A few days ago I “retweeted” an article titled When School Leaders Empower Teachers, Better Ideas Emerge and it got me thinking more about the power of dispositional leadership. Dispositional leadership, rather than positional leadership, provides the pathway for all teachers to contribute to the vision of a school. It must be supported through shared leadership by the administration and nurtured through a growth or even innovative mindset by the staff.
In my mind, one of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of teacher leadership is the misconstrued idea of leadership only being positional rather than dispositional. It is not uncommon for teachers to be hesitant or even unwilling to step forward to take the lead or contribute in an area of personal strength because they are not the department or grade level chair. This hesitation does not take place because the teacher is unable to help, but instead because the system is often designed in such a way that the department level chair is the de facto leader and any ideas coming from “other” members of the department are either unsponsored rogue ideas or are evidence of overstepping the teacher’s authority. The fact that department chairs exist is not the glitch in the system, but rather the role of department chair as the sole voice of the department. Systems which support shared leadership, such as a Professional Learning Communities (PLC), promote collaboration between teachers which lead to an elevated comfort level to share pedagogical practices, thoughts through reflections, and even counter-points to an idea. Administrators can also play an important role in breaking down barriers within the system.
Administrators that utilize a shared leadership philosophy promote a culture which leads to leadership opportunities that are more dispositional in nature. There is a biological connection to this idea that Simon Sinek eloquently points out in his book Leaders Eat Last, which is a great quick read, but if you want the shortened version you can check it out in his video Why Leaders Eat Last. In summary, Sinek points out there are four main chemicals that impact human survival as individuals and populations: endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. The first two drive more individual survival while the last two focus on our connections to a population and therefore play a role in dispositional leadership. Sinek states serotonin is “responsible for the pride we feel when those we care for achieve great things or when we make proud the people who took care of us and do right by those who lead us.” Oxytocin helps us form bonds of love and trust which lead to “relationships so strong we can make decisions with complete confidence that those who care about us will stand by our side.” He also mentions the negative impact the chemical cortisol (the “stress chemical”) has on our brain. In the book he points out that “we cannot motivate peers, per se. Our motivation is determined by the chemical incentives inside every one of us.” Administrators, as positional leaders, must therefore create environments in which the right chemicals are released for the right reasons. These positional leaders should seek out teacher input based on the teacher’s strengths and therefor model how to nurture a collaborative culture. A system which promotes such a culture will allow more avenues for teachers leadership based on the skills and knowledge rather than by assignment. Examples of nurturing such a culture include having teachers: share best practices at a faculty meeting, facilitate professional development opportunities, or even participate in a committee to study the impact of homework or grades on student learning. These administrators create opportunities and take advantage of teachers’ strengths to contribute to the system. Once the teachers understand the administrator’s philosophy of leadership they will be more open to becoming more of a leader in the building. However, there also needs to be a mindset in place for the teachers to consistently be able to keep their eye out for those opportunities.
Systems which encourage reflection, continuous improvement, and shared leadership as a way of doing business is one of the best ways to nurture a culture of dispositional leadership. The counter to this is “if good people are asked to work in a bad culture, one in which leaders do not relinquish control, then the odds of something bad happening go up” (Sinek, 2014, p. 75). The idea of continuous improvement or growth mindset emphasizes that none of us are a finished product and all have the ability to learn. If that is the case, then all members of the school community will be more open and willing to share and accept information from others because all should be learners. This mindset flows up and down the chain of command and blurs the lines of positional leadership, to one more of dispositional leadership, where all members of the school community are willing and able to positively contribute to the school culture.
Update!
No sooner did I post this then I thought of a great piece of evidence for the power of dispositional leadership that just took place last night (2/10/17). Two former Aurora High students, Yohann Samarasinghe @Variable_Y and Pavel Galchenko @Airpavelg won the Midwest Cleantech UP 2017 Award on an idea that got its genesis in the AHS Independent Learning Experience (class) at Aurora High School..
The Independent Learning Experience is an opportunity that was generated by teachers through the power of dispositional leadership. We wanted to give our students the opportunity to pursue a passion or deeply explore a curiosity and the best support we could think to give the students was the gift of time. Instead of going to study hall, students meet in our MAC Lab and instead of having an established curriculum, students dictate what they are going to learn, the conditions they are going to learn under, and how they will demonstrate what they learn. Our goal is to provide an experience that allows students to define and pursue learning according to their own interests and passion. When a student pursues a passion and truly dives into his own learning we say the student has taken a “plunge”. The independent learning experience is not for all students. The outliers in a school could relate to this experience just as much as the traditional self-motivated learners. This experience is not for the student who needs to know “What they need to study for the test”, “If this homework counts”, and “How many points is this worth?” However, this experience could be for those students who ask questions, seem curious, have self-direction, are frustrated with the limitations of traditional school, or are interested in learning about a topic that is not in a traditional high school curriculum. During the week students will pursue independent topics, but sharing (communication) and collaboration are key to success of this group. As students get “stuck” or reach a plateau in learning they can bounce ideas off of each other. The group typically comes together at a “Board Meeting” once a week to discuss their projects, give updates, ask for help, question and even challenge each other. However, a Board Meeting can also be called at any point if a student needs to share an idea or is stuck in their plunge. Board Meetings are one way students are held accountable for their own learning, however, a Mentorship Team consisting of teaching staff that are dedicated to the development of personal learning skills and processes in those students that participate will also help. The Mentorship Team, composed of teachers/adult learners, model techniques, skills, and habits of thought that facilitate the design and execution of self-defined pathways of learning. This Mentorship Team ensures a quality standard to the experience, challenging students to hone their learning goals and pursue their interests in meaningful ways.
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