Leadership plan for building trust among diverse teaching colleagues

Plan of Action to Build Trust: Introduction
The Waasa-Inaabidaa people are the original inhabitants of the Great Lakes region. European settlement in the Great Lakes regions including Wisconsin and Minnesota dramatically transformed the relationships between Waasa-Inaabidaa and each other, and between Waasa-Inaabidaa and their geo-spatial territory. Over a century of conflict and mistrust characterizes the relationship between the aboriginal people and the newer inhabitants of the area, who now claim control over political, economic, and social systems. Therefore, it is important to develop a culturally conscious and culturally competent plan of action to build trust in this diverse community.
Plan for Professional Development (Session)
Overview
A professional development session should ideally take place over the course of a month. All teachers need to first view themselves as “agents of change,” who act in “cooperation with community,” (Ahuja, 2015, p. 11). As such, the professional development plan should be focused on how to empower teachers to consider future needs of students and their families. Materials used would include tangible items like books and elements of indigenous culture brought from local Waasa-Inaabidaa community leaders, as well as new technologies.
Building Trust
Building trust and support among participants in the professional development program is crucial for the conscious buy-in of all educators, as well as community members. When it comes to building trust among students, it is important to have culturally relevant pedagogical practices that encourage participation and high achievement (Consuegra & Engels, 2016). Developing a sense of community, collaboration, and equity is important for building trust and engendering support among all participants.
Strategies
Specific strategies to be used to generate support from participants include the following. First, the program needs to focus on the stories and worldviews of the indigenous people. Second, the program needs to take into account multiple learning styles and differential goals in education. Finally, program leaders need to communicate effectively with all participants.
These strategies will encourage support, participation, and long-term trust among diverse learners and members of the community. Focusing on the stories, symbols, paradigms, and worldviews of the indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region will encourage conversations and mutual respect. The discursive practices in the school will be radically transformed, leading to long-term improvements in communication and pedagogy. The educational philosophies of multiple learning styles also enable a broad-minded approach to educational objectives and goals. Students are not assessed and evaluated in narrow terms, but in terms of their passion for political activism and contributions to their community.
Dealing with diverse learners does not need to be viewed as a problem, but as a positive opportunity for growth and change. Educational leaders from different backgrounds can learn from each other, by actively listening and soliciting opinions. Not all cultures deal with conflict and disagreement in the same ways. Likewise, people from different cultures also have differential attitudes towards structure, hierarchy, and people in positions of power. Gender may also be an issue, calling upon all participants to be sensitive to diversity. Getting everybody on board means actively encouraging participation from all members of the community. Educators and leaders can learn from diversity, taking into account different attitudes and worldviews. The technologies and other materials used in these sessions will promote educational goals.





References

Ahuja, A. (2015). Professional development of teachers. Educational Quest 6(1): 11-15.
Consuegra, E. & Engels, N. (2016). Effects of professional development on teachers' gendered feedback patterns, students' misbehaviour and students' sense of equity: results from a one-year quasi-experimental study. British Educational Research Journal 42(5): 802-825.