Week 3 at Higher Achievement
This past week there was a lot to observe and learn about the leadership that takes place at Higher Achievement, both in terms of my role as a teacher and my role as a subordinate. Week 3 proved to be the hardest week yet, with the kids acting out so badly that we decided as a team that we needed to make some changes. This initiative to make changes came from the teachers, with the center director giving us his input on what he thought would be the best solution; however, in the end it was up to the teachers to make the final decision, and the director supported us 100%. We ended up rearranging the class rosters in hopes that we could limit distractions. Because of the non-hierarchical and collaborative environment of our team, it made it possible to voice our opinions and make those changes on our own to improve our working environment, and the fact that our director trusted us and supported us in making those decisions really shows the type of leader he is and the type of environment we are working in. When it comes to his interactions with the teachers, he displays a lot of the qualities of a transformational leader, as he is constantly inspiring us to want to continue working and make changes as we see fit to improve the program.
Apart from our roles within our team, this week really showed a lot about our role as a leader to the students. When it comes to teaching, I think leaders need to have a good balance between transformational and transactional leadership styles. Ideally, teachers and leaders in education would want to work entirely as a transformational leader, inspiring their students to want to work hard and do their best without having to use punishments and rewards and other such means. However, as this summer has shown so far, that is not entirely possible, especially over the summer time when kids have a million other things they want to be doing and essentially have no reason to pay attention or do their work. One thing I have definitely noticed this past week was that our center director has started to switch over to a more transactional style when dealing with the students. He is relying almost too much on punishment and reward, and is constantly sitting the students down and correcting their behavior. It has definitely been hard this past week to want to inspire and work with the students when they are continually not doing what they are supposed to be doing, however, I think it would be beneficial to try to bring back those transformational styles that were evident at the beginning of the summer. The kids respond much better to that than they do with punishment and reward, as is often the case.
I can only imagine how challenging it is do to this work during the summer. You’ve provided some examples here to illustrate both transformational and transactional leadership, but I encourage you to make some more specific connections. Beyond inspirational motivation, which you’ve eluded to, what other actions/behaviors does your center leader employ that illustrate the other factors of transformational leadership – individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, and idealized influence. You might even think of specific examples of what your leader does to provide inspirational motivation (e.g. telling success stories, etc.). You should also consider how you employ these factors in your role as teacher (if the aspiration is to employ transformational leadership with the students). Similarly, in discussing transactional leadership – you’ve provided some concrete examples. Does this illustrate contingent reward or management-by-exception (passive or active) – the two factors associated with transactional leadership. The more specific examples you have that illustrate concepts and theories you are applying, the better equipped you’ll be to complete the academic assignments for internship this fall.