SCOPE
Our schools are in dire despair due to issues such as gaps in achievement, social injustices, inequitable funding structure, lack of innovative ideas, as well as students are insufficiently prepared to compete on a global scale. So it begs the question, 'What is it that educator's are preparing students for, today's future or tomorrow's present?' Leaders of our schools need to employ a whole new mindset that views students as entrepreneurs who possess the skill sets necessary to be economically viable citizens in a global setting.
Today our school leaders need skills in leveraging human, financial, intellectual, and cultural capital in advancing education for students beyond the world we encounter in the present. Sir Ken Robinson points out in his TedTalk, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?", that there is an unpredicutability of the future. To prepare for and sustain a competetive edge in global markets our leaders must have a global mindset. In other words, even our leaders need skills that will influence individuals, groups and organizations from diverse cultural, political, and institutional backgrounds. Because the boundaries of the typical global organization are more permeable and fuzzy than the traditional organization; therefore global leaders need to influence individuals from different parts of the world to help achieve their organizations' objectives (Javidan and Walker, 2012).
Let's widen the SCOPE through which education is viewed and examine attributes that will enhance our school leader's global mindset and effictively influence change across national and international boundaries.
First, global leaders must
engage in Seeing Differences in order
to make a difference. As educators begin to re-think about their policies, practices, structures and procedures, we see an asset-based approach to teaching and learning that begins to emerge. School systems are shifting priorities to encourage a holistic approach to educating young people. In order for leaders to make this shift, they must have a Cultural Self-Awareness. The act of cultural self-awareness begins with an awareness that our leadership practices and core values are shaped by the environment in which you find yourself. If you can find yourself making decisions, visualizing outcomes, and speculating future growth impacts from other's points of view, then you have reached a place where you open to new ideas and experiences. "Culture never adapts to you; you have to adapt to country and organizational culture." Because the demographic landscape of the classroom is changing at such a rapid pace, there's now a heightened sense of awareness about the impact of intentionally bringing in the various cultures and cultural backgrounds of students, parents, teachers, and community members into the art of teaching. This intentionality is grounded in the understandings of cultural proficiency - the ability of an educator from one cultural background effectively teach, interact and connect with students of a different cultural background (Anderson, 2011). When global educational leaders facilitate cultural proficiency skill development by modeling expectations, having a self- awareness, and changing perceptions that value stakeholder diversity, academic success will result (Anderson, 2011).
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4. Frame-Shifting
5. Expanding Ownership
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