Reinventing Educational Leadership, ~ As the 21st century continues
to unfold, the task of finding competent leaders to occupy positions of
leadership in the educational arena continues to be a challenge not because of
a lack of academically qualified leaders, but because of a lack of adaptive
-competently qualified candidates. As such, many schools are under the
leadership of leaders who lack the qualifications necessary to operate
educational institutions in an era marked by rapid and constant change. If the
educational scenery is to realize any meaningful change educational leadership
should be reinvented. This paper identifies some of the challenges currently
faced by the Education system. It looks at how these challenges may be
addressed by reinventing educational leadership. The paper culminates with
brief recommendations of how institutions of higher learning as well as
stakeholders in the educational sector may reinvent the manner in which they
prepare educational leaders -the end result not only academically-qualified,
but also adaptive-competently qualified leaders who are able to perform in
environments characterized by constant and rapid changes.
The educational environment in
contemporary society is one in which change represents one of the very few
constants. Cultural, social, political, technological and economical changes
have resulted in a more diverse school populace since the genesis of education.
With the advent of these changes, the educational sector is now faced with
increased challenges. Challenges such as: low family literacy, increased
poverty margins, a rise in dysfunctional families, and increased access to
counter-productive information via internet. These challenges have seemingly
created an uneven playing ground where students from all walks of life enter
the education system being different, but by the time they exit, the barriers
of differences should fade significantly, at least academically. Unfortunately,
this does not always happen. An article by The National Association of
Secondary School Principals "How do you reinvent a principal"
highlights a number of effects these challenges have birthed: higher drop out
rates, lower academic achievement and teacher attrition. The impact of the
effects of these challenges on society is detrimental, as more students exit
the educational system without the necessary qualifications to become
positively contributing citizens to society.
As these changes and their
impact are manifested in the educational environment, stakeholders are forced
to raise their expectations from those in leadership positions within schools.
Copeland in his article "The myth of a Super Principal" substantiates
this point when he states that the expectations of leaders have increased
significantly since the 1980's (2001). The mandate of the No Child Left behind
Act (NCLB) in 2001 solidified the prior statements as under the act leaders
working in schools which were repeatedly classified as not meeting annual
yearly progress (AYP) goals were relinquished of their positions. Incidentally,
most of the leaders who were "relocated" were academically qualified
for leadership positions, but lacked adaptive-competent qualification.
Academically qualified leaders have successfully completed their years of
training, by mastering the necessary dogma that was required.
Adaptive-competent leaders are able to execute the theoretical skills
practically and are able to assess new situations and appropriately modify
their leadership style to suit the situation. As the educational scenery
changes leadership should be reinvented if any measure of success is to be
expected in erasing the effects of the challenges facing education.
The expectations of society
have shaped and will continue to shape the roles of those in leadership
positions. Educational leaders are now expected to be more than managers,
creating rules and policies and maintaining the necessary paper work. They have
to be more than disciplinarians, enforcing rules and policies and giving
consequences in the event that rules and policies are broken. Leaders are
expected to, amidst all the challenges they face, contribute to the increase in
student achievement, cut drop out rates, and be a motivating force to their
teachers. As the period of high stake testing takes root, no educational leader
is exempt from these new demands. Institutions of higher learning as well as
stakeholders within the educational arena must now ponder and quickly, how to
prepare leaders to take on an educational system that must survive in these
turbulent times, or face a future with yearly increase in the number of
counter-productive students.
Educational leadership for
this era demands a style of leadership that is fluid sufficiently to deal
effectively with the challenges which will continue to bombard the academic
world. This style of leadership should be entrenched in values, only then can
an educational culture that is conducive to the invention of productive future
citizens be realized. These values should encourage integrity in
decision-making which will impact not only education, but stakeholders as well.
A value-driven culture should produce leaders and followers who are willing to
listen, and evaluate data before taking the steps to implement or act on the
data. 21st century educational leadership should encourage collaborative team
work within their organizations. This will permit staff members to feel a sense
of self worth and subsequently self confidence as they work with their leaders
to realize the necessary changes needed to counteract the challenges they face.
Educational leaders should encourage staff-creativity, as they seek new ways to
address new situations facing education. Far too often educators rely on the
advice of those outside of the educational arena to provide techniques with
which they may master the challenges they face. In order for staff members to
maximize their creative potential leaders should create environments that
facilitate and encourage employee creativity and innovative efforts. Encourage
workshops sessions were brainstorm techniques as well as the random word
technique or mind mapping is used to identify on going methods of providing a
climate in which students are motivated to learn. The environment in question
should prompt employees to enthusiastically participate decisions critical to
the education process. This can be achieved if leaders create a culture that is
conducive to open communication, where followers are able to participate by
expressing their ideas without fear of ridicule.
Contemporary educational
leaders should move away from a particular style, but should utilize different
leadership styles as the situation warrants in order to effectively deal with
the challenges they face. Any leadership style that lacks the flexibility to
bend as the time changes will become an impediment to academic progress.
Institutions of higher learning as well as stakeholders should prepare
educational leaders to embrace new strategies of dealing with a new
"generation" which will continue to metamorphosise as the time
changes. As society grapple with the shortage of qualified educational leaders,
institutions of higher learning need to provide adequate and on going professional
development opportunities to qualify those seeking leadership positions in
order to produce academically and adaptively-competently qualified leaders.
21st century educational
leadership should be equipped to deal with the myriad changes bombarding
society. As technology, culture, politics, economy, and social factors continue
to modify the educational environment, academic-qualification, should no longer
be the measuring stick by which leaders are prepared. The need to develop
adaptive-competence becomes necessary. Only then can leadership be
revolutionized to meet the demand of a changing school populace.
References:
Burns, J. M. (1978).
Leadership. New York: Harper & Row
Copeland, M.A., (2001). The
Myth of the Principalship. Stanford California.
NASSP (2001). How do you
reinvent a Principal? Reston Virgina.
Reinventing Educational Leadership
