Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Summer School: Week 1

I am not teaching summer school. Rather, I am taking classes toward my specialist degree in administration. The summer session was underway this past Friday with a class on superintendents as instructional leaders.

A last second change moved the class two hours away in St. Louis and forced my instructor to scramble for materials. We didn't even get a syllabus until the second meeting on Saturday and even that was missing a schedule of activities. I don't blame the instructor, but it was not an easy two days last weekend.

The group spent a lot of time discussing what it is that superintendents do. We compared districts, organizational charts, and our own perspectives. Little theory was suggested. This was as student centered a class as I have ever experienced.

While philosophically I'm OK with this, it does make me uncomfortable. Should we really learn each other's opinions or should we know what the literature says about superintendents and other central office types?

I don't know.

For now, the course hasn't given me much insight into my work as an instructional specialist, but I'm hopeful that it will.

I have some articles to read this week. Also, we will continually consider our philosophy of administering and instruction. My final draft will make it on this blog for sure. I also have to come up with five questions for central office administrators focusing on instructional leadership. That's another post to come. Be on the lookout for my summer school posts. I have two other courses that will provide plenty of topics.

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