EDUC6090: Instructional Leadership/Decision Making

Jay CellanteFall 2010

Hello! My Name is ...

•Who Are You?•What Do You Do?•Why Are You Here?

LearningACQUIRING NEW KNOWLEDGE, BEHAVIORS, SKILLS, VALUES, PREFERENCES OR UNDERSTANDING, AND MAY INVOLVE SYNTHESIZING DIFFERENT TYPES OF INFORMATION.

SystemA SET OF INTERACTING OR INDEPENDENT ENTITIES FORMING AN INTEGRATED WHOLE.

Decision making, also referred to as problem solving, is the process of recognizing a problem or opportunity and finding a solution to it.

Instructional Decision Making

THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF KNOWLEDGE FORMING AN INTEGRATED WHOLE THAT PRODUCES AN OUTCOME OF MENTAL PROCESSES LEADING TO THE SELECTION OF A COURSE OF ACTION AMONG SEVERAL ALTERNATIVES. EVERY DECISION MAKING PROCESS PRODUCES A FINAL CHOICE. THE OUTPUT CAN BE AN ACTION OR AN OPINION OF CHOICE.

Who Teaches?•TEACHERS.•ADMINISTRATORS.•MANAGERS.•PARENTS.•WE ALL TEACH.

WHO DECIDES WHAT SYSTEM WILL BE USED?

•School Boards?•Superintendents?•Principals?•Curriculum Coordinators?•Teachers?

Will It Work?THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF ANY SYSTEM DEMANDS THE SUPPORT OF ADMINISTRATION. WITHOUT IT, ANY SYSTEM IS DOOMED TO FAIL.

THE ANALYTIC PROCESSES

Analytic Processes for School LeadersRichetti and Tregoe

The Problem

• You have a class that meets 8 times for a total of 32 hours. Included in the requirements are two individual presentations, covering information in two textbooks, and a final exam. Also included is a session in the library. The problem is there are 27-30 students in the class.

• How would you solve this problem? Eliminating students is not acceptable.

SELECT • State the decision.• Establish and classify objectives.• List alternatives.• Evaluate alternatives• Consider risks.• Trust your work-pick a winner!

SELECT• Situation: DECISION to be MADE

One course of action or solution must be selected from among several possible options.

Pg. 14

PLAN• Predict potential problems.• List likely causes.•Agree on preventive actions.•Note contingent actions.

PLAN• Situation: IMPLEMENTATION

Upcoming plans, changes, and actions will be implemented.

FIND•Focus on the problem.• Identify what is and is not.•Narrow possible causes.•Determine the true cause.

FIND• Situation: PROBLEM

Something has gone wrong or an unknown cause has produced some undesired effect.

SCAN•See the issues.•Clarify the issues.•Assess priorities.•Name next steps.

SCAN• Situation: COMPLEX

There are multi-faceted scenarios having multiple variables and elements.

CHAPTER TWO

• THINKING ABOUT QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS

• We all need to be thinkers.• Information changes more rapidly than

our ability to acquire or master it.• Requires us to be lifelong learners.• We are expected to work effectively

with a wider range of people.

WHEN TEACHERS ASK THE QUESTIONS

• Primary teaching vehicle or to reinforce teaching.

• Encourage deeper thought.• Positive correlation between frequency of

questioning and student learning.• Elementary teachers see questions primarily as

vehicles to assess what the students know and how well they have been taught – not to stretch thinking.

WHEN TEACHERS ASK THE QUESTIONS

• Teachers ask between 300 and 400 hundred questions daily.

• Most questions are factual.• Teachers outtalked their students by a ratio of

3 to 1.• Most of this talk is instruction through telling

with no response.• This encourages passive learning.

WHEN STUDENTS ASK THE QUESTIONS

• Increases motivation to learn.• Improves comprehension and retention.• Encourages creativity and innovation.• Teaches how to think and learn.• Provides a basis for problem solving and

decision making.

WHAT CONSTITUTES GOODPROBLEM- SOLVING QUESTIONING?

–Process Questions• Tend to be open-ended• Apply to any situation.• Generate much information from few

questions.• Put burden of knowing content on answerer.• Systematically probe for information gaps.• Develop thinking skills of answerer.

WHAT CONSTITUTES GOODPROBLEM- SOLVING QUESTIONING?

–Content Questions• Tend to be closed-ended.• Apply to a specific situation.• Generate little information from many

questions.• Randomly find information gaps.• Produce limited developmental benefits.