Transfer Theory

When I think about transfer theory, I think about what Malcolm Gladwell describes as the 10,000 hour rule in his book Outliers. Although he refers mainly to athletes and musicians, this rule may be compared to administrator experience. I will provide an example of this later.
Transfer theory of learning is when an individual acquires the necessary skills and knowledge from another experienced individual and is able to apply them in practice. For example, a principal that mentors and prepares an assistant principal to take over when he or she retires. This example is the best case scenario and not always the case. Further, an assistant principal who is observant of the qualities of a principal will learn what to do or not to do in the future. The assistant will learn from the principal’s mistakes.
The video mentions that one job experience should help another. This may include individuals who are now in the education field that were previously employed in the private sector. Many of these individuals bring in managerial skills they learned with their previous employer. My experience with these individuals has been positive because they understand the need for students to learn about real-world experiences.
The 10,000 hour rule as described by Gladwell may be considered toward becoming an effective administrator. In order to attain the highest level of success we need the experience. Schlechty (2002) says that a leader is to inspire others to do things they might otherwise not do. This skill is not learned overnight. It takes time. It could take 10,000 hours.


Schlechty, P. C. (2002). Working on the work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Action Research

 Principals want solutions to their problems from parental involvement to improving the reading skills of kindergartners.  School leaders are now addressing these problems by conducting their own action research. This may be done by creating teams of teachers working collaboratively or forming committees at the district level to solve problems occurring district-wide.  An example of teachers working collaboratively may include teachers meeting during a common team planning period.  With the proper guidance, teachers should be able to identify a problem that needs to be addressed and work together to solve it.  Additionally, many districts are currently experiencing budget shortfalls and may need to cut programs that could possibly affect the district’s ratings.  The process of action research; assessing the problem, documenting the steps, analyzing the data and making decisions based on the data (Ferrance, 2000) is critical in finding solutions to these problems.  Not too long ago, districts were able to purchase software programs and printed materials that promised results sometimes without much research behind it. With action research, campuses are able to analyze the programs or teaching methods that best suit their students and not necessarily incur a monetary cost.  The benefits of action research are endless. I hope to expand my knowledge regarding action research and be able to implement it on campus and at the district level.

Ferrance, E. (2000). Themes in education action research.  Retrieved from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf

                                                                                                                           

School Leaders and Blogs

Schools that promote professional learning communities have learned that if a well developed master schedule is not in place may create difficulties with teachers working collaboratively to improve student performance.  Implementing a blog for the campus would allow teachers to work together and share ideas even without a common planning period. The principal would be allowed to view and respond to the teachers’ concerns and ideas. Further, allowing teachers to reflect on their current teaching practices.   

As school administrators, we ask teachers to lead by example.  Having teachers feel comfortable working with a blog, may in turn lead to a school-wide transformation to improving the way students learn. 

A superintendent, as mentioned in the videos, may use blogs as a tool to communicate with central office staff.  For many principals and supervisors, the school superintendent is readily accessible.   For larger districts this may not be conceivable.  Therefore, communicating by blogging may be the solution.  

My First Entry

Just setup my blog for my superintendency class.  I will definitely need to read up on how to do this.