Part II: Leadership Disposition Reflection
The Leadership Disposition for this course was LD #6: Develop the professional capacity of school personnel. Throughout the course and my internship experience, I came to understand that effective educational leadership extends beyond managing school operations; it requires leaders to intentionally develop the knowledge, confidence, and capacity of staff to improve collective practice. My leadership goal was: By August 31, 2026, I will increase staff knowledge and readiness to implement school-wide systems by designing and facilitating a two-hour professional development session. I will measure the impact through pre- and post-session surveys, with the goal of increasing staff knowledge scores from the pre-survey to the post-survey. This goal directly aligns with Transforming Professional Practice: A Framework for Effective Leadership, particularly the competency of developing the professional capacity of school personnel through professional learning that is responsive to staff needs. The framework emphasizes that effective leaders build the capacity of others rather than simply providing direction, and my goal provided an opportunity to apply that principle through intentional professional learning, collaboration, and data-informed decision-making.
I planned to accomplish my goal through a deliberate cycle of planning, collaboration, implementation, and reflection. First, I reviewed the desired outcomes with staff and used school wide system documents and procedures to ensure that the professional development was relevant to current school expectations. I then developed clear learning objectives and a t session plan, submitted the plan for feedback, incorporated recommendations, and practiced the facilitation prior to implementation. I also created pre and post session surveys to establish a measurable indicator of staff learning. During the professional development session, I provided opportunities for staff to ask questions, collaborate, and apply the information to their work rather than relying solely on sit and get style learning. This process reflected the Transforming Professional Practice competencies of designing professional learning aligned to staff needs and building staff knowledge and confidence in implementing consistent systems. My internship experience reinforced the importance of involving administrators and staff in the professional learning process because effective school wide implementation depends on shared understanding, consistency, and opportunities for staff to engage with new expectations.
One of my primary successes was designing and facilitating the professional development session while maintaining alignment with the identified school systems and intended outcomes. I was also able to use pre and post session survey data to evaluate the impact of the training and identify areas of strength as well as opportunities for continued learning. The experience demonstrated the importance of using evidence rather than relying solely on personal perceptions to determine whether professional learning was effective. Providing structured opportunities for staff questions, collaboration, and application also helped strengthen staff readiness and engagement. These successes connect directly to the framework's emphasis on using data to inform professional practice and developing the professional capacity of school personnel. At the same time, the experience revealed an important area for continued growth: professional development should not be viewed as a single event. While the session increased knowledge and provided staff with an opportunity to engage with the school-wide systems, I recognized the need for follow up support, coaching, and continued data collection to determine whether learning transfers into daily practice. This was an important leadership lesson because increased knowledge does not automatically result in sustained implementation. Effective leaders must create structures that support staff beyond the initial professional learning experience.
My understanding of LD #6 has therefore evolved from viewing professional capacity primarily as providing staff with information to understanding it as an ongoing process of developing collective efficacy, confidence, application, and continuous improvement. Transforming Professional Practice helped me recognize that proficient leadership in this disposition requires a leader to identify staff needs, design meaningful professional learning, facilitate collaborative learning, evaluate outcomes, and use evidence to determine next steps. Moving forward, I will continue to foster competency in this disposition by seeking regular feedback from staff and administrators, using data to identify professional learning needs, and developing follow-up structures such as coaching, check-ins, collaborative problem-solving, and additional learning opportunities. The artifacts from this experience including my professional development session plan, pre and post session surveys, survey data analysis, and reflection notes, provide evidence of my growth.. Most importantly, this experience taught me that developing professional capacity is not simply about delivering effective training; it is about creating the conditions in which educators feel knowledgeable, supported, and confident enough to consistently implement practices that advance school wide goals. Continuing to strengthen this competency will allow me to become a more responsive, data informed, and capacity building school leader.
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References
Strike, K. A., Sims, P. A., Mann, S. L., & Wilhite, R. K. (2024). Transforming professional practice: A framework for effective leadership (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.
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