Leadership Development Portfolio

U n i v e r s i t y o f N o r t h e r n B r i t i s h

C o l u m b i a

E D U C 6 1 7

F e b r u a r y 1 6 , 2 0 1 2

D r . W i l l o w B r o w n

Matthew Pepper

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Leadership Development Portfolio

Matthew Pepper

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Table of Contents

Introduction 6

Principal Quality Standards

Fostering Effective Relationships 7

Embodying Visionary Leadership 8

Leading a Learning Community 9

Providing Instructional Leadership 10

Developing and Facilitating Leadership 11

Managing School Operations and Resources 12

Understanding and Responding to the Larger Societal Context 13

Mentorship Meeting One 14

Mentorship Meeting Two 16

Concluding Summary 18

References 20

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Introduction

The Leading for Learning course has given me the opportunity to reflect on my experiences and

beliefs as a teacher and school based leader. The presentations, discussions and personal reflections

have allowed me the time and focus to revisit my core beliefs and reflect on decisions that I have made

within my school community. Since beginning my teaching career in 2006, I have carried out leadership

roles as a physical education coordinator, acting administrator and teacher leader. In addition to these

roles, I have also spent time coaching various school athletic teams as well as running a variety of school

events. Recently, to support my learning growth as a leader, I have begun to further my education by

working on my Masters of Multidisciplinary Leadership through the University of Northern British

Columbia. I believe that leaders are role models, are comfortable with shared leadership and build

effective relationships. I believe in lifelong learning and try to model this in my school community. My

professional leadership portfolio is working document demonstrating my accomplishments as leader as

they relate to the Alberta Principal Quality Practice Guideline.

Because this document will be in a constant state of evolution, I have decided that presenting

this in a digital context is most appropriate. A digital form affords me the ability to quickly and easily

make changes when necessary. This ensures that the portfolio is always up to date. The digital format of

this project also permits me to connect directly, using hyperlinks, to some of the source material

provided as evidence of my understanding and completion of the guidelines.

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Leadership Dimension One Fostering Effective Relationships

The principal builds trust and fosters positive working relationships, on the basis of appropriate values

and ethical foundations, within the school community -- students, teachers and other staff, parents,

school council and others who have an interest in the school.

I believe that I am addressing this criteria by doing the following:

I believe it is important to spend time with students, parents and the community in order to get

to know them on a personal as well as professional level. Making yourself available either

through phone, email, twitter or in person is something I value and believe builds positive

relationships.

I believe in using technology as a tool to share information with the school community. I have

created and maintained the Crystal Park School Website, Facebook page and Twitter account.

These are important tools which I believe help improve communication amongst the school

community.

I also developed the Crystal Park School internal portal for staff. This is a tool we use to share

information, book computer rooms, collaborate on reports and share information between our

school groups.

Crystal Park has hosted an Open House for staff, students and their parents at the beginning of

each school year. This has been a great opportunity to get to know families, students and staff

on a more personal level.

I have worked with the elementary leadership class to help create more engaging activities that

can be shared during monthly elementary assemblies.

I have been collaborating with colleagues to create a district wide survey for junior high school

Physical Education classes to ensure that Grande Prairie Public School District students have

some say in how their programs are being run. This has been an invaluable tool for providing

feedback for our programs and helping us determine where we can make changes at a district

level.

I have been a member of the Crystal Park School Student Convention Organization Committee.

In this role I help book presenters and organize the convention for the students. I have booked

a number of speakers from the community to come in and share their passions with our student

body.

I hold early morning drop in basketball sessions during the winter months to allow students to

come in and play basketball before school begins. I believe that this extra practice helps to not

only improve my student’s game, but gives them additional time to relax and be active.

I attend basketball, volleyball, badminton and other school events throughout both the

elementary and junior high year. This ensures that I am always a visible presence at schooling

events and helps build rapport with my students and fellow community members.

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Leadership Dimension Two Embodying Visionary Leadership

The principal collaboratively involves the school community in creating and sustaining shared school

values, vision, mission and goals.

I believe that I am addressing this criteria by doing the following:

I have used data collected from students at Crystal Park as a means of creating and planning the

new Physical Education program we have implemented for the 2011-2012 school year. I believe

this new program has been received well by both students and the community at large.

I have used social media as a tool to communicate and share information with our school

community. This has facilitated dialogue between parents, students and the school and has

been an invaluable tool for us. This has allowed us to share results of athletic contests, practice

times, upcoming events with parent council as well as share our monthly newsletter.

Developed the Crystal Park School extracurricular participation policy in collaboration with our

schools administration team. This is a document the staff uses with students participating in

extracurricular activities to ensure that they are fulfilling their academic and behavioral

expectations.

I have used Professional Learning Communities extensively to improve my teaching practice. I

have collaborated with colleagues to create district wide assessment projects, planned classes

and shared ideas about both district and school educational practices.

Successfully solicited donations from the community to help purchase new equipment for our

physical education program.

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Leadership Dimension Three Leading a Learning Community

The principal nurtures and sustains a school culture that values and supports learning.

I believe that I am addressing this criteria by doing the following:

I have attended a number of different Professional Development sessions regarding literacy,

assessment and best practice. I try to use the information that I have learned at these sessions

to improve my classroom teaching.

Created a drop in basketball league for students who did not make the active roster of school

sports teams so that they could be successful, enjoy sports and have an opportunity to play.

Participated in a number of educational discussions on twitter. Have used social networking

extensively to work in partnership with colleagues in other districts and around the world.

I believe in modeling lifelong learning and am currently working to complete my master’s degree

in Multidisciplinary Leadership at the University of Northern British Columbia.

Former AISI School technology Coach. I was responsible for helping my colleagues embrace and

infuse technology use into their daily classroom routines.

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Leadership Dimension Four Providing Instructional Leadership

The principal ensures that all students have ongoing access to quality teaching and learning

opportunities to meet the provincial goals of education.

I believe that I am addressing this criteria by doing the following:

Building my own Personal Learning Network through the use of Social Media. Using Twitter I

have been able to share information and learn from other educators in all over the world. I have

also encouraged other teachers on staff to use twitter and begin their own PLC journeys.

Created personal website to provide students with access to classroom activities, lessons,

schedules and homework.

I tweet and repost articles I find relevant to students, teachers, colleagues and the community.

Have presented sessions for the districts “Tech Tuesday” dinner sessions to help infuse

technology use into the classroom setting.

Presented introductory Smart Board sessions for Teachers Assistants and Teachers at Crystal

Park. Have also run introductory sessions on Smart Board use at Parkside School.

Integrated the use of QR codes in Physical Education classes, giving students the opportunity to

provide immediate feedback and data for fitness evaluations using their smart phones.

Presented and run sessions at the Mighty Peace Teachers Convention for first year teachers.

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Leadership Dimension Five Developing and Facilitating Leadership

The principal promotes the development of leadership capacity within the school community –- students,

teachers and other staff, parents, school council for the overall benefit of the school community and

education system.

I believe that I am addressing this criteria by doing the following:

Have acted as mentor teacher for teachers entering the profession. Provided assistance,

guidance and knowledge to help them attain their goals as future educators.

Planed and organized school and district track meets. Worked collaboratively with other

students and staff to run events. I trained Junior High staff to run the elementary events.

Worked closely with Mr. Hawkes to run the annual Christmas sing-a-long during the week

before Christmas. Produced and shared audio visual aids which were timed to Mr. Hawkes’

songs and activities.

Trained students to referee elementary athletic events. This gave the junior high students an

opportunity to mentor younger students and take on a coaching role.

Collaborated with elementary Homeroom buddies, to give the junior high students an

opportunity to learn and share from each other.

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Leadership Dimension Six Managing School Operations and Resources

The principal manages school operations and resources to ensure a safe and caring, and effective

learning environment.

I believe that I am addressing this criteria by doing the following:

Manage the school physical education budget to ensure that equipment, facilities and programs

are able to be effective.

I have sold ice-cream floats as a school fundraiser to raise money for school athletics programs

and facilitate the purchase of new equipment.

Have revamped and improved quality of school PE equipment. I have purchased new volleyball

standards, nets, and basketball hoops. This gives our students better access to high quality

equipment which is more durable and also more suited to our school needs.

I contact and secure coaches for a number for school sports teams. If I am unable to find

coaches in the school, I am responsible for finding coaches in the community.

Communicate Physical Education standards and safety guidelines to all teachers in the school.

I am part of a Professional Learning Community which has been working hard to ensure

effective pedagogy is being used in our programs.

I plan and coordinate all of the physical education classes from grade one to nine and ensure

that all of the activities relate to the Alberta Physical Education curriculum.

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Leadership Dimension Seven Understanding and Responding to the Larger Societal Context

The principal understands and responds appropriately to the political, social, economic, legal and cultural

contexts impacting the school.

I believe that I am addressing this criteria by doing the following:

Worked with FMNI liaison to run aboriginal games in our elementary school physical education

program.

Advocated for students in GLRR classes to be included in regular education physical education

classes when appropriate.

I have had the opportunity to work for short periods of time as Acting Vice-Principal. During this

time I followed School Act for student discipline.

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Mentorship Meetings Number One

Goal:

During the last couple of years I have worked very closely with my vice-principal, Kim

Frykas. She has been a constant source of inspiration, guidance, support and friendship.

Throughout my masters studies and in my work life, she is always there to bounce ideas off of,

or to provide me with additional resources for my projects. As such, I could think of no better

person outside of my university cohort to be my mentor than her.

As Kim looked though my portfolio draft, she offered her thoughts and feedback. As has

become customary with my assignments, Kim takes out her pen and writes notes on my work.

She does this as she reads through my assignment to highlight the things she deems important

and so that she can provide me with some written feedback and talking points for our

conversation.

After reading my draft thoroughly, Kim mentioned that I had omitted what she

considered to be one of my greatest pieces of evidence and one of my best attributes as a

school leader, visibility. I was puzzled by this and as such, visibility became the buzzword for the

remainder of our conversation. Kim shared that in her opinion, “Visibility is the greatest factor

for a successful school leader.” She went on to explain that she always sees me at Crystal Park

School functions. Whether they be junior high or elementary athletics events, art celebrations

or musical presentations I am always there in support. She mentioned how important she

believed this to be how much she feels my presence shapes how the school community,

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students and other teachers view what I do as a leader at the school. We talked about the

importance one’s presence can have on those around them and how sometimes the simplest

gestures mean the most. She stated that this omission definitely had to be rectified in my final

draft of the assignment.

Further, she noted that I have taken on a number of different leadership roles in the

school and reminded me to add these things to my portfolio as evidence. Specifically, the new

physical education program at my school and the number of different coaching assignments I

have taken on. With her encouragement I added more evidence to my portfolio to help

demonstrate how I am meeting the principal quality standards as a teacher leader at our

school. She mentioned that this portfolio will continue to be a work in progress and that as a

leader I will need to continue collecting evidence to support my practice.

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Mentorship Meetings Number Two

My second meeting with Kim took place a week after the first meeting. The meeting

began much like the last. Kim took my draft and read through it, jotting down key words here

and there. She was happy that I had taken some of her advice, especially that I had included a

statement on vision in my piece.

The focus of this meeting became goal setting. Over the course of the week I had been

struggling to come up with goals for this portfolio. Because one’s goals are personal, Kim

offered some advice and shared one of her goals with me. She mentioned that she tries to have

“compelling conversations” with her staff on a regular basis. She said that for her, these

meetings are especially important when she and other staff members have differing views on

school initiatives. She shared with me that she truly believes that these conversations help

build relationships. She feels that she is able to better understand her colleagues and their

points of view and reminded me that through these conversations she has learned that it is

sometimes best to just sit back and listen. Kim mentioned that that she thought this was

something that I may want to consider when evaluating my goals.

The rest of our conversation centered on areas I felt that I needed to focus on. We

discussed areas of improvement in my practice and what I could do to rectify some of my

shortcomings. This discussion, allowed me to critically look at my leadership role and begin to

evaluate the changes I could make to improve the school experience for my colleagues and

school community at large.

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I found it challenging to look critically at ones practice, yet refreshing as it gave me ideas

about things I needed to work on. What had begun as a slightly uncomfortable exercise became

very eye opening as I began to ask myself why I do some of the things I do? These questions

became the basis for my goals in this portfolio.

Kim’s advice and mentorship has been crucial to my continued evolution as a leader in

my school. I am comfortable sharing my ideas, reflections and philosophies with her. I am

receptive to her feedback as I am always trying to improve my professional practice. I have

been very fortunate to have a supportive friend and colleague like Kim. I am inspired by her

leadership style, and hope that one day I can have a similar impact on my colleagues as she has

had on me.

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Concluding Summary

As an emerging leader it is important for me to reflect on my practice. Although I am

very comfortable with my role as a teacher leader in my school, I am also aware that I still have

much to learn. I believe that as an educator I must lead by example and have a duty to remain a

lifelong learner. As a learner I must be aware that over time practices change, situations evolve

and the manner in which I lead will need to reflect the framework of the time.

Over the course of my career I have set a number of long and short term goals I wish to

accomplish. One of my long term goals is to have more compelling conversations with my

fellow staff members. As I discussed with my mentor, sometimes having these conversations

with colleagues will better enable me to understand and comprehend a different perspective. I

plan to address this goal by having discussions with my coworkers in physical education about

the program on a regular basis. Through dialog and collaboration, hopefully I can better

understand my workmate’s thoughts and feelings about the program. If they feel that what

they are doing is valued, my hope is that they will be more engaged in the program we teach

together. It is my belief that engaged teachers will be more likely to have an engaged student

body.

I believe that having compelling conversations will also enable me to address another

long term goal of mine, which is to place more trust in my colleague’s abilities to lead. As

department head I tend to sometimes take on more than I should. I know that I need to place

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more trust in my partners’ abilities as professionals. This goal forces me to recognize that a

collaborative effort is needed in order to run a successful program. I feel that if I am able to use

my colleagues strengths to my advantage, that I this will result in a more cooperative effort and

also improve the moral of the team.

As a lifelong learner another goal of mine is to remain as current as possible in best

practice. Because education is in a constant state of change, one must always be accepting of

new pedagogical approaches and trends in the field. One of the ways I aim to address this is to

continue my studies at the masters level. I also plan to stay current with the latest information

in education by reading books, journals and periodicals and using this information to make

informed choices about how I approach the profession.

Lastly, through reflection I have become aware that I do not always recognize and

celebrate classroom accomplishments within the school community. This short term goal can

easily be addressed by establishing a physical education incentive program. My aim under this

program is to reward students who are demonstrating exceptional effort, fair play and

teamwork at regular monthly assemblies. As reward for their accomplishments, these students

will be recognized and have their names entered into a draw in which they can win a

Wolverines T-shirt.

I believe that I am well on my way to addressing a number of challenges I face as I

continue my journey as an emerging leader in this profession. I believe that this professional

leadership portfolio reflects a number of my accomplishments as they relate to the Alberta

Principal Quality Practice Guideline.

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References

Alberta Education (2008). Principal Quality Practice Standard: Successful School Leadership in

Alberta. Retrieved, February 1st, from

http://education.alberta.ca/media/949129/principal-quality-practice-guideline-english-

12feb09.pdf