Importance
Overview
Unpacking
In their meta-analysis of leadership practices, Marzano, Waters and McNulty find that school leaders facilitate the responsibility of “Ideals and Beliefs” by collectively establishing well-defined beliefs about schooling, teaching and learning, sharing those beliefs with the staff and demonstrating/modeling behaviors that are consistent with these beliefs. Further, they indicate that leadership teams are instrumental in any systemic change by influencing the shared ideals and beliefs through:
- Communicating ideals and beliefs related to the systemic change in formal and informal conversations and modeling through their own behaviors
- Ensuring that practices related to the change are aligned with shared ideals and beliefs, and;
- Asking strategic questions regarding the change when actions don’t reflect agreed-upon purposes, goals, and understandings. (School Leadership that Works, p. 120)
Effective leadership teams engage faculty in the development of a focused mission statement which specifically identifies the school’s purpose. However, a written mission statement has little if any impact in a school unless it is intentionally integrated into the conversations and practices from the building leaders and faculty to the students. Students and teachers should not only be able to articulate the shared mission, but should be able to share what that mission means to them personally.
Effective leadership teams engage faculty in the collective articulation of a clear vision for the school describing what the school should be like, look like, sound like, etc. in the future. Building that shared vision is only part of the work, however. Leaders must also make deep, personal commitment to steering the school through the change process to achieve the desired vision of the future and engage faculty in the identification of collective commitments…those actions and behaviors which adults agree to do in order to achieve their vision. Collective commitments put words into action.
In Action
Activity: Again using your template, continue the discussion of 2nd order leadership responsibilities by defining what it means to “champion the ideals and beliefs of your school” in your own words, and identifying at least one practice which you and your team can commit to in supporting this responsibility.
