One of my most essential goals in my education and as a leader is to be an all-round teacher who effectively responds to the problems of those led and to strategize around emerging issues in the space I work in. past knowledge and experiences, particularly working with students have influenced my dynamism as a leader. Most importantly, my position as a teacher to minority students has impacted my view on academic knowledge and applying what is theoretically taught in class in the physical world. Through the application of recommended evidence-based practices, it has been possible to realize that success as a leader is possible when one goes up and beyond what is taught in class to respond to real-world challenges. Most importantly, my leadership undertakings have influenced an understanding that cross-collaboration with individuals from different fields results in indispensable instances of cross-learning. Additionally, it improves students’ performance (Wilson, 2015). Additionally, through interaction with others in my academics as well as in my teaching profession, I have learned that leadership entails moving out of one’s comfort zone to take risks that impact positive change and progress, taking the initial initiative regardless of the situation, and in all, ensuring even when faced by ethical dilemmas, one remains ethical.
Reflection
My past experiences and knowledge as a leader have broadened my views on the challenges in education, positively impacted my understanding of servant and visionary leadership and the need to embrace dynamism in leading diverse teams. Building relationships with diverse students while ensuring open-door communication with them has been instrumental in helping me understand their behavior, ambitions, challenges, and potential. With such encounters, I have been able to strategize around their development in a way that positively influences them. The encounters have helped me practice servant leadership traits such as empathy and patience. I have also experienced growth in character strength and decision-making. Since the students look up to me for solutions to their difficulties, I have pushed myself to think beyond current challenges.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Most importantly, to effectively solve the issues I encounter in my leadership undertakings, I have realized that collaboration with cross-teams is instrumental. My growth in networking and as an active team player in different contexts is therefore evident. It is also worth noting that I have previously experienced conflict and misunderstanding among my students and colleagues at the workplace. The steps I took in solving such differences have influenced my approach to effective problem-solving. To a large extent, I have been able to practice my leadership in a way that influences holistic growth.
Connections to Experience
One of the connections I can make between my experiences and my academic knowledge is the impact academic knowledge has on preparing one’s leadership roles in the real world. I have made out that while leadership is a practical undertaking, the theoretical leadership lessons obtained from school go a long way in influencing personal leadership undertakings. The lessons related to resources management, communication in different contexts, and leadership skills such as ethical decision-making are first encountered in academics. These are practically manifested in the real world whenever desirable leadership is practiced(Hopkins et al., 2008). My open-door communication policy and creating a rapport with students in a way that helps me understand their struggles are, for example, part of my academic knowledge. Communication skills learnt in school also go a long way to reinforce effective communication and objectives achievement between stakeholders in education(Leithwood et al., 2004) Another connection that I can make between my academic knowledge and experiences as a leader is the instrumental role of academic knowledge in positively reinforcing innovation in leadership. I am, for example, a hands-on and visual learner who has been able to retain knowledge taught in class and understand various problem-solving approaches. The knowledge I have obtained in my academics has been a basis of innovation in my leadership because I have always come up with new ideas, strategies, or products by extrapolating my academic knowledge and class experiences. I have also been able to diversify my teaching style through the academic knowledge I gained about differentiation of instructions and the differences in learners (Leithwood et al., 2004).
Connections to Discipline
My work as a leader cross disciplines due to the need to acquire insight from other fields or apply problem-solving techniques that are not directly related to education. As a leader, I lead dynamic individuals from dynamic environments with issues that uniquely affect each student differently. The issues do not always stem from education but other social, economic, and even political issues. As a teacher at Liberty Middle School, where a majority of students do not understand the importance of career preparation or the need to have a career, leading them as a teacher through this implies going beyond education as a field to highlight things such as human-resource-related issues, the business world and what employment at an organizational or individual level means. Closely related to this, helping my students find their choices in life entails helping them understand the interconnection between education with other subjects in life. Education as a field in this context impacts all others because the knowledge they have gained in academics is likely to contribute to their success in fields such as medicine, politics, and even business.
Handling my students as a leader goes beyond education as a field to include psychology. When students are psychologically okay, they are likely to be proactive in learning (Wilson, 2015). I once encountered a student who does not listen and does not follow instructions when upset. As a leader, I had to consider the social issues she experiences in her environment and how they might have affected her psychologically. In coming up with the solution to the issue, I had to think of psychology and the dynamics of biological development at her age.
Risk Taking
One of the risks that I have taken while in the program is designing unique teaching models that best suit the behavioral description of middle school students. The approach is risky because it has not been tested before, and in its implementation, one of my fears was that it would not work. My teaching model was based on first dealing with the social and psychological barrier to understanding what is taught in class. It was also risky because this was a model that was significantly theoretical in nature. I researched and designed it while thinking of the dynamic concepts taught in the program about teaching. Another risky approach is going beyond my field to think about how teaching can be a multi-discipline undertaking. This is risky because it entailed exploring new concepts that I was not sure whether would materialize when implemented. Most of my risk-taking undertakings involved challenging the status quo and finding out ways things can be done in a unique and possibly more effective manner.
Ethical Perspectives
As a leader, I have considered ethics while dealing with students, when undertaking research, and mostly when responding to dilemmas in my leadership undertakings. In situations where I have had to decide the teaching approach to use, for example, when I have introduced new methods, I have always considered if the approach will result in a positive outcome for most of the students. In cases where I have had to undertake research, I have had to seek consent from the research participants, respect their views, and always consider their discomfort. In doing research, there is an objective to be achieved. My thoughts on such undertakings are whether the approach would negatively affect research subjects. In cases where the outcome is not clear, I consider quitting the plan. While in a dilemma on which approach to use in a unique but conflicting case, I have always considered ethics. An example is in cases where I have deemed it necessary to form a club in school that teaches students about sex education. The dilemma in such a situation has been whether the school administration and the parents would agree with the concept. In such cases, I have always asked myself what is ethically right.
Initiative
I have demonstrated that I am willing to take the first step in leadership action by accepting unique challenges. Taking the initial initiative even when I am the only one who believes in the approach has been part of this. Leaders are made, not born. For a long time, I have believed that challenging the status quo entails being fearless and being a risk-taker. In advocating for change and encouraging others to try new approaches to dealing with issues within the work and academic environment, I have been able to lead by example by being the first to demonstrate what I mean through action. I have also demonstrated initiative as a leader by standing for what is right and honest even when the outcome will be my disadvantage. This entails taking the first step in a leadership action because today, most leaders do not want to be seen as weak or to have made mistakes in any of their undertakings. However, I think that acknowledging mistakes when they happen is the first step to success because it helps one look at the alternatives that are likely to have a positive impact.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my past knowledge and experiences have broadened my view on challenges in education and made me more aware of the need for visionary and servant leadership skills. In leadership, the experiences are not isolated from education since it has always been possible to transfer what is learned from class to practically implementing it in real life. Furthermore, my work as a leader has not been purely about leadership in education because I have been able to borrow ideas from education, such as psychology and biology, to solve issues encountered in my leadership undertakings. My leadership has also entailed taking risks by considering unique solutions to existing issues, always considering ethics in research and when faced with a dilemma, and taking the initiative in leadership action, particularly in influencing change.
References
Hopkins, D., Nusche, D., & Pont, B. (2008). Improving School Leadership. Volume 2: Case Studies on System Leadership . OECD Publishing. 2, rue Andre Pascal, F-75775 Paris Cedex 16, France.
Leithwood, K., Seashore, K., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). Review of research: How leadership influences student learning.
Wilson Morgan, L. N. (2015). The influence of school leadership practices on classroom management, school environment, and academic underperformance.
