Becoming an instructional leader doesn’t happen overnight and is a position that strongly impacts student learning. Since student achievement is a top priority for school leaders, knowing what it takes to be an effective instructional leader should be the primary focus for anyone with the desire to become one. To pursue my dream of becoming an educational leader, the courses taken at the University of West Florida provided a wealth of knowledge and paved the way for implementing my vision and maximizing my leadership skills. Throughout the course of the program, emphasis on the Florida Principal Leadership Standards competently prepared me for certification in educational leadership.
EDA 6063 As the first course in the Educational Leadership
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Leaders are not born, but they are developed and created from a variety of experiences, skills, strategies, and opportunities that hone leadership from within. When developed, the innate traits of a person help create an effective leader. Taking a closer look at my beliefs, values, and norms, I was able to establish my leadership platform. Because education is going through a paradigm shift, being a transformational leader could make these challenges easier to handle. Transformational leadership, which focuses on inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, personal and individual attention, and charisma, are major characteristics of this approach to leadership. After reading the article about Walt Disney in EDG 6503, Disney exemplifies this leadership style, and leading by example is the key to its success. In order to promote my vision, cultivate future leaders, improve student learning, and be a change agent, I must be able to identify my strengths and weaknesses as a leader. During this course several assessments and surveys were completed to help with this process. Understanding the core ingredients identified by these assessment tools has helped guide me along my journey in educational leadership. The personality indicator Meyers Briggs revealed extroverted characteristics that will greatly assist me with inspiring a school vision, building relationships and new leaders, and motivating team members. Another aspect of this could be helpful with implementing second order change. My leadership style and change approach inventory identify strengths in being a team player, concerned with problem solving, and helping others find solutions. When implementing a decision making process, these traits will be assets. Several areas were identified that show
Leading organizations of school administrators offer educators various opportunities to encourage educators to become leaders. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has mandated that leaders be better prepared for the task of providing quality education to all. NCLB “… is forcing all educational stakeholders to face the weakness of contemporary school leadership and is making it impossible to ignore the need for higher quality principals” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). It is believed that all educators can be and are leaders in their own right. A leader is a visionary and has the ability to inspire others to aspire to greatness. Of the numerous opportunities that are offered, those that are most beneficial include but are not limited to leadership training programs, professional development, and creating shared leadership opportunities for teachers to become leaders. The systems “…that produce our nation’s principals are complex and interrelated – and governed by the states. Each state establishes licensing, certification and re-certification” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). States use the ISLLC standards “…as the framework for preparation programs and in service professional development of school superintendents, principals, and other leaders” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.3).
According to Blase, Blase, and Phillips (2010) educational leaders in high preforming schools effectively balance administrative and instructional leadership and provide stability, predictability and support. The current paradigm of educational leadership is management of facility, budget, school safety, and student discipline. Administrators must place more emphasis on methods to balance the responsibility of instructional leadership. It will require effective leadership characterized by their ability to redesign their schools into an effective organization. This can be done by a leader’s willingness to take risk. Risk taking would involve the leaders’ commitment to work collaboratively with teachers to set school wide and classroom goals suited to meet the unique needs of the students. It would require educational leaders to refuse to adopt a manufactured educational program but to make a commitment to their students and teachers to create a learning environment that is unique and relevant. Educational leaders would evaluate teachers on the effectiveness of their instructional practices. Each teacher would be held accountable for data that supports the need for goals developed for their classroom and methods used to track progress, use of instructional strategies, how assessment will be incorporated to drive instruction and monitor learning, and the effective use of assessment
Educational leadership is an ever-changing fast-paced profession where decisions are made continuously in the best interest of children. “In this era of accountability, final decisions are expected to reside with the person who is the top of the hierarchy” (Shapiro & Gross, 2013, p. 4). It is with these decisions that educational leaders affect the lives of hundreds of young people and their families’ every day. Ethically, educators are faced with daily dilemmas to balance personal beliefs and professional standards. Educational law is sometimes at fault for unjust or irrational rules that negatively affect some students. However, educational leadership provides strong direction in attempt to provide all students with a caring,
A leader can be described as a person who gives direction, inspiration and cause to a group of people who are striving to achieve a common or similar goal (Eacott, 2011; Siraj-Blatchford & Manni, 2013). As there are many types of leaders within an early childhood education setting, such as director, room leader and educational leader, it is important to define and dissect what each role requires (Siraj-Blatchford & Manni, 2013). An educational leader is defined in the National Quality Framework (NQF), where they have support from other documentation and literature to identify what an educational leader is (Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority, 2014). This essay will examine the key factors that influence the education leader with links to the theories of leadership, such as contingency and transformational theories, and what being an educational leader entails.
Based on the Electronic Self-Assessment of Leadership Behavior (e-SALB) results, I identified myself as being a transformation leader. I am strong in intellectual stimulation
Transformational leaders lead by example through personal charisma and demonstration of the behaviors, such as determination, honesty, integrity, ethical behavior, caring, and hard work they wish to see to motivate others to adopt the new vision (McCleskey, 2014; Moman Basham, 2012b; Nworie, 2012). Transformational leaders are able to inspire their followers to not only follow their vision, but to be intrinsically motivated to want to go above and beyond expectations to achieve more than expected (Butcher et al., 2011; McCleskey, 2014; Moman Basham, 2012b; Nworie, 2012). There are four characteristics of transformational leaders, which are idealized influence, individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, and inspirational motivation (Bass, 2008; McCleskey, 2014; Moman Basham, 2012b). Idealized influence, briefly addressed above, is the behavior demonstrated to influence the behavior desired from the faculty and staff, such as high moral standards, desire to succeed, and empathy for others by the leader. Individual consideration refers to how the leader considers the needs of each employee in the organization and works as their coach or mentor
This paper will describe two studies, one quantitative and the other a mixed method, which dealt with aspects of educational leadership. The studies chosen for review were conducted by Bush, et al. (2005), a study that reported participant results in a Leadership Academy, and another by Somech (2005) in which the results of an investigational study of leadership styles, participative and directive, with regard to their impact upon managing school effectiveness. To offer a deeper understanding of the respective studies, a discussion follows that details the design rationa...
The one scholar’s position that stands out as offering the most valuable perspective on contemporary instructional leadership is Lev Semenovich Vygotsky. Vyotsky’s position on thought and language, children development, and scaffolding has a predominate position on instructional leadership in the world of education. As the education arena evolves, so does the demands for ensuring that students are learning and mastering the curriculum. The role of the principal has become dramatically more complex, overloaded, and unclear over the past decade. Indeed, the role of the principal has been in a state of transition, progressing from the principal to the need of instructional leader. The instructional leader is the pivotal
Thomas Sergiovanni (2015) describes three essential dimensions of leadership as “the heart, head, and hand of leadership.” The heart describes those characteristics within the school leader that reflect personal “beliefs, values, and dreams.” The head of leadership refers to the practice of teaching and educating. The hand of leadership reflects actions taken by school leaders with respect to management behaviors. (p. 5) Within these elements, there is room for personal choice in how leadership is practiced and it is incumbent on new principals to find an individual leadership style that responds to the uniqueness of each school.
Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2010). SuperVision and instructional leadership (9th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN-13: 9780132852135
Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2010). SuperVision and instructional leadership (9th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN-13: 9780132852135
My leadership model would keep quality education and its goal as the universal, underlying focus or vision much like the Instructional Leadership Model. Similarly, capable and motivated educators would be sought, curriculum and instruction would be reviewed for effectiveness, training or additional support would be given to develop teachers’ abilities and appropriate, relevant textbooks and supplies would be provided. However, one key departure from the Instructional Leadership Model is th...
Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2010). SuperVision and instructional leadership (9th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN-13: 9780132852135
Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2010). SuperVision and instructional leadership (9th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN-13: 9780132852135
As mentioned before, leadership styles take an important role in running a school. Unfortunately, many principals have not yet defined their leadership style and struggle to administrate their school. They are responsible not only of teachers and students, but of every employee in the school. They have the power to control all the resources available to improve and meet academic goals. Despite their power, principals need to identify appropriate leadership styles to succeed as