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EDU 8672 |
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Professional development programs typically fall into four distinct types (Tiezzi, 1991), each of which provides insight into and is dependent upon the instructional leader’s assumptions about teaching and learning as well as human nature. One type of professional development program operates from the assumption that as educators exhibit deficits while they engage in teaching, the instructional leader’s job is to repair those deficits. A second type of professional development program operates from the assumption that teachers are subordinate to the curriculum. The instructional leader’s task, according to this type of professional development, is to focus teachers upon the curriculum and to get them to translate its content into classroom practice. A third type of professional development program is built upon the assumption that teachers are, for the most part, unfit to teach youth. The instructional leader’s job, then, is to devise prescriptions to guide teachers as they implement the curriculum. The most prevalent model for professional development based upon this assumption is to “teacher-proof” the curriculum. Each of these three types of professional development places the instructional leader in a “superior” position vis-à-vis the teachers, who are considered inferior in the organizational hierarchy. A fourth type of professional development is constructed upon the assumption that teachers are professionals who continuously learn and seek to improve their practice. When an instructional leader envisions “teachers” as “learners,” professional development becomes a creative architectural enterprise, demanding that the instructional leader create mechanisms that support and maintain the teachers’ changing beliefs, attitudes, and skills. Teachers, in this model of professional development, are provided with multiple opportunities to consider alternative practices, adopt practices that promise to improve teaching and learning, and evaluate their effectiveness, all the while learning about what constitutes best practice. The instructional leader’s role is to provide the support, guidance, and challenge necessary for continuous professional growth. This type of professional development highlights the teachers’ expertise in teaching and learning and elevates their role to that of the school’s curriculum leaders. The instructional leader, then, which builds leadership density within the community of teachers by providing the personal and professional support services that teachers need to fulfill their important leadership role. The assumptions guiding the instructional leader’s view of professional development provide the framework guiding how the instructional leader not only understands one's leadership role, but also how one designs, implements, and evaluates a professional development program. The project for Instructional Leadership (EDUC 8672) provides students the opportunity to apply what they are learning about instructional leadership and professional development to actual practice in schools. The completed project will evidence the student’s ability to discover, to interpret, and to apply research findings about instructional leadership and professional development with the objective of enhancing teaching and learning in schools. The project also provides students the materials to present in an interview, were a student to apply for a position as an instructional leader, supervisor, or principal. Approaching the Course Project: The course project for EDUC 8672 is divided into two major components: 1) The Instructional Leadership Statement and 2) The Professional Development Portfolio.
Beginning on the very first day of EDUC 8672, the student will begin formulating an Instructional Leadership Statement which will state concisely what the student believes instructional leadership involves and requires. This statement will concern itself with the responsibilities the student believes an experienced educator accepts to ensure that the people, the process, and the technology of schooling—teaching and learning—deliver on their promise to form capable and responsible young adult citizens who live in a culturally diverse and and pluralistic democratic republic. The first version of the Instructional Leadership Statement will be based primarily upon one's experience (both positive and negative) and reflections. In addition, a student may include thoughts spurred by other courses that one has taken as well as literature one has read (whether for another course or not). Throughout the course, the student will edit, revise, and rewrite one's Instructional Leadership Statement in light of one's reading, reflections, and in-class discussions. Near the end of the course, the student will present one's final version of the Instructional Leadership Statement both in class and in the Professional Development Portfolio. The Instructional Leadership Statement comprises Section #1 of the Professional Development Portfolio. All versions of the statement are to be placed in Section #1 with the most recent version being placed on top of the previous versions in achronological order.
Once the student has been introduced to the basic architecture of instructional leadership, curriculum, and the “learning to teach” perspective, the student will begin to formulate the content of the Professional Development Portfolio. Five exercises challenge the student to identify the content of the Professional Development Portfolio by requiring the student to reflect upon one's experience in learning to teach as well as to investigate, evaluate, and apply the literature studied in class as well as other materials (e.g., from other courses or from the bibliography, additional resources listed on the course syllabus, and in-class discussion). The five exercises include:
Completion of each section will provide a working document that students will continuously revise during the course for final presentation in the form of a professional portfolio at the end of the course. The portfolio will consist of a 3" D‑ring binder with dividers separating each section, including: 1) Instructional Leadership Statement; 2) Program Overview; 3) Program Focus; 4) Program Levels; 5) Program Evaluation; 6) References; 6) Appendix (if needed). In light of feedback received during the course, each student will revise each assignment for final presentation. To complete the course project successfully, all assignments must conform with the standards identified in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). The student's final portfolio accounts for one hundred percent (100%) of the final grade. The Instructional Leadership Statement accounts for twenty (20%) percent of the final grade; the submission of the completed portfolio (which includes Exercises #1 - #5) accounts for eighty (80%) percent of the final grade.
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