Context

Educational Philosophy

As an educator I am tasked to create an environment where students are given the chance to interact with the subject areas and teachers are equipped with the tools, support, and freedom to teach. The capstone of education resides in relationships. Understanding both students and teachers, their backgrounds, their needs, and their passions is crucial. Teacher leaders must seek to positively promote the education system within the community through local and state level advocacy. I will continually demonstrate a high standard of professionalism in the education setting to positively influence public education.

Educational Context

I am currently in my 15th year as an educator. Five of those years were in Idaho, one in Kyrgyzstan, and the remaining in Montana. This is my first year in Jefferson High School after relocating from the eastern side of Montana. I am teaching 9^th Grade Physical Science.

Jefferson school district is unique in that it is one of the few independent 9-12 school districts in Montana. Jefferson High School is fed by several independent K-8 elementary districts. Because of this, I would label Jefferson as a rural commuter school. Students have lengthy bus travel and numerous faculty members commute from both Butte and Helena.

Due to the district’s wide swath, there is variances in student demographics. However, the socio-economic status seems to follow a pattern of higher status in the northern reaches of the district and then lessoning as one travels South.

Regarding Union involvement, due to the fact this is my first year in the Jefferson District I am just getting my feet underneath me and seeing where a need arises. Prior, I have always been involved at both the local and state level, attending various trainings and seminars, as well as state level legislative committees. My goal is to grow in state level involvement.

How does awareness of your own biases, experiences of privilege, and personal values inform your chosen Capstone Project?

My greatest difficulty taking on TLI has been past leadership positions and opportunities I have experienced while working in past positions. This is my first year in the Jefferson school district and with 15 years of teaching experience in various positions, both teaching and Administration, I am well aware of my own biases of how successful schools and organizations should operate. Due to this, I realized roughly midway into the TLI process that I needed to take a conscious decision to take small steps within the my new school district. I realized I could not be effective if I sought large monumental changes . Additionally, I decided it highly important to have a fellow colleague within the school to embark on the TLI process with my and work on a project together. I encourage fellow teacher Mary Anne McMahon, High School Math Teacher in Jefferson School District, to join TLI and I am very glad I did.

Marry Anne's newness to union involvement did two things for my personal bias: First, I realized the importance of encouraging others to become involved, however reluctant they may be. Second, she was a constant leveling mechanism for me to keep our project focused and simple. I soon realized that small changes can have a large effect.

Overarching Competency Number One: Interpersonal Effectiveness - Emerging to Developing:

Having Administration experience I truly believed in seeking, finding, and developing the skills each staff member possesses. Being new to the district I was at emerging, simply because I had to gain an understanding of staff members, their interests, and skills. As the year progressed I labeled myself developing because key like-minded relationships, both with union and non-union staff members have been established. Most importantly, I believe encouraging Mary Anne McMahon to partake in TLI and work with her along the way is evidence for this growth.

Overarching Competency Number Two: Group Process - Emerging to Developing

I strongly believe that policy, procedures, and contextual norms need to guide the group process. This has grown out of my tenure on the State of Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission. In order to be effective, the commission had to operate within guiding policy, administrative rules, and statute authority. I believe this standard also serves local teacher unions well. When policy, procedures and norms are accepted and followed by the group it limits the chance of exclusion, disrespect, and inequity. I measure my growth during TLI as emerging to developing due to our (Mary Anne and I) work to get the union to advertise, hold, and effectively communicate meetings and meeting outcomes.

Foundational Competency: Explore and Challenge Inequities - Emerging

Being new to the District I am still gaining a measure of the inequities and it is an area of personal constant growth.

Association Leadership: Building Capacity in Others - Emerging to Developing

As stated in Overarching Competency Interpersonal Effectiveness, I strongly believe in seeking out and building capacity in others. Encouraging Mary Anne to join TLI was a start of this and I will continue to work with and challenge others within the school district.

Describe your work with diverse stakeholders, shared learning experiences, and how you anticipate your leadership pathway mindset might evolve during the TLI process.

The public education setting is grounded and built upon diversity, learning, growing in leadership and encouraging others to take on leadership positions as well. I believe my mindset will both be further grounded and challenged. The challenge aspect will be highly important in regard to building stronger relationships and encourage those individuals to grow as well.

Describe how your awareness of those from different cultures, experiences, and backgrounds inform your chosen project.

Establishing strong and effective communication within the union to bolster union involvement and membership numbers can be achieved through both interpersonal effectiveness and group process. My experiences in previous union leadership and leadership on state level commission will guide this project.