Educational Leadership Essays Text

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The three core tasks of expert school leaders are the standard fare of apologist for cultural realignment: articulating a vision, devising strategies to attain that vision and empowering followers вќ gronn 1996 a cursory understanding of the concept of any single leadership theory may lead to the belief that a shift to only one type of leadership style is a panacea for struggling schools. A more thorough analysis of the history and theory behind the different concepts of leadership in general and educational leadership in particular, the moral, ethical and intellectual capacity of the leader may be more significant than the leadership theory he/she practices. In trying to evaluate the efficacy of leadership styles as a practical possibility, four have been identified: transactional, instructional, transformational, and invitational and discussed with a current middle school principal. Transactional leadership as noted by gronn, comprises a technology of control that facilitates an exchange relationship with followers entailing reliance on the management by exception and contingent reward or inducement typical of supervisory management levels вќ gronn, 1996: 15. See also leithwood, 1992: 9 according to leithwood, transactional practices are considered to be essential to maintaining the organization while transformational practices provide the incentives for people to attempt improvement in their practices. This leadership style is primarily a situation where individuals and groups go their own way in an organization and pursue their own objectives, having transacted their legitimacy form the leader, either by obtaining resources to complete tasks or others forms of legitimization.

Such organizations are task rather than process oriented, and less successful at managing innovation and change, where the focus is on one person, the leader. When i first came to the building i am leading, i our writers can help get your essay back on track, take a look at our services to learn more about how we can help. Also, the need to identify and measure the educational leaders commitment to moral character in part to protect the interests of mutual stakeholders is an essential component under consideration when evaluating the effectiveness of academic administrators. Peer reviewed journals and articles approach varying definitions pertaining to virtue, moral values, or ethical practice in the realm of academic leadership. It is apparent that many have opinions regarding the subject and how each should be addressed.

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However diverse the definitions are, all authors acknowledge the call to return to more ethical accountability in educational leadership. The challenge presented is one of defining academic leadership through moral ethical dilemmas. Such dilemmas are confronted by diverse course content material that is lacking and considered insufficient to produce appropriate outcomes to solve difficult situations. The principled academic administrator academic administrators are entrusted with the duty to act in accordance to ethical behaviors, with so many ethical misappropriations in the media spotlight, and recent scandals had in academic institutions, many have question if current leadership training curriculum found in administrative educational leadership programs fail to teach sufficient ethical accountability propheter amp jez, 2012. Curriculum that addresses characteristics traits associated with moral virtues in the context of school administration must question if moral virtue such as those espoused by aristotelian principles will developed a more authentic leader? bowen, et al. 2006 , notes that doctoral programs should place more emphasizes on ethics than on management.

Educational leaders must be able to command leadership skills that are committed to moral character and ethical behavior, have the interest of and mutual respect for all stakeholders at heart, support and promote teacher and student alike, are engaged in justice, care, compassion and empathy and are highly motivated by the individual success of each of the members of the larger community of the school of which he is to govern pijanowski, 2007. Academic leaders make decisions that impact the lives of teachers, students and parents, making the act of leadership a moral issue. An educational leader's core set of values, or set of beliefs, is the ethical framework from which a leader develops a vision for the school in which he administers. Associated with administrative leadership, is the constant call for change, thus the academic leader becomes the change agent and will direct, define, and shape the change sequence that leads the schools progression and improvement for all stakeholders. Understanding this concept of leadership helps further define what educational leadership is, starratt 1991 elaborates by noting educational leadership includes virtual ethics such as critique, justice and caring.

That is to say that school administrators will be faced with decisions that will required them to critique hierarchy and bureaucratic boards who may tend to bow to public pressures or sway with public opinions. Starratt argues that justice is formed in some standard but that this standard must be held above one individuals passion and serve the greater good of the many. This starratt 2004 called the community of moral goodness, wherein many individuals would join together for the greater good of the whole forming a relationship of effective leadership. This would then lead from one state of moral responsibility to a higher state of moral responsibility. In turn, individuals in a community form a relationship in caring not out of obligation but out of a sense of positive regard for one another.

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Who wrote this essay request removal example essays academic administrators embedded with these qualities will constitute the principled leader. Therefore, there is a need for the call of aristotelian constructs in educational leadership curriculum graduate programs. Applying aristotle's virtue constructs in educational leadership applying an aristotelian philosophy to educational leadership is perhaps the most logical approach to value and ethical driven curriculum specifying virtues in school supervision. Kodish 2006 incorporates the suggestion that aristotelian philosophy bridges both theory and the practice of moral and right action. Drawing on insights of authentic leadership and virtue, aristotle's 1987 defines virtual states of character as having to do with feeling, choosing, and engaging in actions that do well toward others and doing so until these characteristics form in us habitually. This hypothesis leads us to conclude that a good academic administrator will embrace and exemplify a number of these traits or virtues, in ethical manners especially in regards to his role as the academic head.

It is the purpose of this paper in part, to identify a few of these aristotelian virtues as they are related to educational leaders. A short composition on morals, judgment, respect, genuine, empathy, care, and courage will be explored as basic components of the makeup of the moral fiber regarding the academic leader. Aristotle classifies moral virtue as the excellent state of an individual and good judgment. He sees this character as an intellectual virtue embracing moral rational and the ability to have moral perception along with sufficient insight to make ethical decision not only for one's self, but for the larger community.