Judy, I think you are really asking what it takes to be a literacy leader--a role model for the active intellectual and literate life for your colleagues. There are two keys to this, I am thinking. I do NOT pretend to be any kind of expert here...but this is something I have been doing a LOT of thinking about over the past couple years and pretty intensely over recent weeks. The first key is that you need to live the intellectual life yourself---don't hide it! This has been one of the hardest lessons for me to learn...I am an avid, dare I say, a "fervent" learner-- I always have been. I love to learn for learning's sake. I am the kid who drove adults nuts with all the questions--and as an adult I can read almost anything and be interested in it. (My bedside table right now includes not only "To Understand, but also a Tom Clancy novel, a classification guide for butterflies, 2 books on leadership, a science fiction novel and a Smithsonian magazine!) For a long while on the job, though, I really 'low-keyed' that part of my personality from all but a few colleagues. I finally got sick of it, and decided to be myself, but I realized early on that there's a way to do it. Approaching all I do with the question "What can I learn from this experience?" became a guiding principle that helps me improve as a teacher and as a person. I expect each person I work with to have strengths, some aspect that I can learn from and when I started approaching them with that in mind, I began to have more productive professional relationships. To me, being an intellectual role model for colleagues means to exhibit a curiosity, an openness to ideas others have to offer and to look for opportunities to validate the ideas of others by incorporating them into my own practice. It is not so much about sharing all I know, as it is being open to the sharing. That is a lesson I am still learning and it is not an easy one for me. The second part of being a literacy leader is to develop relationships. When you are an equal, you don't lead from a position of power. You lead through the power of your relationships. As reading specialist, many more doors opened when I started coteaching. Really, I think, most people want to do a good job. They don't become teachers to do a lousy job. Once I shared students with someone in a coteaching relationship, and shared responsibility for teaching and planning---it became easier. In my most effective relationships, I made sure that I asked lots of questions and learned from my colleagues all that I could and then shared what I knew gradually, as people became more comfortable with me and as we identified a need for our students together. I won over a couple of really tough skeptics over time...but it was kinda like a marriage. There is give and take...and probably a whole lot more giving than taking. You really need to work at the relationships and build trust before you can really move anyone forward. This takes time and patience. It worked best for me when I didn't try to force opportunities but rather worked first to show that I cared about the person...then later showed that I valued the teacher. Now please understand, I don't say any of this is easy. Again, I am no expert...and I don't claim to be anyone's intellectual role model. I have struggled, and still struggle in some professional relationships. I am just someone who sees the importance of modeling an intellectual life for colleagues and students and I am someone who is absolutely passionate in her belief in the power of colleagues learning together.(That's why I am a long-time participant on Mosaic!) I am just sharing my 2 cents for what they are worth. I hope this helps... Jennifer In a message dated 3/31/2008 8:48:52 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
When I was an administrator for a few years ( that's actually when I joined this group, as I was feeling very alone), we were trying to bring about change in a district. Much of the reading I did at that time dealt with how to handle teachers who did not embrace change. The research said that you can't wait for everyone to get on board. The lesson in that for me, now a reading specialist, is that I try to help those who want the help, in hopes that more teachers will be inspired to try something different. There are other people at your school who are trying to lead an intellectual life, but sometimes they are hiding fairly well. Keep looking and good luck. **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home. (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15&ncid=aolhom00030000000001) _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
