Educational leadership: principles, practices, and contemporary perspectives

Educational Leadership Framework

Leadership in education is a multifaceted concept that involves not only good business and negotiation skills but also a talent for insight into needs of this generation's students as well as the next. It is an ever-changing skill set that must be constantly self-monitored and updated as time goes on. A leader here must has skill not only in education, but in management of resource and of computer and Internet capabilities as well as relating to the multitasking needs and feedback requirements of the students involved as wall as staff and other associates of the Generation X'ers, Millennials and beyond.(Lancster & Stillman, 2002). The most important thing for a good leader in education is that her or she must have a "teachable point-of-view" (Cohen & Tichy, 1997). This point-of-view is what it takes to be a leader in the management of the school system as well as the ability to lead coworkers and staff in the same direction.

In leadership frameworks as well as in education in order for something to be teachable it must be understood. As a leader it is important to be able to communicate effectively, that means that you must be able to transfer your point-of-view to another so that it is understood completely.

As a leader in education or in any filed you must teach and not preach. You have to tell a story or you have to find common touch points with the listener by always asking questions and remaining open-minded. One must also to lead by example and not just by authority. Telling someone to do something and showing them how to perform the task are can be very different approaches to the same situation. The first is controlling and the latter is usually empowering.

During the course of research for this paper I used several tools to analyze my leadership skills to know my strengths and my weaknesses. The following was the result of the Jungian typology Test:

My resultant type is ENFJ: (Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging). A snapshot of this personality would be:

ENFJs are the benevolent 'pedagogues' of humanity. They have tremendous charisma by which many are drawn into their nurturant tutelage and/or grand schemes. Many ENFJs have tremendous power to manipulate others with their phenomenal interpersonal skills and unique salesmanship. But it's usually not meant as manipulation -- ENFJs generally believe in their dreams, and see themselves as helpers and enablers, which they usually are.

This is an excellent beginning for a teacher as well as a leader. It is interesting to see that I scored high in both the intuitive and judging areas. While I may be too judgmental in some cases I believe that my intuitive nature helps to be make the right decisions. While my extraversion had scored lower than I thought, given my background, that may be an asset to offset my more aggressive tendencies. I have noted that my feeling background is lower than I would like and that is one part of my personality that I would certainly like to work on as far as both leadership styles and my own personal life goes.

A also used the tool for assessing leadership style over a wide range of categories with the following results:

These categories, based on a scale of twenty-five, are briefly expressed with the following definitions: Ambassadors instinctively know how to handle a variety of situations with grace, Advocates instinctively act as the spokesperson in a group, People Movers instinctively take the lead in building teams and can motivate people, Truth-Seekers level the playing field for those in need, they try to identify the root-cause issues, or pivotal issues, Creative Builders instinctively understand that building is not necessarily about invention, but about process of making an invention real, Experienced guide they have a way of helping people think through their own problems, they are natural therapists.

I was bolstered by these results and see that my past experience coupled with my new visionary attitude towards my career have certainly paid off. However, I see that there is some need to build on the areas of People-Mover, Advocate and Creative builder, since they were all lower than twenty. While still strong, improvement in all areas will be part of my overall future plan. These tools were very helpful in assessing my needs and my strengths.

Outside of these areas I believe that another of my assets is that I am always willing to give people a chance even if their performance is poor to start with. Especially if I know that their initial job and/or home environment was bad to begin with. Sometimes you can see a spark or the need to get themselves out of it and progress. It always takes some work, and a lot of tough love. Tough love feedback is critical, although not always easy to hear or to say it is important to remain focused on this aspect of leadership and of teaching in order for a student to progress (Cohen & Tichy, 1997, p. 59).

If managers are unable or unwilling to develop the skills [staff] need to perform effectively, the latter will set lower personal standards than they are capable of achieving, their self-images will be impaired, and they will develop negative attitudes toward jobs, employers, and - in all probability - their own careers. (Livingston, 1988, p. 128).

Another one of my strong points, which I would like to develop further, is the use of my sense of humor. You have to remember that it is Ok to have some fun, especially if things in the classroom or with peer is not going so well. Take a break, and have some fun instead. Or try and turn a situation around with a humorous perspective some fun instead (Lancaster and Stillman, 2002, p.148). There are times where a break in the action through fun can open up creative juices and get brainstorming going as well. These can be crucial to both the classroom and the educational management process.

I would also like to be able to focus on the positive, what is working in the classroom rather than dwelling on the negative or what has gone wrong.. One of the things that I know is that as a culture, "We are obsessed with learning from our mistakes" (Hammond, 1998, p. 9). I believe that sometime the only thing you really learn from mistakes is how to make those mistakes again. There is no building on deficits you can only build on strengths and skills that are already in place; this helps shore up the weaknesses that everyone has (Raffoni, 2002).

In the preface to their book, Getting to Yes, Fisher and Ury state that, "Negotiation is a fact of life" (1991, p. xviii). I would like to be able to remember that every conversation, every business and staffing situation is always a negotiation, a give and take. Remembering that helps one to see that there is another side to a situation. It also can help prevent one from getting stuck on one viewpoint to the exclusion of possibly a better point-of-view. In order to become a successful coach one has to learn to develop an open mind and to be able to see things from other people perspectives. "Effective coaching requires a balanced discussion in which the leader first tries to understand before trying to be understood" (Stowell, 1988). Also to remember that keeping an open mind does not mean that you overlook everything, you can merely have a more vast array of options to weigh.

This goes hand in hand with another tool I would wish to develop both inside and outside the classroom, Appreciative Inquiry. (Hammond, 1998, pp. 20-21) I have long believed and observed that those who are constantly negative about situations will always prove themselves true. Self-fulfilling prophecies hopefully work both ways and if you can alter your focus to the positive, hopefully you will find the positive. The difference is obviously, again, in concentrating on what works instead of what doesn't work. Keep an open mind and get the ego out of the way. Diversity is the key here and understanding differences as strengths is the only option. Words have an emotional content that is often overlooked and not found in their definition. The definition of the word stupid does not transmit the feeling of being called stupid. The feeling-tone of words can often make or break a situation. This is where you have to be careful of humor. Something said in jest can often result in adverse reactions from another. This is especially true of cross-cultural differences that can have unpredictable effects where humor is concerned. Appreciative inquiry is certainly another term for being an active listener. That is also a concept that I would like to increasingly cultivate in my ideal management persona. It is hard in a fast paced setting to really listen to what is being said or be in tune to what is really going on. I will and have been using a journal of activities to measure these goals as well as the total goals of my day-to-day work.

In this respect I will be trying to eliminate one of my flaws; that of being a know-it-all at times. There are certain points where I go off on tangents trying to solve the unsolvable. I can waste a great deal of effort tin trying to be right. I could just as easily step back and appreciate the polar opposites of a problem and try to remember that there is often more than one answer to a given situation.

In my time as a naval officer I certainly have discovered how to effectively lead a team and many of those skills can be applied to my current role as an effective teacher and section leader. In that respect I feel that I do possess the following leadership styles and attributes:

I am a Managerial leader that is goal focused with a high tolerance stress and pressure. I have great personal integrity and am motivated to perfume my work to the highest of standards. However, I consult with my peers & subordinates; I ensure that the organization's mission & vision are being implemented. In that respect I am also a behavioral leader in that I use and adopt what I perceive to be the strengths of other section members and find compliments for their deficits in other team members or myself. I also see myself as being a people-oriented leader valuing input and assets above all else.

What is overlooked in these knowledge management discussions is the science of how people develop. Organizations that strive to extract the greatest value from their collective expertise often emphasize their tools and systems for building, using, and managing knowledge. This focus can infuse the organization with insights about alternative approaches, stimulate opportunities to share ideas, and provide synergy for bringing ideas together, where they can combust into something even better. (Hicks & Peterson, 2000, p. 30)

One of the positive side effects of my time as a Military Officer is that I am always looking at the "what if's" of any given situation, which make me an excellent Contingency leader. I am also a firm believer in the growth and development of my staff, the sharing of information, and the concept of "there is no one best way" to get a job done. Which lead to my next strength with is Transformational leadership. In order to implement this one must lead by example in order to inspire others. I also believe in being completely transparency and honesty with all team members as well as incorporating self-actualization and personal growth into all aspects of team building and leadership. While I certainly do not believe in making change for change's sake... If I am given directions from above (executive) that need to be implemented, rather than complaining I look for ways to put into practice the desired change in a way that best suits our section and my staff.

Team / Shared leadership is another example of my strengths. Currently I work with a team of highly professional staff and I constantly seek their input and let them know that I value their contributions. As Bandura points out,."..belief in their capabilities to master activities affects their aspirations, their level of interest in activities, and their accomplishments" (1994. p.130).This makes it possible for me to delegate tasks to the staff so that I can rely on them to get the job done. I expect that if they encounter a problem that they won't just come to me with the problem, but with a number of solutions at the same time. I also believe in providing top cover to my staff and supporting them in any way that I can. This leads to another aspect of leadership and perhaps one of the most important that the Navy has taught me is to be Ethical and Honest. I try to always be as upfront and straight forward as possible while acting in a professional manner. This is one of the most critical areas where one must lead by example. (Goleman, 2000, p.78).

As a teacher and educator one of the most critical styles is that of Instructional Leadership. This is probably one style of leadership that fully captures the way I lead and interact with my peers & staff. Here is where I implement fully the idea of a "teachable point-of-view" (Cohen & Tichy, 1997). In that aspect I also try to be a Visionary leader who can see the large picture and find traceable and achievable steps in order to get there.

As far as supervisory or managerial techniques that I already use, currently I employ a slightly annotated model of the GROW method when doing any coaching or trying to teach new staff as well. As stated the stages go as follows:

Goal setting, short-term and long-term.

Reality checking to explore the current situation.

Options and alternative strategies for the desired outcomes.

What is to be done, when, by whom, and the will to do it? (Whitmore, 2002)

However, there are some drawback to having had a military background as leader, I can come on to strong, and as mentioned previously, be too much of a know it all. I know that I need to focus more on people's abilities and not their deficits. But not to ignore those deficits and hope that they go away but to, "Emphasize the strategic importance of shoring up the particular weakness. Describe the cost, to him, of continuing to neglect that ability. And minimize the pain as much as you can" (Raffoni, 2002, p. 4). I would also like to be able to focus on the positive, what is working in a situation rather than dwelling on the negative or what has gone wrong.. One of the things that I know is that as a culture, "We are obsessed with learning from our mistakes" (Hammond, 1998, p. 9).