Debra Breister



|EDU701-Educational Leadership |

|Final Leadership Reflection |

|and Portfolio Sample |

|Debra Breister |

|8/11/2009 |

| |

My mission as an educational leader is to possess the qualities of integrity, fairness, enthusiasm, and subject matter knowledge. As a leader I will promote professionalism, trust, accountability, and confidence in my students as well as staff by striving to meet or exceed the expectations set forth by administration. In addition, as an educational leader I will have an open-door policy in which staff and students can approach me without intimidation. I will motivate students and staff by living the example. My mission as a leader is to remain active and “hands-on” and not become a leader who forgets what it is like in the classroom. I will support my staff in their endeavors to be a leader in their classrooms.

Leadership at its most basic level is the art of getting others to act. One of the best ways to do this is to give people a chance to be more responsible in their work. There are many traits that good leaders have in common. Good leaders build trust on goodwill rather than authority. They know the power of a good example; they are aware that this is one of their best tools. They know that others see them as they go about their work each day and that what they do will affect others far more than what they will say. Good leaders have insight into the needs and talents of others. They note the many good things people do and give credit when it is due.

I have worked for the Department of Corrections since September 1994. I began my career in what was known as the “Division of Youth Services” as a Program Assistant for the SPRITE Program. I later transferred to Kettle Moraine Correctional Institution to work for the Security Director as a Security Secretary. The skills I learned in these two positions were invaluable. I have always believed that hard work and dedication are important, but I also learned that support from your supervisors was important. Every day was a new challenge with my job and I welcomed that challenge. Just over nine years ago I promoted to a Teacher position at Taycheedah Correctional Institution. I have found that I lead my students every day by teaching them the skills that they need when they are released from prison.

One of my greatest strengths as a teacher leader is my integrity and caring attitude toward my students and others. I am always trying to improve school culture and instructional programs so that every student can meet their potential as a student and as a human, Pasi (2001) as cited by Balch, et.al. (2006). In addition to curriculum, I work very hard to motivate my students through motivational stories that I read and posters that I hang on my classroom walls. I know that my students appreciate our “Friday stories,” and daily quotes because they ask for them if I forget or something else comes up and I don’t get to it right away. My school also began an institution-wide event last year to coincide with the summer Olympics. It went over so well, we’ve decided to make it an annual event called the “Academic Olympics.” The Academic Olympics is open to students and general population inmates and covers the five academic areas and the three vocational areas, as well as general trivia topics such as Harry Potter and Twilight book trivia, word searches, Sudoku and Ken-Ken puzzles, etc. These are planned throughout the Academic Olympic week as fun learning opportunities to show students what they’ve learned while in school and boost their confidence and hopefully want to remain in school. (As a correctional education program with an adult population, school is voluntary and anyone may sign out at any time.) At the end of the Academic Olympic week we hold a certificate ceremony where the top 3 winners for every “contest” are honored – as they do the bronze/silver/gold ceremonies for the Olympics. Artifacts that I could include in my professional portfolio are the posters and certificates that I create for these Olympics as well as the spelling bee and computer trivia that I am responsible for. In addition, I could include the program from the award ceremony.

The education department at Taycheedah Correctional Institution met with our Warden several years ago to have a Best Practices session to collaboratively build a Mission and Vision statement for education. This was done to help bring us together as a team because there were several separate “groups” within our department. We brainstormed and together came up with a great mission statement; however, we are still not a team. An area that I need to develop as a leader is developing more positive interactions with the staff in my department. As a peer, I have faced difficulties with the staff due to my background, and how I became a teacher. There are some teachers who do not consider me an equal after teaching for nine years because I was a secretary first and did not earn a traditional education degree. Respect, support and teamwork are areas that need to be developed to be an effective leader. Artifacts that I could include in my professional portfolio from this experience are the notes from our brainstorming session, a video of the brainstorming session (if there was one…) and/or a copy of the finalized mission statement.

One of my proudest accomplishments as a leader was when one of my students was chosen as valedictorian at our graduation ceremony and she thanked me for helping to turn her life around. This same student was released to home and obtained a job and married her high school boyfriend. This was in 2002 and she is still working for the same company and now has two children. She has sent me letters keeping me updated on how she is doing, and has even called me with questions that she “just knew” I could answer. It is my goal as a teacher leader in the classroom to see my students reach their fullest potential and do more than they ever thought possible. I have said many times throughout these courses that I love my job. It is this love of what I do that helps me to do it again every day. Working in a correctional institution can be stressful, yet after I go through my daily mental preparations, I don’t give it any more conscious thought. Another proud accomplishment was when I was asked by several education directors to join their committee to help review a new database tracking system for the Department of Corrections. I became a “Super User” and trainer for this database, and am a resource for staff throughout the department.

These accomplishments have helped me to realize all that I have learned about myself and what I have left to learn about being an educational leader. One of the most important things I’ve learned about myself through this course is my leadership styles and how I can use my leadership styles to assist me in becoming a more effective leader. I ranked highest as a Dynamic Assertive and Dynamic Supportive leader. After reading more about these styles and paying attention to how I deal with situations at work, I realized that these styles do fit me. Glanz (2002) states, “If you demonstrate caring, that communicates to others that they are important, worthwhile and esteemed individuals.” (p.109) This statement embodies my philosophy of teaching and leading.

I began this program at UNE this past fall after completing my BS in Career, Technical Education & Training at UW-Stout. It took me 17 years after receiving my AAS-Criminal Justice to finally get back to school to complete my bachelor’s degree. Once I completed my BS, I knew I had to continue towards completing my MSEd right away. In fact, it was my supervisor who gave me the push I needed to go back to school. It was his belief in me and my ability to promote to an Education Director position that made me go back to school. This leads me to my short term plans as a leader. I plan on graduating May 2010 and pursuing a position as an Education Director in the Department of Corrections as soon as the opportunity presents itself. As my supervisor has reminded me, there will be several current education directors retiring in the next 1-3 years. This will be my opportunity to attain this goal. My long term plans are to improve staff relations across departments in the institution after becoming an education director.

I’ve seen in several correctional institutions security staff and non-security staff not working together. It is this separation between departments that can lead to bigger problems in the institution. The culture of the institution must be balanced to maintain a safe and secure environment for proper learning to occur in the school. I hope to help improve on this culture when I am education director. I hope to learn better ways of working with peers who are not team players and would like to discover ways to motivate and re-energize my co-workers and my supervisor. Most importantly, I want to become a supervisor who is respected by staff. We have all had supervisors, guidance counselors, teachers who we revere, and those who we cringe to remember. I hope to be one that staff and students want to remember.

References

Balch, B.V., Frampton, P.M., & Hirth, M.A. ( 2006). Preparing a Professional Portfolio: A School Administrator's Guide. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Glanz, J. (2002) Finding your leadership style- A guide for educators. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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