Educational Leadership

Final Paper

When reflecting on the things I have learned through these past eight weeks I am glad I had the opportunity to take this class. I think that the thing that has been of greatest benefit to me in this class was the self-assessment projects that we have done. I'll admit that as I was taking them I didn't think they would be very useful to me. However, as we went along as took more and more of them I noticed that they all pretty much agreed with each other. I have learned a lot about my own style of leading and administering through this. I have realized that I am not nearly as strong in my organizational abilities as I would like to be. I always knew I was a fairly sensitive person when it came to my relations with others, so that was no surprise. The thing that surprised me the most was the fact that I was fairly even across the board when it came to the 12 fundamental leadership skills with the exception of organizational abilities of course.

From the book review, chapters in the text, and article readings I have realized one thing in particular; leaders do not lead alone. Good administrators "get the right people on the bus" and ensure that everyone they surround themselves with all share the same vision of where the administration is going. From what I have read and through my own limited experience the best thing leaders and administrators can do is use others' ideas, along with his/her own, and formulate a decision based on the collective wisdom of all that everyone can profit by the decision. Because of the given reasons collaboration with others and delegation are the leadership styles I feel most comfortable with.

After finishing the EDL program here at NAU I hope to be able to have more experience in administration so that I can use what I have learned. So far the program has helped open my eyes to different methods of leading and I think as I continue learning and observing others my eyes will continue to be opened more and more, which is what I look forward to.