Discussion Post: Leaders and Stakeholders' Perspectives
As you progress through your program, you will be exposed to many problems related to the field of education as well as many stakeholders and leaders who influence and who are influenced by those problems. No research study is done in isolation, and all studies need to consider and identify the key stakeholders and their roles. Stakeholders form a system of checks and balances in an organization. While each stakeholder has the right to an opinion, the influence of that opinion may relate to the position or role that the stakeholder holds in an organization. In addition, the characteristics and actions of a leader looking address these problems need to be effective in order to affect positive social change.
To prepare for Part I of the Discussion, consider educational leaders in your field that you know. Think about how the educational leaders you know exemplify or do not exemplify the concepts related to leading positive social change. What did the leaders do well or not do well, especially as they relate to initiating change? In addition, identify one scholarly resource on change leadership related to your post to share with your colleagues in the Discussion.
For Part I of the Discussion:
1) Post a description of the characteristics of an effective leader of change, providing specific examples from your own experience with leaders. Explain why leaders need to have these particular characteristics to be effective in initiating change. Be sure to include a reference to the scholarly resource you identified on change leadership and explain how the reference relates to your post.
a) Be careful not to identify anyone by name. The emphasis in the homework is not the individuals themselves, only in how you perceive their leadership skills and approaches.
To prepare for Part II of the Discussion, reflect on the problem statements you discussed in the Module Discussion and select one problem statement to address for this part of the Discussion. Think about the key stakeholders in relation to your problem statement and consider why these stakeholders are relevant to the problem. What questions, related to the problem, might you ask these key stakeholders?
In determining key stakeholders, you might ask yourself:
1) Who will I need to obtain approval from in order to explore this problem?
2) As it pertains to stakeholders, what are the risks and benefits of exploring this problem?
3) Who will I need to involve as participants in exploring this problem?
4) How will the possible outcomes of exploring this problem impact the stakeholders positively and/or negatively?
For Part II of the Discussion:
1) Post the key stakeholders related to your selected problem statement with an explanation as to why these stakeholders are relevant to the problem. Then, identify at least four questions about the problem to which you would like stakeholders to respond. Finally, explain why the responses may be important to understanding and/or addressing the problem.
Module Homework: Types of Writing, Applying Appropriate Styles
As you have explored your selected case study's documents, you have read a variety of types of writing that differ from scholarly writing. For example, you may have read blog posts, letters to the editor, newspaper articles, and government reports.
Reflect on the different types of writing used in the resources that you identified in the Looking Ahead at the end of Module 3. Which resources reflected the characteristics of scholarly writing, and which did not? Your role in education will likely require you to not only read a variety of types of writing, but to use a variety of writing types in your own communications. As you may have noticed in the case study documents and the resources you have been exploring, the type of writing you use depends on your audience and the purpose of your communication.
To prepare for this Homework, review the documents related to your selected case study. Identify an aspect of the case study that would require a simple message for three different audiences. Consider how you might convey the same message in writing to the three different audiences for your case study.
For this Homework, create a simple message related to the case study. In addition, identify three different audiences to which to communicate the message. These audiences may be extracted from the case study documents, or you may identify different audiences appropriate for the message.
Submit 2 to 3 pages document in which you:
1) Explain the simple message related to your case study which you wish to communicate.
2) Create three written communications - one for each of three audiences you identified - using the appropriate type of writing for each context. (Each written communication should be approximately 2 paragraphs long).
3) Explain why different types of writing are appropriate for different audiences/stakeholders. Provide specific examples.
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
(1) The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
(2) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
(3) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.