Bruce Karhoff                                                                                                 

EDL 701: The Principal as a School Building Leader

10 December 2012

Leadership Philosophy

As I progressed through this course, my definition of leadership has evolved and clarified.  To be effective, a school leader must be the visionary, the lead in setting the goals for the school.  The school leader must then develop ways in which the school can achieve that vision—a systems developer.   In this work, a school leader must be a servant/manager of those s/he leads in the school community, fostering a school culture that values each member of the community.  While there are other aspects of leadership not addressed by these three elements, in my mind these form the core of effective leadership.

The leader of any organization must act as the visionary, the person who defines the mission of that particular the community.  Although the mission of a school may, from the outside, seem to be self-evident—the school’s mission is to educate students—schools vary widely in the communities they serve, and thus the mission of each school should be unique.  In addition to the school’s mission, the leader must articulate a vision for how the school will achieve this mission.  Hallinger and Murphy (1985) argue that defining clear, measurable, and time-based goals is one of the three dimensions of a principal’s leadership.  This vision must incorporate and define the school’s values and the needs of the community, and the school leader must be able to effectively communicate this vision to all constituent groups of the school community.  The mission and vision must be the touchstone for students, staff, and parents alike, so that everything the school does flows naturally from these ideas.  These documents form the constitution of the school, so to speak, and if done well, provide a commonality of purpose that drives the school forward (Senge, 1990).  A school leader must articulate and live this vision; to do so, the school leader must take a long view of the school, to spend considerable time in what Covey (2004) calls “Quadrant II” of his time management matrix, the time we spend on issues that are important, but not urgent.  Articulating a mission and vision and leading a school towards achieving its mission is the most important roles a school leader takes.

Without a clear vision, defined by its leader, a school lacks direction.  But with a clear mission and vision, a school still needs effective systems to implement the mission on a day-to-day basis.  A school leader must be effective at translating the vision into action.  As Senge (1990) notes, for schools to be “learning organizations”—a school that grows in its capacity as an organization—they need to engage in systems thinking, a “conceptual framework” for thinking about the interplay of the different parts of an organization which allow its members to “make the full patterns clearer, “ and to help them “see how to change [the organization] effectively.”  A school leader should draw upon the professional expertise of the staff when designing systems; when it is feasible, the systems should be developed by or with input from the various constituencies within the school most likely to be affected by or to implement the systems.  For example, systems to provide instructional feedback and development to teachers should be designed by the school leader with the department chairs or other master teachers likely to be providing the feedback, as well as with teachers themselves.  Systems that do not provide a useful product to those it affects do not advance the school’s mission.  As with the defining of the school’s vision, the school leader must take the “big picture” into account when designing systems, making sure each system is coordinated with the others and each system furthers the vision and mission of the school.  In turn, a leader who designs productive systems to implement the school’s vision will be enabling teachers and staff to more effectively carry out the school’s vision as well.

In articulating a vision and designing systems to implement it, the school leader must always remember that s/he is a servant: the school, and thus its leader, serves the students and their families, and the school leader serves the pedagogical and support staff, who are at the teaching-learning crux every day.  A school leader must foster, and embody, a culture that treats each individual as a valued member of the community.  The leader must promote a culture of trust, which facilitates cooperation (Tschannen-Moran, 2001), builds the organizational capacity of the school (Cosner, 2009), and improves student achievement (Hoy, 2002).  A culture of trust is built upon interdependence—a leader must recognize that the goals of the school, the goals of individual students, or the goals of the individual adults working in the school cannot be met without reliance upon one another.  Furthermore, a school leader must create a culture of academic optimism, a positive school environment that encourages a set of beliefs about the capabilities of the school as a whole and of the individual students and staff—essentially, a sense of the possible (Hoy, Tarter, and Woolfolk Hoy, 2006a; McGuigan and Hoy, 2006).  A culture of optimism empowers the members of the school community to achieve the goals set in the vision.  Finally, a school leader should foster a climate of openness, health, and citizenship.  An open climate is recognized by cooperation and respect within the staff; a healthy climate reacts well to stress and activates its resources to achieve its goals; a climate of citizenship is one in which the buy-in of the school’s vision by the staff is such that they go beyond their formal duties at the school.  By fostering a school culture that recognizes the students, families, and staff as valued members of the community, the school leader will not only encourage the harmonious work necessary to achieve it mission, but s/he will also create a school that embodies the ethics of democratic participation (Beckner, 2004).

A school leader plays a key role, if not the key role in the success of a school.  For the school to be effective, a school leader must define where s/he wants the school to be, what structure the school will use to systematically move in that direction,  and how students, staff, families, and the community will work together to get there.

References

Beckner, W. (2004).  Ethics for Educational Leaders.  Boston: Pearson.

Cosner, D. (2009).  Building Organizational Capacity Through Trust.  Educational Administration Quarterly, 45, 248-91.

Covey, S. (2004).  The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Hallinger, P., and Murphy, J. (1985).  Assessing the Instructional Leadership Behavior of Principals.  Elementary School Journal, 86 2, 217-48.

Hoy, W. K. (2002).  Faculty Trust: A Key to Student Achievement.  Journal of School Public Relations, 23 2, 88-103. 

Hoy, W. K., Tarter, C. J., and Woolfolk Hoy, A.  (2006a).  Academic Optimism of Schools: A Second-Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis.  In Wayne K. Hoy and Cecil Miskel (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Educational Policy and School Outcomes (pp. 135-57).     Greenwich, CT: Information Age.

McGuigan, L., and Hoy, W. K. (2006)  Creating a Culture of Optimism to Improve School Achievement.  Leadership and Policy in Schools.

Senge, P. (1990).  The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.  New York: Doubleday.

Tschannen-Moran, M. (2001).  Collaboration and the Need for Trust.  Journal of Educational Administration, 36, 334-52.

Leadership Philosophy

As I progressed through the Educational Leadership program, my ideas about school leadership have evolved.  To be effective, a school leader must be a visionary, the lead in establishing the goals for the school.  The school leader must then develop ways through which the school can achieve that vision—a systems developer.   In this work, a school leader must be a facilitator of a positive school culture that values each member of the community.  While there are other aspects of leadership not addressed by these three elements, in my mind these form the core of effective leadership.

The leader of any organization must act as the visionary, the person who brings together the school stakeholders and facilitates the collaborative creation of the school’s mission and vision statements.  Although the mission of a school may, from the outside, seem to be self-evident—a school’s mission is to educate students—schools vary widely in the communities they serve, and thus the mission of each school should be unique.  In addition to the school’s mission, the leader must facilitate the articulation of a vision for how the school will achieve this mission across the years.    Hallinger and Murphy (1985) argue that defining clear, measurable, and time-based goals is one of the three dimensions of a principal’s leadership.  This vision must incorporate and define the school’s values and the needs of the community, and the school leader must be able to effectively communicate this vision to all constituent groups of the school community.  The mission and vision must be the touchstone for students, staff, and parents alike, so that everything the school does flows naturally from these ideas.  These documents become the constitution of the school, so to speak, and if done well, provide a commonality of purpose that drives the school forward (Senge, 1990).  A school leader must articulate and live this vision; to do so, the school leader must take a long view of the school, to spend considerable time in what Covey (2004) calls “Quadrant II” of his time management matrix, the time we spend on issues that are important, but not urgent.  Articulating a mission and vision and leading a school towards achieving its mission is the most important role a school leader takes.

Without a clear vision, a school lacks direction.  But with a clear mission and vision, a school still needs effective systems to implement the mission on a day-to-day basis.  A school leader must be effective at translating the vision into action.  As Senge (1990) notes, for schools to be “learning organizations”—a school that grows in its capacity as an organization—they need to engage in systems thinking, a “conceptual framework” for thinking about the interplay of the different parts of an organization which allow its members to “make the full patterns clearer,” and to help them “see how to change [the organization] effectively.”  A school leader should draw upon the professional expertise of the staff when designing systems; when it is feasible, the systems should be developed by or with input from the various teacher teams within the school most likely to be affected by or to implement the systems.  For example, systems to provide instructional feedback and development to teachers should be designed by the school leader with the department chairs or other master teachers likely to be providing the feedback, as well as with teachers themselves.  Systems that do not provide a useful product to those it affects do not advance the school’s mission.  As with the defining of the school’s vision, the school leader must take the “big picture” into account when designing systems, making sure each system is aligned with the vision and mission of the school.  In turn, a leader who designs productive systems to implement the school’s vision will be empowering teachers to more effectively carry out the school’s vision as well.

In articulating a vision and designing systems to implement it, the school leader must always remember that s/he is a servant: the school, and thus its leader, serves the students and their families, and the school leader serves the pedagogical and support staff, who are at the teaching-learning crux every day.  A school leader must foster, and embody, a culture that treats each individual as a valued member of the community.  The leader must promote a culture of trust, which facilitates cooperation (Tschannen-Moran, 2001), builds the organizational capacity of the school (Cosner, 2009), and improves student achievement (Hoy, 2002).  A culture of trust is built upon interdependence—a leader must recognize that the goals of the school, the goals of individual students, or the goals of the individual adults working in the school cannot be met without reliance upon one another.  Furthermore, a school leader must create a culture of academic optimism, a positive school environment that encourages a set of beliefs about the capabilities of the school as a whole and of the individual students and staff—essentially, a sense of the possible (Hoy, Tarter, and Woolfolk Hoy, 2006a; McGuigan and Hoy, 2006).  A culture of optimism empowers the members of the school community to achieve the goals set in the vision.  Finally, a school leader should foster a climate of openness, health, and citizenship.  An open climate is recognized by cooperation and respect within the staff; a healthy climate reacts well to stress and activates its resources to achieve its goals; a climate of citizenship is one in which the buy-in of the school’s vision by the staff is such that they go beyond their formal duties at the school.  By fostering a school culture that recognizes the students, families, and staff as valued members of the community, the school leader will not only encourage the harmonious work necessary to achieve it mission, but s/he will also create a school that embodies the ethics of democratic participation (Beckner, 2004).

A school leader plays a key role, if not the key role in the success of a school.  For the school to be effective, a school leader must define where s/he wants the school to be, what structures the school will use to systematically move in that direction,  and the culture in which students, staff, families, and the community will work together to get there.

References

Beckner, W. (2004).  Ethics for Educational Leaders.  Boston: Pearson.

Cosner, D. (2009).  Building Organizational Capacity Through Trust.  Educational Administration Quarterly, 45, 248-91.

Covey, S. (2004).  The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Hallinger, P., and Murphy, J. (1985).  Assessing the Instructional Leadership Behavior of Principals.  Elementary School Journal, 86 2, 217-48.

Hoy, W. K. (2002).  Faculty Trust: A Key to Student Achievement.  Journal of School Public Relations, 23 2, 88-103. 

Hoy, W. K., Tarter, C. J., and Woolfolk Hoy, A.  (2006a).  Academic Optimism of Schools: A Second-Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis.  In Wayne K. Hoy and Cecil Miskel (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Educational Policy and School Outcomes (pp. 135-57).     Greenwich, CT: Information Age.

McGuigan, L., and Hoy, W. K. (2006)  Creating a Culture of Optimism to Improve School Achievement.  Leadership and Policy in Schools.

Senge, P. (1990).  The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.  New York: Doubleday.

Tschannen-Moran, M. (2001).  Collaboration and the Need for Trust.  Journal of Educational Administration, 36, 334-52.