UNIT 3 - QUALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF LEADERSHIP PREPARATION

"TEACHERS AS LEADERS IN FINLAND" - THE 4Cs STRATEGY

CONNECTIONS	CHALLENGES
From the very first day of my university training in education, I have been hearing that Finish education is one of the leading systems in the world. Before reading this article, I had watched some videos of how classes are organised and how students are given freedom to be creative and imaginative. Nevertheless, I hadn’t thought about the role of teachers as leaders in that country. After my internship in a PYP school in Madrid last month, I have realised that the role of the teacher is similar to what the author of this article is explaining, and it would be called pedagogical leadership. If I had to summarize leadership in this country after reading the text and connecting it to my IB readings I would say that it is a democratic, distributed and collaborative leadership that gives freedom to teachers and lets them be creative, work together and share interests for the well-being of students and with a common goal: meaningful learning. In the assessment subject we’ve spoken a lot about the problem of external exams, inspections and competition. These are commonly key aspects in educational systems (summative assessments in fact) and formative processes should be embraced in order to change education.	It is explained that teacher collaboration is possible because they have a lighter teacher load than in other countries. We have been discussing this in class, the problem of time in leadership teams. Maybe the solution would be this, to leave some time off the schedule for teachers to meet and work together, because this is a very important part of their job and it should be included in their working hours. I have also realised that the most important think is not to be classified as a “leader” but to feel as members of professional learning communities. The name becomes less important when the practice is well stablished. While the teaching career in Spain has become one of the most accessible ones (nearly everyone is accepted, even without motivation to do it), in Finland only the best and the brightest have this career because it is one of the most important ones. The difference is clear in the access and in the results. I really liked the two conditions presented by the author to improve schools and I find them easily achievable in other countries: teachers and students empowered to do their best and an advanced academic education for teachers. Why not try this?
CONCEPTS	CHANGES
The author of this article emphasises the status of teachers by highlighting the need of well-educated teachers. The importance given to this professionals makes everyone aware of the role they have in society to educate future citizens. Other key aspects are collaboration/teamwork (which is linked to distributed and shared leadership), autonomy (which gives confidence to teachers) and responsibility (it has to be shared with all the stakeholders). Dialogue and discussion in teams are key to success of teachers as leaders. The teaching and learning atmosphere is relaxed and relationships among teachers and between teachers and students are rather informal. They love what they do and they are free to express themselves. Leadership is closely tied to teaching (pedagogical leadership). What distinguishes this system from the rest is that the graduate degree is more rigorous, based on research, has the same status as other departments in universities and that students spend a lot of time observing and practicing in institutions.	By reading this article, I reflected a lot about the perception that teachers have of themselves. It is really interesting to see how motivation increases when they feel they have the freedom to make decisions and contribute with their experience to teams (to the community). I have always thought that the teacher training in many countries should change and be reinforced as we are educating the teachers that will educate our future generations, and it is one of the hardest and most important jobs in society. The status of teachers in many countries is the opposite as in Finland, they are not always respected as professionals. Moreover, leaving aside competition and giving more freedom both to teachers and students to do their best and be creative should be one of the essentials in any school.

"TEACHERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE" - THE 4Cs STRATEGY

CONNECTIONS	CHALLENGES
In this article, the author highlights the influence of teachers in students’ outcomes by showing the results of a study. Some excellent teachers were studied with the aim of providing a list of attributes of excellence that make the difference. I had previously read some articles about the impact of teachers in the classroom and I find a clear connection between this idea and the fact that all teachers should be classroom leaders. By learning to lead their classroom, they become a reference for students. I had already thought about the five dimensions he presents but I hadn’t made the connection between all of them and I hadn’t either recognised them as attributes of expert teachers because I had never thought of the difference between experienced and expert. In fact, I think that they are also attributes of great leaders in schools.	Schools usually spend a lot of time and resources on the improvement of structures and buildings. But, as teachers are the most influential factor in students’ outcomes, that effort would be better spent on teacher training, workshops, meetings… The role of the teacher is crucial because they can have really positive effects on learners. Even if experience is one of the greatest sources of learning, I like the fact that the author values novice teachers who are also excellent without much experience. The author claims that other leaders (principal, coordinators) do not have such an impact on students’ outcomes but basing my opinion on other readings and my general impression, I do not agree with this. Teachers may have a larger impact but school leaders are definitely also an influential factor.
CONCEPTS	CHANGES
Research shows that compared to other factors such as the school, home environment, principals or peer effects, the influence of teachers in students’ achievement is very high. The difference between expert and experienced teachers is key in this text as the author presents five dimensions of excellent teachers (experts VS experienced) that we should all have in mind when working as educators, developing sixteen attributes of expertise. Expert teachers have deeper representations of teaching and learning so they are prepared to make connections, anticipations and predictions, seek further information and make better key decisions. They also guide better the learning through class interaction by improving the climate and analysing the context. Expert teachers know how to provide meaningful feedback and monitor students. They pay attention to affective aspects and respect their students. Finally, they are able to engage and challenge learners, involving them in tasks for learning and have a deeper understanding.	I really liked this article because it helped me make connections between aspects I already had in mind. The dimensions and attributes mentioned in this reading represent a better way of teaching, but I still have some doubts so the changes I would propose are: -          As I think that school leaders such as the coordinator or the principal also have a great impact on students’ outcomes, I would propose to mention the attributes that school leaders should have in order to work together with teachers for the same goal (which is improvement of outcomes). -          We have the theory but maybe the author could have proposed some strategies in order to achieve all these objectives. He mentioned the fact that the school context didn’t have the same influence as teachers do but, is it the same to speak about this attributes of teachers in all cultures and contexts?