HOW DOES MY INCREASING UNDERSTANDING OF LEADERSHIP

INFLUENCE HOW I LEAD?

Slide #4

Leadership is multidimensional.
In Leadership: Theory and Practice, Northouse explains leadership as multi-dimensional.
Everyone views leadership differently, so the term leadership will always be in flux (p. 4)

In the 21
st
century, leadership looks different than it did a century ago or even a few decades
ago. In order for an organization, whether it is a multi-million dollar corporation or a school
in St. Paul, to be successful, it must invest in its members. A linear structure allows for more
buy-in from the members versus a hierarchical structure. If each person is recognized for
the role they play in the organization, there will be more fluidity with diversity; it will be
more dynamic and successful.

On page 185, Northouse describes transformational leadership as a process that changes
and transforms people. It is concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-
term goals. Transformational leadership moves followers to accomplish more than what is
usually expected of them (Northouse, p. 185).

Slide #5
In Northouses book, James Macgregor Burns wrote about how Leadership is quite different
from power because it is inseparable from followers needs (p. 186).
One person forms a connection with others and motivation and morality increase. It focuses
on the followers reaching full potential.
Example of Gandhi and transformational leadership whereupon he raised the hopes and
demands of his people, he was changed himself (p. 186) This is the beauty of
transformational leadership.

Slide #6

Drama Club: A personal example of how I see transformational leadership influencing how I
lead in my professional life is my drama club. For three months, a group of 25 Level 4
students and myself worked together in ways we had never done before. Because I was
advocating change for my students, it was appealing for them to participate. The best part of
the drama club is that I had needs (the need for more creativity in my daily life, the need to
show others how voice, movement, and art can increase self-confidence, and the need to
work with the seniors on a more intimate level) and the students had needs, and the
interplay between us allowed for everyones leadership skills to emerge in myriad ways,
thereby making it a transformational process for all members. I allowed for the needs and
growth of the participants, so the view of what leadership was in this club was unorthodox
to a transactional form of leadership.


Slide #7

At the end of these three months, my students had come up with four original vignettes
based on real-life experiences of being new to America, woven together with authentic and
raw poetry and movement that evoked emotion from the audience, between actors, and
within themselves. This in turn, changed me. We have been asked to present our play to all
the St. Paul Public School principals and Superintendent Silva at the end of June. I would
consider this transformational.


Before Slide #8

Next, we will transition from transformational leadership to community building and
engaged pedagogy. If we look at geese and applied their thought process to the organizations
we worked in, we may realize that if we worked together for the benefit of everyone and
understood the gifts each member brings, no one would feel ostracized or devalued. Each
individual pulls together to create community. There is not one leader.


Show Video: Lessons from Geese

Before Slide #9

Hold up Teaching to Transgress

The second way that my understanding of leadership has influenced how I lead was
introduced to me by bell hooks in her book Teaching to Transgress. Engaged Pedagogy
builds community and recognizes the gifts its members brings. This was a point also brought
up in Peter Blocks Building Community: the Power of Belonging.


Slide #9

Recognize gifts the members bring to build community
Engaged pedagogy builds community, and A DEEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF LEADERSHIP
EMERGES IN MY CLASSROOM.
Example:
-investing in my students lives Engaged = liberatory classroom practice (p. 158)
-Stepping out from behind the desk
-Building a neutral environment where everyone feels safe and understanding what
a neutral environment is where all cultures are respected (explain what neutral is
versus safe)
Concrete examples: putting my heart out there/being vulnerable/journals and writing
circles. If I am not willing to set an example for them and also be vulnerable to them, how do
I expect them to be fully invested?

Slide #10

If we are emotionally shut down, how can there be any excitement about ideas? When we
bring passion to the classroom our collective passions come together, and there is an
emotional response, one that can overwhelm. The restrictive, repressive classroom ritual
insists that emotional responses have no place (p. 155). I chose this quote because I want
to emphasize the word passion and collective passion. If we do not deliver our whole
selves, what do we expect our students to bring?

Slide #11

Question for Thought: get one or two responses







Slide #12

Community Building

Concrete examples: Period 7 is an artistic group of students which is comprised of 11 students: 9
males and 2 females. I have visual artists, poets, dancers, and singers in this group. Some teachers
may see these students as misfits, and other teachers have mentioned comments about some of these
students in negative ways in other classes. How do I use their energy to the benefit of the class?
-integrating art into the assignments (anthropomorphic writing/bring example), writing
poetry and hosting a poetry caf to showcase their talents (show website), offering creative
writing that focuses on their talents to share with others.
Or example of Somali and Hmong voices being heard

Slide #12
Read quote from Friere. We need to recognize each individuals voice as significant, valued,
and wanting to be heard in whatever form that person chooses.
Here is an example of a significant voice from the LEAP Poetry Caf. It is one of my former
students Kyaw Lin who is Karen, born in Burma and grew up in a Thai refugee camp. He
graduated last week and is off to college.

Slide #13

Show references

Before Slide #16

This past year of studying leadership has been life changing for me. It has clarified my
convictions in the classroom and raised my expectations for myself and others for what
everyone can rise to if they are given the opportunities. Each and every individual brings
gifts. The question is will those gifts be received?

Thank you for listening.