There were many aspects of this coursework that have been helpful in fine toning my action research plan. Nancy Fichtman Dana’s text, Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher, has provided endless insights, especially the insight she gave on narrowing down wonderings by using the nine areas of passion (p30-32). The weekly assignments were invaluable in retrospect. They assisted in narrowing my research topic and armed me with valuable tools to simplify and focus my research question.
My mental state coming in was one of excitement and an innate understanding of what type of leader I would eventually become. Only having one perspective of my school as a whole I never had the opportunity to even think about how things come together or what decisions have to be in place in order for a school to run smoothly. The vase amount of decisions that it takes to run a campus is ridiculously overwhelming. A leader has to be able to identify all aspects of need on each individual campus and create a system or procedures to meet those needs, and then a sound campus plan can be implemented.
That is so many things that I still want to learn. Thinking about it all is tremendously overwhelming because I think implementing all the new knowledge and anticipating the knowledge to come can be intimidating. A principal’s responsibility can be rather cumbersome but when you are firm with the goal and vision then that helps to focus a leader. Principals must have a clear vision of the direction in which they want to lead the campus. Another aspect that I will want to focus on is how to lead the unleadable.
One topic I would like to build upon is how to develop that strong leadership base. I truly want a strong school culture that fosters a positive sense of collaboration, instead of viewing it as duty. One way I can increase my knowledge base is by working closely with my site supervisor and focusing on what works. Having to conduct so much research allows me to see all the different schools of thought and how to narrow my focus and at the same time remaining flexible to new ideas. Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: the principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
