Interview a teacher leader

Interview a Teacher Leader Generally, the quality of a teacher is evident in his/her ability in gaining leadership within the context room instruction. The scope of leadership is wide within the context of teaching because the same is considered as an essential factor of teaching profession. Moreover, the leadership vested upon a teacher is helpful to show dedication towards one’s profession. Thesis statement: The analysis and description on the interview with a high school teacher (Ms. X) proves that, instructional, professional, and organizational level leaderships are helpful to become a successful teacher with leadership quality. Interview The interview (see appendix-1) with the high school teacher (Ms. X) was helpful to know more about the importance of instructional, professional, and organizational-level leadership in schools. Besides, this interview was helpful to analyze the teacher’s leadership activities and to describe its effect on the teacher’s role as a teacher, among her colleagues, in the school, and among the children. Analysis The analysis of the leadership activities formulated by Ms. X proves that she is able to influence her students, colleagues and others including non-teaching staff and parents. For instance, the instructional strategy formulated and implemented by the Ms. X is innovative because it includes techniques to assess the students. Zepeda (2004) stated that, “ As leaders, teachers assume daily the responsibility for ensuring that instruction unfolds in class rooms, and they assume responsibility for what is taught and how” (p. 51). Besides, classroom instruction is activity oriented and the teacher used to provide individual attention to each and every student. On the other side, the analysis of Ms. X’s activities related to professional leadership proves that she is able to influence her colleagues because she considers her profession beyond a job. Ms. X used to keep professional relationship with her colleagues. Kay (2005) opined that, “ Good communication, openness and confidence are key skills for improving and developing better working relationships with colleagues” (p. 23). In addition, Ms. X introduced team teaching technique among her colleagues. She is totally against workplace harassment and used to help her colleagues in critical conditions. So, there is professionalism in Ms. X’s relationship with her colleagues. The analysis of Ms. X’s activities related to organizational level leadership proves that her planning, organizing curricular and co-curricular activities and resource management are effective within the context of her school. Description One can see that the leadership activities formulated by Ms. X exerts positive effect on her role as a teacher (instructional), among her colleagues (professional), at her school and among the children (organizational level leadership). For instance, balanced assessment is helpful to find out achievement gained by the students and needs assessment is helpful to provide remedial teaching. Kyriacou (1997) stated that, “ One key aspect of the organisation of teaching in schools is whether to make use of setting of pupils by ability, or whether to allocate pupils to a class so that each class comprises a wide spread of ability” (p. 60). On the other side, interesting activities and individual attention in the classroom is most essential to control the students with ease. The professional leadership activities formulated/adopted by Ms. X prove to be effective because the same is based on professionalism. Ms. X’s attitude towards her profession and keen interest in keeping professional relationship with her colleagues are remarkable. Besides, her negative attitude towards workplace harassment and her effort to implement innovative techniques like team teaching helped her to gain leadership among her colleagues. On the other side, the organizational level leadership activities formulated/adopted by Ms. X helped her to gain leadership in planning curricular and co-curricular activities in her school. Williams (2001) made clear that, “ In a school with a core of good managers but no real leadership and vision, the team often work very hard towards a series of separate goals with some success along the way but with many false starts and little coherence” (p. 20). In addition, she made use of her leadership quality to become the leader of the resource management team at her school. In short, her leadership quality is helpful to strengthen the bond between the school authorities and the parents. Summing, leadership quality is an integral part of professionalism, especially within the context of education. The interview with Ms. X’s proves that dedication towards profession is the grass root level reason behind one’s success as a teacher leader. In addition, the analysis based on the interview proves that the teacher’s leadership activities inculcate innovative ideas within the context of school education. The description on the effects of Ms. X’s role as a teacher proves that leadership quality and awareness on one’s duties and responsibilities eventually lead to instructional, professional, and organizational level leaderships. In short, a teacher’s interest and dedication towards profession, added with leadership quality and positive attitude towards change, is the secret behind his/her success as a teacher leader. References Kay, J. (2005). Teaching Assistant’s Handbook: Primary Edition. New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group. Kyriacou, C. (1997). Effective Teaching in Schools: Theory and Practice. Cheltenham, UK: Nelson Thornes. Williams, J. (2001). Professional Leadership in Schools. Sterling, VA: Routledge. Zepeda, S. J. (2004). Instructional Leadership for School Improvement. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education. Appendices Appendix-1 Interview: questions and answers Interviewer: Good morning, Ms. X. Within the context of high school education, May I ask you a few questions on instructional, professional and organizational level leaderships vested upon you? Interviewee: Oh, sure. I feel so happy to share my experiences within the school environment. Interviewer: First of all, what are the instructional leadership activities formulated by you and its effect on your role as a teacher? Interviewee: I would like to point out that my instructional leadership activities are related to my accountability as a teacher. For instance, I used to conduct balanced assessments in the class room environment. I am aware of the fact that needs assessment is an important factor which is helpful for a teacher to gain instructional leadership. To be specific, I used to plan my daily classes by providing importance to different activities. I consider that individual attention is important in classroom instruction. On the other side, I never forget to provide remedial teaching sessions to the needy. Interviewer: what are the professional leadership activities formulated by you and its effect on your colleagues? Interviewee: You can see that my professional leadership activities are related to fairness and integrity, which are essential for a teacher who considers her or his profession beyond a job. I used to respect the dignity and rights of other teachers. Besides, I am so interested to keep professional relationship with other teachers. At the same time, I used to provide ample importance to team teaching technique in our school. During staff meetings, I used to point out my views on teaching. In addition, I am aware of the fact that harassment at workplace, especially in staffrooms, reduces the scope of professionalism. So, I helped some of my colleagues to keep away themselves from harassment. The measures helped me to gain leadership among my colleagues. Interviewer: What are the organizational level leadership activities formulated by you and its effect on your school and children? Interviewee: The organizational level leadership activities formulated/adopted by me include: planning, organizing curricular and co-curricular activities and resource management. As a teacher, I used to involve in planning curricular and co-curricular activities in our school. You know, co-curricular activities are important in school environment. Besides, I am the leader of the resource management team at our school. This helped me to know more about decentralization of power within the school environment. Besides, my team’s involvement was helpful for the school management to make use of the available resources for the benefit of the community. For example, the school ground and library are utilized for the benefit of the members of the community. This assured the whole hearted participation of the community members in different activities formulated by the school management. Besides, this strengthened the bond between the teachers and non-teaching staff and the community, including the parents. Interviewer: Thank you for sharing your innovative ideas and experiences with us. Interviewee: You are most welcome.