school leadership

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

             It is believed that a school is like a system of a whole body where the school head/principal is the head. Without a leader a system will not functions well. It would then be like a flock without a shepherd or a ship without a captain or an airplane without a pilot since a leader will serve as a direction. Therefore, managing a school is not an easy bent because of its large scale of control that a leader needs to think carefully about. The effectiveness of the school head can be manifested by the totality of the performance of the school system. If a school performs well then it follows that a school is being manage by an effective leader.     The implication of an effective school leader to the system is really very essential.  If the leader is skilled in dealing with his/her followers then together as one they will achieved the desired success of the school.

            All over the world, school leadership has become a priority in education policy agendas. It plays a key role in improving school outcomes by influencing the motivations and capacities of teachers, as well as the school climate and environment. Effective school leadership is necessary to improve the efficiency and equity of schooling. As our country is seeking to adapt educational systems that meet the needs of contemporary society we have moved towards decentralization, making schools more independent in their decision making and holding them more responsible for outcomes. Research has shown that school leaders can make a difference in school and student performance if they are granted independence in making important decisions. However independence alone does not guarantee improvements unless it is well supported. In addition, it is important that the core responsibilities of school leaders be clearly defined and delimited. School leadership responsibilities should be defined through an understanding of the practices most likely to improve teaching and learning.

            School leadership to be more effective should promote and implement change and a leader is someone who could bring about change in a school. It also follows that a leader is a risk taker who is not afraid to welcome and go for innovation with a unified vision that geared towards the betterment of the school. As Manasse, 1986 puts it, to actively change an organization; leaders must make decisions about the nature of the desired state."Leadership requires vision. It is a force that provides meaning and purpose to the work of an organization. Leaders of change are visionary leaders, and vision is the basis of their work. “They begin with a personal vision to forge a shared vision with their coworkers. Their communication of the vision is such that it empowers people to act. Their vision of their school or district provides purpose, meaning, and significance to the work of the school and enables them to motivate and empower the staff to contribute to the realization of the vision.

            The relationship between the teachers' and administrators' vision is important. Administrators' vision tends to encompass the whole system or as described by Manasse (1986) their vision is an organizational vision. Teachers' vision appears to focus primarily on the individual or personal actions for school change. However, to closely examine teachers' and administrators' visions this may reveal that both groups of educators are looking at the same vision but attending to different aspects. School administrators that have developed a shared vision with their faculty have also created common ground that serves to facilitate or compel action to the realization of this common vision. Frequently underlying a shared vision are teachers' and administrators' shared values and beliefs, specifically believing that schools are for students' learning. Shared vision could possibly a great way to the fulfillment of the common goal of the school they may function differently according to their abilities and respective obligations but geared towards their unified goal or target. If only the school head would have this kind of mentality in leading the school which foster concern to the welfare of the students then our educational system would make a difference.

my self

Me as a LEADER

Me as a leader

               As I see myself as a leader I come across to an idea that there are still many things that I need to know and learn for me to become a good and effective leader.

                 According to Lisa Dewey in her five qualities of a good leader she states that a leader is someone who helps others do and become more than they ever thought possible. Leadership is about unlocking potential, whether individual potential or that of a group, company, or organization. It is not about telling people what to do, but inspiring them to see what they are capable of, then, helping them get there. Therefore, I need to inspire other people especially my students for them to make use of their potentials and shine according to their own inclination.

                 It is being said that a leader is useless without followers; I also learned that our followers is very important in our being a leader. In addition, we need to attract followers who will follow us and share with our aspirations and dreams with common goal to achieve success. However, it is also important to take into account on the part of the leader to give its followers the assurance and confidence of one’s leadership in such a way they will be enabled and empowered to do their part in the fulfillment of the group’s target.

                 I also learned that good communicative skills play an important role to a leader because it is a tool for him to bridge the gap between its followers. Without a good communication processes in an organization a healthy relationship between the leader and the followers could be very impossible to happen.

                 From the Seven Qualities of a Good Leader presented by Barbara White the first quality she mentioned is that a good leader has an exemplary character. It is of utmost importance that a leader is trustworthy to lead others. A leader needs to be trusted and be known to live their life with honestly and integrity. A good leader “walks the talk” and in doing so earns the right to have responsibility for others. True authority is born from respect for the good character and trustworthiness of the person who leads. I then realized that sound value system is essential to a good leader since it is an aid for a leader to gain respect from its followers. Therefore, I need to check every now and again my value system whether it is anchored to morality and what is expected of me as a leader or as a teacher.

                 Deep inside me I know that I have the qualities of being a good leader but I also have my weaknesses that somehow hinders me and my group to achieved our desired goals. To mention of my weaknesses are; I lack time management, I am easily discouraged with failures and I am also easily get irritated with the unpleasant behavior of my members/followers. These are the things that I need to work out with in order for me to become an effective leader. Indeed, being a leader is not as an easy  responsibility but eventually with the great determination the qualities of being a good leader can be learned in due time only if am open to changes, I will have the determination to change and I am willing to accept corrections for me to improve my skills in leading people.

best of me by david foster with lyrics

the leader i admire most

The leader I admire most

                  Leadership can be defined as one’s ability to get others to willingly follow. Every organization needs leaders at every level. According to Yogesh Ambekar leadership is nothing but the quality which makes a person stands out from other ordinary employees. It is associated with such a person who has aggresiveness in speech and action, love for the employees, and who can handle pressure under different circumstances and a person who is always ready to fight for the rights of employee. A leader is useless without a follower. It is the followers who makes a person as a leader and if required overthrow him.

                  From all the great leaders our history has to offer I choose Mahatma Gandhi with whom I admire most. Few men have ever had as much of an effect on our world as Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948), though he used the message of peace and love, rather than war and destruction. One time a prominent lawyer in South Africa, Gandhi gave up practicing law and returned to India in order to help ease the suffering of the repressed people of his homeland. Gandhi's love for people and his religious fervor made him a revolutionary in many of his ideas and actions. He desired to see India freed from British rule in a bloodless revolution, similar to the Glorious Revolution of Seventeenth Century England. Knowing that violence only begets violence, he began the practicing of passive resistance, or as he called it, Satyagraha which means holding onto truth. In his famous Salt March of 1930, Gandhi and thousands of others marched to a coast where salt lay on the beaches to protest the British Governments' prohibition against the Indians making their own salt. Though many were beaten, arrested and killed, no one fought back. Over the course of his life he led three major crusades, rallied support for nonviolent strikes, urged Indians to boycott anything British, and championed women's rights.

                  Gandhi exemplified many characteristics of a great leader. His love for the people of India was boundless; he wanted nothing more than to serve and help them. Always putting others above himself, he sought to make himself even lower than the lowest member of the Hindu caste system. He even humbled himself to the point of sweeping up excrement left behind by others, hoping to teach that disease was spread in filth. One of his most admirable qualities was that he led by example and never preached that which he was not willing to do himself. A common thread between Gandhi and many other great leaders was that no matter what he did, he did it to the best of his ability. He once said: No matter how insignificant the thing you have to do, do it as well as you can, give it as much of your care and attention as you would give to the thing you regard as most important. For it will be by those things that you shall be judged. He gave up his life and material possessions, fasted, toiled and suffered for his people and their cause. He showed that passiveness is not synonymous with weakness, and became a leader in the truest sense of the word. Perhaps Gandhi's greatest contribution to the world continued long after his assassination in 1948. Few realize that had it not been for his influence, we may have never witnessed in this country Martin Luther King Junior's I have a dream speech, the lunch counter sit-ins, Rosa Parks, or Nelson Mandela's struggle against antiapartheid oppression in South Africa. These people and many more who have followed in his footsteps bear witness to Gandhi's leadership ability and his legacy that will continue for many centuries to come.

                  For Gandhi, Truth was everything, and it was intrinsically linked with the concept of the non-violence and spiritual renewal that was "Satyagraha" and "Swaraj". "Satyagraha" was not just a political method but a moral statement about how to act politically. Unless events were conducted the right way, he would rather not act, and often called off protests or other actions as a result.

                  Truth was also connected to humility, cleanliness, celibacy and poverty. It was connected to unity (of religions and beliefs), and to the goodness of humanity. He always believed that people were intrinsically capable of good – which was both a key to his success as a Leader, and one of the reasons for his failures. He believed in action, and not just words.

                  He believed in industry and in self reliance. He was skeptical of Modern society, and especially of the breakup of the rural communities as people migrated to industrial cities. Gandhi believed that natural methods were the best way to keep one healthy, and except for an appendix removal never used "modern medicine". Finally, to Gandhi, being vegetarian was more than a "health" issue. It was a question of morality.

                  His entire life story is about action, to bring about positive change. He both succeeded and failed in what he sought to do, but he always moved forward and he never gave up the quest for improvement, both social and spiritual, and both for individuals and for the Nation as a whole.

                  In some changes he succeeded, and in some he failed. And, in some case, the success came years after the action. For example, the Salt tax was only fully repealed at Independence. But, in every case his actions were targeted against a specific change he was trying to bring about.

                  The qualities I have mentioned above about this great leader Mahatma Gandhi is quite worthy of emulation. And as I see it in our present governance now these promising qualities of Gandhi is somehow lacking in our political leaders because mostly their very own desire to lead is only geared towards their personal invested interest especially about money and honor. The bottom-line is progress in a certain country or organization is mainly laid upon the shoulders of the leaders. Without a leader who has great leadership then success is impossible to happen.