Upon completing my degree, I hope to be a successful graduate ready for an administrative role. I wish to be a school district administrator to lead and oversee educational programs and supervise all staff. A career as an administrator, especially in an educational organization, can be stressful with many responsibilities, but it is rewarding. As someone appointed into leadership, this paper presents a project management report of my vision as a leader.
Leadership vision
My vision of the organization in the aspect of learning is, all students must learn and become successful in the future. To see this vision realized, the following goals and objectives have to be met.
- Ensure students acquire socio-emotional skills by the time they complete their learning and are ready for the job market or advanced studies.
- The objectives for this goal include ensuring teachers instruct socio-emotional skills explicitly, socio-emotional language to be used in learning environments, improved teacher-student interactions, and setting positive expectations.
- The organization has to ensure that by the time students complete the course program, they attain above-average grades in all programs.
- The objective for this includes working closely with subject teachers to complete tasks assigned, and make necessary consultations integrate adequate learning materials and supportive resources such as technology.
- Every child in the school community receives equal educational opportunity, especially the disadvantaged students.
- Teachers, parents, and other organizational stakeholders must identify and address disadvantages from early childhood.
- Teaching should be done at the right pace, especially for weak students.
- Learning resources and best teachers must be provided for disadvantaged students while empowering parents and the community to give support.
Defining the Vision
First, resources that will help see the organizational vision include sufficient readings materials, qualified educators, parents, school counselors, and technology-related inputs. In the focus of the vision, the organization will attain excellence and equity in the education process. Essential deliverables in this project include engagement, a well-motivated organization with a clear focus on where it is heading. Stakeholders will agree on the vision of the organization, and this will result in renewed commitments and enthusiasm for the work of the organization- an essential deliverable. The school district will have a clear picture of what it will be like in 2 to 5 years, and members will agree on core operating values and reflecting behaviors.
The purpose of this vision is to serve as a guiding beacon that depicts the type of a future that the organization aspires to see in learners who pass through it. The vision gives direction to everyone in the school district as they focus on attaining success. The boundaries of authority to help achieve the vision include working within the defined organizational policies, teachers, students, students, or other staff. For example, all students must abide by school regulations concerning disciplines; teachers have to exercise their control over students within the required standard, and parents have to ensure support. Every member of the organization must meet his or her responsibility for the vision to work. For instance, it is the role of instructors to provide teachings, ensure completion of the curriculum- planned by leaders, and communicate issues to the administrator. Collaboration is of utmost between the school board, teachers, students, and parents.
Constraint and Limitations
The greatest challenges anticipate would include lack of enough resources, issues of cultural diversity such as language, students, and parents’ norms, or beliefs that might make collaboration ineffective.
Level of Planning
For the vision to become successful, a strategic level of planning is required. Even though there is no magic bullet, few practices would result in a supported plan. The first strategy is getting everyone on board to agree on the model of planning for the vision. Drafting a document with terms for references will ensure everyone is on the same page. Second, the community will be engaged early in the process to gauge insights, preferences, and ideas as soon as possible. Lastly, collaborative leadership will pay off exponentially.
Changes in curriculum setting or need to integrate new tools such as technology might disrupt plans to attaining a vision. When this happens, it can be challenging to get organizational members as well as stakeholders on board. As such, communication might be affected most. The best way to adapt to setbacks or challenges is to ensure constant communication, feedback, and consultations. Holding focused groups more frequently will help devise and foresee challenges before they erupt.
Implementing the Vision
The first approach is vision communication through a collective response that is clear and easy to understand by everyone. The vision has to be displayed for easy accessibility, for instance, on websites, gates, logos, and using newsletters for parents to help live longer in the minds of stakeholders. The latter need to know what the vision means, and this will be achieved by identifying how every group connects with the vision. The nest step in implementing is supporting the vision through a behavioral change from set expectations of students or curriculum.
As with anything that is implemented in an organization, monitoring needs to take place. Vision review will be done annually; the notable progress will be shared or communicated through forums and meetings to all stakeholders. Process evaluations include reviewing whether set goals have been met as per the stated timeline, which marks the building block of the vision. Coordinating and implementing all aspects of the plan will be done through teamwork. Leadership and vision following is not a one-person job. I will set a team assigned with responsibilities such as taking surveys from key stakeholders for insights and support with the plan. Examples of these teams include academic leaders, community representatives, gender and diversity issue group, and student representatives.
Vision Completion
The vision will be completed on schedule- in about five years and on the budget allocated in supporting vision goals and objectives. To ensure students are well integrated into modern skills required for success in the job market, it will require investment in supportive measures such as enlightening on the use of technology. Also, keeping the vision real will require constant communication that would incur resources and hence cost factor. By approximate, a $15 million budget will help to see the completion of the vision. Plan implementation went as per the objectives which saw forth attainment of goals. Constant communication was paramount to keep people engaged and focused.
Lessons as a Leader
In this exercise, I have learned that, as a leader, a vision is a guide for followers and anyone who will benefit. A significant role of a leader in attaining the vision is to keep followers committed to it. Communication is paramount, and since I am a very social, supportive, a good listener, and open to people, I believe I have what it takes to be a leader. Thus, I am willing to take the task with help from a team that will help execute the vision. The kind of a team I need must include representatives for parents, students, educators per subjects, IT departments, curriculum planners, school board, and other staff.