At our Administrative Council meeting, made up of central office administrators and school leaders, we participated in an Ice Breaker Activity to get to know each other on both a professional and personal level. This year, we welcomed several new administrators, Joe Lloyd, Director of Staff Relations, Jeanne Corcoran, Coordinator of Data, Assessment, and Accountability, Bill Pilla, Director of Athletics, PE, and Health, Jack Rallo, Director of Facilities, John Gulino, Director of Safety and Compliance, Kleo Girandola, Director of Finance, Rudy Arietta, Principal at TZHS, and Melissa Luciano, Assistant Principal at TZHS. Each person paired up with someone that they don’t know very well and learned as much about each other as they could in 20 minutes. Then, each person introduced their partner to the larger group. Even colleagues who have worked together for a long time didn’t realize how much they didn’t know about each other. There were lots of laughs!
During the afternoon
, we engaged in a process using the Four Frame Model of Leadership, developed by Lee Bolman & Terry Deal, to delve into a problem of practice. Each participant had an opportunity to describe their problem to a small group and then the group selected one problem to work on using the Four Frame Model and Rubric. Each group presented their problem and some potential solutions through an illustration.
There are four distinctive ‘frames’ from which people view their world, organization, district, or school – Structural, Human Resources, Political, and Symbolic. Each frame comes with a range of concepts, metaphors and values which provide the scaffolding for addressing issues within an organization. As a result of this activity, participants developed a clear understanding of the Four Frames and how each frame can be applied to the role of the school leader or central office administrator. We also learned how the frames help promote a systems approach to leadership in our district and schools. We recognized that individuals and constituencies approach problems and issues from different perspectives and used the four frames in the decision making and problem solving process. Some of the adaptive and technical problems of practice identified were:
- How can we leverage all of the human, curriculum, and capital resources.
- How can we best group students and staff for instruction.
- How can we better link the District Strategic Plan to the District Financial Plan.
- How can we ensure safe bus travel while supporting our music and athletic programs.
We had a wonderful day team building and problem-solving and we’re off to a great start!
