Unpacking the effective school leader

Leadership in Diverse Learning Contexts, 2016

Mutualistic goal setting enables members of the school community to reinvigorate and build on the past in order to establish clear goals for the future. That past in the case study schools of this chapter is steeped in the various foundations of the schools and manifests in explicit values for action, bringing life to the moral purpose of the school. Teacher leaders emerge from the process with zest for open and active work in parallel with their meta-strategic leaders. They lead with members of the professional community, bringing to life in classrooms the underpinning values of the school's vision for learning. This chapter draws on examples of teacher leaders working in schools that have engaged with the school improvement process of IDEAS (Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievement in Schools) and are leading significant new pedagogical action. Guided by the school improvement process based on building capacity for the alignment of school components through parallel leadership, mutualistic goal setting and collective responsibility, these teachers exemplify leadership that is underpinned by allegiance to an explicit set of values guided by a vision for learning. Each school is different and each teacher leader demonstrates recognised qualities of critical self-reflection, networking, and advocacy for improved student achievement from a contextually relevant vantage point of moral purpose. The result is an identified style of leadership, underpinned by moral purpose, whereby teacher leaders in concert with their metastrategic principal actively engage in the articulation of their school's values and vision for learning through pedagogical leadership and strategic planning.

1992

Journal of Teaching and Learning, 2006

International Journal of Leadership in Education, 2001

This report examines the nature and practice of effective leadership in schools in England and Wales in the 1990s. It is based on a study that explored how existing theories of effective leadership--purposeful leadership, transformational leadership, or moral leadership--compared to the practices of successful head teachers in times of change. The research was based on more than 200 interviews with heads (principals), staff, governors, parents, and students in 12 primary, secondary, and special schools. The methodology recognized that effective leadership was a highly contextualized and relational construct. A generic case-study protocol was designed in which each school was visited for two-and-a-half days. Analysis revealed that the various stakeholders shared a broadly similar social construction of leadership that did not wholly endorse existing theories of leadership. The heads themselves operated on the basis of both internally and externally determined measures of quality control; their quality-assurance criteria had a broader agenda in keeping with a holistic moral vision of a good school and good teachers. Their leadership approaches did not neatly adhere to existing leadership theories, in part because the complexity of the role they faced meant that no one theory could explain existing practices. (Contains 30 references.) (RJM)

Though internationally there is much theoretical literature on moral leadership and moral purpose, little has focused on exploring the concept of moral purpose in relation to the role of school management teams. There is currently no evidence of any study that examined moral purpose in South African schools. These considerations led to a search for an understanding of how school management teams might identify as moral purpose underlying their educational leadership approaches. This gap further necessitated an exploration of the extent at which moral purpose transformed learning and leadership in selected schools. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study was to hear the voices of contemporary school managers as they articulate their meaning and significance of moral purpose. An in-depth analysis of the responses of these school managers and my probing into the inner workings of the school management teams had informed the understanding of the concept of moral purpose and clarified how moral purpose manifest itself within the framework of school leadership and management. Reflecting on their responses and perceptions, the school managers seem to believe that an overarching goal of moral purpose consists of gradually improving learner achievement.

1999

This monograph serves two purposes: (1) to stimulate further reflection and discussion among education leaders and policymakers to revitalize and strengthen the role that school leaders play in school reform; and (2) to assist researchers in identifying areas of future work. It synthesizes some of the most current literature pertinent to leadership and offers ideas and suggestions that may serve as the basis for further study about the leadership strategies that help bring about meaningful and long-lasting reform. The intent is to identify the major issues involved in developing leaders who sustain effective change. Leaders need to examine carefully whether the changes they are implementing are the best ones for their students in the long run. School leaders need also to balance competing demands and to create environments in which diverse viewpoints can come together to create a common vision for what schools should be. To make and sustain meaningful, long-lasting changes, the conception of what "leadership" means must be expanded from a narrow focus on improving the skills of a single man or woman to the building of the capacity of the community of teachers, students, parents, as well as administrators to lead. (Contains 26 references.) (DFR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

2010

Who am I and where am I going? To fully understand my leadership work and my leadership plan one must first understand my moral purpose. I am not the formal leader at Douglas Fir Elementary School. Presently I am a grade four teacher and have worked at Douglas Fir 13 of my 23 years as an educator. I am also a parent who has had the experience of raising both a high achieving student and a low achieving student as defined by the British Columbia public education system. School has been a breeze for our son who is a logical, organized, critical thinker. On the other hand our daughter, who is creative and full of imagination, did not fare as well. It became extremely frustrating as she moved through the school system with little or no assistance. Advocating for our daughter was a continual battle. Testing situations became our family’s worst nightmare. Her oral communication was exceptional (fourth year university level in grade 10) yet oral presentations were never recognized as an op...

2015

Though internationally there is much theoretical literature on moral leadership and moral purpose, little has focused on exploring the concept of moral purpose in relation to the role of school management teams. There is currently no evidence of any study that examined moral purpose in South African schools. These considerations led to a search for an understanding of how school management teams might identify as moral purpose underlying their educational leadership approaches. This gap further necessitated an exploration of the extent at which moral purpose transformed learning and leadership in selected schools. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study was to hear the voices of contemporary school managers as they articulate their meaning and significance of moral purpose. An in-depth analysis of the responses of these school managers and my probing into the inner workings of the school management teams had informed the understanding of the concept of moral purpose and clarifie...

Abstract Recent literature spells out numerous reasons for why various schools fail. Many effective schools are characterized by the lack of culture of teaching and learning as well as low teacher morale. In South Africa there is much value put on standardized tests such as the Annual National Assessment (ANA) results from which schools are compared with other schools around the world. South African children tend to fail these tests each year and researchers have highlighted lack of teacher commitment, poverty of pupils’ families, lack of social and cultural capital to be among the reasons why several schools fail. This article focuses on a suggested model suggested after examining why schools underperform in Limpopo Province of South Africa. The study discovered the need to engender a moral purpose by management teams in schools is very pertinent. This article reflects on the cyclical moral purpose model which pragmatically portrays a holistic picture of how moral purpose can be promoted and enacted in schools. The cyclical conceptual model presented comprises of seven stages that school managers should enact in order to realize the necessary moral purpose. The stages present practical aspects and challenge school managers to position themselves at the nexus of improving learning and closing the achievement gap among pupils in their schools. Arguably, the cyclical model can be utilized in enhancing teacher commitment as well as dedication to the school’s vision. Keywords: Transformational leadership; Visionary leadership; School effectiveness; School culture and climate