What is a Leader?

Leadership is often considered a destination for a few select people in any given organization. The traditional approach to leadership often involves authority, tradition and bureaucracy. I believe this type of leadership style had it’s place and was even necessary in some organizations or businesses in the past, however the influence of technology in education has redefined the requirements and expectations of a school leader.

To Lead is to Learn

In this article titled, The 7 Pillars of Digital Leadership in Education, Eric Sheninger defines digital leadership as “establishing direction, influencing others, and initiating sustainable change through the access of information, and establishing relationships in order to anticipate changes pivotal to school success in the future.” He also explains that “Digital leadership requires a shift in leadership style from one of mandates, directives, and buy-in to one grounded in empowerment, support, and embracement as keys to sustainable change.” (August, 2017)

Being an effective school leader requires a constant desire to continue learning. As a teacher or school leader, continuous learning must be modeled if we want to influence students to do the same. One of the most important lessons we can teach our students is to learn to accept failure as an avenue to success. The concept of failing forward or “intelligent failure” involves “the intentional practice of reacting to failures more productively.” (What is Intelligent Failure? October, 2017)

References

Staff, T. (2017, August 29). 7 Pillars Of Digital Leadership In Education. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/7-pillars-digital-leadership-education/

What Is Intelligent Failure? (n.d.). Retrieved October 06, 2017, from https://failforward.org/what-is-intelligent-failure/

Windham, C. (2009, September). Why Today’s Students Value Authentic Learning[PDF]. Educause Learning Initiative.

What is a Leader?

To Lead is to Learn

References

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