Decision-making model

Reflect on the strength and limitations of the decision-making model you were assigned. Is this a model that you might use in the future? If so, what situations do you think may be helpful?

My reading was "Dilts Pyramid of Logical Levels" 

In summary, this model is a decision-making framework that helps us understand the factors that influence our choices. By considering the levels of Environment, Behavior, Capabilities, Belief and Values, Identity and Purpose, we can analyze the factors that affect our decisions. 

In a school setting, this model would be very helpful, because if we understand this model we can analyze and solve problems more effectively and lead change more effectively. 

The main idea of the model is that there is a hierarchy of learning and change. For me as a team leader, it was very interesting to look at all these multiple levels to consider to achieve change. Each stage incorporates a "Wh" question that helps us ask questions in different ways. 

I think the model would be really helpful when the school is making a change, or aiming at making a change. It could be a very effective way to reflect on where we are in the process and to identify challenges that would help us move forward. 

For example: we as a school have been trying to increase parent involvement in the past few years, but for some reason, it has not been achieved. The model could be used to identify key points and challenges to be considered in decision-making regarding parental engagement. 

1. Environment level (Where? When?). At this level, we would identify the place and time where the school staff works: buildings, outdoor/indoor spaces, rooms, etc. 

2. Behavior level (What?). We identify and reflect on what each member does in their relationship with parents (eg. parent communication, information sharing, etc). 

3. Capabilities and Skills (How?). We identify and reflect on a combination of behaviors, for example, are teachers highly committed and skilled, is there family support, intervention, or early help? How effective the school is at parental engagement? 

4. Beliefs and values (Why?). We reflect on our values as a school and the beliefs that we hold true. Why are we doing what we are doing? Why is it important to us and does it connect to our vision and mission?

5. Identity (Who?), reflect on who the school staff and team members think they are? Is everyone on the same page about the school's identity? Does the parent community know who we are? Are we communicating our identity effectively to the parents? 

6. Purpose and Mission (for Whom?) reflect on whether are we part of something bigger, what is it? for whom we are doing what we are doing? is our purpose and mission accessible and visible to parents, is there a common understanding of what our purpose and mission is? Do parents have access to it and understand it?

Going through and reflecting on these steps as a school or leadership team would give valuable insight into the parental engagement problem. It would help the team identify the challenges and would be very helpful in decision-making. 

Eisenhower Matrix

How might using the Eisenhower Matrix impact your productivity and decision-making approach? 

In teaching the Eisenhower Matrix would be very helpful to act as a to-do list. I personally used to jot down deadlines or important tasks on post-it notes that were all over my computer and board. As a team leader, there are additional tasks to remember, and often times I get overwhelmed. I used Google Calendar for important notes and deadlines. 

I had not heard about the Matrix before and it amazed me how simple the grid was. It can help my productivity and decision-making simply by categorizing my tasks and deciding how to best utilize my time as a teacher and team leader. 

What really stayed with me about the matrix was "delegation". It made me rethink how I tackle my tasks and think about delegating urgent and not important tasks to increase my productivity. This refers to delegating tasks in the classroom with the students and delegating tasks in my team. 

In the classroom for example we have created classroom jobs, and we are adding to it as new "jobs" come up. This way, the students do some of the work in the classroom that I used to do, for example, cleaning up, arranging the books and classroom stationary, or organizing the classroom before dismissal time and getting it ready for the next day. This saves me so much time. 

In my team, we have started to look into the tasks and divided them more thoughtfully. Who is responsible for what, especially if it is about repeating tasks such as the weekly newsletters to parents, getting supplies from the stationery room, and so on. The delegation will be very useful in the long term to manage my and the team's workload and give everyone an opportunity to expand their skill set. 

My favorite worse decision - dilemmas present

My favorite worse decision

My favorite worst decision was dealing with the most challenging colleague I have ever had. From the first meeting, she challenged me as a person and as a professional. Refusing to cooperate, arguing with my decisions, questioning the way I was leading the group. I decided to ignore her, not to react to her comments and negative attitude. After about half a year I realized that my decision of ignoring her (and the problem) was a very bad one. It undermined the team spirit, every meeting was uncomfortable for each team member, and there was almost no cooperation, no sharing, and learning from each other. There were just individual teachers sitting in a meeting, waiting to get out of there as soon as possible.  

I changed my approach and decided to get to know her, I listened to what she was saying and considered it when making decisions. I asked questions, interacted with her, and involved her in team interactions, making sure to change the subjects or guide the discussion in a positive way. Second year of working together we ended up having a quite friendly but professional relationship. We are sharing our practices, collaborating, and even having meals together with the team outside of school.  

Dilemmas

Taking into consideration the dilemmas we talked about I think, that sticking to my bad decision for months was the result of me being unable to recognize how my emotions caused my bad choice. Reflecting on the above-described decision I think my decision of not facing a challenging colleague came from my unconscious biases. I considered this colleague a traditional teacher with a fixed mindset, who is unable to change her ways just because of her origin. 

I did fall into the framing trap a couple of times, the way she framed the problems for me, I did not go deeper into the problem but accepted the initial frame. I know now that when others recommend a decision (or push for it, as this colleague used to do) I need to examine the way they are framed for me.

Another dilemma I was facing in this case was the ethical considerations. For a couple of months, I failed to recognize the moral implications of my choice. I focused more on the individual rather than on the group's/team's interest and positive collaboration. 

My favorite worse decision - hidden traps

My favorite worse decision

My favorite worst decision was dealing with the most challenging colleague I have ever had. From the first meeting, she challenged me as a person and as a professional. Refusing to cooperate, arguing with my decisions, questioning the way I was leading the group. I decided to ignore her, not to react to her comments and negative attitude. After about half a year I realized that my decision of ignoring her (and the problem) was a very bad one. It undermined the team spirit, every meeting was uncomfortable for each team member, and there was almost no cooperation, no sharing, and learning from each other. There were just individual teachers sitting in a meeting, waiting to get out of there as soon as possible.  

I changed my approach and decided to get to know her, I listened to what she was saying and considered it when making decisions. I asked questions, interacted with her, and involved her in team interactions, making sure to change the subjects or guide the discussion in a positive way. Second year of working together we ended up having a quite friendly but professional relationship. We are sharing our practices, collaborating, and even having meals together with the team outside of school.   

Hidden Traps

One of the dilemmas that I had was about relationships.  As a new team leader, not knowing my colleagues, I was afraid that some of my decisions would have a negative effect on our relationship, harm the team spirit, and undermine my goal to build a cooperative team, where team members feel welcomed with their ideas and are confidently sharing and contributing.  

Another dilemma I had was stepping out of my comfort zone. It was my first time dealing with such a challenging colleague. I always thought I was able to handle conflicts and challenging team members, but I had to learn my ways too, think outside the box, and face the challenge after all.  

Day 4 Leadership Reflection

Leadership Reflection

One of the main takeaways for me today was the discussion and the new perspective I got from looking at addressing symptoms versus looking at the root cause. I understand now that oftentimes my decision was not based on trying to solve the root cause of a problem but rather stayed on the surface, treating the symptoms. We need to slow down and look deeper into what causes the problem, and take the time to figure the root cause out. Finding the root cause means for example to talk to everyone involved, individually, to get to know our team. We have to ask ourselves "WHY is this happening?" We should look at data from different sources and be objective when investigating further. The activity of asking at least five times "WHY?" to answer a problem was very interesting and difficult as well. I felt that finding the root cause of a problem is not always easy. 

Another interesting learning for me today was the discussion about organizational alignment. We looked at the Congruence Model and how the five building blocks (critical tasks and interdependences; culture; structures; capabilities and leadership) have to work together and be aligned. We also discussed how each component affects one another. I think using this model in a school setting is a must, to improve the effectiveness of a school, especially if new learning methods or structures are implemented. 

Day 5 Leadership Reflection

Leadership Reflection

Today's session was about moral issues and dilemmas. We have started to discuss Kidder's 9 checkpoints for Ethical Decision Making. 

The first step is to recognize that there is a moral issue. It was interesting to see the graph about all right vs all wrong. We might think that everything is black or white or that everything is grey. It is really important to think about what would we fight for, and what we stand up for. We would also think that evil is intentional, but we need to consider what is the effect and if we are causing harm. 

We also talked about how there is a moral implication of doing nothing. We often say at school "There is nothing I can do, it is the system." As leaders, we can not transfer the school's structures entirely but we have to think clearly about what we are able to do (instead of blaming the system). 

I noted down the  following quote: 

"It is not evil doers who are the problem in education organizations, it is others tolerating or even obeying those who commit evils."

My understanding of this quote is that the main issue at a school might not be the presence of individuals who engage in unethical decision-making, but the tolerance and compliance of others within the school who allow unethical decisions to happen. So in this regard ethical decision-making should be a collective accountability, every member of the school community has an obligation for ethical actions.

We need to be mindful that ethics is part of our decisions. We are all capable of evil but if we make sure that the system is in place and identify what is the moral issue, we are able to make an ethical decision. 

We also talked about who the actors are in a dilemma, who is responsible for the problem or dilemma, and whose dilemma really is. Sometimes we have dilemmas when there are two right decisions and two right answers. The question we need to ask is "Am I responsible for this decision?"

I have also learned that we need to determine who the actors are and most and foremost identify and deal with the main actor. 

Day 3 Leadership Reflection

Leadership Reflection

As we started to deeper our learning about different decision-making models, I found a lot of new and interesting information during the session today. The participatory decision-making versus autocratic approach was very interesting for me. I would put myself more on the participatory side, however, I do believe that there are times when leaders need to be more autocratic. 

The idea that running a school is not democracy was really interesting. There is time for participatory decision making and there are times when this approach doesn't work. It was eye-opening to think about how much participation and power should be involved in decision-making. If I think about my team leader role and decision making practice, the school's management does emphasize to collaborate and take the decisions together. However, there were times last year, when I really had to stand up and say, guys this is what we are going to do and period. Either because it was really hard to agree on something or the teachers just didn't want to change something (just because it wasn't the way they were used to do it).  

We also talked about each decision having a cost. The cost of lots of participants but no decision power is that the decision will be slow and it can result in paralysis by analysis and it can also create conflicts. We need to consider how much the participants understand the problem and are experts involved in decision-making. On the other side, if there is no participation and no power then means the decision is autocratic. 

Another important discussion was about the vision and mission of the schools, and how everything we do at school should be tied to the vision. We talked about what a good vision looks like, and that it should start with the outcome: What do we want our students to be? What really matters? We said that great visions are inspiring, concise (catchy), and clear to everyone (including the students). When creating the vision of a school we should avoid vague phrases like "we want to have life-long learners". It was very interesting to think about the admission process through the lens of the vision of the school. I have never thought of this before, that the two should be connected, that vision should be the core of everything we are doing at school. I've learnt that we have to bring our vision and mission statement alive every single day. 

Day 2 Leadership Reflection

Leadership Reflection

The first activity about "The Circle Way" was very beneficial for me. I really liked that we had to bring in a tangible artifact that we put in the middle of the circle. It was very informative to listen to the participants' short presentation about an effective leader. I liked the idea of not interrupting anyone, not asking questions, and just actively listening to each other. Oftentimes we jump in with questions when we are sharing and how this circle way worked was really helpful. It made us focus all our attention on the person speaking. Handing around a talking stick was very helpful as well, it seemed like a ritual, where the person with the stick was empowered to speak and was at the center of attention.

The other thing that stayed with me today was the discussion about decision-making dilemmas.  I had the opportunity to reflect on my decision-making practice and to think about what areas I struggle with the most when making decisions. I definitely struggle when relationships are involved (eg. friends). I have learned that there are no perfect choices and we need to identify the cost of our decision and try to figure out ways to reduce the cost as much as possible. I have also learned that I will never be able to make a good decision if I am always looking at all factors. 

Lastly, I would mention the quote by Margaret Atwood. Whatever decision we might take, there will always be someone who feels it is unfair.  

Day 1 Leadership Reflection

Problems of Leadership Reflection

The group activity about the loss of cargo was the most exciting activity for me today. I have learned the importance of framing, something I was not aware of till today. I have learned how important the way we categorize things is in our decision-making. Categorization has a huge effect on how we deal with problems.

The discussion about framing made me realize how framing affects our choices and decisions day by day. Often times the available or presented options are framed in a way that can get us into traps. I also learned from the activity that we as leaders are not required to accept the presented options, we can think outside the box, not being afraid of asking for more options, different solutions, and different perspectives. I can use this in my daily practice as well, and I feel I am more aware now of how I will look into the problems or options presented to me. 

Another thing that stayed with me from today's session is that good leaders embrace problems. I too find myself avoiding problems or conflicts sometimes, just to stay out of "trouble". Often times I find it challenging to have difficult conversations. Reflecting on the conversation today, I feel more empowered to embrace problems, and to find and deal with problems instead of avoiding or postponing them. 

It was also great to reflect on our primary and most important goal and focus: LEARNING! Thinking and reflecting on why are we doing what we are doing, looking into what learning is going on in Year 1 classes, asking myself day by day what can I do as a teacher and team leader to help learning at school today. 

We also talked about Areas of Practice. In my notes I jotted down what areas I feel are stronger and what areas need improvement in my practice. 

As a year-level team leader, I think I am doing much better in regard to building relationships, leading a learning community, developing people, and setting directions. I have experienced dealing with a variety of teaching colleagues, school staff, students, and parents from different cultures, countries, and religions. However, I would need improvement in ensuring accountability and leading the organization. As a team leader, I do not have the authority or role to lead the organization. However, I can increase the Year 1 teaching team's accountability by making sure that each team member knows exactly what the expectations are and that we tie the planning (teaching and learning in our classrooms) to the vision and mission of the school. 

Day 5 Daily Action

Daily Action

The daily action I need to really consider every day from now on is favoritism in the classroom. Thinking and reflecting on an ethical dilemma we have had, made me realize that I am still showing small favoritism in my classroom even if I know that it is not right. 

I feel I am more conscious about this ethical dilemma now and I will work on it daily to eliminate all kinds of favoritism in my classroom. One thing I can do to really stick with my classroom rules, and be consistent with them. 

Ethical Dilemma

I was at the beginning of my teaching career when one year the Principal's son was in my classroom. I wasn't sure how to handle the situation, and there were quite a few times at the beginning of the year when I showed small favoritism to him, even if I knew it wasn't the right thing to do.

I realized what I was doing and that the children were totally aware of the situation when on time he brought a small toy to the school and I did not say anything. It was a hot season, and break time was in the classroom. The boy got the toy out of his school bag and brought it inside the classroom and started to play with it. Our class and school rule was that no toys were allowed from home. No students were allowed in my classroom to bring or play with toys brought from home. When the principal's son started to play with his toy, I just pretended I didn't see it. 

A small group of children came to me and asked, why is he allowed to play with a toy that was not a classroom resource. I said something like "Oh do not worry it is just a small toy". The other child immediately replied, "Yes, because he is the Principal's son." 

At that moment I realized that what I was doing was wrong. Even if, for me did not seem a big deal (it is just a toy), I was showing favoritism to one particular child, which started to become obvious to the other children. 

Who are the actors? Who was involved? The Principal's son and me. 

Was it a right or wrong issue for me? It was a right vs. wrong issue for me. 

Day 4 Daily Action

Daily Action

Finding the root cause of the problems would be an action I would start to do from now on in my everyday practice. That includes problems in the classroom, problems with parents, colleagues, etc. 

Today's discussion about treating symptoms versus finding out the root cause was very interesting to me. I had a problem the other day, two students arguing. My decision and action was that I separated the two students. But looking at it now, I understand that I did not solve the problem, just treated the symptoms. I should have asked why the incident had happened and taken the time to talk to the students, one by one then together, to find out what the real cause of their argument was and then find a solution together. 

Day 3 Daily Action

Daily Action

I very much liked the Eisenhower matrix today. I usually keep my to-do list in my daily Google calendar. It shows deadlines and tasks to do each day. However, it does not help in organizing and managing tasks and deadlines.

Being a team leader, the matrix could help me manage my time more efficiently and prioritize my tasks so I don't end up forgetting tight deadlines any more. I can also use the matrix during team meetings. We usually follow an agenda and jot down what is coming up without prioritizing. 

The matrix can help the team effectively prioritize tasks and responsibilities. This way we can stay focused. As our days become busy it would help us stay focused and avoid wasting time on agenda items that are not important. 

Assessing the vision statement

 The English Modern School's Vision Statement

"Empowered learners that pursue continuous growth and positively impact their world."

Re-draft vision statement: 

At EMSW our vision is to empower learners to pursue continuous growth through ownership of learning, social-emotional development, and reflection to positively impact their world.   

Day 2 Daily Action

Daily Action

The discussion about fairness made me think a lot today. How fair am I with my students and my colleagues? How do I define fairness at school? I am using an ongoing formative assessment approach to assess my students, but am I fair? Am I meeting each student where they are? The assessments we use to grade and report students are mostly standardized. In the discussion today it struck me that even if my school values student growth, we use standardized tests to measure their growth.  

My action would be to make my daily observations and formative assessments more fair for the variety of students I have in the classroom. Fair measures that recognize the differences, offer accommodations and adjustments where needed, and do not follow the "one size fits all" approach. 

My favorite worse decision

My favorite worse decision

My favorite worst decision was the way I dealt with the most challenging colleague I have ever had. From the first meeting, she challenged me as a person and as a professional: refusing to cooperate, arguing with my decisions, questioning the way I was leading the group, and so on. I decided to ignore her, not to react to her comments and negative attitude. After about half a year I realized that my decision to ignore her (and the problems she caused) was a very bad one. It undermined the team spirit, every meeting was uncomfortable for each team member, and there was almost no cooperation, no sharing, and learning from each other. There were just individual teachers sitting in a meeting, waiting to get out of there as soon as possible.  

I changed my approach and decided to get to know her, I listened to what she was saying and considered it when making decisions. I asked questions, interacted with her, and involved her in team interactions, making sure to change the subjects or guide the discussion in a positive way. Second year of working together we ended up having a quite friendly but professional relationship. We are sharing our practices, collaborating, and even having meals together with the team outside of school.   

Day 1 Daily Action

Daily Action

My takeaway for today was that our personality affects the way we make decisions. It made me think and reflect on myself as a team leader. What kind of person am I as a Team Leader? How do others see me as a colleague and as a Team Leader? 

The action I will take is to observe myself how I interact with my team members during meetings and how I make decisions in the classroom as a teacher and as a team leader. Am I listening to and considering all options? How do I feel, and how do my feelings, beliefs, and values shape the way I make decisions? I will also talk to my colleagues and team members and ask their feedback on how do they see me and how can I be a better leader? 

I will definitely try to be a more reflective team leader.