My Reflections on School Leadership
Reflecting about leadership means to me that I need to come up with my own definition of what a school leader is. I can recall some really great administrators as well as some very difficult ones. The good school leaders were secure in sharing their power. They willingly gave projects to other staff members if the principal felt they could do as good a job or better than the principal themselves. Another quality of an effective school leader, in my opinion, is that they communicate their vision of the school’s mission clearly to all stakeholders. I think another factor of a quality school leader is that they stay on top of the literature in regards to education.
I want to steer away from the principals that set a problematic example of school leadership. A trait that I find most worrisome in an ineffective school leader is the ability to handle conflict. Some administrator’s feel that conflict needs to be dealt with head on while others feel that the conflict just needs time to simmer and it will resolve itself. A further quality that I do not want to exhibit is lack of trusting staff members. This trait is one that can tear down a faculty. Administrators need to be able to trust the faculty of a school to keep the education of students the most important thing. Many of the administrators I have worked with never demonstrated the trust that teachers can make good decisions about school programs.
Reflecting on my previous experiences with school leaders and the reading I have done I am able to generate a definition for a school leadership. I strongly agree with how Pellicer described his idea of leadership (Pellicer, 1999).
“Leadership is so much more that a title or a
formal mandate to take charge in a particular situation. It is more than a discrete set of personal
qualities or traits or ability to perform a set of complex tasks.”
As I reread this quote, I was struck by the idea of a school administrator being the “glue” of the school. You have to love what you are doing and want to help teachers be the best they can be. I want to be able to promote excellence with students as well as faculty in my role as an administrator. An assistant principal I recently had the privilege of working with epitomized Pellicer’s definition. I never felt controlled by this leader. He offered suggestions and gave tasks to be accomplished. He loved what he was doing and he always used the lens of “what is the best for students” when analyzing a program. I want to follow in his footsteps.
In order to promote excellence among students and faculty I will need to embrace the idea of shared governance. Shared governance is an important part of school improvement. Through incorporating this style of leadership, staff, parents and students are empowered to have more of say in the way the school is run. All stakeholders will feel valued and that they are respected members of the learning community. Tapping into teacher’s expertise and experience to facilitate enlightened decisions and build better education programs (Barth, 1988b) is one way that I want to institute shared governance.
Teacher Empowerment
When teachers are viewed as more than just “paper pushers” and are recognized for the expertise they pose, improvement in a school will be achieved. As a school leader I will strive to ensure teachers are a part of decisions where they demonstrate an area of expertise. One of these areas would be curricular decisions. I feel that the best person to discuss changes in curriculum is the teacher in the “trenches”. These staff members work continuously with students and the impact the curriculum has on them. At this time in my career, I feel that the level of teacher involvement I am most apt to use is that of consultation. I would seek out experts to help me make decisions and listen to what they have to say.
Another aspect of teacher empowerment is to form learning communities that will help teachers demonstrate and learn best practices. I would work to organize learning communities based on subject areas. Having a common reason for working collaboratively further empowers teachers. An example of a learning community I have been a part of is the county level math department chairs. We meet monthly and discuss topics that each school has utilized that worked or didn’t work. I learned more from these meetings because I felt empowered. I was able to take the information I learned back to my school and shared it with other math teachers which in turn empowered them! I saw this on a small scale; imagine the level of empowerment if the entire school faculty were members of learning communities! To achieve this vision, communication will be vital to the empowerment of teachers.
Communication
One type of communication that I have seen in the school setting frequently is unilateral. This type of communication is begun by a speaker with the intent of the information stopping at the listener (Schmuck & Runkel, 1995). I remember this communication occurring when I was in college sitting through a lecture. Sometimes the information felt like a title wave washing over me! The information was rarely interpreted the same way by different people. This form of communication should be used sparingly. Morning announcements are a time that unilateral communication can be used effectively.
A form of communication that I feel is best for shared governance is transactional. This type of communication allows for give and take on the part of the speaker and the listener. The message is sent, received and interpreted by all parties involved in the communication. I would use this type of communication in learning communities as we examine problems and their solutions. Two-way communication is important to be able to solve problems collaboratively. This two-way communication works best in an open environment. Members should not feel retribution will occur if they state their opinion. Building a learning community will require that I remain open to all types of communication.
Being able to communicate effectively is not a skill I was born with, it is a skill that I will need to continue to develop. If I have the desire to improve my communication skills I suspect that other staff members feel the same way. Seeking out staff development on communication would be one way that I would begin a journey into shared governance. Developing my interpersonal skills is something I know I need to continue working on. These interpersonal skills will help me deal with the inevitable conflicts that will arise as I jump into shared governance.
Conflict
Conflict occurs anywhere that you have several professionals striving to achieve their goals. These goals can be personal as well as professional. I experienced a conflict earlier this school year over materials. When you have limited resources conflicts will arise! Schmuck and Runkel stated in their Handbook of Organizational Development in Schools and Colleges (1995), that sources of conflict among educators can be categorized as differing functions within the school, individual power struggles, role conflicts, differing teaching/learning styles, or outside forces that can be imposed on the staff of a school. How you deal with the conflict is what makes a good leader better.
One strategy that I am intrigued by for dealing with conflict is the split-second pause (Bloomfield & Copper, 1997). When confronted with conflict the idea is to take a moment to calm down before saying or agreeing to something you will later regret. I like the way Bloomfield and Cooper described their idea of a split second pause. They stated that it is a way to “bypass the brain’s ancient, inherent tendency for premature cognitive commitment.” This strategy means to me to take a deep breath, reflect on what is being said, then react. Pausing for just a moment allows you to go into the situation with your head clear and your eyes open! I plan on practicing this strategy in my job as a team leader and as a department chair.
Communicating effectively is one tactic that I intend to utilize when dealing with conflict. Listening to what each side has to say in the conflict will help all of us arrive at a solution. It’s much like two siblings quarreling over the same room. You have to listen to why they each want the room and help achieve a compromise. Uncovering what the true meaning of the conflict is will also help settle the problem. I feel that conflicts are going to occur in a school setting due to the interdependent relationships. We all need to work together in order to achieve a common goal. Sometimes this working together can cause conflict. I will institute conflict management by attempting to reveal discrepancies among participants. Revealing these discrepancies will set the ground work for compromise and collaboration to achieve school improvement.
Formal Authority
I was impacted by the idea of using formal authority in a positive light. When I think of formal authority I envision a principal sitting behind his or her desk sending out edicts designed to achieve school improvement. This is not using formal authority in a positive way. Authority that is used fairly is respected and accepted by teachers not just because it came from the school leadership. This is a key concept for me. I don’t like being mandated to; I work better when my opinion is asked prior to instituting a new policy. I want the staff that works for me to feel comfortable, secure and encouraged to share with me. Using authority in a positive light will enable me to make decisions and have the staff go along with my vision. A use of formal authority that I truly resented was when an administrator forced me to change a student’s grade. This action made me resent the administrator and caused me to react negatively to his future suggestions. Even though his suggestions were educationally valid, I still resented the negative use of his authority. It took me over a year to move past that particular usage of his authority. I hope to always remember how I felt when his power was used against me!
Authority should not be used to control people! I have also had a positive use of formal authority occur in a negative situation. The situation was that a teacher was failing to adhere to their contract. The teacher refused to go to their inclusion classroom. I was a part of the conference when the principal spoke with the teacher. Instead of mandating that the teacher complete all contract obligations, the principal questioned the teacher to reveal the reason behind the problem. The principal then steered the teacher into understanding the impact on students when she failed to attend the collaborative class. I observed the teacher come up with her own plan for handling the issue. The principal guided her instead of forcing her to do something she was uncomfortable with. Reflecting on this use of authority aided me further in developing my definition for school leadership.
Transactional versus Transformational
Leadership
Throughout most of my education I have witnessed transactional styles of leadership. This type of leadership is not one associated with shared governance. It is hierarchically and bureaucratically driven. This type of leadership means to me that the principal makes all decisions. The ideas are based on the idea of quid-pro-quo transactions. You do something for me and I’ll do something for you guide this type of school leadership. Compliance of the principal’s followers is achieved through receiving favorable ratings, job security and tenure (Owens, 2004). This is not the type of leadership I hope to use. I want to be a leader who relies on transformation of the school. As a transformational leader, I want to know what motivates the staff of my school. I want to build a mutually stimulating environment in which staff can achieve greatness. Through transformational leadership I can empower my staff. An empowered staff can become leaders and at times I will become the follower. It is not necessary for the principal to always hold the power. It works best if the principal can relinquish some of the power to help transform the school into one that operates through shared governance.
Effective use of transformational leadership will lead to the highest level of management entitled “moral leadership”. I believe this type of direction is crucial to effective shared governance. I want my staff to be shared partners in the mutual needs, aspirations and values of the school (Owens, 2004). Because of this moral leadership, I would hope to encourage my staff to use their best judgment in regards to who they will follow and why. I hope that I would be the one to gain followers but, in some instances someone else may have a better idea and I will have to be strong enough to recognize that idea and become a follower myself. This type of leadership will help me most when I work with learning communities that are established in my school.
Learning Community
Establishing a learning community will enable me to be the type of school leader I want to be. I want to share the power of the position with other staff members. My vision of shared governance will best be realized through instituting these communities. I see my role as a facilitator of collaborative efforts through out the school (Blase and Blase, 2001). Providing the resources necessary to support these communities will be crucial to my management of shared power. I want to provide teachers as well as myself opportunities to examine all data gathered through action research in order to determine needed goals and objectives. Learning communities will aid in leaders becoming teachers and teachers becoming leaders (Blase and Blase, 2001). I have experienced this first hand when I became a member of the inclusion committee at my school. Because I had been involved in a successful inclusion partnership I became one of the leaders of the group. It became my responsibility to gather data that we would evaluate. This experience became an impetus for me to work toward my leadership endorsement!
Learning communities can also help gear a school toward teacher development and school improvement. These communities will help establish a wealth of new ideas, strategies and procedures. Mentoring new teachers is a wonderful way for a community of educators to guide one of their own. Teachers that wish to be a part of a community must be willing to take on the responsibility, exude initiative and be willing to become a leader themselves (Sergiovanni, 2001). Out of learning communities a school can be totally recreated! For real school improvement to occur the leader must be willing to let go! I intend to be that kind of leader.
As I read more about creating a community of leaders I became enthralled with the ideas of purposing, collegiality first, quality control and leadership by outrage. These concepts were addressed in readings by Sergiovanni. He stated that “together the values provide substance for practicing leadership by bonding and by binding”. I think bonding is vital to school improvement. You need staff buy-in for changes you want to make. To achieve this bonding, I must be open, honest and instill trust in my staff. Once bonding has occurred among the staff, binding decisions will come naturally. Staff buy-in is achieved through bonding and once we’ve bonded we are more willing to be accountable to agreements we reached together.
Upon reflection, I think purposing is sharing goals and expectations that will help create a strong school environment. Purposing will help me share my vision of what leadership and school improvement is. Communities need to have a purpose for their existence. They need to have shared values and a commitment to achieve excellence. Purposing will give stakeholders direction to achieve the mission of the school. An example of purposing and shared values that I have helped establish came about through my coursework. A group of us have created our own learning community with the purpose of being successful in achieving our leadership certification. We meet and discuss ideas that are presented through readings. We have bonded in our desire to become school leaders and have a binding agreement to help one another when we have difficulty understanding a particular concept.
Collegiality first came as a shook to me. I always thought you had to be congenial in order to establish collegiality. Now I recognize that it is not always necessary to “get along” in order to learn from each other. I have always been the type of person that wants everyone to get along and enjoy each other’s company. The last school I worked in nominated me as Mrs. Congeniality because I tried to get along with everyone. Those people I couldn’t get along with were often ignored. Wow, I probably lost out on a lot of good information and resources! Collegiality, not congeniality, is an essential part of any leadership community. When I think of what collegiality means to me I think of trust, shared work ethics, and mutual respect. I understand now that I don’t have to like a person in order to respect them and work with them. Collegial relationships do benefit from friendly relationships but they can also exist between professionals. I believe the key here is being a professional.
I have begun to understand that making collegiality more important than congeniality makes quality control easier to implement. We have to want to be the best of the best and work hard to achieve this vision. The sense of pride in my school instills commitment from me to always do my best. I am my own quality control leader. I recently was a member of the committee that wrote the new math curriculum for our county. I developed ownership for this curriculum. I felt that if my name was on the document then it better be quality work. Again, I was my own quality control enforcer! I had intrinsic satisfaction for a job well done, although it never hurts to hear praise. Tied into the idea of quality control is a purpose for writing the curriculum. The new curriculum was written to help students achieve success on the criterion reference competency test.
Leadership by outrage was another concept that struck a chord with me. My school is struggling with being classified as a needs improvement school. The faculty has worked hard to help all students feel successful and yet the state has the nerve to tell us we need to improve! “How dare they” has become a rallying cry at my school! We pulled together, instituted changes aimed toward school improvement and we were still denied! This frustration and outrage can spur the faculty on to prove that they really are the best. Outrage can be a good thing if it is harnessed and aimed toward improvement. Many great leaders have led through outrage. Martin Luther King Jr. garnered followers based on the injustices done to African-Americans. His “I have a dream” speech caused many people to examine the way the public in our society were being treated. If faced with outrage, I hope to be able to capitalize on it to achieve school improvement. I have one fear of utilizing this outrage and it is what happens if I can’t harness it for good and it becomes destructive. Upon reflection, leadership by outrage will be a concept I will have to be careful to utilize correctly so that it doesn’t become an inhibition to instituting shared governance.
Inhibitions to Shared Governance
I think one of the biggest inhibitions for an administrator to jump into shared governance is faculty buy-in. Many of the teachers I deal with are “old school”. By this I mean that they want the principal to tell them what to do and then they will do it. These are the same teachers that nay-say a lot of the new ideas that school leaders try to bring to the table. I think that once I set up learning communities that place these teachers with strong advocates for shared governance they will come around. Other factors that I feel that will influence these teachers are the change in teacher morale and student achievement.
Another inhibition that I feel is the fear I have of sharing power with others. I realize that shared governance creates the best possible learning environment for all stakeholders. I worry about how to chose who I share the power that an administrator is given. What if I task someone with a project and they fail at the project? If I step-in and try to “micro-manage” doesn’t that defeat the trust I’m trying to instill in the faculty? My own principal has attempted to transform the school into one that participates with shared governance. I’ve been noting how my principal proceeds with this decision. She is taking baby steps. She began by creating a leadership team. Then she added way too many teachers to the team. It became difficult to reach any decisions. I have suggested to her to break up the leadership team into two separate groups. One group would be team leaders that are focused on the day to day operation or a school. The other group would consist of department chairpersons that would be tasked with curriculum issues. I feel that this would be the best next move for my principal to make. I have also noticed that even for every step forward she takes, she may wind up moving backwards a few steps. I’m proud of my principal for having the vision of shared governance and sincerely hope that I will be able to share that vision with my faculty.
A third inhibition I envision is creating productive learning communities. I have been a member of a learning community in the past. We did not receive a mandate from the administrator as to what we were to do. We had no vision for our community. I will have to help each community establish their own vision and mission statement. Once we establish the vision and mission, the community will need to come up with “rules of engagement”. How is the community going to function? What kind of results are we looking for? How will I be involved in the learning community? I believe I should be a participant, not the leader, in any learning community I join. As the school administrator I will also need to find resources for these communities. The resources could be in the form of equipment, time or even money.
Addressing these inhibitions will be something I must do prior to joining a faculty as a school administrator. I need to come in with a vision for the school. I further need to guide staff to share my vision and help me create the mission for the school. Having a vision and asking for help on creating a mission statement will hopefully instill trust, purpose, and a sense of shared power among the staff.
Outcomes for Shared Governance
I envision on of the best outcomes of shared governance will be an increase in student achievement scores. The students will begin to feel that the school is making changes toward improvement. This will be evident in the higher level of morale among all stakeholders. Teachers will have a say in how the school is run and therefore; have a vested interest in its success. Once the teachers have developed trust in that the school leaders are sharing power and that teacher decisions and input are valued the word will spread to all members of the community.
I feel that involving parents is an important step in the process of shared governance. I want them to participate in school improvement after all their child’s education is at the heart of any improvement process. Involving people outside of the building will help spread the vision and mission of the school.
Conclusion
I began this journey trying to decide what I envision leadership to mean. I have examined several different leadership styles and have found that I most want to emulate a transformational style (Owens, 2004). This has become part of my personal definition of what being a school leader entails. My ideas of a school leader are that I will have to communicate effectively, share my vision for the school, help create a mission for the school, treat teachers and other staff member with respect, develop trust through actions, and be willing to accept criticism when warranted.
References:
Blase, J. & Blase, J. (2001). Empowering Teachers: What Successful Principals Do. 2nd edition.
Bloomfied, H. & Cooper, R. (1997). How to
be safe in an unsafe world.
Owens, R.G. (2004). Organizational behavior in education.
Pellicer, L. (1999). Caring
Enough to Lead: Schools and the Sacred Trust. “What is a Leader”.
Sergiovanni, T. (2001) The Principalship: A Reflective Practice Perspective. 4th edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Schmuck, R. & Runkel, Phillip J. (1995). The Handbook of Organizational Development in Schools and Colleges. 4th
edition. Waveland Press: