Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review
Stephane Duran
San Diego State University
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EDOL 680 Literature Review

I would like to first introduce an overview of my 20% project as it will connect to the

general topic for this literature review. My intentions are to influence my school by taking on a

leadership position to benefit myself and my cluster. In the beginning of the year, I plan to

personally teach students a typing format/template to use through 3rd-5th grade. I would first

need to gather with my cluster, grades 3rd-5th and collaborate expectations when it comes to word

processing. Then create a rubric for all teachers in my cluster to use when assessing the students

writing pieces.

I will then be able to teach a lesson to all classes in my cluster about what the teachers

expect from the beginning of the year to the end. This will impact my school because I will be

starting a word processing expectation as early as 3rd grade. Rather than follow the tradition of

starting to research and type starting from 5th grade. As a new teacher, leadership is a very

important role to achieve. By taking the initiative of starting something completely new, I will

perceive myself as a leader while including technological innovation.

Moving on to the foundation of leadership, I was inspired after reading The Ethics of

Excellence by Price Pritchett. Although this book is less than 50 pages, I enjoyed the philosophy

Pritchett shared about the variety of aspects within excellence. In order to be a strong leader, one

most understand how to be excellent. What makes us excellent? What is the difference from an

excellent leader and those who call themselves a leader? However, I think the distinct differences

are the skills a natural leader will develop and learn through experiences. Pritchett mentions,

Excellence never happens by accident. We have to make it happen. And our methods matter

every bit as much as our results. I agree with this statement because imagine if we all had great

ideas but never took the initiative to make it happen?

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My school is very traditional as it is a Catholic Private School with many different

stakeholders. Taking on this role of adding something new to benefit our students goes beyond

the acceptance of my cluster. I have to ask permission and support from all higher authorities.

This includes the principal, vice principal, our priest, and ask our computer lab teacher if I can

teach a lesson in between his class times. Yes, it is a lot of steps and convincing, but this change

is worth it. Price Pritchett also explained, As soon as we stop stretching and working toward

higher ethics, our standards starts to sag. The muscle gets soft, and instead of excellence we have

to settle for mediocrity. Educators especially those used to tradition, settle for what is expected

due to limitations, regulations, or additional work. For any type of innovation, we might have to

go beyond what we are given to achieve excellence. A leader will recognize that a change should

be made, even if that means additional work. Furthermore, a strong leader will continue to keep

in mind that there is always room for growth.

In the article Leadership in Education, an anonymous author explains the qualities of

gaining leadership skills while putting actions into a process. The author mentions, The world's

leading companies know that to continue to grow in a competitive marketplace, they need to

have effective leaders capable of making bold, innovative decisions (2006, anonymous).

Although educators do not teach within a company, I consider school districts to be just as

competitive. In order for schools to run efficiently and as a team, teachers are responsible for

making those changes that will benefit the school. I think all teachers should want what is best

for the school body, not just limit their expectations to individual classes.

The author also explains, Leadership skills can be taught in the classroom. It is

impossible to teach somebody something they do not want to learnit is also possible for

someone to gain more leadership skills through interventions from outside (2006, anonymous).
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As previously mentioned, leadership is a quality that requires more than what is expected. More

work, more attention to give, and a clear awareness of changes that need to be made.

In a journal article Every Teacher Carries a Leadership Wand, authors Tubin and Dorit

explain 5 steps for leaders who wish to empower their teachers and allow them to lead their

schools to success. This was based on a case study at BART Charter School and the steps are,

(1) Let your people know; (2) Nominate the fittest, (3) Connect teachers to a prestige model, (4)

Constantly ask for valid data and (5) Share success and responsibility (Tubin, 2017). I can

reference this to a book I have recently read called the Global Achievement Gap by Tony

Wagner. Wagner defines 7 essential survival skills for todays workplace that can be taught in

schools. Some of the skills include critical thinking, effective communication, and taking

initiative.

Another article Seven Cs for Effective Teaching, also referenced the Seven Cs as a

way to lead or teach with such a diverse set of learning skills, backgrounds, and styles within a

classroom. Authors Emdin and Christopher explain, Cogenerative dialogues (in which teachers

solicit feedback from a dissimilar group of students); coteaching (in which students are called on

to teach); cosmopolitanism (in which students take over some of the operational activities of the

classroom); context (in which teachers incorporate their knowledge of the community in

everyday instruction); content (in which both teacher and students grapple with a topic);

competition (in which students compete in nontraditional ways to show what they know); and

curation (in which teachers and students study classroom videos to identify practices that

negatively affect student learning) (Emdin, Christopher, 2016).

What all three authors have in common are the steps or skills that an effective leader

can teach and use within a classroom. Educators should thrive to be leaders and it is essential to
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model what leadership looks like for our students to replicate. Each of these steps or skills holds

high expectations from students and ensures their success for a brighter future. With time,

students will naturally display the quality of leadership through the practice of these skills taught

by their teachers. Referring back to my 20% project, I am attempting to model a sense of

leadership to my principal and fellow peers by taking the initiative to incorporate technology

within our Language Arts curriculum.

In a perfect world, all teachers would be leaders and every students will gain the concept

of leadership. Everyone is learning and achieving, the end. Too bad reality is more complicated

and incorporating leadership is easier said than done. In the article Student Engagement: Key to

Personalized Learning, the authors explain how learning can be improved or personalized

through a variety of instructional strategies. What I found interesting was the authors

introduction of reality as they mentioned, realistic teachers know that any instructional strategy

will only be effective if students are willing to do the work (Ferlazzo, Larry, 2017). Author

Larry Ferlazzo than emphasizes the importance of first weaving motivation into every

classroom.

I think the key word in the first quote is if students are willing to do the work. Any

educator should know that we can plan for the highest expectations and plan how all lessons will

end. However if students arent motivated, how can we expect them to learn? No less be leaders

themselves. Leadership means understanding that wanting to create a change and being self-

motivated is only half the battle. The other half comes from students who also share the same

drive and motivation to succeed. Furthermore, leaders have to work twice as hard to continue to

thrive for themselves and their students. Ferlazzo offers many specific ways in which he

promotes these qualities in his teaching--some strategies include technology (Ferlazzo, 2017). I
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agree technology is a great way to motivate students! Although it will seem challenging at first, I

think word processing will be very beneficial for the students in the long run when initiating my

20% project.

Another perspective that came to mind was the recognition of leadership. Although I

have mentioned that all teachers should thrive to be leaders and reflect on their own practice to

improve on leadership skills. How can teachers expect students to grasp the concept of

leadership, if not all educators are able to recognize all types of leadership? Leadership can be

proven obviously and it is possible to be conveyed subtlety. In the article, Teachers' Perceptions

of Leadership in Young Children the authors explain, Teachers are more likely to encourage

child leadership when they recognize behaviors as leadership; they are more likely to respond to

child leadership in a discouraging manner when they do not recognize the behaviors as

leadership. Therefore, if teachers learn to recognize child leadership, they could be more

supportive, thus creating more developmentally appropriate classrooms (Fox, Deborah Lee,

2012). In other words, teachers can portray obvious or subtle leadership themselves but

educators must be aware of a variety of leadership actions. It would truly be mistake to only

award students when recognizable leadership is conveyed. However, we dont know, what we

dont know. I think teachers are assumed that we are knowledgeable of everything but we can

always be further educated on valuable skill sets such as leadership.

In conclusion of this literature review, the previous information mentioned has certainly

enhanced my perspective towards my 20% project. Overall, portraying leadership is my main

intention when introducing a completely new idea to my school. Although I am challenged with

many different stakeholders when asking for approval, the extra work is worth the success of our

students. By becoming knowledgeable of word processing at the earliest grade level, includes the
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technological skills in a positive way. Students will be able to practice their typing skills as well

as learning how to follow directions with an expected format. In addition, my school will

continue the tradition of including word processing in our Language Arts curriculum until an

alternative idea is presented. Education and leadership are continuous developments. Or as it is

mentioned in What Is Educational about Educational Leadership, Education is a continuing

effort to work at the worthwhile things in life (Coulter, D., & Wiens, J. R., 1999).
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References

Pritchett, P. (1997). The ethics of excellence. Dallas, TX: Pritchett & Associates.

Anonymous. (2006). Leadership in education. Intheblack, 76(2), 22.

Tubin, D. (2017). Every Teacher Carries a Leadership Wand. International Journal Of

Leadership In Education, 20(2), 259-264.

Emdin, C. (2016). Seven Cs for Effective Teaching. Educational Leadership, 74(1),

Wagner, T. (2014). The global achievement gap: why even our best schools dont teach

the new survival skills our children need--and what we can do about it. New York: Basic Books,

a member of the Perseus Books Group.

Ferlazzo, L. (2017). Student Engagement: Key to Personalized Learning. Educational

Leadership, 74(6), 28-33.

Coulter, D., & Wiens, J. R. (1999). What Is Educational about Educational Leadership?.

Education Canada, 39(2), 4-7.

Fox, D. L. (2012, January 1). Teachers' Perceptions of Leadership in Young Children.

ProQuest LLC,