Chapter 3: A Century’s Quest to Understand School Leadership

Reference

Murphy, Joseph and Louis, Karen Seashore (eds.). Handbook of Research on Educational Administration (2nd ed.), San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Chapter 3 Organization

I. Models of Contemporary Leadership Practice

II. Historical and Theoretical Sources of School Leadership Authority

III. Conclusions

IV. Implications for Future Research and Theory

What is Leadership? Is there a clear, agreed-upon definition of

leadership? It is neither feasible nor desirable at this point

in the development of the discipline to attempt to resolve the controversies over the appropriate definition of leadership. Like all constructs in social sciences, the definition of leadership is arbitrary and very subjective. Some definitions are more useful than others, but there is no correct definition (p. 45).

Think About It….

Over 60% of the authors who have written about leadership since 1910 did not

define the term.

Lofti Zadeh: The father of fuzzy logic

The Law of Incompatibility:

As complexity rises, precise statements lose meaning and meaningful statements lose precision………………….(p. 46)

Is it even necessary to define leadership???

Leaders in Education

                

    

Leaders

We can identify them, but are we able to consistently define those characteristics that make them leaders? Or, does it depend on the time, circumstance, and the individual?

Is “leader” a title or a character trait?

Models of Contemporary Leadership Practice

Consider the following journals: Educational Administration Quarterly

(EAQ) Journal of School Leadership (JSL) Journal of Educational Administration

(JEA) Educational Management and

Administration (EMA)

Leadership Articles in 4 Journals from 1985-1995 (Table 3.1)

Journal Total Articles Leadership Articles

EAQ 174 28

JSL 182 31

JEA 159 30

EMA 201 32

Models of Contemporary Leadership Practice

Instructional LeadershipTransformational LeadershipMoral LeadershipParticipative LeadershipManagerial LeadershipContingent Leadership/Leadership

Styles

What is Instructional Leadership?

The behaviors of teachers as they engage in activities directly affecting the growth of students?

The way in which the principal defines the school mission, manages the instructional program, and promotes the school climate?

Instructional Leadership

Related Terminology

Pedagogical Leadership

Strategic Instructional Leadership

Direct/Indirect Instructional Leadership

Transformational Leadership Charismatic, Visionary, Cultural, and

Empowering concepts of leadership. Focus is on the commitments and capacities

of organizational members. Represents the transcendence of self-interest

by both leader and led. The ability of a person to “reach the souls of

others in a fashion which raises the human consciousness, builds meanings, and inspires human intent that is the source of power” (p. 49).

Transformational v. Transactional Leadership

Relates to Power-As Relationships

Transactional Leadership: Exchange of valued Transactional Leadership: Exchange of valued things, a bargaining process.things, a bargaining process.

Transformational Leadership: A change in Transformational Leadership: A change in purpose and resources “for the better”. An purpose and resources “for the better”. An elevated sense of commitment to the goals. elevated sense of commitment to the goals.

Moral Leadership Includes normative, political/democratic, and

symbolic concepts of leadership. Focuses on the values and ethics of a

leader….”values constitute the essential problem of leadership. If there are no value conflicts, there is no need for leadership” (p. 50).

Duigan & MacPherson (1993): Moral leadership should be “educative leadership”, i.e.. Focusing on right and wrong, not attitudes, styles, or behaviors.

Moral Leadership Reitzuig and Reeves (1992): Cultural

leadership involves defining, strengthening, and articulating values, but leaders may manipulate culture to further their own ends.

Retinue (1994): Leadership is moral but only under certain conditions.

Lees (1995): Leadership entails a moral imperative to “promote democracy, empowerment, and social justice” (p. 50).

Participative Leadership

Stresses the Decision-Making Processes of the Group

Focuses on Group, Shared, or Teacher Leadership.

Participative Leadership

Participative Leadership is often associated with enhanced organizational effectiveness.

SBM is the most widely-used example of participative leadership. Administrative-controlled SBM Professional-controlled SBM Community-controlled SBM Equally-controlled SBM

Managerial Leadership

Also referred to as Organizational leadership. Focuses on the functions, tasks, or behaviors

of the leader. Assumes that organizational members

behave rationally. Often contrasted with “visionary leadership”. Management v. Leadership.

Managerial Leadership

Ten Managerial Tasks or FunctionsProvide financial/material resources

Maintain communication with school community

Distribute Resources

Make/Maintain policies consistent with school improvement goals

Anticipate problems Reduce disruptions to instructional program

Manage the school facility

Mediate conflict

Manage the student body

Attend to the political demands

Contingent Leadership/ Leadership Styles

Focuses on how leaders respond to the unique organizational circumstances or problems they face.

Dimensions of Leadership style: Task v. Relationships Managerial v. Visionary Initiating structure v. Consideration Autocratic v. Facilitative

Contingent Leadership/ Leadership Styles

This model assumes that individuals providing leadership are capable of mastering a large repertoire of leadership practices. Their leadership depends on such mastery.

What is Authority?

1. The power to influence (Webster’s)2. The power to make decisions that guide the

actions of others (Herbert Simon)3. The willingness of some to accept the

power of another. That is, members of the organization acknowledge the legitimacy of the decisions made by some to control the decisions of others (Daniel Griffiths)

Types of Authority

Rational/LegalTraditionalCharismaticKnowledgeExpert

Historical Sources of Authority Tradition

Patriarchalism is by far the most important type of domination the legitimacy of which rests upon tradition. Patriarchalism means the authority of the father, the husband, the senior of the house, the sib elder over the members of the household and the sib; the rule of the master and patron over bondsmen, serfs, freed men….of the patrimonial lord and sovereign prince over the subjects (p. 56).

Tradition

Is it rational or irrational?

Historical Sources of AuthorityReligion

The role of the superintendent Catholic schools

Psychology Evaluation of students and teachers

Sociology Organizational Change Organizational Design

Historical Sources of Authority Philosophy, Social Psychology, and Critical

Theory

Interest in participative and democratic school leadership.

Study of cultural authority

The Nature of the Quest……

…..to understand school leadership:

Chaos or Complexity?

We must view leadership in terms of:

Leaders and Followers

Organizations

Environment

Relationships

Implications for Future Research and Theory

What are the similarities and differences among the leadership categories in terms of key relationships?

What is the nature of the influence evident in these relationships?

What are the consequences of these key relationships for followers and the organization as a whole?

Which cultural values have different conceptions of leader capacities, motives, and practices?