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Three
Questions to
Make You a
Better
Teacher and Leader
by Jack H.
Shrawder, Executive Director,
Teaching For
Success, Faculty Success Center
From the
TFS Adjunct e-Mentor Program:
Clarity, Confidence, and Capability
When the best leader's work is done the people say,
'We did it ourselves!
~Lao-Tsu
"Leaders
do not need to know all the answers.They do need to ask the right
questions," writes Ronald A. Heifetz and Donald L. Laurie, "The
Work of Leadership," Harvard Business Review, January-February 1997.
Leadership,
and especially adaptive leadership, defines a critical success factor of
teaching improvement, but it can be an elusive concept that is sometimes
difficult to translate into practical action in the classroom or online.
Often leadership actions can be determined by posing the "right"
questions. Here are some crucial questions that may help you discover how
to increase your leadership effectiveness this term:
- What have I been hired to accomplish?
- What results fall under my responsibilities?
- What can I, and only I, bring to my teaching that
will make a significant, positive difference to my students? What
benefits will arise from focusing on such questions?
As you
answer these, you will likely discover specific leadership actions that you
can take to cope with the rapid changes impacting your classroom this
academic year.
Leadership
is the most important and sometimes the most difficult to understand. One
of the keys to developing adaptive leadership skills, according to Heifetz
and Laurie, is the ability to regularly take a step back from the action
and observe. They note that the best athletes are the ones who can play
their positions superbly and, at the same time, take in the direction and
flow of the game with almost the clarity of a coach's sideline view.
In
the same way, as an an instructor you must take in the field of action in
your classroom or online course and use the up-to-the-minute observational
data to help you make innovative leadership decisions. This term, think
about how you could become an adaptive educational leader for your
students--that's teaching for success.
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Recommended Ideas
for More Teaching Improvement
Quick Courses Index
Teach
like a pro in only a short time. Try the selection of TFS Quick Courses
designed help you quickly learn the basics especially when you are just
starting to teach.
Some
"Recommended Ideas" are restricted to
access by faculty at colleges with a TFS Institutional Subscription. If
your institution is not yet a TFS subscriber institution, why not request
your administrator subscribe. Just forward this TFS Institutional Order
Form to her or him. Then you'll soon have access to the entire
e-library of teaching improvement and success ideas 24-7.
Would
You Help? Be recognized and help improve teaching by
sharing your favorite teaching tip. For immediate consideration, email your
Tip of 200 words or less to Jack Shrawder, t4s@thegrid.net.
for immediate consideration.
Please share the TFS Success Tips Sign
Up Link with Your Colleagues. http://www.teachingforsuccess.com/
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