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The Principals Role as Leader of Learning
Critical Element Paper #4

Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership
and Postsecondary Education
University of Northern Iowa
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Master of Arts in Education
by,
Neal D. Bentley
North Fayette Valley High School
West Union, Iowa
04/07/2015
Dr. Denise Schares, Advisor
Glance at a news headline on any given week, and you can usually find an example or
two of an educator behaving poorly. Perhaps it is due to education being an easy target and likely
to be picked up as news, with those few bad apples generalized as how educators act as a
whole. I am coming to realize a principal can no longer lean on the phrase Do as I say, not as I
do. Leaders in education are held to a higher societal standard than typical citizens. It is not
enough to only speak what is right; we future leaders must lead by example.
The Active, Engaged Learner
In order to be an effective leader of learning, I must first be an active participant in
professional organizations and efforts. My mentor has shown such passion through his active
engagement in School Administrators of Iowa (SAI), something I also intend to join when I
become an administrator. He keeps his thumb on the pulses of both state and national rumblings
through his constant reading and writing campaigns with politicians.
Passionate learning oftentimes rubs off on other people; as such, the leader of a school
has to show a passion for learning. It has become clear to me and my colleagues that my mentor
constantly engages in learning more about his craft and profession, which in turn has inspired me
to pursue the same end, through volunteering for additional training in new and upcoming
educational practices and models. Two trainings I have volunteered for has included work with
our Area Education Agency (AEA) in implementing both Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW)
practices and beginning the process of hosting blended/flipped classrooms. I have also
volunteered to learn through a book study (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2006), with
subsequent training for Professional Learning Communities (PLC) that was hosted this past
summer in Minneapolis. Through all of this new learning, I armed myself with more knowledge
and tools to positively influence the learners I serve. It is through that passion for learning that I
strive to not only inspire others to learn, but to identify leaders from within my learning
community.
The Ability to Empower Others

In order to be an effective leader of learning, one must recognize, support and rely on the
leadership of others. It requires trust in others strengths, abilities, and assets, with an ability to
delegate roles and responsibilities effectively. The surest pathway for a principal to accomplish
this is to fuel potential leaders journeys through learning. To achieve this, I must actively seek
out professional learning opportunities for staff members that tap directly into their interests and
passions, and bring out the best characteristics of the staff. Many times, this comes in the form of
formal professional development workshops and cohorts. It does not always have to be that
formal, however; it could also simply be accomplished through carving time away for
collaboration among equal-minded staff members. If I as the principal were to engage those staff
members during their collaborative time, offering suggestions, questions and guidance when
necessary, the learning process among leaders increases (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005). In
short, engaging stakeholders in conversational planning increases leadership opportunities for
others.
Visible Presence
An essential component for earning respect and trust within a school community is to be
visible. An idea that has been discussed repeatedly in class is the importance of being seen in the
school. If I engage in repetitive and quick walkthroughs regularly and evenly across all
classrooms, I will gain perspective and insight regarding my staff. I will also begin building the
all-important trustful relationships that so often help define the schools culture. Teachers who
experience trust in their administrator are more likely to attempt experimental teaching practices
without the fear of a failing evaluation, much as students in a safe classroom are more likely to
attempt a high-stakes activity without the fear of failure (Robbins & Alvy, 2014).
In addition to having my thumb on the pulse of the school, I must also be actively
involved in the community at large (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005). I look to both my
current superintendent and principal as role models to this endeavor. Whether or intentional or
not, they appear to have divvied up membership in all the local community service groups. I
recognize that by doing so helps the community informally learn about the schools successes.
With the hope of becoming a principal at the high school level someday, I understand the
importance of attending sporting events, concerts, and special events in order to connect with
parents and show my support for students who are actively engaged in extra curricular activities.
I believe the principal must be the schools most visible and vocal cheerleader. It is the
principals job to ensure that even the small accomplishments are celebrated (Robbins & Alvy,
2014). Many times, simply by recognizing the effort and interest taken in a small
accomplishment is enough to celebrate for our learners. Through establishing a position in both
the school and the community, the principal serves as the conduit for these large and small
accomplishment celebrations.
Good Publicity
Perhaps running against popular sentiment, there is such a thing as bad publicity, at least
when it comes to education. In other words, it is fundamentally imperative the principal spread
the good news. A leader of learners has to find ways to reach community members in a positive
way. In todays society of constant, 24-hour social networking and news feeds, I have to find
balance within my own personal life, yet also be connected to keep the school on the feed. The
principal must meet the public at their level and carry the banner of the school. This can be
accomplished through blogs, which can be posted on Facebook and Google+. Many school
districts have their own Facebook page, and websites need to be constantly updated with Twitter
feeds of news. Twitter, Facebook or other forms of social media, they have all created venues
for important movements to communicate, (DeWitt, 2013).
I have railed against social media in the past. Currently, as a teacher, I prefer to unplug
from all screen time whenever possible. However, I do believe it important for school leaders to
foster and exude a public positive message at all times and I realize this will be a shift once I
move into an administrative position. I cannot be quick to shoot down the positive usage of
social media simply due to some negativity. Or as DeWitt puts it People have been negative
long before the creation of Twitter and Facebook. The strength of social media is that it provides
individuals with a voice who never felt as though they had a voice before (DeWitt, 2013).
Social media gives our learners a chance to feel heard. As a leader of learning, I need to reassure
those learners that their voices are heard. My obligations must also be to help those learners
navigate through the often treacherous and uncharted waters of social media. I will do so through
interactions with them, meeting them in their preferred medium, always with an eye towards
model digital citizenry.
As the link between school and community, I as a leader of learning, will go on my own
personal quest to knock down the negative generalizations spreading on headline news with
positive messages of the amazing things our young people and professional educators
accomplish on a much more regular basis. Headlines of misconduct, poor test scores and
educators behaving badly may be replaced with small successes, exemplary teaching practices,
and modeling of behavior I wish to see in all my learners.
Works Cited
DeWitt, P. (2013, July 12). Why Social Media Matters. Retrieved April 7, 2015, from Education
Week:
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2013/07/why_social_media_matters.h
tml
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2006). Learning By Doing: A Handbook for
Professional Learning Communities at Work. Bloomington, IA: Solution Tree Press.
Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). School Leadership that Works: From
Research to Results. Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.
Robbins, P., & Alvy, H. B. (2014). The Principal's Companion: Strategies to Lead Schools for
Student and Teacher Success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

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The Principals Role as Leader of Learning

Critical Element Paper #4

The Ability to Empower Others

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