Major Weaknesses of Leadership Frameworks - Report Example

Insert Title Name: Institution Module: Instructor: 24th August, 2009 Introduction Educators or leaders who work in the school settings time and again come across participants with a broad scope of individual leadership frameworks, beliefs, mind-set and experiences. Given all this situations, one of the key challenges human beings face is the spotting effective methods and tools of either undertaking or teaching leadership in school or community settings. As an educator, it is very vital to understand and use quality learning as well as theory in leadership education. Senge (1991) notes that at the same time, it is also imperative to employ educational methods that revere the life experiences of the participants and that are simple to comprehend and converse. Different individuals uphold different attitudes in regard to how leadership looks like, this is as a result of their daily encounters with a variety of leaders’ behavior and leadership styles and the feeling may be different also depending on the situation. Sometimes leadership may be very formal and sometimes very informal (Drucker 1985). It is imperative to express a level of effective submission of leadership skills as well as practices in the real world and community; one that is efficient, helpful, and just in resolving school or public problems besides enhancing community life. Theoretical base The quest to classify, catalog, sort and understand the breadth of leadership learning and practices is not new. The works of Kellerman (2004) and Northouse (2001) represent illustrious writings that provide a broad perspective on the theory, frameworks and practice of leadership and are regularly cited in leadership literature reviews. From the recently reviewed Encyclopedia of Leadership (a comprehensive collection of leadership related information) edited by Kellerman (2004) details multiple viewpoints on leadership theories and practices as well as leadership models and frameworks. The frameworks and they work Using the Terry (1993, 2001) framework, a good number of learning institutions have developed particular educational materials and activities that assemble upon the theory and learning connected with each of his six leadership viewpoints. His outlooks have proven to be of practical use for school leaders. Here is a summary of the six leadership viewpoints; Yukl (2006, pp. 456-7) offered vital functions for existing leadership: i) Building commitment, optimism, trust and cooperation. ii) Developing and empowering subordinates. iii) Aligning tasks with objectives and strategies. iv) Encouraging and facilitating collective learning. v) Interpreting complex events as well as aligning of tasks with objectives and strategies. vi) Organizing along with coordinating activities. vii) Promoting social justice and morality. Conversely, these features tend to be too generic for a school principal or teacher leader. Interpersonal leadership for a school leader emphasises the facilitation of ethical action en route for the success of school by means of applying teaching in shaping the students’ discernment in addition to boosting their community life for the long term (Crowther et al. 2002, p. 10). Crowther et al. (2002, pp. 4-5) offered an idealised school principal framework comprising of six key elements in lieu of the work of this leaders: 1. Preparing students for better future. 2. Achieving authenticity in teaching, learning and assessment practices; 3. Facilitating communities of learning. 4. Confronting barriers in cultures as well as structures of schools. 5. Translating ideas into sustainable actions, and 6. Nurturing success culture. Nevertheless, some school leaders have not lived to these features, thus worsening the future of students by not aiding a learning community. Some has been unable to overcome barriers of cultures and structures of schools. Educational leadership Educational leadership is the kind of leadership that is prime role of school leaders, both teachers and principal. Although others factors like personal leadership and collaborative leadership in conjunction with administrative, cultural as well as managerial issues could have impact on school leaders but educational leadership is the key focus. Sometimes, changes in financial planning, the rising significance of school sponsorship and requirements for business skills in the midst of school leaders could assume meaning. Despite all this, educational leadership still commands a large share among school leaders. Time and again the situational leadership has been applied synonymously, particularly in the world of literature together with educational leadership. This can help in providing a difference founded on the principle that educational leadership is embraced and applied in larger situations. Bhindi & Duignan (1997, p.124) argues that educational leadership could be applied by school leaders by setting up formidable structures, communication networks, creation of confidence and conducive environment for learning and professional development. This kind of organisations are referred to as ‘‘learning organisations’’ (Senge 1991). Learning is the core value in schools, and decisions concerning learning are amongst the most vital within school leadership. The presence of chain of command makes clarity on roles of school leadership. For example the principal is answerable on issues pertaining quality results of students to the Director-General of the school. The principal may also be responsible in the exercising his or her duties in the context of the neighborhood of the school and consideration of the overall resources available. The executive members of the school carry out special tasks determined by the school principal for development and appraisal of school policies and agendas. Every teacher is answerable to the principal in interpreting school programs into appropriate learning experiences in favor of learners. The principal of the school may be accountable for; 1) The education and wellbeing of students, subordinate staffs and teaching staffs 2) Provision of quality education to students of his or her school based on the policies of the government and Board of Studies. 3) Developing an educational culture that exhibits the way learning is treasured 4) Effective schooling practices right through the school 5) Enhancing a culture of cooperation, where all members are of the school community has a say in the attainment of common goals 6) Management of school resources successfully and professionally Features of educational leadership i) Creates a friendly learning environment ii) Develop a passion for both learning and teaching iii) Use school data in analysing and interpreting information regarding the educational matters hence making the whole system to be efficient iv) Evaluate school achievement, thus promoting competency among staffs and students v) Promotes quality in school’s teaching and learning processes. The only weakness of this kind of leadership is that the school principal is overburdened with a lot of responsibilities, for instance being in charge of welfare of staffs, parents and students besides other responsibilities like managing of school resources. This could create inefficiency in educational system. Moreover, some school principal may misuse or fraud the school funds making the operation of the school to be difficult. Contemporary Leadership Theories Crowther et al. (2002, p. 24) in his study reflected on four common approaches to contemporary educational leadership, namely: transformational, strategic, educative and organizational. Transformational Leadership Based on individual traits from conventional leadership study, transformational leadership is believed to prepare followers into future leaders by means of bestowing them with free will of managing their behaviour, lifts up followers’ anxiety from material to emotional needs, encourages subordinates (teachers and students) to reflect on group success as compared to self interests, as well as communicating desired results toward permitting subordinates recognise changes as useful. Giving emphasis to personal character in initiating organisational change, this type of leadership calls for collective decision-making, teacher empowerment in addition to accepting and supporting change, whilst necessitating capabilities of toiling in teams, perceive the entire picture of what is expected, focus on constant perfection of school and cultivation of the school community’s sense of control. Cultural and community leadership Culture building is accentuated by educative leadership, which entails responsible participation in organizational politics. Educative leadership calls for culturally talented leaders who value and discern both the individual and organizational cultures toward networking successfully in diverse cultural environments. Cultural expertise is particularly significant in an organisational framework facing deep-rooted changes owing to globalization. More to the point of cultural proficiency, a change-oriented leadership supports organisational innovation. Owing to basic social changes within the knowledge economy, we are experiencing a rise in tension involving fundamentalism and cosmopolitanism sparkling inconsistency between universal rules and diversity. A case in point is the mixture of cultures as well as nationalities present in the school work force and universities of key cities around the world, hence generating some nervousness in relation to allocation of job plus educational opportunities between the locals and foreigners. Even as Monash clinched globalisation of chances via the set up of transnational campuses, a successive disequilibrium came up involving the standardisation of classes’ content in campuses and customisation founded on regional or local background. Yet again, diversity reigned with support of Chief Examiners (CEs) at non-Australian campuses in the direction of customising their taught units regionally. Customisation of educational content came into existence with slight disparity in the midst of similar units taught in Australian and non-Australian campuses, then proceeded with elective units dazzling individual campuses’ exceptional research proficiency. This was manifested at Sunway campus in the course of appointing finance lecturers as Chief Examiners besides the introduction of an Islamic banking as an elective unit, in Muslim world. This is just some of the complexities (weaknesses) that have been brought about by innovation in our educational institutions and its leadership system. Drucker (1985) noted that knowledge-based innovations could be the hardest part to succeed, hence calling for availability of all needed knowledge. Whereas the companies might not have the entire expertise needed, universities (educational institution and its leadership framework) should create research strengths that can realize this criterion. Agreeing with Drucker (1985), Pogrow (1996) remarks that flourishing innovations tend to be highly structured and easily monitored, hence, innovative courses could integrate structure and monitoring within its design. Up-and-coming from education literature on cultural and community leadership is the concept of shared as an alternative of traditional leadership hypothesis of individual or positional leadership, signifying improvement of competence towards achieving an effective work collectively. In the education perspective, leadership from school principals, teachers, administrators as well as parents pose positive effects on school performance (Pounder, Ogawa & Adams 1995, p. 567). Distribution of CEs amongst regional university campuses in Australia confirmed shared leadership for a departmental discipline. Human and interpersonal leadership The overall objective of this kind of leadership is to influence others from a ‘‘non-authority’’ position, getting along with them and pro-actively developing rapport with them. Moreover, it involves building cooperative relationships. A view of school leadership is changing basically for the reason that of current restructuring program and the demands of the 90s. Advocates for school transformation also more often than not advocate altering power relationships. The weakness, explain Douglas Mitchell and Sharon Tucker (1992), is that people have been inclined to imaging that leadership is the ability of taking charge and get things done. This view keeps people away from focusing on the significance of teamwork as well as comprehensive school perfection. The weakness to this kind of framework is that, individuals may begin to think about themselves, their jobs, as well as their educational capabilities. Putting this one into consideration, ‘‘instructional leadership’’ is ‘‘out’’ and ‘‘transformational leadership’’ is ‘‘in.’’ Human and interpersonal leadership is an effective leadership advance for school administrators (Day 2000; Leithwood 1994) although it may be less suitable for teaching staff involving in narrower contexts as compared to administrators. While Caldwell (1992) recommended the interpersonal approach for principals of self-managing schools, there is little study on this approach for teaching staff. Comparable to interpersonal leadership, school leaders may put into practice educative leadership, but there has been little research on this approach applied to teachers’ work. Nevertheless, focus on culture as well as shared responsibility within the educative and organizational approaches veiled on teaching leadership, as the Monash case confirmed in the earlier section. Giving emphasis on organisational (group) rather than individual point of conceptualisation. Key elements of interpersonal leadership Studying departmental coordinators as well as professors at the business school discovered skills and capabilities of academic leaders. Besides displaying a wide choice of university teaching experiences (manifested from their academic profiles on the university website) prior to assuming leadership responsibilities at Monash, these 13 senior academicians from six business disciplines verified effective interpersonal skills throughout class, administrative communication as well as staff meetings, at the same time possessing remarkable academic. Derivation of leadership framework A review on leadership framework literature counters a probably Western cultural bias attributing school performance to individual heroic leadership (Yukl 2006, p. 449) with shared leadership. Following disclosure of devastating results, the principal is supposed to convince stakeholder’ expectation through resignation, being accredited full accountability for school failure the same as easily like previous successes. Legislation in educational institutions has alike theme as fundamentalism’s standardisation in addition to imposition of one best answer. Diversity leading standardisation parallels substitution of universal theories on personal leadership, mostly experienced in schools with contingency theories of organizational leadership, and supremacy of shared above heroic leadership. Diversity is once more celebrated in cultural and community leadership when choices of teaching approaches are effective in diverse circumstances (Crowther et al. 2002, p. 15). General weaknesses of Leadership Framework We, human beings, are not perfect at everything we do it. Each of us has some weakness, that no matter whatever you do, remains our weakness and sometimes shows up in the way one does things. The schools desire to know that you are aware of your weaknesses and can channel that weakness throughout strengths of others. Great school leaders showcase that strength. They find the right people, either staffs or students in the team with complimentary skills. In favor of all their strengths, leadership frameworks for school leaders may also have their weaknesses. The principle number one reveals that a framework is a generalization of reality. For example, if the world was actually so unfussy that people could portray it in a small number of paragraphs, life could be much easier. Any leadership framework, no matter how good it may seem to be, is still to a certain extent a distance from the genuine item. Once a person seizes these crucial tribulations of frameworks, they can comprehend the danger that the development of leadership frameworks presents in our educational system. None of the leadership framework by itself covers everything that a school leader would need to be acquainted with. Nonetheless, unrelated models are popular at unrelated times. Teachers, from formal academics to role frameworks in action, have their individual preferences. Institutions might have biases headed for one school of thought or another. It is a mark of weakness for an authority figure like a school leader to experience the need to beat down those under them (even verbally). Why? For the reason that they could be demonstrating that they require to formulate great efforts keeping those that trail them in line. For example when a school leader (principal) is arguing with a student (or a school employee under him/her) and he/she lose his/her temper and start to utter improper things in an unfounded way, he/she will be losing their respect. (Even if they do not recognize it yet, they will start to think about that more once they are somewhere safe from the leader, and he/she will start to lose their loyalty), from this example, losing temper with those under you when you are a leader is a sign of personal weakness. There has been no professional accreditation system for the teaching as well as the school leadership profession in Australia for quite some time. This made each educational sector to train school leaders on its own way and using its own system despite the predicaments it may be encountering. Conclusion Large dimensions of leadership study with incoherent findings had led to complexity in pinpointing essential leadership features. Identifying fundamental leadership aspects for school calls for additional room in existing teaching leadership framework for a particular institution. Failure to do so will create features too general to be helpful. References Anderson, R & Dexter, S 2003. School technology leadership: an empirical investigation of Prevalence and effect”, Educational Administration Quarterly, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 49-82. Bauer, S & Bogotch, I 2006. Modeling site-based decision making: School practices in the age of accountability, Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 44, No. 5, pp.446-470. Burke, R 2006. Leadership and Spirituality, foresight, Vol. 8, No. 6, pp.14-25. Bhindi, N & Duignan, P 1997. Leadership for a new century: Educational Management & Administration, vol. 25, no. 21, pp. 117-133. Caldwell, B 1992. The principal as leader of the self-managing school in Australia, Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 6-19. Crowther, F, Kaagan, S, Ferguson, M & Hann, L 2002. 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