September 2007

As leaders in teacher education, MACTE serves all learners in an ever-changing society through its commitment to high and consistent standards for every teacher.

On behalf of our entire Minnesota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, we eagerly anticipate another productive and positive year working together with the Board. We, as always, look forward to serving as a resource for Executive Director Balmer, Chair Johnson, and the entire Board of Teaching.

We also invite all of you to attend our annual Congresses focused on “Embracing the Future to Maximize Human Potential.” Specifically, this year we will be examining a number of the sixteen trends raised by Gary Marx in his book Sixteen Trends: Their Profound Impact on our Future--Implications for Students, Education, Communities, and the Whole Society. Gary Marx will be our keynote presenter at the Fall Congress to be held on October 11-12th. We encourage you to hear what he has to say. For more information please visit our web site. http://www.mnteachered.org/

The MACTE website and its companion MTQM site have undergone extensive revisions this year, so we encourage you to visit both sites soon. As you know, the MTQM site has served several functions. First, it provides potential teacher candidates access to programmatic information about twenty-eight teacher preparation institutions in the state. If one is looking for alternative routes to certification, the site provides a myriad of options to explore. Second, the site has provided our organization and yours important data regarding the number of completers in all licensure areas. We, once again, encourage you to examine these two resources. The MTQM site and data will be rolling out in late fall.

In the September 2007 edition of Educational Leadership, Gordon Donaldson Jr. provides us with an interesting model for thinking about leadership. He suggests many individuals involved in education leadership roles have a lack of understanding about the complexities of leadership. While his article is primarily aimed at K-12 systems, I believe he raises substantive ideas for us all to consider. Central to his model is the notion that hierarchical leadership is not an effective model for an education profession culture that supports a rich egalitarian ethic. As an alternative to a hierarchical model, he suggests a relational model of leadership. Leadership does not reside in individuals, but in the spaces among individuals. Leadership is when we communicate with each other, share wisdom, and, together, influence school life to make learning better for all children. Essentially, he suggests strong leadership must build relationships, maintain a sense of purpose, work for the common good by improving practice, and include a complementary mix of individuals. As always, we value our partnership with the Board, and will strive to continue to build relationships with you in the quiet spaces between the titles, task forces, boards, and organizations.