Sergiovanni (1991)
defined administration as a process of working with and through others to
accomplish school goals efficiently. The definition itself indicates that the administration is a social act
and it is followed by a group of people to connect and collaborate with others
in order to perform planning, organizing, leading and controlling.
Administrators play a significant role in an organization’s development.
Educational leadership is also concerned with tasks such as planning,
coordinating, directing, defining objectives, supporting the work of others and
evaluating performance. To make this guide more convenient, I’d like to
distinguish administration and educational leadership.
The key distinguishing factor between leaders and administrators is that
leaders initiate new structures or plans to achieve organizational goals or
objectives, whereas administrators utilize existing structures or plans for this
purpose.
The 21st century students live in a world that keeps on changing from
time to time faster than ever before. The classrooms in which we were taught
are not exactly the classrooms in which we’re about to teach; there have been
significant changes in the practices of teaching and learning of 21st century
education system. Administrators must be aware of changes in practices, demands
and goals of education system day by day. One of the best strategies that helps
them understand each and every part of the education system is to connect and
collaborate with other administrators and education
leaders.
Why Connect & Collaborate:
Collaboration in terms of administration or management of an educational
organization is the approach of having a group of administrators, educators and
educational leaders working together to find a solution to a problem, complete
a task or to create a new structure.
Collaboration not only occurs through direct face-to-face interaction
but also occurs online by leveraging the technology. Global collaboration
involves people from different organizations and nations, brings best
innovative practices into the account and drives student achievement. Let’s
learn about why connections and collaborations play an important role in an organization’s
growth:
Connecting
with different educators leads to exploration and exchange of different
educational practices.
Having
expert educators, administrators and education
leaders in PLN is always helpful to
know about the latest implementations in education.
Collaboration
with other educators and administrators leads to innovative and effective
learning strategies.
Discussions
play a key role in finding solutions to problems in education.
Studies
show that group work always gives better solutions
than individual effort.
If
educators, administrators and education leaders work together, they
automatically get access to task as a whole instead of just doing their
individual works. For example, to implement a new learning practice such as
iPads in learning, it not just involves
investing in iPads, but also in teacher training and student engagement.
Collaboration
among administrators and education
leaders of different organizations helps
them develop professionally.
How Administrators connect and collaborate:
Connected administrators are those with a PLN — personal learning
network — who connect globally to share resources, collaborate on best
educational practices, challenge thinking among other administrators and
leaders to serve the educational community. 21st century administrators understand the
importance of plugging into networks and learning communities on Twitter,
Google Plus, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social forums, where professional
growth can occur at any time.
“I have really learned a lot about sharing from my
PLN! I cannot believe how easy it is to connect to great educators. I am hoping
that more administrators will choose to connect themselves. It does not matter
where Principals work in this day and age, they can make a choice to be connected
to people that can support them”, said Patrick Larkin.
“Like many of you I also worried about the small
number of principals (headteachers in
UK) using twitter. It’s a great idea having a hashtag for us to share thoughts,
ideas, concerns and innovations. Looking forward to connecting!” said Michael Shepherd
The following are the important and useful ways that educators use to
connect with others:
Twitter Hashtags:
There are some Twitter hashtags frequently used by administrators to
explore and exchange best educational practices.
Example: #Satchat
“#Satchat is a great example of the power of social
media to improve education, and the benefit of expanding an educator's Personal
Learning Network (PLN). The premise behind this Twitter chat/hashtag came about
when Scott Rocco and I
connected on Twitter in February 2012. Both of us had a passion for education
and knew other school leaders around the globe who shared our enthusiasm. What
we would soon realize is that this passion was not restricted to local or
national educators, but had a global reach”,said Brad
Currie , a School Administrator in Chester, NJ
and Cofounder of #Satchat.
You may read the full list of hashtags in my previous article.
Blogs:
Many expert educators and administrators share their practices,
resources and works through their blogs. It’s an effective way to follow their
blogs to communicate with them.
Tom Murray serves as the director of technology and
cyber education for the Quakertown Community School District in Bucks County,
Pa. He was the 2012 recipient of the Blended Schools Network Leadership Award
and was featured in Tech & Learning Magazine’s Leadership Profile in
December of 2012. Murray’s QCSD cyber and blended learning programs have been
highlighted by Forbes.com, T.H.E. Journal, Project Red, the Innosight
Institute, iNACOL, and on
Digital Learning Day 2013, among others. Murray serves on the advisory board
for T.H.E. Journal and has co-founded both #sbgchat and #edtechchat. Connect
with him on Twitter @thomascmurray
or at ThomasCMurray.com.
Jerry
Blumengarten , a highly experienced expert educator, serves
through Cybraryman.com,
The internet catalogue for students, teachers, administrators & parents.
Communities:
There are numerous communities for administrators on Google+, Facebook,
LinkedIn,etc.,
that providethem with a platform to
share and exchange their knowledge on effective administration.
LinkedIn:
EduBloggers , Education Community Mangers Network , Technology in Education , etc., are the LinkedIn groups where educators,
administrators and education leaders
collaborate with others even if they’re not on their PLN.
Google+:
Google+ Communities allow users to create ongoing conversations about
particular topics. Especially in industries like Education, interactions
between people of different institutions means a lot. The exchange of ideas,
discussions and deals will improve the educational system and enhance students’
future. Here is a list of 11 Active Google+ Communities for EdTech
Enthusiasts .
Collaboration through Videoconferencing:
As we know face-to-face interactions are always authentic, but it’s very difficult to meet in person if two
leaders are separated by different geographical locations. Digital leaders
nowadays utilize the technology to have person-to-person interactions through
video conferencing. Educators prefer to use Skype, Google+ Hangouts & WizIQ
for direct interaction. You may read full info here.
Being a decision maker for an educational institution is a tough task as
you have to manage academic, infrastructural,
teacher training and technology implementation activities. It’s an effective
way to collaborate with other decision makers in order to bring the best
educational practices to your institution. We hope this guide helped you know
about the needs and benefits of connections
and collaborations. We’d like to have your views as well. Please feel free to
share your ways of collaborating with other administrators and your views on
the importance of collaboration among administrators and education leaders. The comment box is
awaiting.
