Prof+Relationships

New Tech Advocate
by Kevin Gant, New Tech School Development Coach So...the advocate role is something that we define pretty clearly, and we have lots of information about NTN Advocates in the Support Tab. I have made a Jing to guide you to that resource: []

There are decisions that are purely local too. Some schools like to give the advocate more duties...which is of course fine with me. Also, the length of term is up to the locality. Probably the best model I have seen with that comes from ManorNT. At Manor, they started off with one advocate, but after a year, moved to 2, because the staff was large. The term of the position is two years, but terms are staggered by a year, so that at any given time, there will be a second-year advocate, serving as the lead, with a first-year Advocate. This of course fosters greater collaboration, and the two with the director can serve as a “triad” - one of those effective leadership structures you saw, Mike, at Napa last fall.

I am contemplating how I, as a successful director of our new high school, can develop relationships that are constructive and collaborative and still effective from the standpoint of my role as a school administrator. I found some of the ideas in this article very interesting. What are your thoughts? **[|What Makes or Breaks a Principal?]**

//Gordon Donaldson, George Marnik, Sarah Mackenzie and Richard Ackerman// This article asserts that relational skills are essential to strong school leadership. Such skills, however, are typically not taught well in principal certification courses and professional development workshops. From their work in the University of Maine's Educational Leadership doctoral program, the authors have learned how leaders develop three key clusters of relational skills. Effective school leaders, they write, must know how to consult with others to translate pedagogical knowledge into practice, mediate conflict and reach consensus, and make relationships a priority. Leaders can best learn these skills by using them in practice and then systematically reflecting on them with the help of trusted colleagues.




 * I also wonder about balancing my roles now and in particular for next year as instructional leader, administrative manager of a $1.5 million dollar budget, human resources/personnel, New Tech model director, connection to the District, and certainly outreach to the community: families, post secondary, and business and community partners. I found this article with some interesting ideas. What do you think?**

//Thomas Hatch// To be successful in their school improvement efforts, school leaders need the connections, support, and expertise that come from interacting with a host of people, organizations, and institutions in the surrounding community. Leaders that share the work of managing the environment, are alert to important emerging issues, put advocates into external positions of influence, and cultivate networks of allies put themselves in a strong position to deal with changing conditions in the external environment. To successfully manage the external environment, school leaders need to draw in parents, community members, district administrators, and other educators to develop a larger school community; improve the external environment; capitalize on the fact that success breeds success; and remember to look beyond the individual school and take into account the larger purposes of schooling
 * __[|The Outside-Inside Connectio]__n**