Philosophy of Education
“Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and make him what he should be.” -Goethe
This quote encompasses my belief about education and the responsibility that I have as a leader in education to ensure that the place where we educate students is a framework for supporting lifelong learners. I believe that individuals live up to our perceptions of who they are. Their perceptions of our beliefs and values through our actions and words become their realities.
What we put into the minds of children becomes embedded in who they are to become. Every interaction that he have with a child, whether it is greeting them as they walk into the school or comforting them when they are troubled, becomes a part of their frame of reference for their school experience.
As a leader, it is my belief that I have a responsibility to create, foster, and maintain a climate and culture that creates a set of beliefs and experiences that are infused with the principles of success, setting goals, hard work, determination, and a sense of ownership in learning.
As educators, we must understand that when parents send us their children they are not sending the worst and leaving the best at home. Students are more than their circumstances. We have to look at every student that walks through our doors as a future contributor to our society. Using this as our frame of reference allows us to remove any preconceived notions of ability and focus on providing students with the foundation that will help them develop their ideas of success.
Students come to us with intrinsic and extrinsic concepts that may be barriers or temporary stumbling blocks to their learning. Our charge is to provide our students with the resources and ownership of their learning that will allow them to carve out a pathway to success.
Philosophy of Leadership
As a leader in education, it is my responsibility to be a visionary for my district. Collaborating with all stakeholders to develop, implement, and maintain effective systems and structures to promote student success is one of the most important roles of a leader. We must also build capacity in our teachers through collaboration and peer staff development to align our instruction with a set of essential elements that stand as the guidelines for what we expect our student to know. Once the essentials have been established, we must ensure that students are aware of our learning goals and that we provide them with an opportunity to learn in a manner that is engaging.
As a collaborative team, we must remember as we plan for the instruction we provide students we must remember to ensure that we foster a goal oriented and open environment to enhance learning as a professional learning community. To reach these goals we must have commitment. Our level of commitment will drive our results. My commitment to learning and belief in the importance of building relationships with all stake holders is the foundation of my leadership beliefs.
The foundational principle of leadership that I follow is one of democratic collaboration with all stake-holders. From school vision to daily procedures, it is important to include students, parents, staff members and community stake-holders as partners in education and in making educational decisions that affect the school environment. Since I have taken the principal position at Aguirre Junior High School I was able to motivate the staff and students by promoting a positive culture and climate. As a result we have been named AVID Site of Distinction and AVID National Demonstration School. With the advent of these distinguished honors, my campus hosts many site visits from campuses all over the country. Students are featured prominently in these showcases modeling the qualities that we uphold in our school vision and mission. Many of my staff members have received promotions in various fields of education due to my ability to build a solid leadership team and cultivate leadership opportunities for all staff members. These achievements simply underscore building capacity within the school environment in which all stakeholders are active participants in the learning process.
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When visitors and district administrators come to our campus, they don't see me leading meetings, presentations, and planning initiatives in my office behind a desk. What they see are students, teachers, and even parents leading the charge to improve our school culture and community. I provide resources, recommendations, and whatever support is necessary to ensure that my campus is successful; everyone on it feels that they are able to make a positive contribution. Autonomy coupled with responsibility is an ideal that I firmly stand upon, and my students and staff know this, have clear expectations, and administrative assistance. Frequently, I conduct Learning Walks and leave notes on the teacher's desk highlighting something positive I witnessed at that time.
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A major part of our campus culture is staff and student celebrations. We host student dances, family movie nights, 8th Grade Prom, Field Days, field trips, and award ceremonies. In the hallway, we acknowledge student achievement with honor roll certificates posted on the walls. In addition, I want my staff--from custodian to assistance principal to know that I appreciate their dedicated efforts every day, so I plan food truck days and special staff celebrations to show my gratitude for all they do.