The College of William and Mary
Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership
Reflective Essay
Heather Boyd
EPPL 586/587
Summer/Fall 2009
All things are ready, if our minds be so." - William Shakespeare
After 6 years of teaching middle school social studies, I had reached a point professionally where I felt the need to pursue a graduate degree in an area where I could be challenged as well as demonstrate the strengths of my personal characteristics. As I had not completed any coursework since leaving the university where I had received my undergraduate degree, I was nervous at the thought of undertaking graduate level study. My career was ready for a change but I was afraid my mind was not. This period in my professional life coincided with changes in my personal life. My husband and I were set to move to Virginia with the military and I therefore resigned my teaching position in Illinois and sought out graduate programs in the Norfolk area. I decided to pursue my graduate degree in Educational Leadership because I am a natural leader and thought that school administration was the natural next step in the educational process for me. I knew of the reputation of the College of William and Mary and chose to apply there to work on my degree in a small school setting with coursework that would surely challenge my way of thinking.
I was pleased to be accepted into the college and started the Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership (EPPL) Program in the spring of 2007. To say I was ill-prepared for the rigors of the program and its coursework is an understatement. Never have I felt more overwhelmed by the subject matter, professors, and course demands than I did at that point. My brain needed a re-boot and I needed a reminder that I was not going to be handed a degree from William and Mary; I needed to earn it.
Success is a matter of understanding and religiously practicing specific, simple habits that always lead to success." - Robert J. Ringer
Once at William and Mary, I quickly realized that I would need to bring back those study habits that had made me successful as an undergraduate student. I have never felt that giving less than 100% percent to a task was an option. Even if I did not fully understand the subject matter or completely grasp the expectations of the graduate degree program, I was not going to give up. I learned that there is a distinct difference between undergraduate expectations and graduate expectations. All aspects of a course and the work involved were more in-depth and the way I used to construct projects and essays had to evolve to a higher standard. My first semester at William and Marychanged how I prepared for a class and how I faced the demands of a graduate-level paper or project.
That spring, I had a professor who really challenged me intellectually. She appreciated my study habits but wanted me to stop thinking simply and start thinking critically. She showed me that I had to take those basic successful study habits and adjust them to a higher standard. It was a stressful time but by the end of the semester and after numerous “coaching” emails and conferences with the professor, I had developed a graduate level attitude and habits that would see me through the program coursework.
Nothing limits achievement like small thinking. Nothing equals possibilities like unleashed thinking. - William Arthur Ward
I can confidently say that I possess leadership skills and qualities that could be utilized effectively in an educational setting. I was never meant to, nor do I ever, stand back and let others complete work and make every decision for me. I have always felt that I effectively take charge and lead others. I have a strong personality and needed to pair this with the EPPL program at William Mary to help me take my skills and learn to be an agent for positive change in the educational setting.
When I started the EPPL program, I had definite ideas about educational administration. I felt I knew what the role of the administrator was based on my experiences as a teacher. I had perceptions of administration, some correct, some incorrect, and I came to the program with a definite idea of what I was and was not going to do as the overall leader of the school.
I was wrong about many of those ideas. Daily class discussions, analyzing multiple professional journals and texts, and creating projects and papers helped me realize that my mind had been closed to what administration really was. I was amongst many people who also possessed those leadership qualities I held so dearly. And yet they did not perceive everything the way I did. They brought ideas and opinions to the class that I had never thought of before. They along with the professors brought a fresh look at what leadership is and how it is implemented through the educational leader of the school. Multiple school scenarios were discussed or debated which always brought forth a different look or aspect on school administration. In addition, my fellow students in the program were intelligent and challenged me to stop thinking small and start thinking of the big picture. I grasped that administration is not about me; it is about the school and its stakeholders. I, as an administrator, will have the privilege and demands that come with the job. It will be my task to guide others, whether students, staff, teachers or other administrators, to success. I cannot sit on my office “throne” and rule the “masses.” Rather, it will be embedding with the “masses” that will ultimately lead the school to success.
Leaders are more powerful role models when they learn than when they teach.
-Rosabeth Moss Kantor
William and Mary has been instrumental in preparing me for the rigors of educational leadership. As a teacher, I had very specific ideas about school administration that were challenged when I began the EPPL program. The program brought to focus the fact that I cannot be close-minded about my beliefs and ideals. Educational leadership is ever-evolving and I must evolve with it. William and Mary reminded me that even though I possess the skills needed to be an educational leader, I must remember that there is room for growth and learning from multiple sources. Parents, students, teachers, and fellow administrators will all play a vital role in helping me continually grow as an educational leader.
William and Mary made me aware that I must remain ever professional, something I always pride myself in being, in the educational setting. There is no room for careless or thoughtless errors. Administrators are viewed through a microscope and small errors can create an atmosphere of distrust or bitterness; situations that are difficult to bounce back from.
Personally, William and Mary has instilled in me a newfound confidence that I can lead others within an educational setting. Through their program, I feel a real inner change has taken place as I grow from a successful teacher (and student) to an educational leader. My mind feels stronger and my educational knowledge has been greatly expanded. I am prepared and ready to tackle the role of administration.
Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.
- Harold Geneen
W&M opened up my mind to the inner workings of school administration; the good, the bad, and the ugly of leading others in a demanding school setting. Each course at W&M touched on a different aspect of the challenges and rewards of educational leadership. Courses inSpecial Education, Educational Law, Public Relations and Curriculum Development were a cross-section of the areas that educational leaders will be faced with and therefore, must have in-depth knowledge of when performing administrative duties. All of my courses and the work assigned at W&M provided me with a deeper understanding of how much base knowledge is needed to be an educational leader. Two courses in particular seem vital for me as an educational leader and also for my future faculty and students whom I will be leading. Educational Lawintroduced me to critical information concerning issues of legality and liability that an administrator, school, and district must always be mindful of. I gained an understanding of the pressures that administrators face as they try to balance the daily occurrences and workings of a school with federal, state, and local laws. One project assigned in this course prepared me for the laws governing the VirginiaCommonwealth. This major paper required me to find and analyze pertinent laws in the Virginia law book that related to the school setting. In doing this, I was able to familiarize myself with important and relevant information that will be needed as an educational leader. Although the project focused exclusively on Virginia law, the course also taught me where to look for similar laws in other states so that this knowledge could be transferred to school settings in any state.
Another course that was relevant and crucial to my future role in the school system was Special Education and Administration. Special Education and the federal laws that govern it have become vitally important in the public school system. This class gave me insight into the difficulties and successes of educating children with special needs. Similar toEducational Law, it provided an in-depth look at the federal laws protecting children with special needs and their parents as well. This class was essential as it stressed the role the administrator has in ensuring that all those-teachers, staff, administrators-in contact with the special needs child are adhering to the federal laws that protect those students. This class also provided me with a new awareness of the discrimination that those with special needs face on a daily basis. My field project consisted of analyzing various forms of media to identify how those with special needs are portrayed. I studied multiple newspaper and magazine articles available to the general public to look at both the subtle and obvious language used to describe those with special needs. It was an eye-opening assignment as I saw that only one of the media sources I read portrayed those with special needs in a positive light. This project really helped me to understand how I should view and portray those special needs students within my school. If I view special education as a burden, then so might the staff, teachers and possibly the community. It will be my task to ensure that those students are serviced correctly, fairly, and without prejudice.
Inventories can be managed, but people must be led.-H. Ross Perot
William and Mary has furnished me with a realistic view of the role of the educational leader. The professors never tried to paint a picture that being an administrator would be without its trials, pressures, and difficulties. The program emphasized that much of an administrators’ time is focused on managing facilities, budgets, emails, community, central office and command demands, and that little time is left for teachers and students. Yet they also stressed that an administrator must strike a balance between all these demands. And that what really should come first and foremost are the students and teachers; they are the most important assets to the school. The emails, the phone calls, the common demands can wait. The in-school stakeholders must take precedence.
Because of the lessons and information that William and Mary has instilled, I was able to start my internship with a balanced view of what administrators’ daily tasks are. I completed my internship at a Department of Defense Dependent (DODD) school in Rota, Spain. This school, located on a Spanish naval base, is a unique representation of a public middle/high school. David G. Farragut (DGF) Middle/High School is part of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), an agency that directs all oversea schools on military bases. DGF is comprised of military and Department of Defense civilian dependents. The elementary and middle/high school share a campus that is located in the middle of base housing. The elementary school has approximately 400 students while the middle/high school serves about 200 students; obviously a small school setting.
William and Mary professors had stressed the many hats that administrators wear but nothing fully prepared me for what I would encounter when I started my internship at DGF. When I arrived to merely discuss the overall semester plans and ideas for my internship, I was immediately met with atask from the principal. He was attending a conference in Germany for the week and I was to create interview questions for a special education position that had recently opened. In addition, I was to call all qualified candidates from a list the principal handed me and interview them over the phone. When my principal returned, I was to report my findings and give the principal my personal recommendations on whom he should call back and interview further. In addition to this task, I was also asked to review the parent/student handbook as well as the faculty handbook. To say these needed major renovations is an understatement. So what started as an “introductory” meeting for the internship ended up being a slightly overwhelming first taste of an administrator’s role.
The internship has been an experience with both frustrations and rewards. Although I do not think I have always been utilized to my full potential, what I have done has been satisfying and a solid learning experience. I had a taste of the elementary, middle and high school administrative role. One of the great frustrations for any administrator, and one I personally witnessed and experienced, was the balance of time between managing and actually leading teachers, staff, etc…It is difficult and time consuming to ensure that all the demands of the job are met equitably. Some days it felt as though my only focus was ensuring that office tasks were completed. On these days, I never left the office nor had any contact with students and teachers. This was frustrating as these roles ideally should be flipped. I wanted to complete more class walk-throughs than I did and I wanted to be a presence around the campus; not just around the office. If administrators were once managers instead of educational leaders, those times have changed and so leaders must change with it and I wanted my internship to reflect that as well.
With the many tasks I took on and the experiences I had, I am satisfied with the job that I completed as an administrative intern. I feel that I accomplished effectively all that was asked of me and more. This, in part, was due to the preparation that William and Mary instilled.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Quincy Adams
Administration is not for everyone. It takes a person with a vision, confidence, a calming presence and determination to guide others no matter the circumstances. Time and task management play an instrumental part in an educational leader’s daily role in the school. There are many demands on administrators and they must be ready to prioritize and produce results from these demands.
Future interns should become cognizant, as I quickly did, that changing a school culture and climate in one semester is just not possible nor is it plausible. The best an intern can do is glean information from their administrators about the various tasks performed and practice implementing and completing those tasks. However, interns must also examine closely where a school could be improved and offersuggestions to make those changes possible. Even small tasks can make positive changes. And although interns cannot alter a school’soverall structure or climate, they certainly can help to strengthen it.
An educational leader createsa path or expands a present one for all stakeholders to follow. A clear vision, defined goals, and an inspiring personality are instrumental in enacting change and lessoning resistance. Like teachers, we may not be able to reach everyone, but with the bar set high, small successes can lead to a progressive educational revolution in which all stakeholders and leaders can share in a common mission of educational success.
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