President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Did he sign this because he genuinely thought it was the right thing to do? Or did he sign it to better his chances of being re-elected for president? Judging by the presented documents, the evidence leans towards a mixture of both.
True transformative administrative leadership extends beyond understanding their students to comprehending the community their students live within. Years ago, schools functioned to provide students with knowledge, however, the objectives of schools evolved within the last twenty five years. As numerous low income communities crumble due to societal pressures the purpose of a school transformed from a place of education to one that comprises of education, health-care, nutrition, shelter, mental health, and safety. Society ask schools to accommodate the ever growing lists of student needs. Schools can’t create a legacy of transformational change without community involvement.
2). There has been a shift in what effective leadership looks like over the years. The role of a principal has transitioned from a hierarchical system, in which the principal is the educational expert, to a shared instructional leadership role that encourages collaboration between the administration and teachers as well as between teachers and their colleagues (Marks & Printy, 2003). “Shared instructional leadership involves the active collaboration of principal and teachers on curriculum, instruction, and assessment,” (Marks & Printy, 2003, p. 371). With this approach, the responsibility for curriculum development as well as professional development and supervision of classroom instruction is shared, fundamentally changing structure and culture within the school.
The Captain Class: A New Theory of Leadership is a thought-provoking book written by Sam Walker. The book is a culmination of a 12-year journey that Sam Walker took to identify the characteristics that made certain sports teams successful. The book is a testament to the power of leadership and the importance of teamwork, and it is a must-read for anyone interested in leadership, sports, or both. The book is centered around the concept of the "captain class," which refers to the leaders of successful sports teams.
Over the past three decades’ educational leadership has been in search of ways to increase student literacy in urban middle schools in the southeast sections of the District of Columbia. The quest to closing achievement gaps in urban school districts have and will always be an on-going issue for educational leadership (Daly & Chrispells, 2008). Findings from research studies suggest that school leadership accounts for fully one quarter of total school effects on pupils, making it second only to classroom instruction among school-based factors affecting student achievement (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson & Wahlstrom, 2004). There are certain challenges that middle school principals face that pertain only to these middle school principals due to
The articles on both school leadership and ASCD emphasized the vitality of leadership in the learning environment. School leadership continues to play a substantial role in educating students. The Wallace Foundation has examined the role principals play in creating opportunities for successful learning outcomes. Principals create the climate for effective students’ learning, they are responsible for the professional development of teachers as well as hiring trained teachers (www.wallacefoundation.org). Principals benefit in a remarkable manner when they participate in a preparation program that will nurture and mold their leadership character.
To bring a change in education we need leaders to be ambitious, inspirational, transformative and visionary. Leaders who consider bringing hope and empowerment to create a fair social society have to work within a political and bureaucratic system of the 21st century (Shields 2010). There is a vast amount of literature available regarding leadership in education, in term of policies and roles of leadership in schools (Gunter 2009). Gunter (2009) believes leadership in education lies within four different positions e.g. critical, humanistic, instrumental and scientific.
Leadership Thought Prior to 1900 The earliest study of leadership thought would be the “Great Man Theory. This theory conceptualized leaders as a single “Great Man” who knew everything and influenced others to follow him. In leadership discourse, the Great Man theory—an assertion that certain individuals, certain men, are gifts from God placed on earth to provide the lightening needed to uplift human existence—is associated mainly with Thomas Carlyle (Spector, 2015, p.250). The focal-point of this theory is that leaders’ skills are inherent and set that them apart from those around them and that these traits enable them to assume roles of power and authority.
Leaders come in many different shapes and forms. Some leaders only care about the business and task at hand, some leaders care too much for their employees, and other leaders have a great mix of both worlds; those are the types of leaders to have in every company. Leaders need to be fully invested not only in the business to succeed, but they need to make sure their employees are taken care of just as well as the company. Within this paper will discuss the reasons that leaders need to be involved not only within the business, but with the employees too. Theodore Roosevelt described how a caring leader should be in the workforce.
Leaders are made, not born. The Great Man Theory suggests that people inherit qualities and traits that make them better suited for leadership. “To suggest that leaders do not enter the world with extraordinary endowment is to imply that people enter the world with equal abilities, with equal talents.” (Thomas Carlyle 1840) While it is true that there are certain characteristics that leaders are born with that predispose them to become leaders, the influence of these characteristics are often overexaggerated.
Understanding leadership Describe the factors that will influence the choice of leadership styles or behaviours in workplace situations Leaders are performing different styles of leadership, as each leader maintain to develop her/his own personal style. Many factors may influence the style a leader uses. Some of the factors may create naturally, while others are a product of the leader's environment. Some leaders may need to improve their leadership style to follow to a changing culture. a. Personality Traits: A leadership style may become an expansion of the leader's personality.
‘Organizations provide its managers with legitimate authority to lead, but there is no assurance that they will be able to lead effectively’ (Lunenburg, 2011). Organizational success usually requires a combination of both management and leadership. In today’s dynamic work environment, leaders are expected to challenge the present state of affairs, and to motivate and convince organization members. Managers are needed to assist in creating and maintaining a positive and well-functioning workplace. ‘Leadership and management are often considered practically overlapping concepts’ (Bohoris and Vorria, 2007, p. 1).
Teachers are being placed in the center of how schools function and are being asked to aid in crucial decisions about the academic direction of the school (Warren, 2016). Research by York-Barr and Duke (2004), states “teacher leadership roles range from assisting with the management of schools to evaluating educational initiatives and facilitating professional learning communities” (p. 1). While teacher leadership is evolving, the perceptions that teachers have regarding themselves as leaders has not truly been uncovered. This literature review is an attempt to highlight the research surrounding teacher leadership. It begins with the foundations of teacher leadership which includes the history of teacher leadership, the evolving definition of teacher leadership, and finally a summary of current teacher leadership development programs.
Leadership is a construct that stretches across every aspect of life. Within the educational system, the majority of decisions about schools are made by upper administration at both the state and district level. High-stakes testing, unfunded educational mandates, and tight budgets have been guiding administrators to make extensive, critical, and impactful decisions in districts, at times, without input from essential stakeholders such as teachers. McCombs and Miller (2009) described results in the following way, “what began as an effort to create a culture of achievement for all has resulted instead in a culture in which achievement has been subverted, leaving teacher and school leaders weary and demoralized” (p. 13). This type of culture
Different scholars identified various kinds of leadership styles that affect the job performance, satisfaction and learning and development of subordinates. Warrick, D.D (1981) cited that there are no doubt variables other than a leader’s style that affect employee performance and development but leadership style plays a significant role and not to be underestimated. An awareness of leadership styles and their consequences are very important because it may either facilitate or inhabit skill development. The major theories on leadership are the traits, leadership styles and contingency theories.
