Merylann “Mimi” Schuttloffel, Ph.D. The Catholic University of America

1. Leadership, Direction, Change: Supervision that Creates a Catholic School Culture of Continuous Improvement Merylann “Mimi” Schuttloffel, Ph.D. The Catholic University of America Minneapolis Convention Center Minneapolis, MN April 7, 2010 MJS Education Services

2. 5 Cs for Catholic School LeadershipChallenger and Change Agent • Communication • Credibility • Curriculum • Community Building • Contemplative practice

3. Components of Catholic Leadership Curriculum Communication Contemplative Practice Credibility Community

4. Why School Reform Fails? • Teachers never really understood the change • Teachers did not know how to use the pedagogy/innovation • Materials needed for implementation were not available • Culture and institutional organization of the school were not consistent with the change • Teachers became discouraged and lost their motivation (F.Fowler on Policy Implementation Gross et al, 1971, Implementing organizational innovations)

5. Supervision • A vehicle for change • Helps individuals to confront mental models • Helps individuals to create new mental models • How? Data collection that leads to decisions about what good teaching means within your school.

6. Neighbor to Neighbor • Describe how supervision of teachers takes place at your school. • Name one positive feature. • Name one weakness.

7. SuperVision • Program Evaluation • Evaluating the program • Evaluating the process • Evaluating the product • Classroom Evaluations • Evaluating the instructional decisions • Evaluating the implementation • Evaluating the assessments

8. What is the relationship between program evaluation and teacher evaluation? • A Program might be described as what the teacher is doing. It is an instructional tool. Program evaluation focuses on the content, the implementation process, and the results. • Teaching is the decision making that chooses instructional strategies and methods. Teacher evaluation focuses on the teacher’s decision making and the results that follow from that decision.

9. Classroom Walk-Thru • Supervision tool • Skills • Describing what has been observed • Interpreting what has been observed • Making decisions about what to do next

10. Communication and culture of improvement • What do we plan for? • What do we monitor? • What questions do we ask? • What do we model? • How do we allocate our time? • What do we celebrate? • What are we willing to confront? • Contemplative practice: What is distinctively Catholic about what /how we communicate?

11. Leader Behaviors • Task-related behaviors • Telling • Selling • Participating • Delegating • Relational-related behaviors • Listening • Encouraging • Sharing • Supporting

13. Types of Teachers (or principals)

14. Emphasis on Teacher T s t S Emphasis on Supervisor

15. SELF-ACTUALIZATION • Working at top potential • Giving all • Peak satisfaction • Achievement • Personal & professional • success • AUTONOMY • Control • Influence • Participant • Shareholder • Authority • SELF-ESTEEM • Self-respect • Respected by others as • a person & professional • Competence • Confidence • Recognition • AFFILIATION • Acceptance • Belonging • Friendship • School membership • Formal work group • Informal work group • SECURITY • Money • Benefits • Tenure • Role Consolidation Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation, 1954

16. Neighbor to Neighbor • Give an example when you had the teacher control the supervision process. • Give an example when you, the Supervisor, controlled the supervision process.

18. Credibility • Communicates vision: Always forward thinking • Provides opportunity for growth • Congruent: Did what they said they would do • High expectations plus support • Acknowledge others’ gifts • Directive when necessary • Unassuming: Genuine in encounters • Works from spiritual framework • Secure: Balanced risk-taking • Problem solvers • Strong convictions and level headed • Non-judgmental: Understands other’s position • Sense of humor

19. Developing Credibility through Collaboration • Time for collaboration has to be built into the day and year. • The purpose for collaboration must be explicit. • Training to be effective collaborators. • Educators must accept their responsibility to work together as true professional colleagues.

20. Neighbor to Neighbor: Credibility • Think of someone you consider a credible leader • What is the personal quality did this person exhibits(ed) that you could acquire to assist you in shaping the culture of your school?

21. Conditions for the Acceptance of Change • Encouraging Participation • Providing on-going professional development • Encouraging failure • Story sharing

22. Managing the Grieving Process • Denial and isolation • Anger • Bargaining • Depression • Acceptance

23. Denial • The principle of concreteness • Presentation of accurate data

24. Anger • Anger as a coping mechanism • Provide a venue to vent anger

25. Bargaining • Self-interest-driven negotiation • Explicit value and vision boundaries

26. Depression • Depression is a reaction to loss • Anxiety is a reaction to threat

27. Acceptance • Passive acceptance of one’s fate • Proactive integration of acceptance by redesigning one’s destiny

28. Neighbor to Neighbor • Describe an occasion of resistance to change that represents one of the stages of grief. • Considering this person’s action within the stages of grief, how might you have handled the situation differently.

29. Building a Learning CommunityLeader’s Responsibilities • Attend to Mission, vision, values and goals • Communicate their importance every day • Create collaborative structures that focus on teaching and learning. • Shape school culture for learning community • Foster focus on learning rather than teaching • Encourage teachers to think as leaders • Practice enlightened leadership strategies • Establish credibility. • Be fixated on results • Recognize that continuous improvement requires continuous learning.

30. Neighbor to Neighbor: Community Building • How does community building intersect with our efforts to build a culture of continuous improvement and life long learners? • Share 1 example from your school or diocese.

31. Reflection in Action • How are you going to use supervision to make change at your school? • What will be your first steps as principal? • How are you going to monitor your progress? • What leadership knowledge and skills do you need to strengthen? • What supportive conditions do you need to create?

32. Contemplative Practice • The key concept within contemplative practice is that a leader must demonstrate coherence in thinking by making decisions based in their critical beliefs. Within the Catholic leadership context that means beliefs shaped by the Gospel and Church teaching.

33. Contemplation to Action • Create some personal goals that address the following items: • Assessing my supervision practice in my school in relation to Catholic identity • Assessing my willingness to change my behavior to more explicitly put the Gospel into action through leadership decision making • Integrating Gospel Values into the larger vision and mission of my Catholic school (Why is this important? What message does it send? How am I/we going to undertake the process?)

34. Contact Information: Merylann “Mimi” Schuttloffel, Ph.D. schuttloffel@cua.edu or Department of Education The Catholic University of America Washington, DC 20064