I recently had to read an article on the implementation of technology in the classroom by Yong Zhao (et. al.). It was a good article, and I gained some insights which I might blog about in the future, but the point of today’s blog entry is a single quote in the article from one of the participants in the study. I’m not sure it matters, but the person who said this is identified by the authors as a male teacher in a “multimedia” classroom in a high school. The teacher is also identified as a military veteran.
"In the military, the bosses said this is what we want done. You’re gonna do it. Now how you’re gonna do it, that’s up to you… you do it the way you think it needs to be done. It maybe will not be the way I chose to do it. But that’s part of being a leader is saying I’m gonna let you do the job, taking a risk. But I think that’s a big problem we have in education is leadership isn’t leadership. It’s administration. And there’s a big difference between leadership and administration. I’m tired of being administered. I’d like to be led for a change."
Just as a bonus, I’ll throw in a quote that I’ve often heard from a gentleman at my church. I don’t know if the quote is original to him, or not, but he says, “Leadership is inspiring others to want to follow.”
Now, I’m not going to sit here and badmouth my school’s leadership for two simple reasons, one is they really aren’t all that bad, and the second is I like my job. But I would like to comment on leadership in general. I for one have felt just like the man in the study when it comes to our nation's politics. I think that one of the things we’ve seen in this country in the past 6 – 9 months is a desire to be truly led. I think we saw that in the presidential election. People said "things are screwed up, and we are going to vote for the party that says, 'we will lead you through the hard work of fixing things,' instead of the party that says, 'everything is going to be fine, just trust us to take care of it.'" I think we saw something similar when Pres. Bush was elected because (in part) he challenged some of the things that had become status quo under Pres. Clinton.
"In the military, the bosses said this is what we want done. You’re gonna do it. Now how you’re gonna do it, that’s up to you… you do it the way you think it needs to be done. It maybe will not be the way I chose to do it. But that’s part of being a leader is saying I’m gonna let you do the job, taking a risk. But I think that’s a big problem we have in education is leadership isn’t leadership. It’s administration. And there’s a big difference between leadership and administration. I’m tired of being administered. I’d like to be led for a change."
Just as a bonus, I’ll throw in a quote that I’ve often heard from a gentleman at my church. I don’t know if the quote is original to him, or not, but he says, “Leadership is inspiring others to want to follow.”
Now, I’m not going to sit here and badmouth my school’s leadership for two simple reasons, one is they really aren’t all that bad, and the second is I like my job. But I would like to comment on leadership in general. I for one have felt just like the man in the study when it comes to our nation's politics. I think that one of the things we’ve seen in this country in the past 6 – 9 months is a desire to be truly led. I think we saw that in the presidential election. People said "things are screwed up, and we are going to vote for the party that says, 'we will lead you through the hard work of fixing things,' instead of the party that says, 'everything is going to be fine, just trust us to take care of it.'" I think we saw something similar when Pres. Bush was elected because (in part) he challenged some of the things that had become status quo under Pres. Clinton.
Even many who disagree with Pres. Obama have acknowledged that he is at least taking a proactive approach to a variety of issues, and on many he is straying from his base (e.g. charter schools, merit pay, etc). I am interested to see what happens as we continue to move past the “honeymoon” period and into his presidency. I hope that Washington will begin to shift towards leadership and cooperation, and away from rhetoric and obstruction.
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I too have always wondered abut leadership. It's strange that some schools can do quite well with a few weak leaders. I want to believe that Obama will be a great leader with vision.
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