https://padlet.com/emmavalle87/7hhfh13x3k61 Made with ♥ en-us 2017-10-03 15:26:47 UTC 2017-10-26 13:42:14 UTC hello@padlet.com emmavalle87 https://padlet.com/emmavalle87/7hhfh13x3k61/wish/193494631 "A great leader is the one who respectfully and using unique skills has gained that position within a community of people as to ease the communication within the group"
Emma Valle

When I think of great leaders that are meaningful to me I always think of people who have been capable of positively influencing a group of people as to make them feel part of a non-exclusive group to which they belong and feel respected and valued. A great teacher that had a high impact in my life, has been for me a great example of a leader. She was our teacher at Instituto Cervantes New York, and she created such a beautiful environment for teaching, learning and above all friendship. 

What makes experiences memorable is the interesting people that bring into our lives. And she made this possible not just coming herself to our lives, but also all the other amazing students, and not just bringing knowledge to our lives, but also new friendships.

I would say that some of the not so good leaders that I have either crossed paths with or witnessed (on news) are the ones who are exclusive rather than inclusive, the ones who destroy rather than build relationships within the group of people that they lead. 

Among the pictures presented on this Unit, I was between the number seven or nine. But I finally decided on the seven for a simple reason: we need a leader, or I would rather call it a guide or facilitator, someone who acts as a spokesperson as to deal with other groups but also that can communicate clear ideas. When we are all at the same level and we are all leaders (like in picture number 9) there is a tendency to get distracted into dialogues that sometimes have a blurry aim. Leaders help make communication and the exchange of opinions more effective and clear. ]]> 2017-10-03 15:38:02 UTC https://padlet.com/emmavalle87/7hhfh13x3k61/wish/193494631 emmavalle87 https://padlet.com/emmavalle87/7hhfh13x3k61/wish/193507624 A leader would be an excellent communicator, respectful with the members of the group, a community builder, a positive relationship facilitator and bring in new unique, revolutionary and engaging ideas. I need although to add a sixth one that I have just come up with after reflecting on the Trait Theories, a great leader is the one who would be capable of generating an action within a group of people.

This is my ideal leader, and for other people, other characteristics would be more crucial and effective. I believe people with certain traits are the ones who are drawn or more prone to be influenced, or let's say inspired, by certain types of leaders. 

I will give an easy example as to clarify my idea. I just watched the two movies on Che Guevara. On the first one, he is a Guerrillero in Cuba alongside Fidel Castro, on the second one he is in Bolivia and he is leading the revolutionary movement as an alone leader. We all can recognise in him his great leadership skills, and he manages and still does influence many people's political, ideological and economic thoughts. Now on the first movie, he is just presented as a half leader, Fidel Castro is leading the cause and the Guerrilleros really consider him as such, due to his very tough way of giving orders (which Cuban people, due to its history of colonisation as slavery undersand as a way of leadership) and his Cuban Nationality so he is not seen as a stranger. On the second movie, he really struggles as he is not seen as a local and even though everybody values his fight in Cuba people would rather be lead by someone who is a compatriot.

I truly think that a leader has a to own certain skills but that they differ depending on the people that surround them and the circumstances in which the leader in navigating. Che Guevara was and will be a great leader although the circumstance he had to live in weren't favourable for him to be considered as an excellent leader capable of influencing so many groups of people. These people have to, on the one hand, be compromised with socialism, and also have to live in certain circumstances that make them fight for that cause.

A leader is made by the people and the circumstances that lead to him. ]]> 2017-10-03 15:58:35 UTC https://padlet.com/emmavalle87/7hhfh13x3k61/wish/193507624 emmavalle87 https://padlet.com/emmavalle87/7hhfh13x3k61/wish/194496174 This activity is somehow related to the Master's thesis I am developing, which analyses what teachers' behaviours that help build a culturally responsive environment in the classroom. And this goes with the way teachers guide the class bearing those races and ethnicities in mind when Whereas in mainstream schooling and leading the group in an inclusive and respectful way considering the cultural diversity.

Many pedagogs have noticed how mainstream schooling and
culture a passive-receptive style of communication and participation predominates. Although many groups of colour use an active-participatory one. In the first, communication is didactic, with the speaker playing the active role and the listener being passive. Students are expected to listen quietly while teachers talk and to talk only at prescribed times when granting permission by the teacher. Their participation is usually solicited by teachers’ asking convergent questions that are posed to specific individuals and require factual, “right answer” responses. 

In contrast, the communicative styles of most ethnic groups of colour are more active, participatory, dialectic, and multimodal. Speakers expect listeners to engage with them as they speak by providing prompts, feedback, and commentary. The roles of speaker and listener are fluid and interchangeable. Among African Americans, this interactive communicative style is referred to as “call-response” and for Native Hawaiians, it is called “talk-story”. 

Among European American females, the somewhat similar practice of “talking along with the speaker” to show involvement, support, and confirmation is described as “rapport talk”. These communal
communication styles can be problematic in the classroom for both teachers and students. Uninformed and unappreciative teachers consider them rude, distractive, and inappropriate and
take actions to squelch them. And sometimes they are denied use of their natural ways of talking, their thinking, intellectual engagement, and academic efforts are diminished as well.

Southeast Asian students smile while being scolded if they are unaware that the smiles are meant not as disrespect, but as an admission of guilt and an effort to show that there are no hard feelings.

So these are all diverse styles of approaching a leading figure, as the teacher, and so as long as the leader acknowledges this and reacts accordingly they will win or lose that position. 

At any International School, this knowledge coming from both teachers and members of the administration should be a fundamental requirement since they will be dealing with students coming from very diverse backgrounds and that have also diverse perceptions of leadership.]]> 2017-10-05 20:17:25 UTC https://padlet.com/emmavalle87/7hhfh13x3k61/wish/194496174 emmavalle87 https://padlet.com/emmavalle87/7hhfh13x3k61/wish/194502168 Leadership for IB is highly related to a continuing success of the programme, its right implementation and the creation of a community of learners which leaves for schools what attributes and traits are more suitable for the country/area's culture, the culture of their members, the culture of the community, and so on.

"It may be the case that the vision and drive of one individual, the charismatic leader, may bring about
more immediate innovation, having a marked impact on the functioning of the entire school community.
However, models of team leadership have overriding benefits in comparison with the charismatic leadership
model, particularly for schools that have a transient population of both teachers and school leaders."

I do not see any challenges and any negative implications for this IB requirement of allowing schools to decide themselves the most sustainable pedagogical leadership. I see it more as something highly beneficial to allow schools to decide what characteristics they would be after when searching or deciding on a leading person so as to fit everybody's interest for every particular school and community.]]> 2017-10-05 20:41:13 UTC https://padlet.com/emmavalle87/7hhfh13x3k61/wish/194502168