InTASC Standard 10: Leadership and Collaboration
“The teacher seeks appropriate leadership roles and opportunities to take responsibility for student learning, to collaborate with learners, families, colleagues, other school professionals, and community members to ensure learner growth, and to advance the profession.”
“It takes a village to raise a child”. As this well-known African proverb suggests, no one person is responsible for helping a child reach their fullest potential. The various constituents in a student’s life, such as the student’s teachers, parents, and community members, should collaborate with one another in order to facilitate the best learning experience possible. It is up to the teacher to take the leadership role in this endeavor. I commit to coordinating opportunities for stakeholders to communicate and work together towards our common goal. When teachers advocate for their students, the students will inevitably have a better experience and can better model advocacy in their own lives.
Three ways that I can demonstrate my understanding of this standard is my commitment to continuous education, my willingness to collaborate with colleagues, and the importance of partnering with parents and guardians.
Continuous Education: My educational journey will not end once I earn my diploma from Hollins University. I will continuously educate myself on ways that I can improve as a teacher. Two ways that I can continue to improve myself are to reflect in a journal throughout the year and to stay connected to the education community at large by reading educational journals and publications.
First, I plan on journaling throughout my first couple years as a teacher in order to reflect on what is working well and what needs improvement.
Additionally, I believe that teachers should seek out recommendations from experts in the field of education, especially those who use data-driven research in order to inform their theories on how we can improve our methods. I am including a video profile I prepared of American education expert Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond to illustrate the importance of following recommendations of leaders in our field. I admire Dr. Darling-Hammond due to her breadth of experience and knowledge. I have taken to heart a statement she shared with members of the Washington State Board of Education in October 2020: “There’s a lot of teacher training needed to get to a place where people have had both the opportunity to reflect on their own frameworks, to develop empathy and to reflect on implicit bias…where part of what you’re learning to do is make sure you’re identifying how you can connect with each student—how you can build a positive relationship with the student, how you can make sure every student feels safe and has a sense of belonging in the classroom.”
Journaling and Reflection
Jamie and Mary Jean
Collaboration: Teachers should work together to benefit their students. Building relationships with colleagues in your school is imperative, especially when you work with your students’ co-teachers. For example, I learned that students’ ELL and special education teachers have many helpful suggestions on ways that teachers can meet students’ individual needs. By communicating and collaborating with colleagues, the school community can work together to help students with modifications, accommodations, additional assistance, or remediation. Two of the teachers I shadowed, one ELL teacher and one special education teacher, told me that they appreciated when teachers shared their materials with them, in advance, and asked for their feedback.
In addition, teachers can share ideas and receive suggestions from colleagues outside their school system. I have begun following experienced teachers on social media in order to get ideas on lessons that incorporate 21st Century Skills. My internship mentor, Elizabeth, shares her ideas on Instagram, as seen below. Thanks to the power of technology, educators can collaborate virtually!
Instagram Ideas
Letter to Parents and Guardians
Parents and Guardians: No one knows a student better than the student’s own family. That’s why it is so important for teachers to partner with parents and guardians to support their students. I’ve learned that opening a line of communication with families at the beginning of the year is a wonderful way to help our students succeed. My mentors send a letter and syllabus home on the first day of the school year to introduce themselves to the families. Additionally, my mentors regularly call and email students’ families to let them know how their children are doing. Both mentors also asked for parents’ written permission to read or watch material that may be considered mature for certain audiences. The parents and guardians expressed their appreciation that they had a say in certain decisions, and I noticed were more supportive of the teachers when they were kept in the loop. I will make sure to follow my mentors’ lead when I have my own students.
As you can see in the photo above, I sent a letter home to each student’s family letting them know of my presence in their child’s classroom this spring semester. One parent wrote back welcoming me to Northside Middle School, which made me feel incredibly welcome. We’re all partnering for the same goal: helping young people be happy, successful, and self-sufficient.