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Will Foster: Educational Leadership Philosophy

An educator assumes many different roles and responsibilities when he or she decides to

enter the field. While teaching the content may seem like the main duty to the outside world, in

reality, an educator serves the students to a greater degree than can be measured or expressed.

My goal as a leader in education has been and will continue to be to create a safe and positive

environment to foster learning, to show students and teachers through action and instruction how

to be self-directed in their own learning, and to create a problem-solving mindset in the people

that I interact with.

No learning can occur in an environment where a student does not feel safe. This refers to

both the physical space where learning occurs as well as the emotional state and classroom

culture brought forth by the teacher. As a leader, I seek to promote a positive learning

environment where students and staff feel respected and comfortable to share their strengths and

weaknesses in an effort to further their own understandings.

Even greater than our role as educators in teaching content knowledge is our desire to

help students be lifelong learners. I want the individuals I lead and interact with to have

confidence in their abilities to teach and lead others around them because they have practiced

those processes and skills under my guidance. The world is ever evolving and if our goal as

educators is to prepare students to be successful, then the people they interact with need the tools

to be able to teach them to adapt and learn new skills and content as it becomes relevant to them

in their lives.

We often strive to make concepts, rules, and procedures black and white, right or wrong.

As much effort as we put into this, we will always live in a world of grey. This is a good thing.

The grey area allows for creativity, compassion, and compromise. I want the people I lead to
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thrive in the grey area. I work to make sure they are problem solvers. This involves introducing

them to opportunities where they can think critically and with both short and long term goals in

mind. In these instances, individuals can form and practice their problem-solving processes so

that when they are faced with problems in their classrooms and departments they will feel well

prepared to find solutions focused on increasing student achievement and engagement,