EDUL 6014 Pamela Barnett

Shared Governance in Schools Fall 2005

Reflections on School Leadership

As I continue to study and learn about the various aspects of school leadership, I find that my beliefs and views have not completely ‘jelled’. I do not know if they will ever completely crystallize or even if they should. I believe my future experiences and professional growth will impact and ultimately decide whether my concepts and beliefs on leadership continue to be a living, developing and maturing entity or whether they become a more firm, solid and fixed foundation. I have oscillated between the two possibilities and I am concerned about the weaknesses inherent in both. Maybe a blending of both possibilities will be the answer.

Having endured the leadership of a command style principal, I am certain that I do not want to incorporate or reflect any of those characteristics. I saw veteran and novice teachers alike disintegrate under the reign of terror of her control. She was on a private mission to climb the professional ladder to a superintendent position and would not entrust or tolerate teachers influencing or impacting her plan. Her belief was consistently enforced that teachers were nothing more than instruments to carry out her orders. This commander is well on the way to achieving her mission as she is currently an assistant superintendent in a large school system in Georgia. She left many casualties behind—several teachers left the profession, retired or changed school systems.

This is a perfect example of what Owens (2004) calls command in which the hierarchy grants legal power to the office of principal and the subordinates or teachers have no control and must surrender to it. When a principal commands instead of leading, there is a great loss of the contributions, talents and resources of those that are commanded. Teachers that carry out the orders of the commander could provide methods, solutions and ideas that are more effective. The command mentality does not encourage and cultivate utilization of the rich resource that teachers can provide. Command authority fosters feelings of negativity and inferiority in teachers while it often leads to conflict and mediocre performance.

Leaders do not wield legal power vested in their position as principal; rather, they exercise power that followers have willingly entrusted to them (Owens, 2004). I know that I am willing to entrust power to a principal that acknowledges the wealth that teachers provide to a school and that has the goal of enriching and providing opportunities for students. I can still follow a leader even when I don’t agree with their methods or their path to our vision because the ends justify my support and followership.

Sergiovanni (2001) describes my beliefs when he says that effective followership is just a type of leadership and a successful leader is one that develops leadership in others. This concept of leadership forms an organization with its purposes at the pinnacle of the hierarchy and all other stakeholders, including the principal, in service to those principles. Sergiovanni has given me a clearer visual of the type of leader I want to be and of the way our school should be organized.

I strongly agree with Owens (2004) that entrusted authority develops when power resides in the followers themselves and cooperation is granted the leader by the followers. Therefore, the relationship that develops between follower and leader is voluntary not coerced. As a leader, entrusted authority would make me feel that I have been given the opportunity and empowered to use my talents, skills and knowledge to assist, organize and influence others to achieve a common goal. Since power is commonly considered to be the capacity to influence others (Owens), the greater the capacity followers and leaders have to influence others the greater power we wield to accomplish our goals and mission.

When I reflect on the task-focused and follower-focused leader that Bass describes (Owens, 2004), I realize that I can take on either focus but I would be more comfortable with the follower-focused orientation. I will have to consciously work to maintain an orientation of the "right blend in various kinds of situations" (Owens, p. 264). Without the follower focus, the science of leadership becomes too rigid to apply to the real world demands of leadership that deals with the ‘unknowns’ of human interaction. I agree with Owens in that leadership must see followers as vital sources of knowledge, creativity and energy for improving the organization. If this source is going to be ignored by leadership, it reduces the leadership of people to the rote control of machinery. My beliefs and feelings are summed up in this statement on leadership: "Leadership is not something that one does to people, nor is it a manner of behaving toward people: it is working with and through other people to achieve organizational goals" (Owens, p. 265).

I recognize my weaknesses in the area of management. I readily understand that resources have to be allocated, funds spent and time organized so that we can function within our school to accomplish our shared goals and experience our shared vision. The management part of a principal’s position would be the true labor of the job. At this time, I perceive management duties as the unavoidable evil, and I am very aware that my attitude and perceptions need to change. I do not relish the idea of having to decide where restricted amounts of resources and funds are to be utilized in the school. I don’t want to be a party to creating the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, but I know that those decisions have to be made. I know that involving other stakeholders in these decisions may alleviate the distaste of these duties, but everyone cannot always come out on top. Even though the need exists and the cause is deserving, there will be shortages that individuals will have to suffer through. I understand that we all sacrifice for the common good, yet I want to be able to provide the necessary resources for success, especially when those that are in need are doing all they can to accomplish the school’s mission.

I know that I have had practice with management skills as a one income single mother of four. I have had to make some tough decisions in the past and know that I will probably have many more in my future. I will have to draw on what I have learned from these personal experiences to help make managerial decision. I learned to ensure that I know and study the facts of the situation, prioritize, weigh the results and keep my eye on the implications of my decisions on the future. Ultimately, I do not want to let people down, especially those that have awarded me their allegiance, support and diligence. I know that as I work through this program of study I will gain knowledge and experience to develop my management skills.

Having participated in reflective practice to become a National Board Certified Teacher, I have experienced the growth and the value of the process. I also believe that reflective practice is crucial if one is to reach their full potential in the teaching profession.

Reflective practice allowed me to hone my teaching abilities. As I evaluated my teaching and identified things that worked, things that failed, things that I would do again and things I would change, I found areas of weakness and strength. I realized that I often did things more out of habit than out of need. As I planned and implemented lessons, I asked myself why am I doing this. I found out how much of a routine and rut I was getting into.

Reflective practice changed my teaching practice. It is a wonderful tool for professional growth. It challenges you to continually look for areas to improve and for methods to refine. Reflective practice compels you to ask and understand why you do the things you do in your classroom. You examine not only your actions but your reasoning behind those actions. You answer to yourself and as you grow professionally you set new standards for yourself. True reflective practice brings deep and meaningful change. As a professional, you can never return to your ‘old self’ or ignore what you have learned about your strengths and inadequacies, Reflective practice is a profession altering process. I know that I will need to continue reflective practice in any position I hold if I want to fully develop my abilities.

Bolin believes that teacher empowerment requires "investing in teachers the right to participate in the determination of school goals and policies and the right to exercise professional judgment about the content of the curriculum and means of instruction" (as cited in Blase & Blase, 2001, p. 3). Too often principals camouflage actions as true empowerment when in actuality they are pursuing a rubber stamp of their decisions and methods. What is worse, principals try to make teachers believe they are empowered to generate support for their personal agendas. Through the guise of empowerment, principals manipulate teachers into dedicating their efforts and time into accomplishing the ends that they seek. Teachers become the work horse to carry out decisions made by the leadership who disguise their ulterior motives with blinders of professed empowerment.

This type of counterfeit empowerment is a slap in the face and is more detrimental to teacher morale than working under leadership that clearly does not support or adhere to empowerment of teachers. As a leader, I would rather deny teachers empowerment than try to deceive them into thinking they were empowered just to accomplish my goals. I believe teachers recognize true empowerment when they experience it. I do know that some administrators feel they can justify the use of manipulation to achieve their goals, but I believe that this dishonesty will cost more in the loss of the trust and respect of teachers than can be replaced.

I believe that it is better to postpone empowering teachers unless you can completely and sincerely support the process. True empowerment cannot thrive in a disrespectful, manipulative and deceitful environment. Implementing empowerment of teachers should be for the right reason—"to provide opportunities for teachers to participate actively, openly and without fear in the endless process of shaping and molding the vision of the school and its culture" (Owens, 2004, p. 275).

The poem paints a rich mosaic of the various aspects of leadership. It expresses the depth of power of quality leadership. It makes me realize that there will always be questions for which a good leader will be searching for the answers. Good leadership demands distinctive qualities and characteristics that reach beyond the professional environment and extend into the leader’s ultimate being—the part that communes with a higher power.

The author leads me to believe that I should know myself first if I want to be able to define and model good leadership. Leadership requires basic ingredients such the ability to be humble, valiant, devoted, flexible, charitable, honest, compassionate and perceptive.

To this point, my reflections have led me to believe that my character, personal values and morals are a steering mechanism for my definition of a leader and for the type of leader that I will become. I try to consider the perspective of the follower and frequently ask myself is this the type of leader that I would follow and support. I seem to be developing a ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ philosophy of leadership. If I expect dedication, honesty, respect, openness and support I must provide and model them for my followers. I cannot ask for more than I am willing to give. I cannot expect others to reach and maintain their potential unless I am willing to accomplish the same.

There is so much more that my reflection of the material has generated yet, I am concerned with the depth and quality of my reflections. This reflection has helped me to know how I believe and feel now, but I do realize that my future experiences in leadership have the potential to alter those beliefs and feelings. I just know that there are some practices that I never want to employ as a leader and that I do not want to one day find myself wondering how I turned into the leader with qualities and character that I long ago detested.

References

Blase, J., & Blase, J. R. (2001). Empowering teachers: What successful

principals do (2^nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Ca: Corwin Press.

Owens, R. G. (2004). Organizational behavior in education. Boston: Pearson.

Poem on Leadership.

Sergiovanni, T. (2001). The principalship: A reflective practice perspective

(4^th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.