Building Self-Efficacy
Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.
- Vince Lombardi
My self-efficacy beliefs intrinsically determines how I think, feel, behave, and motivate myself. Self-efficacy influences the events that affect my life in the long run. As a result, it is my strong sense of self-efficacy that enhances my accomplishments. I have high expectations for myself, I set goals for myself both personally and professionally and in order to achieve those goals, I make a strong commitment to myself to enhance my knowledge and learning about the world around me.
Leaders should not only lead others, but I believe that effective leaders are continually looking to grow professionally. They are ambitious to continue their education and build their knowledge base through research and current theories and practices. The administrator continually should model what the rest of the learning community should be doing as well. Having high expectations for staff and self contributes to the development of the much needed self-efficacy in schools. By having high expectations for myself and others, this fosters a great sense of efficacy, motivation, and capacity within a school. As a result of this belief, I place utmost importance on independent learning.
As a self-motivated learner, I believe that my craft and skill must be continually developed and is not confined to the walls of the classroom experience. As a result, I have engaged in many tasks that contribute to ongoing independent learning. For example, aside from required coursework texts, I have broadened my knowledge and skill base by reading additional texts, such as The Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership and Educational Leadership: A Problem-Based Approach by William Cunningham and Patrica A. Cordiero.
The Jossey-Bass Rader on Educational Leadership was an excellent learning experience for me. The book provided me with additional insight into the main principles of leadership and how ethics, morality, culture and change, and diversity play an important role in leadership. One area of the book that spoke to me most was the last section, The Future of Leadership. Four chapters were devoted to examining how to build capacity within schools, specifically focusing on how to foster teacher leadership and how to prepare prospective principals for leadership. As a teacher myself, I see the value in school leaders building teacher leadership within schools. After reading the book and as a future leader, I will look to provide teachers with on-the-job training and learning, build skill and confidence in others, build colleagiality, and use the teacher-leader as a professional model in my school building.
Educational Leadership: A Problem-Based Approach, is a text that reflects current thinking and changes in the field of administration and educational leadership. This text provided me with opportunities to further my knowldege and understanding in the field of adminstration through case studies and realistic problems in the practice. I was particularly interested in Chapter Five: School District Organizational Leadership and Structure. In this section, I learned more about the theory of a school board and its effects on districts and the responsibilities the school board has in supporting teachers and students alike. Since my interest lies in school district leadership, I expanded my knowledge on the functions and operations of central office and how districts must learn to meet the needs of twenty-first century students. This chapter motivated me to attend multiple school board meetings and to work with research and testing staff to plan testing activities within the district. Furthermore, this chapter also led me to become a member of the district-wide social studies planning and curiculum review team.
Though I have read many articles, materials, and texts, I feel that some of the most useful independent learning experiences have come from my internship experiences at Rosemarie Ann Siragusa International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme School. I have independentlty taken on leadership roles in different capacities within the school and central office. To name a few, I created and implemented an e-Portfolio system and committee, participated as a Table Leader for district-wide preparation and scoring of the NYS Assessments, and have participated in many professional developments to not only expand my own knowledge, but to expand the knowledge in others. These opportunities have impacted my independent learning development greatly.