EDU 8672
Instructional Leadership

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Exercise #3:
SPECIFYING THE
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER'S FOCUS

In Exercise #3, the student will specify the instructional leader's "super-vision" (Sergiovanni & Starratt, 1988) or "grand narrative" (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988; McDonald, 1992) which identifies the focus for a comprehensive professional development program. This "super-vision" or "grand narrative" represents the instructional leader's "big picture," portraying the agenda by which the instructional leader will facilitate schoolwide improvement in three areas of responsibility: curriculum, teaching, and student learning outcomes.

In Exercise #3, the student will delineate this "super-vision" (or "grand narrative") in terms of major learnings to be achieved, first, by teachers, and second, by the instructional leader:

• First: "Teacher Learning." What should the teachers be learning? [This definition will be no longer than two pages.]
• Then: Based upon what the student states the teachers should be learning, the student will Identify, outline, and describe the five (5) objectives for teacher professional development. [State these objective in terms of the psychological changes to be effected (Tyler, 1949) in the teachers through professional development. To provide an overview, the student will briefly re-introduce the concept of teacher learning and list the five objectives on one page. Following this, the student will restate and describe each objective on no more than one page (i.e., a total of 5 pages). In total, the objectives for professional development comprise six pages.]

In Exercise #3, it is imperative that the student move from the "ideal" and "theoretical" notions explicated in Exercises #1 and #2 and toward more "practical" notions. That is, now that the student has become familiar with teacher learning, curriculum, as well as some of the professional development literature, the challenge now is for the student to translate this array of ideas into actual leadership practice, that is, to identify what the instructional leader will do to improve curriculum, teaching, and learning in the school given the diversity of people and experiences as well as the school's unique culture.

Second, in essay form, the student should respond to the following question:

• What should the instructional leader be learning during the process of professional development? [The student will use as many pages as are necessary to convey a thorough and appropriate response to this question.]

The student should not forget to cite any ideas that have emerged from the student’s study of the literature.

While Exercise #3 might appear somewhat daunting at first glance, the student should recall that s/he already possess broad experience in the process utilized in Exercise #3. For example, when the student originally conceived how to develop curriculum for one's classroom, the student first identified what will be learned; in addition, the student then identified the objectives that specify what will be learned as well as what those objectives mean. This is precisely the process that Exercise #3 utilizes. Only now, as the student transitions from "thinking as a teacher" to "thinking as an instructional leader," the focus is upon teacher learning and those specific objectives that will support teacher learning, as well as what those objectives mean.

Each student will present Exercise #3 in class for review, critique, and feedback. (A hard copy will be provided to the professor for grading.) In light of the feedback received, the student will revise Exercise #3. The first two components of Exercise #3 will be placed in the third division of the portfolio; the essay will be placed in the Appendix.

References

Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1988). Teachers as curriculum planners: Narratives of experience. New York: Teachers College Press.

McDonald, J. P. (1992). Teaching: Making sense of an uncertain craft. New York: Teachers College Press.

Sergiovanni, T. J., & Starratt, R. J. (1988). Supervision: Human perspectives (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Tyler, R. W. (1949). Principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.