This is my current principal’s second year heading his own school. Reflecting back, I have had the opportunity to witness him turn a defunct middle school into one Illinois’s middle school of the year, and him receiving honors as a principal of the year for middle schools. A leader that wants to shift the thinking of all stakeholders must first change his or her own way of thinking by establishing a mission, vision, values and goals that he can help foster into in existence. Sergiovanni stated, “The job of the principal is to transform the school from being an ordinary organization concerned with technical functions in pursuit of objective outcomes into an institution.” (Sergiovanni and Stratt, 1988). He discussed more in detail that Selznick’s concept conceptualized a school as a learning community. The principal who has embraced the newest pedagogy in education, and established a consensus for change in the school will strive to shift from an organization to an institution with a vision, norms, shared responsibilities, and a school as a learning …show more content…
In one of the PowerPoint slides we viewed last week, which was created by Amy Schilling and Chris Becker, there were some key points for an effective administrator. Those key points led me to allude to the fact that changing the way we think is best done with an administrator that practices collaborative leadership. Furthermore, he or she has to demonstrate his changed way of thinking. The new collaborative leader creates an atmosphere that says I am not a dictator, but one who shares the responsibility. I listens to others versus telling others what they should be doing. Furthermore, he allows others to share their thoughts, and respects what they share. Utilizing this new found way of thinking, the collaborative leader can help to change minds of educational stakeholders by allowing them to take responsibility for their efforts. Nance used the story of Gary Mazzola, a former principal of Parkway South High School, to demonstrate how collaborative efforts combined with a vision could change a school. The story focused on the visionary, and the school established norms that the school used to guide the teachers, and other educational