Making things happen
LEADERSHIP APPEARS IN MANY FORMS
" I found Juanita to be extremely organized and easy to work with. While her priority was the growth of her own theatre program, she ceaselessly supported the work of her colleagues...She is absolutely one of a kind. I recommend her highly." Doug Hundley - Shanghai American School.
I have worked as a department head, team leader, trip planner, event organizer, project manager and also a learning leader. For most of my working career, I worked as a Theatre director, Music Conductor or Art Director for Performances. The skills related to these roles are closely connected to the leadership skills necessary to work with a team - regardless of the context.
"Juanita is an exceptional drama and performance instructor. When she arrived, she evolved a stagnant General Music Program into a dynamic Drama program. This required her to build a curriculum from scratch. Her classes became so popular we could not schedule all student requests....In Juanita McGarrigle you have a highly talented educator who is organized, knowledgeable with the ability to bring out the best in students... Juanita receives my highest recommendation and I cant recommend her enough for any position for which she is qualified." - Brad Latzke - Shanghai American School
LEADERSHIP AND TEAM DYNAMICS
PTC COURSE 1
The Principal Training center certificate in learning on Leadership and Team Dynamics. Skills and knowledge learned includes: Leadership style, self-evaluation, and awareness in strengths and areas of improvement, creating effective teams, addressing conflict, groupthink, and best practices for developing action-focused work.
ASSESSMENT LEADERSHIP
PTC COURSE 2
This certificate includes skills and knowledge such as: Changing beliefs into principles, purpose and alignment of assessment, choosing appropriate assessment styles, including feedback & observation in assessment, triangulation of common assessments and external assessments, criteria for grading, recording and reporting and making sense of the data
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE SCHOOL
PTC COURSE 3
This course from the PTC includes information on: Foundational documents such as the Mission statement, vision statement, core values, strategic plan and implementation of these documents as your anchor for all further decisions. It also focused on learning principles for teaching as determined by research and establishing essential agreements. This also focused on learning how to implement effective change, and engaging in relevant data to inform decisions.
INSTRUCTIONAL EVALUATION AND SUPERVISION
PTC COURSE 4
This PtC course focused on the role of the leader in supervision and evaluation - structures of observation that can foster professional growth in addition to better teaching resulting in student learning and success. Strategies were introduced in how to develop clear guidelines related to teaching standards that is the basis of quality teaching - to be able to identify teachers that are struggling, provide appropriate support and dismiss those that do not improve.
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCES
Roles & Responsibilities
August 2021 - June 2022
LEARNING LEADER - ACS ABU DHABI
Learning Leader Creative Arts Team
This role will have some traditional functional aspects of a department head helping the team to formalize decisions that SLT require - in addition to providing interests and requirements of the arts to the SLT. This position will have some learning coaching component to it aswell.
August 2010 - 2011
TEAM LEADER- CREATIVE ARTS TEAM/ CURRICULUM SUPPORT
The school was going through an evaluation year where the curriculum was being revamped and updated. My tasks were to help the K-12 Theatre arts and Performing arts team on two campuses to agree to common curriculum that was vertically aligned and robust in nature. This was an ongoing project that required signficant time throughout the year to coordinate and establish.
August 2001 - June 2002
CREATIVE ARTS TEAM LEADER MS-HS
The Art teacher left the school unexpectedly at the beginning of the year and I became the MS/HS Arts and Music department head to coordinate and create curriculum teaching of Art through K-10. I had to revamp the curriculum that general teachers in grades 2-6 could teach art. I also worked with the creative arts team and music to create several events throughout the year to celebrate the achievements of students.
August 1995 - June 1998
DEPARTMENT HEAD CREATIVE ARTS TEAM
The Creative Arts team had music, and art as its main component but also included part-time theatre and choir teachers involved. The team was quite large to serve the school. My role was primarily as a conduit between SLT and the arts teachers to help with decision making and documentation for school accreditation visits. I helped redefine the curriculum to add grade level rigor to the content studied.
For more information about my professional experience in Leadership, please get in touch.
Theatre Director as compared to Leadership
MOTIVATING WITH VISION
Directors are motivated and must inspire people to agree to the vision and come together to stage it.
are creative and often have to find new ways to approach things and work toward a better experience next time
know that nothing gets done alone and works to build a community and build bonds widely with everyone on the team
by motivating with a vision - by encouraging the team to explore and assumes best intentions - to foster creativity and freedom to think
have a positive, engaged and calm presence to settle the team and help them understand that you are there to help them cope with any of the challenges that come your way
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
must use Emotional intelligence to be able to think before you act.
must be reflective, thoughtful, flexible and comfortable with change
is able to find common ground between people and learn how to approach directing and leading the team
CREATING TRUST
director creates a place of trust where actors can stretch themselves and learn from failure
director reinforces the drive toward risk taking, honest and open communication
fosters a team dynamic quickly by helping the team to collectively agree on goals to align the behaviours and attitudes that will help us get our stated goals.
creates a safe environment where people are free from humiliation, encouraged to try new things and to take ownership of their work where healthy conflict is a driving force to create your best.
celebrates the attempts - no matter the result
LEADING NOT CONTROLLING
by creating an environment where each member of the team is working hard to express themselves, experiment and take risks
have high self-awareness as many are looking to them for guidance - they must be grounded and honest
simple and clear effective communication of what is expected of them and the atmosphere that they work in
MANAGEMENT ABILITIES
must be able to plan effective rehearsal schedules to a timeline and deadline
must work within specific budgets and constraints with building or location
must be aware of laws and regulations with copyright, publication, marketing, sales, AV requirements
must be able to manage working with varied departments with highly specialized needs, timelines, materials and financial requests
creative problem solving in a fast and quick manner often using innovative or unique solutions
SKILLS AND APTITUDES
Exceptional oral communication skills
Creative Problem Solving Abilities
Willingness to work cooperatively
Doing things correctly & safely
Ability to work independently
Time budgeting skills
Promptness and respect for dealines
Ability to learn quickly and correctly
Respect for colleagues and authority
Adaptability and Flexibility
Ability to work under Pressure
Self-Discipline
Goal Oriented approach to Work
Concentration & Dedication
Ability to accept responsibility
RESOURCES
25 Life Skills learned in Theatre - Department of Theatre and Dance - Dr. Lous E. Catron
What are the ideal qualities of a director? - Bradley Dylan
Creative Leadership- Lessons from Theatre Directors - Blog