Educational leadership: roles, responsibilities, and organizational impact

Educational Leadership

Merriam-Webster's New English Dictionary defines a leader as being, "a person who has commanding authority or influence" (Merriam-Webster's New English Dictionary, 2011). Most would agree that this definition adequately captures the essence of what is a leader. However, I believe that anyone in a leadership position (especially one in the educational arena) should be extremely proactive and thoughtfully responsive to the various issues presented to him or her on a daily basis. Furthermore, ideal leaders are charismatic and knowledgeable, with a wide skill set ranging from conceptual talent to interpersonal proficiency. In fact, according to leadership expert Dr. Warren Bennis, "Only someone adept enough to motivate and mobilize people can be considered a truly effective leader" (Bennis, 2010, p. 1). Therefore, with a wider idea of what exactly is required of leaders, I continue to consider myself a qualified candidate. Noting the broad nature of an educational leader's responsibilities, I feel like my diverse background in leadership roles has adequately prepared me to accept this duty. I have extensive experience interacting with staff members and students at a multitude of levels and in order to effectively assume my current occupational role(s) I have had to construct relationships quickly and efficiently. In doing so, I have been able to strategically interact with many knowledgeable administrators, parents and staff members, thus allowing me to create a clear and thoroughly developed vision of what strong leadership means to me. Bearing in mind that my education is never truly complete, I hope to bring my vision to an administrative position and continue to learn and grow to better meet the needs of my district.

Through my work in various leadership positions I have learned the importance of chronically communicating and promoting my ultimate vision. My role as Coordinator of Discipline called for me to construct a clear disciplinary standard and subsequently endorse that standard to teachers and students throughout the Marsh Avenue Expeditionary Learning School. Also, my role as Physical Education Leader allowed me to create an in depth PE program applicable to students at various stages of their education and physical fitness.

Both of the job roles mentioned above mandate clear and effective communication on my part. Sharing my ideas and visions with staff members, administrators, parents and students requires various communicative means and a great deal of patience and understanding. Moreover, other areas of my previous experience have also called for strong communication skills. For instance, my position of the Building Safety Committee has required me to engage in extensive collaboration with many of my peers and co-inhabitants (our building houses three other schools).

Additionally, while the aforementioned position certainly required a great deal of cooperation and collaboration, my role as Crew Leader has also helped me to directly communicate my ideologies regarding leadership to students in a collaborative environment. This group of students (known as "Crew") will stay together throughout their time at Marsh Avenue Expeditionary Learning School and will be taught several critical skills regarding outside problems, issues and future opportunities. In other words, this program provides students with an additional forum to communicate their ideas and concerns to a reliable and collaborative group of their peers and educators.

During my time as Coordinator of Discipline I have collaborated with staff members on a regular basis. Being that I continuously strive to be proactive rather than reactive, I am chronically interacting with staff members regarding their knowledge of current disciplinary standards and their possible concerns present in their respective classrooms. More generically, I also go out of my way to help staff members with various classroom management issues. I try to identify such issues on an individual basis and during various periodic department meetings. By providing a detailed outline of my vision and the school's relevant policies, I continue to preserve our institution's reputation for excellence, while also developing and nurturing our educational professionals.

Being that the conveyance of standards and policies represents a large portion of my job assignment, I accept a great deal of responsibility when regulations are broken, forgotten or not adequately acknowledged. Despite the fact that in some cases such occurrences are a result of blatant disregard for specific standards, I believe that effective communication of the importance attached to these standards will likely deter many of the potential disdainers. Therefore, while it is also my responsibility to determine and hand out consequences to the individuals who have broken the rules, I always do a bit of self-examination and reevaluation after such incidents to determine if I could have done anything to prevent this individual from acting out.

During my time at the Marsh Avenue Expeditionary Learning School I have not taken a great deal of calculated risks. However, I am certainly open to the idea of alternative forms of education and interaction. I continuously embrace the ideas proposed to me by my staff members and administrative peers. However, as I naturally assume a great deal of responsibility in the event of a failure of any proposal, I always make it my duty to diligently research and examine the various potentialities of all results. Nevertheless, some risks that I have taken during my tenure include the Crew program and a relatively non-traditional approach to physical education. Both of these programs involved a great deal of outside the classroom activity and material that students would not normally encounter in a conventional educational setting. Each of these educative endeavors has produced very favorable results. In fact, Crew members have been able to raise their cumulative in-classroom average from an 84 to a 92. Thus, while I initially and strategically adapted both programs to a small group of students (as somewhat of a trial period) I believe that the core principles and successes produced by these initiatives appropriates consideration for the expansion of these educative tools.