Aim
Discuss about the Leadership for International Journal of Management Reviews.
It is necessary for every individual to have a specific professional development plan for the purpose of learning more while they are in their specific profession and also because of the fact that advancement in necessary in every sphere of learning. Teaching is a profession which entails the proper awareness regarding the procedures which can positively impact the teaching process. The personal development plan helps an individual improve on his or her weak areas and emerge even more successful as an individual.
The aim of this report is to provide a personal development plan for the teacher whose leadership and personal journey has been clearly mentioned in the previous assignment. The personal development plan considers five major priorities which need to be worked on and the time period needed for development along with the target level of proficiency. The influence on the national and organisational cultures on the leadership is also explained clearly.
In case the teaching procedure is dependent on achievement levels of the students and the overall assessments, the effectiveness of the teaching procedure is impacted. It is therefore essential to understand the areas of expertise of the teacher and those areas where the person is not that capable (Nesbit, 2012).
On the basis on my personal journey I can state that there are certain areas which need improvement. In case I can focus on these areas I am confident that I can emerge an even better teacher and an even better leader. In case these areas are achieved, it will also help the students become even better in their lives and get better opportunities for themselves.
Table 1: Personal and professional development plan:
Area of Focus |
Present Level of proficiency |
Target level of proficiency |
Opportunities for development |
Criteria for judging the success |
The particular time frame |
|
Priority 1 |
Maintaining a sense of equality among all the students in the classroom. |
I am of the opinion that the level of proficiency which I possess can be improved a lot. Often amidst all my responsibilities I forget to give equal importance to all the students all over. |
I feel that the dependency on student-teacher relationships is huge and therefore it is utmost essential to ensure that the students feel free to communicate with me at all levels. |
I feel that in case I am successful in establishing positive relationships with the students, the relationships will be maintained outside of the curriculum as well and this will help me focus on the overall establishment of the students in their lives. |
I feel that the establishment of the relationships will be successful only if the students can ask anything to me without worrying about anything which can happen or come about in their lives. |
I think that there cannot be any time frame for the development of the skills, however I think a span of certain months is enough to cultivate this sort of relationship. |
Priority 2 |
Development of the art and craft cultures |
I feel I am more or less alright in this particular aspect. However I feel it needs improvement. |
Since I consider it to be one of the best parts of my personality I want it to be one of the aspects of the students’ characteristics in which they have achieved a certain level of expertise. |
There are several opportunities for development in the fields of art and craft. Students can also get engaged in the careers which involve art and craft. |
Only in case I see that the students have been able to achieve a certain degree of success in the fields of art and craft with taking an active interest in the work. |
I feel that in this case one year is enough to develop the necessary skills. |
Priority 3 |
Courage and capability to take risks |
I am of the opinion that I need to be more courageous in taking decisions concerned to the overall impact of the class. |
I want to ensure that there should be no problems impacting the students due to decisions which I refuse to take due to that of courage. |
Courageous decisions are extremely powerful. These have the capability of making an impact on the lives of the students and that of any person whatsoever. |
In case I find after self inspection that reasons for taking a decision no longer make me afraid and I am focussed and courageous with respect to the outcomes, I would consider my aim to have been achieved. |
The situation needs time might be a couple of years. |
Priority 4 |
Clarity in the overall work situations of the people |
I am more or less clear about the work but become confused when there are several number of tasks to be handled. |
There needs to be 100% clarity in all my dealings and functions. This is bound to help in the overall development of the people. |
Clarity is extremely crucial. It is crucial because the decisions which are made based on the practical decisions have to be genuine and suitable. |
I can declare that clarity can be said to be achieved in all the decisions when there is a clear flow of the work to be done. |
It will need a certain amount of months for the time. |
Priority 5 |
Fairness and impartiality |
I feel that I am impartial to a certain extent but there often exists tendencies where I become favourable to the better performers which need to be changed at all costs. |
I need to ensure that I am fair and impartial in all my dealings with the students and do not look down upon those students who perform less or always favour those students who perform more. |
Here are myriad opportunities for development because the students are bound to look up to a teacher who is impartial and in case I am impartial the students are bound to trust me. |
When students always come to me and consider me to be genuine then I can conclude that I have attained the desired level of fairness and impartiality |
This needs a couple of months to be cultivated properly. |
It cannot be said that teachers are perfect individuals. They are bound to possess some shortcomings and problems in the situations. Self improvement is considered to be the major purpose of introspection. Therefore the teachers should focus on self improvement and focus on those areas which need to be changed in this particular connection. There needs to be a proper recognition of the problems which the students are facing and the flaws need to be mended at all times. The goals need to be achieved by way of giving timely goals to the teachers themselves and therefore completing them (Ward, 2016).
The teachers need to have their own identity and individuality. In this connection I feel that I need to ensure that all the goals need to be fulfilled at the timelines which I have set for myself. The level of self awareness of is necessary in order to fulfil all the responsibilities of the members. In case my students see that their teacher is fulfilling his or her goals they are also bound to follow suit and complete the same.
Personal and Professional Development Plan
There are several gaps which are experienced at the time of personal and leadership development plan. There needs to be a balance between the aims of work and the situation which are to be maintained. The situation involves several dynamic situations which need to be modified based on requirements. The students need to be dealt with properly and a positive example needs to be set for them. Careful identification of gaps in the situations arising in my school needs to be identified suitably.
The future aspirations which I have mentioned with respect to my development plan needs to be analysed. There might be instances where a huge amount of difference exists between my present situation and the goals which I have set for myself. Therefore it needs to be ensured that the future aspirations should not be unrealistic and they need to be gradual and worth depending on (Nesbit, 2012).
There are different categories of the organisational cultures which are dependent on the performance of the individuals in their spheres of performance. The cultures of different nations are different. Based on these cultures it needs to be ensured that the different cultures are imbibed so that the overall advancement of the cultures is possible. This is the duty of the teachers to ensure that the cultures and levels of organisational commitment are suitable enough for relevant application (Sadri, 2012).
The success of any type of organisation which includes even the teaching institutes is strongly dependent on the capability of building effective and dynamic leaders. There need to be executives where they have their appropriate skills and the perspectives on the positions of leadership. In this connection it can be said that with respect to the teachers, they need to possess the skills in order to ensure that all the priorities of the development plan are to be ensured.
One of the most suitable leadership theories which are concerned with the effectiveness of leaders is the trait theory. This is the theory which focuses on the successful establishment of the qualities of the leaders which is responsible for their particular effectiveness. The specific traits such confidence, charisma, knowledge assist the leaders in order to reach a situation which is much more effectiveness which entirely is reliant on the traits which help the people to achieve the goal which has been stated (Busse, Abone & Tefera, 2014).
Another crucial theory in this connection is that of the behaviour theory. The leaders might demonstrate certain behaviours which can prove to be essential for their organisational success. The leaders need to demonstrate the behaviours which are task oriented or people oriented. These tasks help in the overall development of the teachers as effective communicators. Therefore I feel that the behavioural theory is very much applicable in my case and this is helpful in the implementation of the development plan. In case I can be fair and impartial it will help me in the overall development of my school students and will be responsible for making me a responsible teacher.
Increase in Self-Awareness and Goals
The contingency theory of leadership is extremely essential as it helps in the effectiveness of leadership is connected to the interplay of the traits of a leader, their behaviours in addition to other situational factors. A model under this category of leadership states that the performance of a group is dependent on the style of leadership and the favourability of the situation. In connection to my leadership plan I can easily state that in case I perform my duties properly, my students will also be positively impacted by my behaviour and perform the tasks effectively.
The charismatic leadership theory is that which commands the authority due to the formality of the position and due to the personality of the leader. In this connection I can clearly say that the envisioning the future, proper amount of empathy for the students and the empowerment comprise the major components of this leadership. In this connection I can say that showcasing the factors of the charismatic leadership theory are bound to help me achieve the priorities which I have set for myself in connection to my school and students in the development plan.
I feel I can also apply the transactional theory of leadership in case I feel that the students need to be scolded for not fulfilling their duties and their responsibilities clearly and this helps them in establishment of an overall help in the situations. However this theory should not be applied in majority of the situation.
Another crucial model of effective leadership is that of transformational theory. The leaders are capable of inspiring followers with the specific vision as well as personality to change expectations, perceptions and the motivation for working towards achievable situations.
Conclusion:
It is the duty of teachers to be diligent and responsible. They need to maintain their overall duties at all times and therefore it needs to be ensured that the teachers set up proper aims and targets for their students so that they also become responsible citizens of tomorrow. The personal and leadership development plan is an important tool which helps in such an achievement.
It is recommended that the personal development plan be followed diligently and thereby improve on the weak areas or the areas which need a certain level of improvement.
References and Bibliography:
Busse, H., Aboneh, E. A., & Tefera, G. (2014). Learning from developing countries in strengthening health systems: an evaluation of personal and professional impact among global health volunteers at Addis Ababa University’s Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (Ethiopia). Globalization and health, 10(1), 64.
Capps, D. K., Crawford, B. A., & Constas, M. A. (2012). A review of empirical literature on inquiry professional development: Alignment with best practices and a critique of the findings. Journal of science teacher education, 23(3), 291-318.
Carter, L., Ulrich, D., & Goldsmith, M. (Eds.). (2012). Best practices in leadership development and organization change: How the best companies ensure meaningful change and sustainable leadership (Vol. 18). John Wiley & Sons.
Mabey, C. (2013). Leadership development in organizations: Multiple discourses and diverse practice. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(4), 359-380.
Nesbit, P. L. (2012). The role of self-reflection, emotional management of feedback, and self-regulation processes in self-directed leadership development. Human Resource Development Review, 11(2), 203-226.
Sadri, G. (2012). Emotional intelligence and leadership development. Public Personnel Management, 41(3), 535-548.
Ward, J. (2016). Keeping the family business healthy: How to plan for continuing growth, profitability, and family leadership. Springer.
Zepeda, S. J. (2013). Professional development: What works. Routledge.