Seven Articles Comparison and Critique

Running Head: COMPARATIVE CRITIQUE

COMPARATIVE CRITIQUE 8

Comparative Critique of Seven Articles

Abstract

There is a need for a new crop of leadership and leadership educators with demographic shift internationally. The globalization of the economy and the technological demands of the information age are converging to create unique and unprecedented challenges and opportunities for school systems. The challenges in marginal areas include “increased local student transiency, homelessness, and the influx of newcomers; including English language learners.” Student “leaders respond to transient outsider needs through a discourse of compliance and engage in contextually responsive, collaborative responses to meet the needs of community insiders.” However, these are only momentous solutions necessitating a policy-based approach to solve such challenges. The role of morals in the construct of leadership as representation of a community cannot be overemphasized

Comparative Critique of Seven Articles

A response to poverty and the accompanying complexity of challenges: , Pavlakis, Lac & Hoffman (2014) in their article titled The Importance of Fluency for Educational Leaders argue that the leaders’ have a responsibility to be cognizant of the social, economic and political issues that communities grapple with, and the subsequent devising of policy solutions for such issues. According to Miller et al, (2014), educational leadership overlaps organizations and specific roles. They point out that it surfaces most at the social front; where there is people-diversity, interests, issues and institutions. Other scholars and authors including Grogan and Crow (2004) also emphasize that educational leadership is about community. They say that the success of educational leaders including principals is determined by how much they have merged into and understood the community they serve. According to the latter authors, there is a need to reorient leadership so that it spans across diverse community settings and organizational structures.

While it is a fact that effective ecological and school reform movements are based on two structural continuum tiers, i.e. the outcomes that are specific to the school and more comprehensive methods and aims, there is a third response that takes more interest in educational leadership emerging in the latest reframing of educational leadership practice (Miller et al., 2014). Nevertheless, it is notable that there is inherent failure in the articles in addressing the role of curriculum in defining the moral direction of a given community outside the school bounds, and the moral school leadership artifact within. However, principals and other educators have no need to work in an extensive ecological structure in order to internalize and adapt to how the major public, social and education practices direct opportunities for learners. Instead, a range of complicated challenges and experiences including poverty, beyond matters connected to school can be solved through fluent of policy.

The paradox of socialization: a demographic shift among learners, economic globalization, demands of technology and the emergence of the information age evolve both opportunities and challenges for unprecedented and unique school establishments (Cline and Necochea, 2010). The authors of A Challenge for Educational Leaders (Cline and Necochea, 2010) examine the responsibility bestowed on leaders to develop creative solutions to the ever changing 21st C challenging scenarios. They note that, ironically, administrators of schools tend to sustain the status quo through encouraging conformity, complacency and stability at the expense of transformational leadership. There is an ongoing call for leaders who are dynamic and who have the knack to change and restructure the systems already in existence. Many serious dilemmas emerge from the need to balance reform that focuses on equity and social justice inherent in democratic setups with a need to maintain stability in schools. These dilemmas are not sufficient ground to avoid doing what should be done, though.

The need to educate a student population in all its diversity on the need to adjust to the 21st C demands is overtly expressed by the authors: Cline and Necochea, (2010). They point out that there is a need for innovation, boldness and audacity in leadership. Such leadership will see learners sail through the tumultuous waters of the information and technology age, and the shifting global economy dynamics. Miller, Pavlakis, Lac & Hoffman (2014) have also pointed out the need for creativity and a new mindset in their advocacy for a change of policy and the student leadership role in communities. The two authors point out that there is going to be a need for school leaders to play multiple roles including being instructional leaders, community change agents, action researchers and advocates for children.

Kutsyuruba and Walker’s (2015) article: The lifecycle of trust in educational leadership: an ecological perspective, International Journal of Leadership; the article examines the importance of trust for the moral agency of a leader and decision making that is ethical. They study the relevant literature regarding stages of the lifecycle of establishment, sustenance, breakage and restoration of trust in educational institutions. Ideally, school leaders are moral agents. They decide on the course of action in their institutions. Moral agency, as a notion, varies with sectors. In classic fashion, though, a leader always takes action on behalf of another entity. The ability of a person to decide based on commonly agreed standards of “wrong” and “right” is referred to as one’s moral agency. They point out that it is accompanied by living ethically and consistently, caring for others and bearing the cost of following ethical principles. In summary, leaders should be regarded as the neutral trust brokers for both the school community and themselves. Leadership and morality are, therefore inseparable. Culture is built on morality. The article, nevertheless, lays a heavy emphasis on the role of virtues in a school setting. The application of the same is more relevant in the communities in which the leaders are confronted with the dilemmas with no shielding effect of the school setting. While Miller, Pavlakis, Lac & Hoffman (2014) and Cline and Necochea (2010) focus on the role that leaders play in the community and at school, Kutsyuruba and Walker’s (2015) concentrate on the school setting.

In “Confronting Rapid Change: Exploring the Practices of Educational Leaders in a Rural Boomtown” by Erin McHenry-Sorbera and Kathleen Provinzanob (2017), they study the experience of leadership so as to find out the solutions for rural based schools. Some of the challenges in rural based schools include transiency of students, new-comer influx and homelessness. Leaders of students cope with changing needs outside the school by a series of compliance strategies. They pursue a raft of measures that are designed to satisfy the needs of the community inside their institutions. Some recent challenges in rural based schools have been addressed by the authors. Complicated and intersecting issues outside the school mandate can be solved better by adopting policy fluency rather than responding contextually (McHenry-Sorbera, Provinzano, 2017) and Miller et al., (2014). The authors also concur that there is a need to groom educational leaders that are responsible; community-wise.

Mentoring in the Context of Educational Leadership Preparation and Development, by Grogan and Crow (2004) explores the contribution of mentoring to student outcomes. The authors ventilate the issues surrounding mentoring , even as they try to avoid to encourage the status quo, and the chance of negative effects emanating from mentoring programs. The article also reflects some of the views expressed in the work by Kutsyuruba and Walker (2015). On the other hand, Grogan and Crow (2014) focus on mentorship offered by leaders in government offices. Katsyuruba and Walker (2015) suggest that the morality of leaders should be emphasized so as to improve their leadership. The article reiterates that there should be mentoring that is purposeful for leaders so that effective professional growth can be realized. Nevertheless, there is no clear measure for the outcomes of the mentoring programs as yet.

Curriculum leadership in global context: a self-study of educational leadership teaching practices Patrizio and Stone-Johnson (2015), examines how effective a self study of educational leadership is. Issues that define what is to be learnt and hence included in the curriculum are changing fast and are enshrouded in controversies. A self study of practices of teaching has been used in a wide range of teacher education contexts and a bit in educational leadership courses. Self study research deliberately inquires the dynamics of practice. The insights informed by self study here are preoccupied by our specific experiences. Nevertheless, they have the capacity to influence the areas of educational leadership variously. Even then, there is a need to always be aware of the boundaries of ideology in the application of self study, and how such distinctions model the conditions needed to fortify learning and link to the common practices globally. Cline and Necochea (2010) articulate the need to prepare leaders, and discuss the 21st C complexities. According to Patrizio and Stone-Johnson (2015), they agree with the postulation of the latter that self study is a useful method in research for educators seeking to remodel the curriculum leadership, amid the ambiguities surrounding the same in this new century.

Nkhata’s (2013) “Global Perspectives on Educational Leadership Reform: The Development and Preparation of Leaders of Learning and Learners of Leadership points at the modern knowledge in educational administration. It picks out the issues, and presents policy makers, educators and government authorities with researched methods to help make better decisions. The article aids this essay because it explores most of the themes by all other articles.

According to Miller et al, (2014), educational leadership goes beyond particular roles and institutions. It occurs widely on social frontiers and areas with diverse institutions, interests and people. The position is also supported by Grogan and Crow (2014), although they recommend mentorship for shaping leaders. Kutsyuruba and Walker (2015) suggest that the morality of leaders should be conformed so as to improve their leadership quality, through teaching them how to keep trust, always. On their part Patrizio and Stone-Johnson (2015), point out that self study is an important approach in research for educators to influence curriculum leadership in the confusion that is the 21st C scenario. Complex and interacting challenges going beyond matters of school can be solved better by fluency of policy, compared to responding according to context (McHenry-Sorbera, Provinzano 2017). Many dilemmas arise from an effort to balance progressive reform needs and issues of equity that are inherent in a society that is democratic, and the need for stability in schools. However, such dilemmas should not slow the momentum for reform (Cline and Necochea, 2009). The importance of understanding current issues in the educational administration, presenting policy makers, government officers and educators with researched strategies in their search for solutions, and the importance of morality in the process is underscored by (Nkhata’s 2013).