According to her To be a leader, one does not need a title. One can influence better, even without being the principal of the school.

 

It was this thought that gave rise to creating a program for the teachers for exercising leadership function. 

 

Her program helps teachers to become Leaders. The teachers wanted it to be a fellowship so that they could interact with others. 

Teacher exercises agency as teachers

Teachers and administrators can be fully involved, engaged in their role.

 

Dr. Betty used “Caring people, caring teachers” maxim

She enjoys creating space for people and making them shine. 

According to her, people, (humans) interact with each other better. Give space for others to shine. Asking the right questions. 

 

The best leaders are people who understood their own strengths. Capitalize on your strengths and have others around you whose strengths are complementing your strengths. The core of her leadership theory is “Be thyself”, “Capitalize on your strengths”. 

 

On the matter of the use of different models off Professional development Dr. Betty says that she did not use one single mode or method. She based the model on the interest and need of people. 

 

But she mentions two models particularly – Project Based Learning and 

Social Emotional Learning 

The criteria of selecting a model depends on the interest and need right now.

https://youtu.be/Fv9O6wyEJA4?t=1118

She also shares that how the program of Teacher leader- teachers to exercise an agency as leaders came into light. This program has been a successful one and has been evolved many folds.

Dr. Betty mentioned the 2 models -Project based learning and Social emotional learning but she emphasized that there is no specific model they use but the model of learning depends on the need and interest of the people (learners).

Students do their best when they having the most caring teachers. Shared learning of leadership experiences can be done by creating an environment/setting, asking right questions which can help them to believe in their own strength and motivates them to do better. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv9O6wyEJA4&t=233s

 It all started with the practice of teacher agency, teachers wanting to connect, interact with other schools, share their experiences, gather diverse perspectives thereby enabling them to augment their experiences. Dr. Betty reflects on how the journey has evolved over time with ideas put forward by teachers, taking ownership, responsibility to accomplish what they envisioned rather than doing things as instructed. Likewise, the program offers freedom to choose different models to reinforce skills, knowledge as per their interest, need, and requirement. Project-based and social-emotional learning were the models chosen by the teachers in one of the years. She believes that students and teachers do better when they are provided with a caring environment, enthused to practice agencies, develop their passion and potentials.

 Dr. Betty quotes that leaders ought to know themselves and their capabilities. Shared leadership is possible when thoughtful leaders create an environment where the strengths and weaknesses of each member are catered in a positive way for the betterment of the team. She further highlights on inculcating the mindset of a lifelong learner help us prepare to be a strong leader, one who keeps learning, growing and understand the world in the broadest sense.

https://youtu.be/Fv9O6wyEJA4?t=1201  

                     
                        

Another interesting thing was to know how her course doesn’t really follow a single one-size-fits-all approach to professional development but rather follows a demand based approach keeping in mind the needs and interest of the participants. This not just allows the course to show impact but also builds agency as teachers get to take ownership of their learning and act constructively to contribute to their own development. 

Finally she ends with the concept of how learning never ends. Even at her age, her belief that educating yourself is the best way forward was really motivating. What I understood from her experience is that self-reflection and the ability to figure out who you are as a person and what strengths and weakness you have is the first step to successful leadership. This reflection thus helps you capitalise on your strengths and find solutions in other people to overcome your weakness, thus creating a shared leadership of learning.     

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv9O6wyEJA4&t=1091s

The program she is running to enable teachers to be a leader justifies her advice for the leaders to create a setting for the people to take up a lead in pursuing what they want. How the program is run not by one model for the professional development but considering the different models based on the interest and need of the fellow members seems to be more effective in fulfilling the needs of diverse participants. Her concept as educating is never-ending supports the true essence of a leader being a lifetime learner to view the world in a broader sense. She also mentioned caring as a factor for influencing people to learn

It is so inspiring to see her dedication in creating situations for people to shine out as I think is the quality required to be a good leader. She concluded by adding up that being a good leader requires self-awareness of our strengths and weakness in order to capitalize on the strength and overcome the weakness by working with people who possess the skills that we lack is a really good strategy of exercising leadership.

 

Likewise, there was discussion about various professional models which contribute to  being leaders. And I agree with Dr. Betty about not following one particular leadership model but instead giving the opportunity for individuals to adapt as per the context. She shared about project-based and socio-emotional models and the elements of leadership that could be woven into execution of mentioned models which I believe are key in developing leaders.

The experience of her being the educational commissioner in her state was very powerful, whereby I liked the participatory approach of gathering involvement and consensus from the various stakeholders in the schools, this creates a sense of ownership and influences positive outcomes. Dr. Betty shared about “Know THYSelf ” which inspired me. Lastly and briefly, my key takeaway is to understand one’s strengths and weaknesses and practice nurturing  strengths, and gather support from others to address the weaknesses.

https://youtu.be/Fv9O6wyEJA4?t=1091

 It all started with the practice of teacher agency, teachers wanting to connect, interact with other schools, share their experiences, gather diverse perspectives thereby enabling them to augment their experiences. Dr. Betty reflects on how the journey has evolved over time with ideas put forward by teachers, taking ownership, responsibility to accomplish what they envisioned rather than doing things as instructed. Likewise, the program offers freedom to choose different models to reinforce skills, knowledge as per their interest, need, and requirement. Project-based and social-emotional learning were the models chosen by the teachers in one of the years. She believes that students and teachers do better when they are provided with a caring environment, enthused to practice agencies, develop their passion and potentials.

 Dr. Betty quotes that leaders ought to know themselves and their capabilities. Shared leadership is possible when thoughtful leaders create an environment where the strengths and weaknesses of each member are catered in a positive way for the betterment of the team. She further highlights on inculcating the mindset of a lifelong learner help us prepare to be a strong leader, one who keeps learning, growing and understand the world in the broadest sense.

https://youtu.be/Fv9O6wyEJA4?t=1201  

                     
                        

This videocast gave an insight on exercising leadership in any role we are in and mentioned we don’t necessarily need to be in the position of a leader to make an impact. We maybe making impact in our own way. Dr. Betty gave a brief on the history of how the program came into an effect. I liked how she said that the program doesn’t follow any specific model for professional development and is constantly evolving. She, however, highlighted on two models: a. Project Based learning and b. Social-Emotional Learning. Her sharing has taught that to create a better-shared leadership of learning experiences we require; openness and evolvement based on current need.

Dr.Betty interestingly puts forward the idea of ‘know thyself ‘as a leader, which like very much.  Leaders, according to her, should identify their strengths and weaknesses. She means to say that leaders can capitalize their strengths, but can find someone who can share up and fill in their weaknesses.

Another important thing that the interview highlights is professional or leadership development model. She particularly focuses on two types of learning models: project-based learning and social-emotional learning. She believes that no single model is absolute; leaders can adopt one model to another to meet the requirement of learners. 

On the whole, she emphasizes on the importance of creating shared leadership of learning experiences for teachers. Shared leadership is possible when leaders create such an environment where teachers can discuss their strengths and weakness for better learning opportunities.