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Principals: Texas Principal Standards- T-PESS

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As an effective principal, you prioritize student achievement by developing a clear definition of high-quality instruction based on your research of best practices. You implement and analyze a rigorous curriculum within state standards, which ensures that teachers align content across grades and meet the particular curricular needs of their diverse student populations.

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Performance Indicators for Effective Principal Leadership in Improving Student Achievement

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Principals may need staff development in some of these areas to be able to effectively perform the indicators in the performance areas. In order to demonstrate effective leadership in improving student achievement, the principal must have knowledge and understanding of:

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Description · Purpose · Formatting · Return to writing a philosophy statement · Major Components · Guidance · Links · References

What is a Philosophy of Teaching Statement?

A philosophy of teaching statement is a narrative that includes:

your conception of teaching and learning

a description of how you teach

justification for why you teach that way

The statement can:

demonstrate that you have been reflective and purposeful about your teaching

communicate your goals as an instructor and your corresponding actions in the classroom

provide an opportunity to point to and tie together the other sections of your portfolio

What is the Purpose of Developing a Philosophy of Teaching?

Faculty and graduate teaching assistants are increasingly being asked to state their philosophy of teaching. This request may be in conjunction with the submission of a teaching portfolio for seeking academic positions, or as a regular component of the portfolio or dossier for promotion and tenure. Philosophy of teaching statements are also requested of candidates for teaching awards or grant applications.

Why do teachers need to articulate their philosophy of teaching? What purposes does a philosophy of teaching serve? It has been recognized by many teachers that the process of identifying a personal philosophy of teaching and continuously examining, testifying, and verifying this philosophy through teaching can lead to change of teaching behaviors and ultimately foster professional and personal growth.

In his book The Skillful Teacher (1990), Stephen Brookfield points out that the development of a teaching philosophy can be used for several purposes:

Personal purpose: " . . . a distinctive organizing vision - a clear picture of why you are doing what you are doing that you can call up at points of crisis - is crucial to your personal sanity and morale." (p. 16)

Pedagogical purpose: "Teaching is about making some kind of dent in the world so that the world is different than it was before you practiced your craft. Knowing clearly what kind of dent you want to make in the world means that you must continually ask yourself the most fundamental evaluative questions of all - What effect am I having on students and on their learning?" (pp. 18-19)

Gail Goodyear and Douglas Allchin, in their study of the functions of a statement of teaching philosophy (Goodyear and Allchin, 1998), identify another purpose:

"In preparing a statement of teaching philosophy, professors assess and examine themselves to articulate the goals they wish to achieve in teaching. . . . A clear vision of a teaching philosophy provides stability, continuity, and long-term guidance. . . . A well-defined philosophy can help them remain focused on their teaching goals and to appreciate the personal and professional rewards of teaching." (pp. 106-7)

General Formatting Suggestions

There is no required content or set format. There is no right or wrong way to write a philosophy statement, which is why it is so challenging for most people to write one. You may decide to write in prose, use famous quotes, create visuals, use a question/answer format, etc.

It is generally 1-2 pages in length. For some purposes, an extended description is appropriate, but length should suit the context.

Use present tense, in most cases. Writing in first-person is most common and is the easiest for your audience to read.

Most statements avoid technical terms and favor language and concepts that can be broadly appreciated. A general rule is that the statement should be written with the audience in mind. It may be helpful to have someone from your field read your statement and give you some guidance on any discipline-specific jargon and issues to include or exclude.

Include teaching strategies and methods to help people "see" you in the classroom. It is not possible in many cases for your reader to come to your class to actually watch you teach. By including very specific examples of teaching strategies, assignments, discussions, etc., you are able to let your reader take a mental "peek" into your classroom. Help them to visualize what you do in the classroom and the exchange between you and your students. For example, can your readers picture in their minds the learning environment you create for your students?

Make it memorable and unique. If you are submitting this document as part of a job application, remember that your readers on the search committee are seeing many of these documents. What is going to set you apart? What about you are they going to remember? What brings a teaching philosophy to life is the extent to which it creates a vivid portrait of a person who is intentional about teaching practices and committed to his/her career.

"Own" your philosophy. The use of declarative statements (such as, "students don't learn through lecture," or "the only way to teach is to use class discussion") could be potentially detrimental if you are submitting this document to a search committee. You do not want to appear as if you have all of the answers, and you don't want to offend your readers. By writing about your experiences and your beliefs, you "own" those statements and appear more open to new and different ideas about teaching. Even in your own experience, you make choices as to the best teaching methods for different courses and content: sometimes lecture is most appropriate; other times you may use service-learning, for example.

Examples

The following samples are written by winners of the Graduate Associate Teaching Award at OSU, and are examples of various formats you may choose to use.
Humanities
Tim Jensen, English
Spencer Robinson, Slavic and East European Languages
Diana Ruggiero, Spanish and Portuguese
Sciences
Glené Mynhardt, Biology
Mahesh Iyer, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Elizabeth Riter, Civil Engineering
Joshua Eckroth, Computer Science and Engineering
Bora Bosna, Mathematics
Social Sciences
James Collier, Communication
Monali Chowdhury, Psychology
Kristin Edwards Supe, Psychology
Szu-Hui Lee, Psychology
Leslie Wade, Psychology
Robert M. Anthony, Sociology

Samples of teaching philosophy statements from other universities:
Don Rodney Vaughan, Mississippi State University

Major Components of a Philosophy of Teaching Statement

Each statement of teaching philosophy is very personal by nature. Therefore, it should be up to instructors to decide what components to include in their own statements. However, there are a number of excellent resources to get you started with the writing process at Guidance for Writing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement.

Other Sites with Information on Philosophy of Teaching Statements

What's Your Philosophy on Teaching, and Does it Matter? Article from The Chronicle of Higher Education
Center for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Southern California
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at Iowa State University
Teacher Portfolio and Preparation Series at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center (includes philosophy of teaching statements written by language teachers).

References

Brookfield, S. (2006). The skillful teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Chism, N. V. N. (1998). Developing a philosophy of teaching statement. Essays on Teaching Excellence, 9(3), 1-2. Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education.

Fuhrmann, B. S., & Grasha, A. F. (1983). A practical handbook for college teachers. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Goodyear, G. E., & Allchin, D. (1998). Statement of teaching philosophy. To Improve the Academy, 17, 103-22. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.

Grasha, A. F. (1996). Teaching with style: A practical guide to enhancing learning by understanding teaching and learning styles. Pittsburgh, PA: Alliance Publishers.

O'Neil, C., & Wright, A. (1993). Recording teaching accomplishment: A Dalhousie guide to the teaching dossier. (4th ed.). Halifax, Nova Scotia, CA: Dalhousie University.

Seldin, P., & Associates. (1993). Successful use of teaching portfolios. Bolton, MA: Anker.

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Writing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement - UCAT

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Description · Purpose · Formatting · Return to writing a philosophy statement · Major Components · Guidance · Links · References What is a Philosophy of Teaching Statement?

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Book Review: Five Dysfunctions of a Team

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Book Review: Five Dysfunctions of a Team

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Five Dysfunctions Products | The Table Group

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Leading the Leadership Team

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Leadership Philosophy

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I wanted to think about my own "Educational Leadership Philosophy" and put it into words as I come into the new school year. As I write this down, I love the picture below that reminds me it is not only what we say, but what we do that matters.

cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo shared by Soliya

Education and school have traditionally been the hub of our communities. Not only for the wisdom and knowledge that they create for our present and future, but for the connections that they create amongst a community. Growing up in a small town, teachers were revered and respected for the work that they did with students, and they always made an effort to connect with parents to bring them in on the learning process of their child, not just with developing intelligence, but developing students as people. The notion of, "it takes a village", is something that I believe in deeply, and believe that it is more important now than ever.

As a leader, I believe in bringing a community together to share leadership in many different avenues. In a quote from Tom Peters, he states that "leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders." In a school community, this starts at the top in working with others to develop their leadership in every position and level of school. By focusing on an individual's strengths, you show that you value their expertise first, before you look to help them develop in other areas. This strength-based focus helps to build a relationship with each individual, pushing them to be better every day. When the leader of an organization has this belief and proves it through actions, it trickles down to students in the classroom. The more experience I have in leadership, the more I see that effective teachers are effective leaders, and have this same strength-based approach with their students. If we have a community that focus on building leadership in all areas, we are more likely to be successful within our vision.

Through this value on developing leadership, our schools are more open not only to navigate but to lead change as well. As society continues to change, schools need to adapt to best serve our students for their future as well as their present. Those that are willing to adapt and learn from change now, will be the ones that are most likely to be successful in the future. As we see different jobs being created in our world, while other jobs are becoming irrelevant, we look to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs in schools. This is often created by instilling a sense of "intrapreneurial spirit" within educators that are always looking to develop and further the organization. While we look and build on what has worked in the past, we must also continuously look forward.

One of those changes in our world is a shift to an open and transparent environment. As an administrator, I have the opportunity to become better by continuously being able to visit classrooms and see what the most effective teachers do. Peers do not have this same opportunity because of our physical environment. Through the use of different technologies such as blogging and Twitter, we open up our classrooms to other educators not only in our own schools, but to schools around the world to bring them in on this collaboration. As I always focus on "what is best for kids", it is crucial that we look to not only help our own students, but how we can help other students from around the globe as well. As we tell our students when they walk into our schools, we must ensure that we create a culture of sharing within our own community to learn from others around the world, as well as within our own community. The most innovative environments outside of school tap into the "wisdom of the room" and bring in different voices to continuously learn and grow; schools must do the same.

To be successful, people must have a purpose within our organization. This included parents who are a great untapped resource within our own communities. We can no longer have children going home and being asked the question, "what did you learn today?", and responding with, "nothing." By opening the doors to our classrooms through both physical and virtual environments, we have the opportunity to change the conversation at home. Parents are able to be actively involved in the process of learning, leading to a higher opportunity for success of each child. The more we can involve parents in this process at home, the more likely students will be successful in school, and beyond. This community support is imperative.

In summary, building relationships, developing leadership, and focusing on school as the "hub" of our community,we are more likely to create an environment where our students are building a bright future both today and tomorrow. By looking at what worked in the past while also looking to develop our future, our community is more likely to be able to come together to create the schools our kids need.

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I wanted to think about my own "Educational Leadership Philosophy" and put it into words as I come into the new school year. As I write this down, I love the picture below that reminds me it is not only what we say, but what we do that matters.

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People explores the principles of effective self-leadership, influence, collaboration, and improvement.

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9 common leadership styles: Which type of leader are you?

There is never a one-size-fits-all leadership style for every business - all companies operate differently and certain traits will be more successful in some environments than others.

However, having a thorough understanding of various leadership styles enables senior executives to not only adopt the correct characteristics for themselves, but also choose better managers throughout the organisation.

Here is a list of nine common leadership styles and a brief summary of their advantages and disadvantages:

Transformational leadership

Often considered among the most desirable employees, people who show transformational leadership typically inspire staff through effective communication and by creating an environment of intellectual stimulation.

"However, these individuals are often blue-sky thinkers and may require more detail-oriented managers to successfully implement their strategic visions."

For more information on transformational leadership traits, read our article: The guide to organisation structures (flat vs hierarchical) here.
Transactional leadership

Transactional leadership is focused on group organisation, establishing a clear chain of command and implementing a carrot-and-stick approach to management activities.

It is considered transactional because leaders offer an exchange; they reward good performances, while punishing bad practice.

While this can be an effective way of completing short-term tasks, employees are unlikely to reach their full creative potential in such conditions.

Servant leadership

People who practice servant leadership prefer power-sharing models of authority, prioritising the needs of their team and encouraging collective decision-making.

Research by Catalyst has claimed this style, described as altruistic leadership by the company, can improve diversity and boost morale.

However, detractors suggest servant leaders lack authority and suffer a conflict of interest by putting their employees ahead of business objectives.

The 9 Top points of Common leadership styles Info-graphic

Autocratic leadership

A more extreme version of transactional leadership, autocratic leaders have significant control over staff and rarely consider worker suggestions or share power.

"Ruling with an iron fist is rarely appreciated by staff, which can lead to high turnover and absenteeism."

This leadership style is best suited to environments where jobs are fairly routine or require limited skills. It is also common in military organisations.
There can also be a lack of creativity due to strategic direction coming from a single individual.

Laissez-faire leadership
As such:
More commonly used to describe economic environments, laissez-faire literally means "let them do" in French. This is typically translated to "let it be".

Laissez-faire leaders are characterised by their hands-off approach, allowing employees to get on with tasks as they see fit. Click To Tweet

This can be effective in creative jobs or workplaces where employees are very experienced. However, it is important that leaders monitor performance and effectively communicate expectations to prevent work standards slipping.

Democratic leadership

Also known as participative leadership, this style - as the name suggests - means leaders often ask for input from team members before making a final decision.

"Workers usually report higher levels of job satisfaction in these environments and the company can benefit from better creativity."

On the downside, the democratic process is normally slower and may not function well in workplaces where quick decision-making is crucial.

Bureaucratic leadership

Bureaucratic leadership models are most often implemented in highly regulated or administrative environments, where adherence to the rules and a defined hierarchy are important.

"These leaders ensure people follow the rules and carry out tasks by the book."

Naturally, this works well in certain roles - such as health and safety - but can stifle innovation and creativity in more agile, fast-paced companies.

Charismatic leadership

There is a certain amount of overlap between charismatic and transformational leadership. Both styles rely heavily on the positive charm and personality of the leader in question.

However, charismatic leadership is usually considered less favourable, largely because the success of projects and initiatives is closely linked to the presence of the leader.

While transformational leaders build confidence in a team that remains when they move on, the removal of a charismatic leader typically leaves a power vacuum.

Situational leadership

Developed by management experts Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard in 1969, situational leadership is a theory that the best leaders utilise a range of different styles depending on the environment. Click To Tweet

Factors such as worker seniority, the business process being performed and the complexity of relevant tasks all play an important role in what leadership style to adopt for any given situation.
However, many people have a natural leadership style, which can make switching between roles challenging.
For example, situational leaders may adopt a democratic leadership style when discussing commercial direction with senior executives, but switch to a bureaucratic strategy when relaying new factory protocols to workers.

It can also be difficult to gauge what style is most suitable for certain circumstances, holding up decision-making processes.

We hope you enjoyed this article and find the information useful.

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9 common leadership styles: Which type of leader are you?

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There is never a one-size-fits-all leadership style for every business - all companies operate differently and certain traits will be more successful in some environments than others. However, having a thorough understanding of various leadership styles enables senior executives to not only adopt the correct characteristics for themselves, but also choose better managers throughout the organisation.

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Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | TED Talk

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Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership -- starting with a golden circle and the question: “Why?” His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Wright brothers…

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Emotional Intelligence and How it is a Key Leadership Skill

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Emotional Intelligence and How it is a Key Leadership Skill

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Anyone trying to come up to speed on emotional intelligence would have a pretty easy time of it since the concept is remarkably recent, and its application to business newer still. The term was coined in 1990 in a research paper by two psychology professors, John D. Mayer of UNH and Peter Salovey of Yale. Some years later, Mayer defined it in HBR this way:

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How Emotional Intelligence Became a Key Leadership Skill

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A reading list to bring you up to speed.

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Relationship management allows you to connect with others in ways that help them feel understood and supported. Managing relationships is an essential emotional intelligence skill that enables you to effectively lead change or manage personal change

Managing relationships is much more than being friendly. It takes effort and intention (and some strategy) to get the best from a situation and manage the way people respond.

A Core Domain of Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence consists of four basic capabilities, or domains. These are:

This page focuses on managing relationships - the ability to inspire and influence others and sort out the conflicts that arise.

This is the last of the domains of emotional intelligence proposed by Daniel Goleman. Use the links above to find out about the other domains or get an overview of emotional intelligence here.

Relationship Management

Relationships can be complicated. Even Rudy Giuliani (Mayor of the City of New York: 1993 - 2001 and Time 2001 Person of the Year) acknowledges how difficult it is to predict how people will respond to each other and how they'll work together.

In his (highly recommended) 2002 book, 'Leadership' Giuliani observes, "Sometimes very different people will form a harmonious unit, while those with a lot in common can't be in a room together" (p. 111).

So are relationships about luck, or is there something we can do to influence them?

One thing you can be sure of is that if you're going to manage relationships effectively you'll need to use self awareness, self regulation and social awareness to understand what's going on and how it's affecting you.

You see, effective management of relationships relies on all the abilities in the three domains of emotional intelligence that I've highlighted above.

Four criteria for effective relationship management

Before you can manage relationships you need to notice and manage the effect people have on you and be aware of what they are feeling and what's led to them feeling that way.

Only then can you decide how best to interact with them in order to achieve the outcome that best suits your needs (or their needs).

If you read that sentence again you'll see there are four criteria to effective relationship management:

1. A decision regarding the best course of action in a particular situation. This will be based on research you've done to understand how people are feeling and why they're feeling that way.

Based on this you'll have thought about different ways to interact with them and the different reactions you might get when you say or do something. You'll also be aware of their effect on you and how to manage this appropriately.

2. An interaction with others based on the research you've done (this may be written, face to face, individual or a group interaction, for example).

3. An outcome: how and what you say or do will be guided by a specific outcome you want to achieve. This makes relationship management an intentional activity.

4. Your needs: the outcome you intend to achieve will be guided by your specific needs, or the business needs, at that time.

Anyone involved in the entertainment industry might find these aspects of relationship management very familiar. How do you get an audience to believe in your character and help them to feel emotion?

It's as important that in business and our personal lives we are equally aware of how we manage the relationships around us.

Competencies

According to Daniel Goleman the competencies associated with relationship management are:

Influence: persuading others.

Inspirational leadership: providing a vision that motivates others.

Developing others: providing feedback and building skills and knowledge.

Change catalyst: recognising the need for change and supporting the process.

Conflict management: Settling disputes, differences of opinion and misunderstanding.

Building bonds: creating and maintaining networks.

Teamwork and collaboration: building effective teams.

The competencies of relationship management are often associated with leadership because these are obvious areas we typically associate with leadership.

But these competencies are equally relevant to managing personal change.

Leaders find ways to inspire and motivate by tapping into people's values and desires. They also find ways to align these with the needs of the business.

Using empathy and other EI skills leaders are able to build and maintain levels of trust.

We're all quite aware of other people's emotions most of the time, even if our reading of those emotions is not 100% accurate. Leaders that forget this, and try to manipulate situations, quickly become distrusted if people sense they're acting falsely.
Recognising the need for change
When it comes to managing change in our businesses, work or personal lives, it's important that we recognise the need for change and support the process of change.

Being a 'change catalyst' may take some effort, especially when change feels as if it's being forced on us. The effort is worth it as building strengths in this competency is key to effective change management.

It doesn't matter whether you're staff, middle, or senior management; if you're not able to get on board with and support the change you're heading for resistance to change.

It's essential that leaders of change effectively communicate the need for change and demonstrate their support for the process.

This is equally important at times when you're managing personal change. Finding ways to adjust to the change and support it will significantly decrease personal resistance and stress.

Improve Your Relationships

So what's the best way to go about improving your relationship management?

First, realise that this is not a task you can complete overnight. As with other domains of emotional intelligence the growth of skills is a life journey. However, there are things you can start doing now.

This powerful audio hypnosis download will help you to create instant connections with people and gain confidence managing your relationships.

Most important is building your awareness of, and skills in, the first three domains of emotional intelligence.

Awareness of your emotions (self awareness) and,

being able to manage these emotions (self regulation) are essential abilities that support effective management of relationships.

Imagine attempting any of the competencies of relationship management listed above if you're always provoked by the reactions of others. I would humbly suggest that this is impossible.

Similarly, awareness of what other groups or individuals are feeling, and what's led to this (social awareness) is essential as it informs the possibilities for your response or intervention.

At the very least you will have considered the best way to approach a person or group in order to achieve the best outcome (ie. the one you want!).

Download this relationship management skills worksheet I created for you or make your own list of the competencies outlined earlier in this article. To develop your ability to manage relationships it's useful to assess your skills in each of the competencies and focus your attention on what you can do to develop each one.

1. Start by writing down the ways you already perform the competency well. For example, next to "Developing Others" you might feel you have no problem giving others feedback. Write it down!

2. Next, write down areas for development, ie. an aspect of that competency that can be improved. Using the same example you might admit that while you give people feedback it could be more supportive and less critical. The area for development will be learning to give supportive feedback. Take some time and work through each competency.

3. Now list at least two actions that will help you develop that area. There are many ways you can do this. For example you could take a short course, read a book, do your own research, or model someone you respect.

4. Finally, choose one, or more, competencies you'd like to work on and put the action steps into action!
If you are feeling very daring give this task to a friend or colleague and ask them to complete it on your behalf - as they see you.

Focus on building competencies to improve relationship management.

Remember, you're not expected to be strong in every competency, but it helps to keep an open mind about developing new strengths and building on those you've got.

Leave your thoughts below and keep in touch by visiting our Facebook Page and clicking 'Like' to join the community.

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Master relationship management to enhance your emotional intelligence.

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Take control of your life. Learn to inspire and influence others using relationship management and emotional intelligence.