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Identifying and Empowering Instructional Leaders

Emily Junk

College of Education, Grand Canyon University

Course Number: EAD-533

Justin Greathouse

June 30, 2021

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Identifying and Empowering Instructional Leaders

Analyze the Case

As a first-year principal it is important to start off on the right foot, so to say, to work to

establish a culture that values leadership, promotes continual learning, and puts the needs of the

students above all else. To begin implementing a plan to delegate responsibility and empower

teacher leaders, first teacher leader positions must be identified and then candidates for these

positions must also be identified. It is important to recognize the stakeholders and determine the

needs of the school, the stakeholders in this case study are the students, teachers, parents, school

staff and the principal. The stakeholders that should be involved in these discussions are the

teachers, the school staff and the principal, general conversations can be in a group setting, but

when asking teachers to take on roles they should be in a private setting as these are staffing

concerns. Teacher leaders play a valuable role at schools, as there are too many responsibilities

for one person to attend to and do a good job (Levin & Schurm, 2017). The next steps will be

determined by how the conversations go, hopefully the teachers are open to the positions, the

new leadership ideas, and the positive culture changes the principal is making. If this is the case,

the next steps should be to determine the training that is necessary and how the teachers feel their

roles will be best supported. If the conversations are not positive the principal would have two

avenues for solving this, first require teacher leader participation of the teacher who turned down

the role previously or find another candidate for the position that would be willing to cooperate

and work towards the advancement of the teachers and the school. The timeline is relatively

short, hopefully just a few weeks since the leadership positions are vital to the success of the

principal and the school.

Identify the Larger Issues

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In reviewing the case study, there are some large issues at work at the school. There are

teachers who gave of their time for minimal reimbursement, it is important to honor their

commitment, work, and dedication to the school, a thank you note, and recognition at a staff

meeting would be a nice way of thanking them for their time and talents. It is important that the

principal also have a good attitude, a good attitude is contagious smiling and laughing (not at the

expense of others) and can go a long for changing and improving the moral and culture of a

school (Mungal & Sorenson 2019). The positive outcomes of recognizing the previous

leadership team for their efforts is that they will hopefully be appreciative of the sincere thank

you and will be willing to put forth more effort for the following year, and it could also motivate

other teachers and staff to take on leadership roles themselves. There could be negative reactions

for not recognizing the hard work of the previous team, the team would probably not want to

continue the work another school year, and the other staff would not be motivated to help out in

a leadership position. More information would be helpful about the longevity of those who are in

the positions, what motivates them to have the leadership position, their personal strengths and

what they can offer the school’s staff.

Create an Action Plan – Steps, Stakeholders, and Challenges

The plan to create a culture to encourage teachers to take on leadership roles includes

making them feel appreciated, respected, and valued as an important member of the leadership

team and the school. The stipend for taking on a leadership role is not substantial; therefore, it is

not very motivating, the staff will need to be motivated in other ways to help the school and the

students. Regarding the selection process, the first step is to identify the necessary leadership

positions, and what attributes a leader in the position should have, and then go through the list of

candidates and determine who would be a good fit. Next, the principal should seek input from
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critical stakeholders would include the other teachers, the support staff including the office staff.

These stakeholders can provide valuable insight as to the personalities, and leadership traits of

the candidates. To either establish or grain teacher support of the principal’s efforts it is

important to be transparent and discuss how their leadership could have a positive impact on

their team, the students, and the school. To change the culture from negativity the principal

should publicly celebrate the positives, celebrate the collaboration between the teacher leaders

and those they lead, and guard the new staff members and those who agree to take on leadership

roles from unnecessary and unhelpful criticism (Deal & Peterson, 2016). Finally, the offering of

the positions, and the follow through that is necessary if the teachers do not accept the position,

or if they do. In the final steps it is important to clearly discuss the roles of the teacher leaders,

how they can support the school, and how they can get help and support.

Create an Action Plan – Support and Professional Growth

To begin to establish teacher trust and support in the new leadership positions it is

important to be open, honest, and offer grace and compassion to the leaders who fill the roles. It

sounds like most of them will either not really want the role, or they could be unskilled and yet

confident in their ability to perform the necessary tasks, this creates a challenge for the principal.

Being a people person is part of the job requirements for being a school principal and having

delicate and yet important conversations with the leadership team will be necessary. It would be

vital to the ongoing success of the leadership team to determine from their perspective what

supports they need put in place. After some time of observing and working with the leadership

team the principal will be able to help suggest professional development opportunities that would

benefit an individual or the team. If it is necessary to remove a teacher from a leadership position

it is important to do it with dignity for the teacher and respect, if not done delicately these
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teachers can create a hostile environment and work against the culture the principal is trying to

create or change.
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References

Deal, T. E., & Peterson, K. D. (2016). Shaping school culture (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA:

Jossey-Bass. ISBN-13: 9781119210191 Retrieved from:

http://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/wiley-and-sons/2016/shaping-school-

culture_3e.php

Levin, B., & Schurm, L. (2017). Every Teacher a Leader: Developing the Needed Dispositions,

Knowledge, and Skills for Teacher Leadership. Corwin.

Mungal, A.S., & Sorenson, R. (2019). A Dozen Daily Do’s: Successful Principals Delegate,

Communicate, Create, and Anticipate. Principal Leadership, 19(5). 50-53.

https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

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