new guiding principles. We based part of our revisions on the following principles revealed to us.
C.A.T. is a nonprofit international school and community that prepares our students to have a global mindset.
With a progressive and holistic approach to learning we empower our students to be resilient and seize opportunities in an ever changing world.
Through an empathetic and caring environment our students become passionate agents of change.
We do believe that the school is heading in the right direction in this effort to create a mission and vision statement that connects staff to their work, students to self expectations and parents to the duty of guiding their children in the way.
31.3-1
Evaluating the Need for Change at a Kindergarten Hagwon
Evaluating the Need for Change at a Kindergarten Hagwon
I interviewed one long-term foreign teacher, one new foreign teacher, one long-term local teacher, one new local teacher and one new operations manager at an atypical S. Korean kindergarten hagwon. A hagwon is just a prep school, but in the case of "kindergarten" it is usually a full day cram school environment for ages two to six. They are rarely operating with licensed knowledgeable early childhood education teachers and staff, however, this school seems to have at least found teachers that are passionate about education. Teachers and staff in this environment are incredibly busy. They do a lot of back to back classes, so it was difficult to match times.
One of the most shocking things was that most teachers were not well informed on the mission/vision of the school. Despite understanding portions of the principal's big picture, not many were able to pinpoint specific parts of the mission stated on the website, nor the vision discussed at various points throughout the school year.
The most common complaint of teachers was a lack of "set benchmarks". Newer teachers were not confident in their work because they were not completely aware of the goals they needed to achieve. They were also not completely comfortable admitting this as they usually went directly to the principal before the establishment of a head teacher. Upon hearing this, it was no surprise to find that there was no measurable testing system established. Even older teachers were hesitant to define the success of their classes.
It seems the school has relied on a very free management style, but lacked the expert employees that could produce the quality necessary for the education that a preschool-kindergarten institution should bring. Changes have come very quickly at the school with minimal time for preparation or a full set of expectations and requirements to be implemented. Teacher morale is not very high here. It is clear that the perception of what the principal wants and what people know of the average prep school have not been distinguished by all staff. Because there has been so much change at the school without set goals and standards, it will not be easy to rush into a structural management system right off the bat.
I used a face to face interview style, while taking notes on paper, however, I think next time it will be best to send a link to a survey that will guarantee anonymity. While I reassured staff members that their identities and answers wouldn't be revealed, I could tell through their body language that they felt a need to be very careful with their wording.
I would suggest starting out with a servant leadership style and add in a little bit of participation from senior staff. This way, teachers can learn exactly what is expected of them by watching the principal. Then the seniors could be better equipped to offer assistance to newer teachers. After building trust and confidence in not only the school leader but the teachers themselves, a proper structural leadership style should take place to solidify the goals and expectations of teachers, students and administrators.
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