Qualities of leaders:
- "sense of responsibility
- concern for task completion
- energy
- persistence
- risk-taking
- originality
- self-confidence
- capacity to handle stress
- capacity to influence
- capacity to coordinate the efforts of others in the achievement of purpose" (Beare, 1989, p. 103).
Some common qualities of leaders:
- display energy and enthusiasm
- always tries to improve their own performance
- has a clear vision and direction
- has great judgement
- collaborates
- walks the talk
- open to new ideas
- learns from mistakes
- great interpersonal skills
- consistently develops others
I believe it is people skills, not management skills that result in staff helping the leader achieve the school vision and ultimately the learning outcomes that students deserve. People follow a leader who is great with people, who has great emotional intelligence. Beare (1989) identifies this as transforming leadership.
Beare (1989, p.103 & p. 123) states that research has identified 2 behaviours of leaders:
- concern for the accomplishment of tasks
- concern for relationships
and essentially, communicate a shared vision to empower followers to become leaders in a collaborative environment.
Cultural reform in schools is generated from the school's defined vision with sustainable, distributed leadership that emphasizes an open system of organisation. Bennett (2001) and Hargraves & Fink (2003) identify the importance of the process in determining sustainable continuous leadership. The collective leadership of all staff creates an interdependence that requires commitment and communication. Sustainable management is about collaboration and creating an open style of communication - it's about commitment to relationships that are central to the vision - student learning.
Bennett (2001, p. 100) identifies that elements of mechanistic organisational systems are necessary in education management, as established policies and procedures are essential to elements of 'quality control', although they too remain dynamic to evolve with change.
Overcoming institutionalised practices is a challenge when creating dynamic change. But first one must understand and address the structures, cultures and powers that exist within the educational setting. Bennett (2001, p. 120) states "... successful school improvement intervention will generate staff commitment to actions that are designed to promote greater effectiveness..[and]..identify action points in both structural and cultural terms that will make movement possible." "Successful leadership is sustainable leadership" (Hargreaves & Fink (2003, p. 700).
To be effective in integrating ICTs into the curriculum to create positive student outcomes "...teachers need to be able to draw on a repertoire of ICT integration and transormation models backed by sound understanding of pedagogical underpinning" (Bowes, 2003, p. 8). Success is not just centred on the internal commitment of the teacher. Successful integration is dependent upon various institutional, individual and pedagogical inhibitors / adaptors ( Birch, 2009).
Teachers are expected to be able to learn and use ICTs across the curriculum to implement real time learning experiences / authentic life-long learning tasks. Competency standards in ICT skills are expected, as is the ability of employing constructivist pedagogy in teaching and learning. "...every teacher is now expected to be capable of competently and effectively using the ICT and other learning technologies currently available in schools" (Jones, 2003, p. 67). Yet while this is all expected, Jones (2003, p. 68) claims "most teachers are unable to integrate ICT use into their everyday classroom practice".
There are teachers who have resisted these changes in education and technology, and haven't reflected upon their pedagogy since their preservice days. Others cautiously progress in their journey, while others are intrinsically motivated to "...go the extra mile..." (Birch, 2009, p. 126) for their students. Change is often met with resistance. Change itself brings upon its own set of challenges.
The challenge lies in allowing teachers time to explore and learn to apply a variety of ICT skills and experiences. Bowes (2003, p. 8) believes professional development is necessary to prepare teachers for their future as "learning brokers, knowledge systems expert and learning strategists" (Bowes, 20033, p. 8). The challenge is not only in the how to use the technology but the how and why associated with pedagogical practices to improve student learning outcomes.
As ICT leader, the TL is able to lead teachers through this process, through their journey. Their knowledge about:
- leadership,
- leadership styles/methodologies;
- pedagogy - contructivism
- ICT practices, skills
- learnign theories
- the staff and their ICT journey's, etc
A few years ago our school created a whole school vision and action plan around the IDEAS framework under the leadership of two Principals - one who started the process and another who completed the process. Reading Law & Glover's (2000) article on Leading effective teams revisited the process for me. The ability for the second Principal to come in half way through the process and adapt, lead and complete the IDEAS process with staff was inspiring.
Key to her success was her ability to take a project empowered by staff and continue it through by creating teams with a "...genuine commitment to the value of learning..." (Hough & Paine, 1997, p. 111). She also used a variety of strategies and techniques to continue to teach the staff the processes involved in problem solving and decision making, and spent time identifying each staff members strengths and capabilities. In short, she was concerned about empowering all staff to develop "...the school that will continue to grow and adapt and change so that it meets the needs of its community" (Hough & Paine, 1997, p. 111). All staff were encourage in leadership roles in light of their particular interests, strengths and needs which assisted in their own learning and team learning.
This team formation created energy and synergy among staff, and the first time for a long time, the school was proactive in its approach to achieving its shared vision. The teams were parts of the whole vision, operating with a common purpose, in their "...interconnecting and interdependent functions..." (Law & Glover, 2000, p. 73). These were exciting, productive and energetic times and cohesiveness became evident between staff, thus having a resounding impact on the wholistic school dynamics.
We consistently worked through the 4 phases of Tuckman's (1965) team development (as cited in Law & Glover, 2000, pp. 74-75) and revisited our progress through these 4 stages frequently. Staff were speaking a common language and pedagogical practice was at its highest.
I agree with Adair (1986), as cited in Law & Glover (2000, p. 76), that balance between the task, the team, and the individual is key to group dynamics. Personal significance can be the undoing of hard work - when an individual's personal needs or agenda emerge pressuring the conformity of the team and the whole school vision. Hollander (1964), as cited in Law & Glover (20000, p. 78), labels this persistent response to group norms as anti-conformity. In a small school anti-conformity began to slowly undermine the efforts of others and corrode the process. We revisited this storming phase many times but these staff felt the need to move on. We emerged stronger for the struggle, and began to rebuild using the 4 phases again - forming, storming, norming and performing. Unfortunately for the school, this Principal was also promoted. Her legacy remains, with the staff continuing on with the vision, direction and purpose from this time - a credit to her understanding of empowering leadership.
Murgatroyd and Gray (1984), in Law & Glover (2000, p. 84) claim that classroom leadership reflects the organisation of the school, and team and social cohesion is reflected in school effectiveness, curriculum outcomes and achievement of the school vision. This is true of this time in our journey. It is time for revisiting our vision and realign to current situations. The TL as leader offers a unique perception to this process and working through this subject will shed more light onto this.
A summary of Hough & Paine's (1997) Collaborative decision making with teams focuses on schools creating their own future. Traditional decision making methods of autocratic and bureaucratic are compared with consultative and collegiate. These decision making methodologies impact on school cohesion and are responsible in generating a genuine commitment to continual growth. I support Shachar and Sharan's (as cited in Hough & Paine, 1997, p. 114) statement that "... both the school and classroom levels must operate on the basis of the same organisational model if real change in classroom instruction is to be achieved".
True leadership is as much about 'walking the walk' as well as 'talking the talk'. True collaboration and team work are instrumental to achieving the vision of the school - but it does not just happen - it must be taught, modelled and become part of the pedagogical practices of the Principal and staff. For a TL, leadership is about demonstrating and implementing practices that model collaborative and collegial efforts. They have the unique perspective of the school community from their work with all year levels, students, teachers and administration.
True quality leaders can be a rare find in 'stepping stone' educational settings, where the leaders/principals come to begin their own learning journey. The path up the promotional ladder is often designed with short placements pressured by the demonstration of leadership initiative. Many start with what Hough & Paine (1997) define as autocratic and bureaucratic and further develop elements of consultative and collegial decision making strategies during their placements. Such inconsistencies in leadership stability can eventually do more harm than good to a school as the change of leadership always brings a change of vision and direction, that is then discarded with each new principal's agenda.
Tribus defines quality management as harmonising the efforts of people within the work environment. Attention to the processes within this social system hold the key to quality leadership and management. It takes time to create and sell an empowering vision which will ultimately lead to shifting the paradigms of people and existing system. This scaffolding and building trust is essential to leadership.
How many times have we jumped in with a solution to a problem. An occupational hazard in our busy lives. However, without careful consideration it can create additional issues. Planning the best course of action is essential when involved in making decisions. Many action plans have been articulated in professional articles that outline the steps involved. Harvey, Bearley & Corkrum (2001) promote 6 core steps essential in decision making:
Mindset
focus on the outcome, context of the circumstance and setting
what are the restraints (including personnel)
Problem Definition
clearly define the problem
clearly articulate the problem
Solution Criteria
become outcome driven
identify outcomes
outline needs and wants
Possible Solutions
clarify solutions
Solution Choice
communicate solutions to all involved to ensure all know of the solution
Implementation
Plan - Do - Inspect
Planning requires action planning, identifying what needs to be done and by whom
Doing and Inspecting carries out the action plan and monitors it.
Continue to evaluate and monitor the results.
It is important to complete the 6 steps sequentially and resist the temptation to race ahead. Developing a habit to consciously implement a sequential plan of action to decision making and problem solving is important.
Posts
