Managing a School Effectively Essays

Managing a School Effectively Essays Managing a School Effectively Essay Managing a School Effectively Essay The techno century’s Leadership From Principals to CEO (Chief Education Officer) Abstract The techno century’s principalship From Principals to CEO (Chief Education Officer) The role of the principal is multi-faceted. The techno century’s principalship in its epitomized role is about ensuring the relevance of aims, content, practices, and outcomes of formal education to digital generation. In accepting this coveted role, individual and organisational capability will be imperative, as will the development of individuals and communities to create and ‘walk’ the new paradigms. Modern school leadership also includes networking. School leaders will have to work together and share, rather than compete in their augmented roles. It will be essential that principals can not only advocate, but also implement, a win-win style of leadership, so that all give their absolute best. Principals must be involved in the design of curriculum and instruction. Principals must also take an active role in assessing the teaching that occurs in the school and, where needed, provide opportunity for teachers to improve their standards. Principals need to be able to lead in a less authoritarian style. They will need to develop within their schools a profound sense of social interest. Thus, if a principal is collegial, with a shared vision, yet still able to make the hard decisions, students and teachers will succeed and schools will become places of learning for all. The techno century’s principalship – From Principals to CEO (Chief Education Officer) You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit. ’ -Harry S. Truman The role of school principal has always been very unambiguous to everybody- the principal and also to teachers, students and parents of the school. Writing in Creating the Future School, Beare concluded an uplifting chapter, about those who will head the school of the futur e, with these words: ‘This terrain is not for the immature, the shallow, the unworthy, the unformed, or the uninformed, and society needs to be very careful about what people it commissions for this task’. Beare, 2001). The principal is appointed by management to lead the school and to be eventually liable for everything that takes place at the school. When things go well, the principal receives the plaudits and basks in the reflected glory of the achievements. When the school’s reputation is high, the principal is given the credit. The other side of that coin, of course, is that, when the school is doing badly, the principal is in the front line of criticism. It is expected by teachers, students and parents that school principals will be visible at all times at several places at once, that they will personally deal with every serious situation that arises as well as many that are much less serious, that they will know by name most of the students and their parents, attend all school sports matches, activities and functions, and that they will be the public faces of their schools with the rest of the world. Principals used to try to do all need to be done in school by themselves and usually (with a few noble exceptions) failed, generally losing their sense of priorities along the way. Things have gotten tougher in today’s scenario. The techno century’s educational scenario possesses the following characteristics: Students’ identities and providences are fluid; Schools are culturally heterogeneous; Education is proposed to be lifelong, formal and informal; Education is gradually getting unimpeded by time and place; Roles are imprecise and overlapping; Schools and teachers are embedded in multifaceted, interconnected networks; and, Education is even more user-centric. What type of leadership style will be the most suitable for this techno century? For techno century’s educational scenario, we need school leaders who empower both educators and students to lead, and who are prepared to help develop leadership in other schools. These shall be leaders having a strong moral purpose and commitment to working to help all schools improve performance. This view that, in the techno century the days of the self contained, stand-alone school will be superseded, is also argued by the eminent Australian educationalist Hedley Beare: ‘The best schools are part of a living ecology of learning localities and sites, and can access learning modules from almost anywhere. The school, therefore, acts not as a sole and exclusive provider of programs for students enrolled, and does not assume its own curriculum offerings are confined to its own campus. Rather, it acts as a learning broker to find, contract in, and then manage what is available on its web of contacts. ’ The opportunities for leadership within this model are immense. The walls of the school are removed and educators of all levels can contribute to the development of individuals, groups, schools, and networks both national and international. The challenge for each nation is to develop the culture and the capacity for the new style of leadership. Now as effective leadership is recognised as a key feature of successful schools, however, is the style of leadership needed in the techno century the same as what was required in the 20th century? We can use examples from industry and business to help us understand leadership for the techno century. Jim Collins has a five-level hierarchy of leadership: Level V: Executive. Builds enduring magnitude through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. Level IV: Effective Leader. Catalyses dedication to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards. Level III: Competent Manager. Organises people and resources towards the efficient and effective pursuit of predetermined objectives. Level II: Contributing Team Affiliate. Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting. Level I: Highly competent Individual. Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits. It is possible to argue that we have educational leaders at Level 4, are we in a position to say that we have leaders at Level 5. It is strongly asserted that in the techno century we should be striving to have all educational leaders operating at level 4 as a baseline, and aspiring for Level 5. Here if we twist the jar gon a bit the Principals achieving the Level 5 or the CEO level can be named as Chief Education Officers. Fullan has developed his own levels of leadership, but, unlike Collins, these are based on moral purpose – ‘revamping the principal’s role as part and parcel of changing the context within which teachers and students learn. ’ Fullan’s four levels are: Level 4: Societal. ‘Societal developments will be a by-product of profound implementation at the other three levels. ’ Level 3: Regional. ‘School leaders working with a strong sense of purpose and interacting with other school leaders regionally will enlarge the scope of their thinking in a way that benefits society. Level 2: School. ‘All students and teachers benefit in terms of identified desirable goals, that the gap between high and low performers becomes less as the bar for all is raised, that ever-deeper educational goals are pursued, and that the culture of the school becomes so transformed that continuous improvement relative to the previous three components becomes b uilt in. ’ Level 1: Individual. ‘Principals are committed to making a positive difference in the lives of individual students and teachers. The 4th Level here as well corresponds to the Level 5 of Collins’ model again paralleling principalship to CEO†¦ where the position is not just about managing the school but managing a system at different levels. The following is a short point form review of the four main school leadership styles. By addressing the style, the purpose and the outcome of each, we may be able to glean an understanding of the qualities required for leading our schools into the future. Traditional (authoritarian) leadership Style Under traditional leadership, it is understood that principals will: Expect teachers to expect their students to learn, rather than enthuse and encourage them to understand what they are learning; Expect learning to be based on training from a textbook, rather than learning to think, explore, and solve problems; Expect all teacher in-servicing to done outside the school, not encouraging teachers to share the knowledge gained at this professional development; Encourage teachers to maintain a closed door regime; and, Keep teachers very busy. Purpose When teachers are too busy, they can only communicate on a superficial level and are less likely to challenge the authority of the principal; To ensure that teachers do not work collegially because discussion is perceived as gossip and gossip is seen as a challenge to authority; and, Out of school professional development is non-threatening to the principal and can be blamed for lack of change/ improvement in student standards. Outcomes The parents approve because it is the system they know; A higher number of students pass external examinations; The administration team is either follower of same power style or are ineffective; Few graduating students pass university or are successful in business until much later in life, when they have acquired thinking, organisational and co-operative skills; Students develop poor sportsmanship tendencies; Students tend not to develop good organisational skills; Students tend to act in a spoilt manner and cannot stand up for themselves, except through violence; and, Bullying is a constant problem. Conclusions The traditional model worked when students were expected to learn by rote and where the outcome was training, rather than learning. However, with the complexity of learning and thinking that is required in today’s educational system, a more inclusive approach is required. Instructional leadership Under instructional leadership, it is understood that: Th e principal will be the active force behind staff development; The principal will appear to be less authoritarian than under Traditional Leadership, although the hierarchical approach will be actively pursued; The principal will be totally responsible for the school culture; Teachers will encourage students to do what they are told, but not to think; The principal will be up-to-date with current professional development and will encourage teachers to participate; however, no sharing of in-service information occurs; The principal works on the need to know basis, thus they are the only ones with the whole school picture; The principal encourages teaching standards to be left up to the individual teacher The principal insists that student assessment is based on examination results; and, Staff is kept busy with administration of information and extra curricula activities. Purpose To ensure that all power is in the hands of the principal; To ensure that the administration t eam are of the same type/style as principal; To ensure that the school culture is the one within which the principal wants to work To keep students under tight control; allow teachers to flounder on their own or, alternatively, become dogmatic, in that their way is the only way; To keep teachers individualised and make them feel all powerful within the classroom; To give some semblance of cohesive teaching; and, To ensure that teachers have little time to compare notes or voice dissatisfaction. Outcomes Students are at the bottom of the hierarchy; The principal is all powerful; The school culture stifles those students who wish to develop their thinking skills; Parents understand the system and see the results of training; Students may become disciplinary problems because they do not have the venue to explore their thinking processes; Aggressive sports are often an outlet for frustration; Bullying is a regular problem; Few graduating students pass university or are suc cessful in business until much later in life when they have acquired thinking, organisational and co-operative skills Conclusion Teachers and students always have to ask permission, and thus their problem-solving skills are stifled. Collaborative leadership In collaborative schools, it is understood that the principal will: Work with the staff for the benefit of the students and the school; Encourage teachers to contribute their opinions and to develop their skills; Be a member of the changing community; Be responsible for the future vision for the school; Allow the staff to participate in all discussion but be responsible for all practical solutions; and, Ensure that student progress is valued and individual differences are catered for. Purpose To stay in touch with the points of view of the staff; To provide a forum through which teachers feel they have some influence; To allow students some sense of involvement in their learning; To provide teachers/students and parents with a vision; and, To provide forums for principal-led change. Outcomes Staff/parents feel they have some influence; The schoo l community is basically open to change that is agreed to by the principal; When the principal changes schools, the vision is lost; and, The staff look to the principal to solve their problems, rather than becoming problem solvers. Collegial leadership with a vision In schools where collegial leadership with a vision is practised, it is understood that the principal will: Have a sound vision for the future direction for the school; Will be prepared to develop a clear understanding of the process required to attain that vision; Have the sensitivity and skill to include the total staff in the staff development programme; Encourage positive change for the benefit of the standard of learning; Be able to ensure that the negative emotions that often accompany change are dealt with at a professional level; and, Have the capacity to facilitate and empower teachers by providing an environment and the technology required to pursue a common ideal. Purpose To ensure that students, teachers, staff and parents feel, and are supported within, the community; To improve the standard of teaching; To ensure that all in-servicing information is disseminated throughout the school, even if it challenges existing practice; To support those who feel threatened by change; and To increase the level of respectful behaviour. Outcomes Students, teachers, parents and the principal work together for the benefit of the school, and thus each other; A board that includes representatives from students, teachers and parents has the power; Where student safety and welfare is concerned, the principal has the responsibility of ensuring that only the highest of ethical standards are followed; Sport becomes a venue for excellence and personal growth; Bullying is reduced; Teachers become mentor for a small number of individual students; Students become responsible for their actions, including learning Pastoral care is inclusive of all staff and students; Positive change is valued; Staff, students, parents and the principal become problem-solvers; A positive work ethic is established; More students pass external examinations and are successful post-school; Although common standards are set within the curriculum, individual needs are catered for ; Teachers opinions and suggestions are respected and valued and, where practicable, implemented for the benefit of the school; and, A contemporary view is that leadership in a complex organisation, such as a school, requires the energy, commitment and contributions of all who work there (Crowther et al. , 2002; Duignan et al. SOLR Project 2003; Mulford and Silins, 2002, 2003). School leadership today, therefore, should be viewed as a shared communal phenomenon emanating from the interactions and relationships of individuals and groups as they go about the construction and reconstruction of the reality of living productively and compassionately together each day. Leadership is not the property of any one individual (the principal) or group (executive team). In its most potent form, it grows out of the shared vision, beliefs and efforts of a committed group of staff, students, and parents, who have a sense of belonging, and an appreciation of being valued members of their school c ommunity. A major challenge for principals, therefore, is to develop and foster the growth of shared leadership in their schools. The key emphasis is about learning together, sharing and creating processes and conditions that encourage everyone in the school community to learn, grow, and be creative together, developing shared mental models and meanings that bind them together as a community. It is time to take a fresh look at how shared leadership capability is generated in schools. There is a need to distribute leadership responsibilities among teachers and other key stakeholders, in order to create a seamless relationship between learning, pedagogy, teaching and leadership. Thus, sharing leadership with others requires a rethinking of what constitutes leadership in a school and consideration of how best to enable all school personnel, especially teachers, to feel a deep sense of commitment and belonging. Principals who utilise and value distributive and teacher leadership (Systems and middle level leadership in a corporate jargon) are seen to have an important role to play, but they do not play the role of THE leader. Rather, they recognise themselves as people wise enough to know their own strengths and weaknesses, but able to function in their school communities because they work from a values base that enables others with the appropriate passion, skills and abilities to provide leadership as CEO. For such inclusive leadership to flourish in learning communities, people must be able to freely make their contribution, speaking without fear and with openness because of the trust established among the members of the community. The principal is the catalyst that sets the tone for building relationships within the community of learners. The role of the principal is multi-faceted, but a description of a good principal must include elements of the following: The ability to identify, analyse and solve problems; Outstanding communication skills, both oral and written, with parents, students, teachers, vendors, management, other principals; The ability to work directly with the staff; Excellent problem-solving skills; Have a broad understanding of the wider world and what is expected from the students who graduate from the school; Know how to encourage all interested parties to work for the benefit of the school; Know the strengths and weakness of themselves, the school and their staff; The ability to work in stressful surroundings while keeping calm; Encourage professional staff development through collegial activities, rather power control; Encourage change by continually challenging staff beliefs and values about teaching; Take the time to ensure the they have/learn the skills and processes within the environment which they work, so as to ensure that the expectations within a school are based on the culture or deliberate change of culture of that specific school, and not some generalisation of ideas; The ability to treat parents, students and teachers in a genuine and authentic manner; Be of high moral standing; Practise the social ethics of society; Show no favouritism; Behave respectfully towards parents, students, teachers and others; Command respect from others by their supportive and honest actions; Have the astuteness to employ good teachers; Work with others in a non-judgemental way; The ability to create a school climate in which lea rning is valued because, unless learning is valued, collegiality may be perceived as an intrusion rather than a support; and, The willingness to be a creative risk taker, who can reflect and act on a given situation; The ability to keep staff moving towards the school vision; The ability to maintain a clear, positive and consistent vision for the school, as well as a clear understanding of the process required to attain that vision; Be aware of the expectations of the community for the graduating students. In the future it will be essential that principals can not only advocate, but also implement, a win-win style of leadership, so that all parties are prepared to give their absolute best (a parallel to positive human resource engineering and employee motivation). Principals must be involved in the design of curriculum and instruction (organizational planning and implementation). Principals must also take an active role in assessing the teaching that occurs in the school and, where needed, provide opportunity for teachers to improve their standards (TQM or Total Quality Management). By developing this win-win CEO style of leadership: Teachers/staff will become flexible, resilient and sufficiently secure in their own self and accomplishments to aim for self-actualised behaviour for the benefit of he students and school; Staff will develop behaviours that support mutual trust with each other and with students; Staff will feel empowered and confident to co-operate with colleagues, in b oth the curriculum and social development of the school; and, Personal accountability is based on competency, not authority. This results in a shared vision for the school and staff working towards that mission by the setting of mutual goals and action (Company Goals). With a good structure of distributed leadership in place, a principal can consider the balance between different responsibilities and between the time that can be allocated within school and outside (Time and Resource Management). In modern school leadership, also includes networking with other schools. It is now widely recognised that school improvement is accelerated through active participation in networks with other schools (Relationship Management and Marketing). At some point, principals today may also act as consultants to other schools, either within their partnership or elsewhere. They may act as ‘school improvement partners’, holding one or more other principals to account through the ‘single conversation’. If future educational policy is to be informed by educational values and rooted in successful innovative practice, then we may need to begin to redefine our understanding of leadership, so that it includes the ability to work, with confidence, beyond the school. Such leadership will have all the existing knowledge, skills and qualities but will also need the following characteristics: The ability to create powerful and multi-layered networks; Recognition of the importance of creating knowledge from practice, theory and research; The capacity to influence and persuade in the broader context; Personal resilience based in hope and optimism; and, Willingness to take risks Principals turned CEO will need to be able to lead in a less authoritarian style manner than the one being practised in many schools today. They will need to develop within their schools a profound sense of social interest within the teachers and, by implication, the students. School leaders will have to work together and share, rather than compete in their augmented roles. David Miliband has articulated the following vision: ‘the best must lead the rest, whether in relation to the advance of transformational leadership, the spread of best practice, the modernisation of the school workforce, or the development of partnerships with the wider community. ’ The evolution of educational social scenario is now so fast that the same leaders live through the transition and actively have to manage it. In essence, the role of the Principal turned CEO can be viewed as encompassing five functions: 1. Visioning by which the developmental work of the school is linked to an inspiring image of a preferred future. In this way, the linkages between an innovation and the notion of creating our own future can be made obvious. 2. Identity generation or Brand management through which cultural meaning is created. Two important purposes are served. First, communities are enabled to view their schools as distinctive (or ‘differentiated’) and to regard themselves as instrumental in the creation of a distinctive culture and system of meaning. Second, a benchmark is set whereby members of both the school and the broader community determine whether the envisaged future is consistent with their values. If not, they can consider ways to change it. 3. Alignment of organisational elements in which the implementation of school-based innovations is approached holistically. Where the rationale for an innovation is aligned with the school’s vision, where a school-wide approach to pedagogy has been generated, where school infrastructures (encompassing time, space, curricula and technologies) have been modified to facilitate implementation, and where the professional community has a shared understanding of, and commitment to, the essential features of the innovation in question, a strong basis exists for successful implementation. 4. Distribution of power and leadership whereby teachers (and community members) are encouraged to view themselves as critically important in shaping the school s direction and values and in exercising influence beyond the school. 5. External alliances and networking through which schools collaborate with other schools and with elements of the broader community, while keeping for themselves the activities that reflect their distinctive competencies. Examples are consortia, in which schools pool their resources to gain a benefit that they could not acquire alone; joint ventures, in which several schools pursue an opportunity that requires a special capacity from each one of them; and value-chain partnerships, in which organisations in different industries say education and tourism with different but complementary skills link their capabilities to create value for ultimate users. Taken together, these five functions provide a sound basis for Principals turned CEOs aspiring to lead their schools in the years ahead and are captured in Barth’s words (2001): ‘The most powerful reason for principals to be learners as well as leaders comes from the extraordinary influence of modelling behaviour. In many schools, the more important you are, the further you are removed from learning. But when the leader is learner, when the principal’s learning is continuous, sustained, and visible and exciting, a crucial and very different message is telegraphed to the community: this school is a community of learners; learning is its most important characteristic; the principal is a first-class citizen of the community of learners, the head learner. ’ It is essential that all members of a school community can express themselves without fear of retribution; that all students can learn from their mistakes in a supportive environment; and that the school climate is both challenging and respectful. Thus, if a CEO is collegial, with a shared vision, yet still able to make the hard decisions, students and teachers will succeed and schools will become places of learning for all. Collaboratively, school leaders will redefine themselves as learning organisations offering individuals liberation and empowerment to maximise their full potential as innovative, intelligent workers (Fenwick, 1995). They will need to grow ‘a culture in which individual development is a priority, outmoded and erroneous ways of thinking are actively identified and corrected, and the purpose and vision of the organization are clearly understood and supported by all its members’ (Cullen, 1999). All schools require a CEO who can organise and co-ordinate the work life of a school, as well as shape the school environment for the benefit of students. A positive and affirming attitude within a school improves student’s levels of achievement and the attitudes they have towards that achievement. It is impossible to isolate the skills or leadership style that best suits each school from the environment that empowers its teachers. Each CEO’s leadership style is unique and no one style appears to be totally effective. However, if we accept that the role of the CEO is to lead the school, and the role of the school is to educate its students, then it may be said that the role of the CEO is to lead that school into providing the best education for its students. It is often expected that the principal would have anagerial expertise well it is sort of an imperative now they have to adorn the roles and responsibilities of a CEO well in corporate jargon and will be not just be ‘people developers’ but also successful visionaries, and management gurus. Thus, the techno century principalship in its richest role is abou t ensuring the relevance of aims, content, practices, and outcomes of school education which is gradually evolving in a corporate structure for future generations. In accepting this coveted role, the principal will need to be capable in guiding new education agendas and developing new generations of community. Individual and organisational capability will be imperative, as will the development of individuals and communities to create and ‘walk’ these new paradigms of CEOship.