An educational leader inspires, motivates, and challenges other educators around them.
When determining my leadership style, I decided that these are all qualities I want to routinely
correspond with my name. It was once stated that "if school leadership were a true/false test, we
could raise our scores by looking over the shoulder of an unsuccessful principal and choosing the
opposite answer to each question (DeWitt, 2012). As a future administrator, I hope to use my
experiences with unsuccessful leaders to guide me in the right direction as a successful leader.
In Neila A. Connors book, If You Dont Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students, the author
makes the analogy that Great administrators are like great chefs. They both spend an inordinate
amount of time preparing, planning, and visioning, before they even begin to cook or implement.
During this time, they keep their focus on the outcomes and the clients. They continuously re-
adjust, refocus, and re-evaluate their plans and efforts (Connors, 2000). My personal plan as a
leader aligns with this statement. As an educational leader, I plan to feed myself with the most
recent research and trends in education and make those trends attainable for my school and
student body. This recipe of success will only be effective as I take responsibility and lead by
example. Leadership has a trickle down effect. If the person at the top is modeling the way
for the employees, the example will be followed (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). I will serve as the
main cheerleader for my students, faculty, and staff, and be their consistent voice of
encouragement. The plans and efforts of the school will regularly be evaluated to make sure
they are effective. Adjustments will be made as necessary so that the school remains on track for
Todays schools must be centers for 21st century learning that prepare students for the
future, no matter if that is post-secondary education or work place readiness skills. Through the
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP PLATFORM 2
vision, mission, and beliefs for the school, I will ensure that the students are prepared to succeed
in the 21st century. As a leader, I realize this will not be achieved over night, but will be fostered
when an environment for a community of learning is created. I will set high-expectations for the
students and consistently expect nothing less. In my school, I will also promote rich
opportunities for learning and guarantee that the students best interest is promoted at all times.
work with teachers as a positive team-player. Teachers will feel comfortable to discuss ideas and
concerns with me as I will maintain an open-door policy. I will interact with the faculty and staff
on a daily basis and create an environment for instant feedback. I will make sure that detailed
expectations are clearly communicated and I will address concerns directly with teachers and not
through mass communication. Not only will I work to create a strong instructional climate led
by highly qualified teachers, but I will also reach outside of the school to the students families
and community. These stakeholders will be involved in decision making and achieving the
example and not just talk the talk, but actually walk the walk. Through on-going self-evaluation,
I will determine if my administrative skills are meeting the needs of the students, faculty, and
other stakeholders of the school. As I evaluate my leadership qualities, I will create strategies for
improvement in order to attain the vision, mission, and beliefs of the school.
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP PLATFORM 3
References
Connors, N. A. (2000). If you don't feed the teachers, they eat the students!: A guide to success
DeWitt, P. (2012). What does it mean to be an educational leader? Retrieved November 07,
2016, from
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/08/what_does_it_mean_t
o_be_an_educational_leader.html.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2012). The leadership challenge: How to make extraordinary