Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development
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Center for Educational Leadership and Service
The Center for Educational Leadership and Service (CELS) is a vehicle for offering a variety of educational activities and research initiatives that support elementary, secondary, and postsecondary institutions in south Georgia. The CELS is a formalized link to P-12 schools, postsecondary institutions, and agencies that employ the professionals prepared by the College of Education. Responsibility for ongoing administration of the Center is assigned to an Executive Director. Oversight of CELS activities is the responsibility of the Dean of the College of Education.
The Center for Educational Leadership and Service was founded in 1999 to provide district and school leaders within the GSU service area opportunities for professional development and services. The Center also serves as a research provider for district and school needs.
The focus of the Center is to address the problems of the 21st century leader as practitioners view them. The directors and Advisory Board members are committed to supplying the services through the Center that are pertinent to the needs of educational leaders in the area. Workshops, training institutes and research are driven by what area leaders require and desire to attain through school improvement, accountability, and current information. Delivery of services is by consultants who are experts in their field and by practitioners with experience and credibility.
The Center for Educational Leadership and Service is committed to providing assistance to outstanding, dedicated administrators, teachers, counselors, and instructional support staff, in south Georgia. CELS activities are directed toward individual and institutional improvement. The CELS provides wide-ranging professional development and applied, action-oriented research opportunities that maximize the full leadership and managerial potential of educators, particularly educational administrators.
CELS is committed to the following purposes:
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Engage educational leaders in P-12 and postsecondary settings as “active learners” through participation in staff development activities that foster collegial, collaborative, and cooperative relationships;
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Provide educational leaders in P-12 and postsecondary settings with quality professional development opportunities that effectively address the demands of continuous improvement;
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Strengthen links between educational leaders in P-12 and postsecondary settings, their employing institutions, and the human and material resources of Georgia Southern University and the University System of Georgia;
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Successfully integrate the research and service functions of the University through an expanded range of contacts with educational practitioners;
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Develop programs and services as desired by the clientele groups;
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Act as a clearing-house of information for schools, school districts, and others interested in educational organizations;
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Facilitate the collection of data and pertinent information;
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Act as a broker for locating services needed by schools and other institutions;
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Act as a facilitator of information exchange among the educational organizations;
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Provide a model for school-business partnership and school-community partnership efforts;
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Provide an opportunity to collectively assist the collaborative efforts throughout the region by acting as a focal point and drawing concentrated attention to the needs of educational organizations; and
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Design and conduct educational research and evaluation projects for schools, school districts, higher education institutes, and other clientele.
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To foster close links among all parties concerned with educational administration;
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To foster high standards in the practice and study of educational leadership and the 'pre-service' and in-service' development of leadership;
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To hold conferences and workshops on various aspects of educational leadership;
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To publish a bulletin or journal of interest and value to the practicing administrator and professors of educational leadership;
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To provide administrators with a 'resource service' to make available resources to mutually aid practitioners and professors;
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To sponsor research into problems in all aspects of educational leadership;
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To promote surveys of schools and other educational institutions to increase knowledge of k12 and higher education administration;
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To encourage through annual awards and publications the compilation of reports, essays, articles and resource materials relevant to any aspect of educational leadership.
Bring educational leaders together from diverse settings to share new experiences, concerns, problem-solving approaches, and successes.
Create environments in which adults can be “learners" as well as leaders.
Model collegiality, collaboration, efficient management, and effective leadership.
Help building-level administrators, in particular, build coalitions among teachers, counselors, curriculum specialists, central-office personnel, and other adults in the school.
Link Georgia Southern University with P-l2 schools and postsecondary institutions.
Integrate theory and practice around national, local, and state educational issues of current and future importance.
Provide on-site consultation and technical assistance.
Recruitment of potential students
Develop and assist with mentor programs
Assist with internships
Assist with in-service programs
Facilitate networking
Summer Institute
Retreats
Drive-in Conferences
Dissemination of Research
Consultation with districts
Strengthening Professional Relationships Among Educational Leaders in South Georgia
The Center provides opportunities for recognition and a sense of professionalism for educational leaders in south Georgia. Recognition comes from inviting participants to share their knowledge with colleagues, from empowering administrators and teachers with major decisions affecting Center programs, from helping them address their personal research concerns, and from offering affiliation with the University.
The development of a more cohesive community of school leaders within the region has not only the effect of creating bonds and support systems among traditionally isolated and unsupported professionals, but also of expanding the repertoire of different responses to similar school problems. Creating alternatives is a powerful catalyst to local school improvement. The literature for effective staff development identifies many of the elements that are important for growth. CELS activities are accordingly designed with the following “realities” clearly in mind:
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School leaders need opportunities to learn and grow.
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School leaders have the capacity and need for personal and professional growth as much after they have assumed their leadership roles as before.
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School leaders, especially administrators, are as capable of life-long learning as other professionals.
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The conditions necessary for school leader’s learning and growth exist through CELS participation: problems, a context, and a person who wants the problems addressed.
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CELS provides a forum for mediation among school leaders, helps without judging or condemning, and assists exemplary professionals in acquiring, strengthening, and sharing their skills of school leadership.
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Leadership comes from a variety of sources.
The collaboration between schools, school districts, educational institutions, and higher education is not new. However, collaboration is being increasingly recognized not only as desirable, but as an essential characteristic of restructuring and renewal efforts in today's public schools. As the need for collaboration grows, it is propelled by a growing awareness among policy makers, researchers, teachers, and administrators that education must present a united front to dealing with basic problems in schools. The need is for collaboration among all agencies to essentially alter the way educational services are provided to clientele. Consequently, this Center for Educational Leadership and Service has one primary thrust: service to educational institutions and practitioners.
To fulfill the mission of the CELS, the following goals are proposed for 2005:
(1) Increase external funding by 100%;
(2) Increase collaboration services by 50%;
(3) Increase scholarship production by 50%;
(4) Increase contracts with local schools, school districts, and higher education institutions;
(5) Participate more fully in the iNet partnership;
(6) Develop a strategic plan for delivering the Higher Education Administration program to Augusta and Dublin;
(7) To participate, as a funding sponsor, of the ethics and diversity conference;
(8) To complete the study of Georgia Superintendent's perceptions of certification;
(9) To complete evaluation study of various instructional strategies for program delivery;
(10) To become more focused on the needs and services available to rural areas of southeast Georgia.
The Center for Educational Leadership and Service at Georgia Southern enhances the formal preparation and development of school leaders. The extant literature on staff development suggests that a setting away from the workplace appears to be important. Many school leaders prefer the neutral, protected university setting for their reflections and conversation, a place that is buffered from the intrusions of daily practice. An eclectic approach to programming, characterized by short-term topical presentations, seems to work best for school administrators, though the literature on staff development points to the importance of sustained experiences with support and follow-up.
The adoption of “center” models at other institutions of higher education suggests that sustained interpersonal contact is as central to learning and staff development as scope and sequence of content is as central to learning and staff development as scope and sequence of formal content.
Symbolic support may also be as valuable as technical assistance the CELS provides. For example, the existence of such a center in south Georgia holds value as a symbol of recognition and validation for participants if the activities address local issues. This pattern will definitely hold as CELS at Georgia Southern University sustains strong working linkages to other organizations.
The majority of educational leaders served by the Center for Educational Leadership and Service are veteran educators. For these leaders, concerns about the acquisition of new knowledge and skills may be less central than the desire for interpersonal contact, invigoration, and personal validation.
The work of the Center, therefore, borrows on the professional model that under girds many of the Principals Centers that developed nation-wide in the 1980s.
REFLECT
ARTICULATE BETTER IMPROVE ON
PRACTICE PRACTICE UNDERSTAND
PRACTICE PRACTICE
CELS is dedicated to devising ways to help school leaders reflect thoughtfully and systematically upon the work they do, analyze that work, clarify their thinking, and engage in conversations with others about that work. Leaders will better understand their complex schools, the tasks confronting them, and their own styles as leaders. The best evidence available suggests that understanding practice is the single most important precondition for improving practice. The Center for Educational Leadership and Service is committed to the goal of stimulating the reflective school practitioner who deals with diverse clients.
Last updated January 18, 2007