If you think about it, teachers of children birth through 12th grade are leaders, whether they recognize it or not, because they lead children and young adults to reach their potential everyday. Unfortunately teachers often do not identify themselves as leaders. Instead many perceive themselves as part of a system where they are targets of increasing scrutiny, standards, demands, and mistrust. These perceptions often manifest themselves into frustration and low moral. Experts suggest that through increased teacher-leadership this dynamic can be changed.
There are many ways for teachers to lead that are both formal and informal. Some of the obvious and formal ways to lead are sitting on a school curriculum committee, participating in a teacher mentoring program, or advocating for local and state education policies that support children, families and teachers. Identifying and accessing formal teacher-leadership roles can be straightforward once a teacher commits to the time and attention.
Informal teacher-leadership is more organic and driven when teachers want to use their unique strengths and skills to solve problems or enhance learning. Informal teacher-leadership projects can be classroom focused or school focused. They can be as simple as sharing a new teaching practice with colleagues or more extensive such as leading a professional learning community focused on a cutting edge teaching practice. And although any informal teacher leadership project must be planned and implemented within the policies of the school, it should involve some outside the box thinking.
There is no doubt informal teacher-leadership can feel tricky and elusive. It takes identifying a barrier that if removed would impact the learning environment in an individual classroom, a grade level or an entire school. It includes stepping outside of the prescriptive and imagining how things could be more innovative and creative while meeting the same or better outcomes for children. It requires increased work and risk-taking because the informal teacher-leader must define their vision for change and advocate for it within existing systems, which include obstacles like set policies, standards, and outcomes. It takes working within an environment that may contain apprehensive administrators or colleagues.
Although taking the risk and diving into projects that require informal teacher-leadership may seem daunting, the outcomes can far outweigh the challenges. The innovative projects, developed by informal teacher-leaders, allow teachers to use their strengths to create a process relevant to their professional values to facilitate change. Studies show teachers who choose to be teacher-leaders in a creative and informal way are more positively engaged and passionate in the classroom. Sharing the successful outcomes of innovative teacher-leadership projects can also have a positive effect on the school community leading to changes in cultural and moral.
This winter I had the privilege of visiting a kindergarten classroom in my local school district, where the teacher, Ann, had recognized a need, taken a risk, and worked with her principal to implemented a program called Forest Fridays. This program was beyond the scope of what was expected of kindergarten teachers in her district, but it was driven by Ann’s passion and the recognition children in her class needed something more. Many weeks after I was there to observe I began to reflect on Forest Fridays as an example of informal teacher-leadership. I wanted to share some of Ann’s experience and wisdom to help other teachers move beyond the prescriptive to a place of joy and shared leadership within their school culture.
The following is an interview I did with Ann and her principal Kathy. It highlights their commitment to innovation, shared leadership, trust, and the opportunity to provide a great learning environment for the children in their school.
Betsy: Ann, tell me a bit about the development of your Forest Fridays project… from brainchild to implementation?
Ann: My teaching background includes quite a few years of environmental education (In addition to my 32 years of public education). I was involved with camps for learning disabled and emotionally disturbed children for years. I also spent some years teaching at various sites around New England- including a stint on Pete Seger’s boat on the Hudson! My graduate school, Antioch New England developed Forest Fridays and is currently implementing the program in most K classrooms within the state of Vermont. http://forestkinder.org/
During my 14 years as a kindergarten teacher in this district, I have been trying to use our sense of place in my teaching. When I began to see how much school was changing for 5-6 year olds, I began to go outside as much as I could to incorporate the standards with our local environment. Early on I began a partnership with Grand Teton National Park and with the naturalists there. I helped develop a yearly program that coincided with our science standards that included three visits with a ranger. We noted how animals/plants change with the seasons. Then specifically how animals change what they wear, what they eat and how they move through these seasons.
The last three years I have implemented a Forest Friday program in my classroom.
Betsy: How did you present and advocate for your idea of Forest Fridays to the administrative leadership of your school?
Ann: I presented Forest Fridays to Kathy my principal. She was excited when I explained my ideas. She trusted me and I ran with it! It is a very mini version compared to the programs in Vermont – we are able go out for 1.5-2 hours each Friday afternoon, in Vermont they are outside all day.
Betsy: As schools across the country are focused on standards and assessment where does Forest Fridays fit in?
Ann: Forest Fridays meet all standards. It is so easy to use your school site to explore, use math skills, science, read, write, and most importantly work as a group to solve problems and have fun together as a community.
Kathy: Having a standards-based curriculum can actually give a teacher more freedom to implement things like Forest Fridays. When planned intentionally and carefully, the teacher can ensure that kids get many exposures to the skills they need to master in a highly engaging and organic way.
Betsy: Kathy – The implementation of Forest Fridays is an example of shared leadership, with Ann as a teacher-leader designing and advocating for her project, and you, as her administrator, supporting her innovation. What could you share about this experience that might help other administrators support their teachers so they can be more innovative and individualized in their practice?
Kathy: First, I have a great deal of faith in Ann. After having been in her classroom many times over the last few years, I know her to be a teacher who understands her students and their needs. There is no wasted time in her classroom. Her data collection is always spot on. She has a great understanding of where kids are as they move toward mastery of kindergarten standards. When Ann came to me about wanting to do Forest Fridays, I asked her to map out how she would purposefully meet the standards with the activities she was proposing and in addition, how could we prove that students were moving toward mastery of kindergarten goals. Based on the fact that Ann is a master Kindergarten teacher and the idea that Forest Friday would purposefully move our kids in the right direction, I was 100% confident that Ann was following her passion with the kids, and that they would meet kindergarten standards with flying colors.
Betsy: Ann what have been the rewards of Forest Friday for both you personally and the children you teach?
Ann: This year I have had a very talented academic class. Where they needed their work is in the social realm. Forest Fridays helped us by making up new group games based on a book we were reading My Father’s Dragon. Each week we change the game to fit the book. This takes some compromise, but in the end they have so much fun acting out the book.
I think the sounds that I hear during this type of work are so rewarding- squeals of laughter, yelling, voices like characters with direct quotes from the book etc.
We also spend lots of time in the school garden working- this is also good for young minds and bodies. In the winter we roam around and compare the seasons and changes that we see. One of my favorite things has been the freedom of the program for the children to pick what they are interested in – they have spent hours with boards/balls and making things move. It is fun to watch what they create on their own- then we talk about motion/catapults, etc.
Betsy: Something I noticed and was impressed with when I was there for Forest Friday was the journal entries the children made when they came inside. The children were so engaged and intentional in what they were recording.
Betsy: What have been some challenges you faced?
Ann: I need another adult to always be with me and our schedule has to be open enough for time to explore.
Betsy: Kathy, as an administrator, what do you see as the risk to supporting this kind of project?
Kathy: The risk of approving this kind of project is that the adults could lose sight of the ultimate goal, which is that our kids move forward on the learning continuum we have established as a district. If Forest Friday was simply a fun time outdoors, then the adults would not be doing their job. Ann deeply understands what the progression of student learning is, and uses Forest Friday as a springboard to meet each student where they are and help them increase their knowledge and skills at an appropriate pace.
Betsy: What has been the outcome of Forest Fridays from your perspective?
Kathy: From my perspective as a principal, I see Forest Fridays as an exemplar for using student engagement to increase student achievement, interest and the so-called “soft skills” that we know are important. When the kids are outside on Friday, they are completely absorbed in their work. They make observations, hypothesis and draw conclusions. When they return to the classroom, they write about what they saw and learned, so the writing is about something they have a deep connection to. When they read, Ann is always asking them to make connections to their experiences on Forest Fridays, something that good readers do. I see a group of happy kids who are ready for challenges that go beyond worksheets. With careful planning and purposeful attention to standards, I believe you get the best of both worlds. You get education that is relevant and meaningful and education that intentionally moves kids learning forward.
Betsy: What are other ways both formal and informal that you use to support leadership amongst the teachers and staff in your building?
Kathy: I personally believe that teachers are the basic unit of a school and that it is my job to get out of their way when they want to try something new. I serve as the sounding board and help them keep standards at the forefront of their thinking. My relationship with them is a little bit supervisor, and a whole lot coach and listener. I try to help all teachers keep their focus on student engagement, social and emotional skills and student achievement.
Betsy: Ann, the implementation of Forest Fridays is an example of your personal leadership as a teacher and shared leadership with your administration as you advocated for and developed the new program. What could you share about this experience that might help other teachers move their innovated teaching ideas forward in their schools?
Ann: Look at your standards and think about other ways of facilitating learning that are out of the box. How can you meet these standards in another way? This may also help you meet the variety of learning styles within your classroom.
Betsy: How do you plan to use this experience to support other teachers?
Ann: I am retiring after this year, but I hope to continue this work through Teton National Park on a volunteer basis. I hope to help elementary teachers get out and use their environment to meet their grade level standards- in all areas of the curriculum.
After reading this blog post Gillian the superintendent of TCSD made these comments:
“This is lovely! I loved the idea because it raised the expectation for kids and they started seeing themselves, at 5-6 years old, as researchers with valid observations that contribute to a larger viewpoint. Ann also is masterful at allowing individual reflection as well as group collaboration, honoring the introverts and extroverts. Forest Fridays was a hit and the power of teacher leadership changes the dynamic.”