Written Statement, Dominic M.

Manola
Monday, October 31, 2016
National Louis University, Ed.D. Program Application
1. What are your professional goals and how do you envision doctoral experiences
supporting and/or relevant to achieving those goals?
My time in education, both as a teacher and administrator, has driven me towards a powerful yet
simple professional vision and goal; our job as educators is to provide the highest quality
teaching and learning possible. Great teaching and learning is a direct byproduct of strong
relationships, continuous professional development and a rigorous yet unquenchable drive for
educational innovation. Therefore, it is imperative to never cease developing the skills, pedagogy
and practice centered around these vital areas of focus. Personally, I envision my doctoral
experiences an opportunity to continue honing these skills, broadening my practice and
ultimately, bettering myself personally and professionally.
I have long believed that at the center of all we do in education must be relationships. Without
relationships and trust, whether it be between teachers, students, families, administrators, staff or
the community, very little else will be accomplished. Without even realizing it, I spent a lot of
time as a teacher fostering these very relationships. Naturally, this led to opportunities where the
relationships I had developed began affecting change. Quickly, I became involved in numerous
aspects of our school culture; spirit, professional development, instruction, technology,
involvement and community connections. Time and again, as I look back, trust and relationships
were key to all of the great teaching and learning taking place.
Today, in my role of Assistant Principal for Instructional Innovation and Activities, I am
formally charged with pushing our teachers and students to challenge themselves, continue their
learning, be innovative, grow our school culture and get as involved as possible. We are proud to
focus our vision on three key initiatives; professional development, instructional technology
and innovation and community involvement. By emphasizing relationships as most important,
we have been able to successfully implement a 1:1 instructional technology program and several
strands of rigorous professional development including differentiated instruction and assessment
literacy. Additionally, we have worked with area businesses and industrial shops to build our
Innovation Center for machining and metals. Outside of the classroom, we have a proud tradition
of giving back, including our annual Make a Difference Day where this year, over 600 students
and 50 staff members volunteered providing over 1800 hours of community service in one day. It
is this focus, this drive for relationships, that truly allows us to work towards our goal of great
teaching and learning.
As educators, we often talk about being lifelong learners, that we must continue to challenge
ourselves. Professionally, it is my goal to be an agent of change that continues to focus on what
is best for our learners. I believe that my doctoral experiences will continue to allow me to
pursue my goals and sharpen my skills. Further, I seek to obtain additional tools and resources
which will strengthen and support a spotlight on relationships. With relationships at the heart of
my professional goals, great teaching and learning will be a natural consequence.

2. What previous professional experiences encouraged you to apply to this doctoral

program?
My passion for education started with culture and relationships. Developing a connection with
my students and their families, as well as my colleagues and our community, came naturally to
me. Many times, without even realizing it, it was these relationships that allowed me to be
successful. I think about Javier, who I had early in my teaching career, a student that every
other teacher had told me stood no chance. However, Javier seemed engaged in my class. As I
got to know him, built a relationship with him, it was clear he cared about his learning, but
struggled to read and write. Javier trusted me, and despite all of the odds stacked against him, he
began to work on developing his abilities. He stayed after for help, sought out tutoring and began
asking for support. By the end of the school year, not only did he pass my class, but Javier
passed all of his classes.
While I know this story is not unique to education, what I realize now, more than ever, is how
important relationships and trust are. Looking back over my career, there are countless
experiences where relationships opened the door for success. It was relationships with students
that allowed me to discover those ah-ha! moments time and again. It is relationships with my
colleagues that affords me the opportunity to visit classes, to hear about what is going well and
where teachers are struggling. Relationships have provided me the opportunity to develop a wide
professional learning network, where I have had the chance to learn with and from some of the
most respected educators and leaders around. I have had the experiences of presenting numerous
times on topics ranging from school culture to using technology in teacher evaluations to
preparing educators for a tomorrow that is ever-changing. Regularly, I interact with countless
stakeholders from our school community to identify obstacles to learning, come up with practical
and useful solutions, remove as many barriers as possible and strive to encourage our staff and
students to find their passion and be innovative. I believe that I have had these opportunities, and
many others, because of my focus on relationships.
Since I was in high school, I knew that I wanted to be an educator. In many ways, what that
meant to me was that I wanted to be a teacher. Over the last several years, though, I have
continued to understand that my passion lies in education as a whole; relationships, innovation,
lifelong learning and ultimately, great teaching and learning. I am at a point in my professional
experiences where I believe I can continue to challenge myself as a learner and as a leader, and I
believe these experiences have provided a solid foundation for me to pursue this doctoral
program.
3. Please explain what readings, academic studies or specific ideas have contributed to your
current understanding as a professional.
Professionally, I have had many different experiences that have contributed to my current
understandings of leadership and education. Early in my career, I pursued two masters degrees:
one in Curriculum and Instruction, as well as one in Educational Leadership. During these
programs I spent a great deal of time on academic studies, readings and discussion which are

invaluable to my core understanding of education, teaching and learning. I was extremely

fortunate, then, to continue my career working with some incredible professionals who were
early adopters of the connected, social media professional learning network, or PLN. In
particular, educators focus on platforms such as blogging and Twitter. Quickly, I began to
understand the power of what it means to be a connected educator and leader. Teachers,
administrators, researchers, professors and more are constantly sharing their thoughts and
resources with one another, always looking to challenge the status quo. Almost immediately, I
began following leaders in the field such as, Jason Markey, Principal of East Leyden High
School in Franklin Park, IL and Jaime Casap, Googles Chief Educational Evangelist, as they
worked to connect countless educators across the world. This platform and being part of such a
dynamic PLN has been transformational to my practice and beliefs.
Through these connections, I have encountered many different resources, including two books I
consider important to my professional vision, including What Connected Educators Do
Differently, by Jeff Zoul, Todd Whitaker and Jimmy Casas, as well as The Innovators
Mindset, by George Couros. These texts, along with others, help challenge my thinking and
practice so that I can continue to focus on teaching and learning in new ways. Both texts can be
broken down to the simple idea that we live in an age of endless information and connections,
yet educators often practice in isolation. It is imperative then that educators and leaders use the
tools available to connect with one another, engage in professional discussions and break down
age-old barriers by fostering a climate of innovation. Essentially, building relationships so that
staff know it is okay to try new ideas, and that struggles are not only normal, but expected. Then,
and only then, can we become innovative in education.
Additionally, I have been actively engaged in presenting and attending presentations where
educators can learn and collaborate together. Along with these presentations, through my
connections to such a powerful PLN, I have become an active blogger over the past several years
(www.dominicmanola.blogspot.com), sharing my thoughts, practice and most importantly,
collaborating and receiving feedback from many different professionals. These opportunities
play such an important role in my vision as a professional. In fact, it was at the Leyden
Innovative Teaching and Learning Symposium where I first heard an idea that pushed my
thinking. Jaime Casap, someone I have long looked up to, said there is no future. Just the next
version of things. This has altered my approach in working with my colleagues as I stress time
and again the importance of trying new ideas and lessons. There are always reasons not to try
something new. Instead, we must try, and we must iterate. Then, we must try again.
4. How do you strive to enact these understandings in your professional work?
Todays educational climate is such that every day, educators and students are facing steeper
hurdles. With the increase in standards, testing, budget concerns, proliferation of technology,
changing demographics and so much more, often, our understandings and vision for education
are clouded. Despite all that is asked of us, we must continue to ask the important question,
what is best for our kids?. It is crucial for leaders to take a step back and maintain focus on
what is most important to success; relationships, trust and paramount, great teaching and
learning.

This starts with one of my favorite moments of each day, where I welcome students and staff as
they enter the building. It is in these moments when I connect with many different individuals
and develop key rapport. Relationships continue throughout the day, in all of my interactions:
emails, classroom visits, meetings, parent communications and community engagements. When I
encounter others, I represent not only myself, but my school, my students and my vision. At the
end of each day, I must ask myself, did I stay true to my goals?
I believe that if I strive to develop these relationships and continue to foster them, all of the
components involved in great teaching and learning, including professional development,
technology, community involvement, all of which are too numerous to list, happen naturally.
Furthermore, I must strive to be a constant learner, connecting with others in the field and
challenging my practice. Its never enough to be content and if I want to stay true to my vision, I
must keep pushing myself.
Personally and professionally, I am passionate about all that I do. I want to continue growing and
creating an environment where teachers and students feel empowered to pursue their passions,
push the status quo and aim for great teaching and learning. To continue this learning, and
prepare myself to further my understandings, I believe pursuing a doctoral degree would be
beneficial. I believe that my doctoral experiences will allow me to continue pursuing my goals
and sharpening my skills, while continuing to emphasize collaboration, rigor, relationships and
consummately, great teaching and learning.