Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Learning To Lead: Lessons Taken From The Wisest People We Know, Christine Kenney, Aviva Dorfman, Sapna V. Thwaite

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

How we engage and interact with young children and what we know about supporting them as they grow into the best versions of themselves is a window into what we also know about adults as they grow into the best leaders they can be. How we support and teach children has informative parallels for what leaders in education might learn and draw upon in their interactions and engagements with the people with whom they work. The goal of this paper is to introduce four principles of early childhood education (emotions and feelings are important, relationships are vital, process orientation is …

Leadership And Instructional Coaching: A Synthesis Of Approaches And Practices That Promote Change, Katie L. Perkins

Essays in Education

The aim of this educational essay is to provide a literature-based synthesis of the leadership approaches and practices of instructional coaches that best support teacher development. The essay is grounded in transformational leadership theory (Bass & Avolio, 1990) and synthesizes three main constructs for effective instructional coaching. These constructs include: andragogical practices (Knowles, 2015), the ethics of care (Beck, 1994), and organizational change (Burke, 2014). Incorporating these leadership practices may encourage effective teacher-coach relationships, promote teacher development and retention, and ultimately increase student success.

The Leaderbuild Theory., Fabio Galli, Karl J. New

Journal of Research Initiatives

In the last two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many educational and academic activities have undergone numerous changes; the number of online educational activities, e-Learning, and blended learning have radically increased, and the need to train personnel quickly and with increasing specialist skills has increased. The inclusion of the ‘Leaderbuild’ and ‘Leaderfit’ concept thus becomes one of the factors useful to prepare professionals specialized in every field, ready to lead in every modern environment and need, with structured leadership.

Developing A K-12 School Leadership Plan, Marian E. Truehill

Journal of Research Initiatives

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to develop a K-12 School Leadership plan for public, private, and parochial educational institutions. The K-12 School Leadership plan will help principals, teachers, staff and students focus on how to accurately operate a successful school culture, climate, and improve academic performance at their educational institutions. I used a pseudonym JFK for the high school examined in this paper. Themes represented in this paper will include assessment of ineffective leadership style, assessment of school culture, climate and performance, school improvement areas, explanation of leadership style, most effective style to improve school performance, research-based leadership …

Educating And Advocating: A Professional Responsibility For School Leaders And School Counselors, Jessica Lane, Donna Augustine-Shaw, Melanie Scott

The Advocate

While educators are tasked with many competing professional responsibilities, it is necessary that the focus of advocacy for student well-being stay at the forefront. In particular, for school counselors and school leaders, advocating has never been more important. This article will highlight the role of advocacy found within the professional standards for school counselors and school leaders, and shine light on the need to advocate for social-emotional learning.

School-Based Leadership Perspectives On University Partnerships, Shelley B. Wepner, Diane W. Gomez, Diana Quatroche

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

The success of school-university partnerships depends on the leadership. This qualitative study reports on school-based leaders (SBAs) as critical stakeholders in the collaborative process of forming viable partnerships with colleges and universities. It describes SBAs’ responsibilities as partners, motivation for forming their partnerships, perceived benefits and challenges of the partnership, perspectives on forming and sustaining a partnership, and self-reflective comments about their leadership characteristics as an SBA and a partner. Sixteen SBAs, most of whom were school principals, responded to 12 interview questions. SBAs indicated that they have been engaged with Professional Development Schools (PDSs) an average of 10 years. …

Collaborative Autonomy: Exploring The Professional Freedom Of Three Science Teachers, Michael Ralph, Darian Robbins, Stephen Young, Laurence Woodruff

Educational Considerations

Education reform efforts must support and protect professional autonomy for classroom teachers. When policymakers attempt to make systemic change in ways that reduce the professional autonomy of educators, student learning suffers. Teachers need the freedom to identify their professional goals, seek resources and collaboration opportunities in pursuit of those goals, and act on feedback regarding their progress in meeting those goals. We present three stories from teachers who share a department engaged in collaborative autonomy. These accounts provide guidance for how professional autonomy can be defended by those pursuing systemic change.

The Journey To The Top: Stories On The Intersection Of Race And Gender For African American Women In Academia And Business, Deanna R. Davis

Journal of Research Initiatives

This research study was designed to determine how the intersection of race and gender identities contributed to the elements of leadership development as perceived by eight African American female executives in academia and business. The researcher sought to explore strategies future leaders might utilize to address leadership development and career ascendency for African American females who aspire to leadership roles. A phenomenological research method was most appropriate for this research study to capture the lived experiences of individuals from their perspectives and to develop themes that challenged structural or normative assumptions.

This research study examined leadership development of eight African …

Appreciative Inquiry: A Path To Change In Education, Pamela L. Buchanan

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) introduces a new approach to educational change. Most state and federal initiatives for educational change grow out of a deficit model determined to fix problems. The emphasis of AI is upon what is right with the organization and forms the basis for new initiatives and further change. This model proposes a cycle of inquiry used by leaders who distribute leadership across their constituents. Organizational learning is a process of individual and collective inquiry that modifies or constructs organizational theories-in-use and changes practice.

The study explored the relationship of AI, distributed leadership, and organizational learning qualities that exist …

Religious Education Leadership And The 21st Century: Overcoming Disconnectedness, Michael T. Buchanan

eJournal of Catholic Education in Australasia

The role of the religious education leader is a relatively new role within Catholic education in Australia. This leadership position has evolved since the time of its emergence in the decades following Vatican II; however, there appears to be a lack of clarity and understanding about the role and its impact upon a school. While the religious education leader plays a significant role in building a school community, a recent study which sought to discover the kinds of support these leaders need found that many religious education leaders encountered experiences of disconnectedness in their own school communities. Drawing on the …

The Types And Incidence Of Stressors Of Students In The University Of Ghana-Legon, Samuel Atindanbila, Elma Banyenrejoice

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Over the past two decades, theorists and researchers have consistently cited the importance of effective school leadership in relation to improved educational outcomes (Fullan, 2002; Hallinger & Heck, 1998; Leithwood, Jantzi, & Steinbach, 1999; Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004). The Wallace Foundation recently commissioned an exhaustive research project on the relationships between school leadership and student learning, and the authors concluded that “when principals and teachers share leadership, teachers’ working relationships with one another are stronger and student achievement is higher” (Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom, & Anderson, 2010, p. 282).

It Is Simple, But Not Easy–Culturally Responsive Leadership And Social Capital: A Framework For Closing The Opportunity Gap, Alisa Taliaferro

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Instructional designers are not often found in a public school setting. However, the leadership an instructional designer can provide, especially as part of a professional learning community (PLC), could help achieve the transformational change for which many schools are looking. With the issues cited by Hoyle and Kutka (2008) in public education today, such as the drop out rate and increased necessity for remedial coursework at the college level, the need for effective instructional design practices being implemented by high school teachers is great. However, as Moallem (1998) notes, “Teachers’ use of instructional design practices is not encouraging (Driscoll, 1989; …

Creating Virtual Cooperative Learning Experiences For Aspiring School Leaders And Practitioners With Web 2.0, Do-Hong Kim, Patricia Wilkins, David Dunaway

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

In December of 2008, the authors were awarded a University of North Carolina at Charlotte funded curriculum and instructional development grant based on two innovative ideas for preparing future school leaders: (1) the creation and use of wikis to expand and deepen student learning beyond the classroom, and (2) the creation of a virtual social network to connect current educational leadership students and graduates, providing the opportunity and the means for networking between students and practitioners, practitioners with each other, and both groups with educational leadership professors around the proposition that solving problems of practice (whether in the graduate classroom …

Management And Leadership In The Health Services, Debbie Garvey

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Organisations require leadership and successful management if they are to succeed. Traditionally leaders have been romanticised in the literature within the health care industry. This paper will examine the concept of leadership is a romanticised position, and examine the differences between management and leadership. Clinical leadership will be explored along with perspectives of leadership perspectives from medical, nursing and allied health. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the move from dominant medical management of patient care to multidisciplinary team management in the context of how these views interact with the overall performance of a group, service or organisation.

Qualitative Study Of Current And Prospective Student Perceptions Of A University Website, Sheila J. Henderson, Jennifer Coloma

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Building a sustainable system that goes beyond myopic interests and short-term policies is an arduous task for any school leader. In the U.S., our education system has been criticized for being too shallow in curriculum and unsustainable in the long run. In fact, a 2007 report by UNICEF concerning children’s well-being in 22 countries ranked the U.K. and the U.S. at the bottom of the industrialized nations in the survey. Hargreaves (2007) laments that these two countries, in their single-minded pursuit of economic competitiveness and development at all costs, are destroying the planet, while “eating their young.”

Gender Inequalities In The Training Of Teachers At Tai Solarin University Of Education In Ogun State Of Nigeria, K.O. Odunaike, M.B. Amoda, A. Arigbabu

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The presence of women in leadership roles at the secondary school level and above contributes to sensitivity within schools for the well-being of adolescent girls and provides girls beginning to consider career choices with role models of women decision-makers and leaders. It is also imperative that women be actively involved in leading educational change given the vital role that the educational system of a country plays in both national development and the development of a gender equal society for women to be active participants in the change and development process. They must be equipped and be provided with necessary skills …

Selecting Learning Agility And Leadership Context: An Initial Survey Development Phase, Phillip Emerick

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

In our modern Internet age, the rate of information is steadily increasing accompanied by increasing rates of access. There is a need to process huge volumes of information, quickly and appropriate for specific goals. Educational institutions have the opportunity to lead many in developing the skills for acquiring and applying relevant information under such rapidly changing conditions. Accordingly, educators, administrators and students might benefit from an assessment of their learning agility and leadership style. Discussion for selecting a context set for learning agility precedes discussion for leadership styles. A brief analysis of how the context might be used for a …

The “Glass-Ceiling” In The Church Organization: Can E-Mentoring Be A Panacea To Women Desiring Leadership Positions?, John Ekukndayo

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

In leadership studies, mentoring has been in practice for a long time be it in local and national governance, organizational development (especially as part of a systematic leadership succession plan) or even for personal/professional development of individuals or groups. It seems that in organizations today many desire to be mentored but unfortunately not all are finding appropriate mentors that will cater for their personal and professional needs especially in meeting with their psychosocial needs (Kram, 1983). This is the case with many women in many male-dominated workplaces known for the preserving of “male prejudices, male values and creations” (Woodd, 1997), …

Toward A Functional Followers’ Model In The Organizational Leadership Process, John Ekundayo

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

There are many researchers and practitioners who have at various times and situations defined the term leadership to suit their whims and caprices. A popular scholar in the field of management and leadership opined that “there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept” (Bass, 1981, p. 11). There is no gainsaying the fact that in organizations, leadership plays a vital role almost on a daily basis. It is perhaps based on this premise that makes many practitioners and scholars to focus more on leaders when discussing or writing …

Emerging Characteristics Of Education Deans’ Collaborative Leadership, Dee Hopkin, Virginia Johnson, Sandra Damico, Shelley Wepner

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Ever increasing opportunities-and demands-for partnerships between P-12 and higher education have created the impetus for deans of education to become collaborative leaders. Deans serve a critical institutional role in charting the direction of a school or college (Rosser, Johnsrud, & Heck, 2003), and there is ample research on the general roles and responsibilities and leadership behaviors of education deans that focus on the biographical, structural, and contextual factors affecting their work (e.g., Bowen, 1995; Bright & Richards, 2001; Bruess, McClean, & Sun, 2003; Clifford & Guthrie, 1988; Gardner, 1992; Gmelch, 2002; Gmelch, Wolverton, Hopkins, Merz, & Anderson, 1999; Howey & …

Leadership Differences Between African-American And White Superintendents In South Carolina, Edward Cox, Carlotta Redish

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Superintendents are responsible for implementing the policies established by their boards of education. They are charged with managing and leading their organizations to secure and promote the sustained advancement of student achievement. Nationwide, whites are employed in a majority of superintendent positions (Glass, 2006). According to Bjork (2000), blacks represent 5% of the superintendents in America. The remaining 95% are white. Previous studies of the superintendency have researched career paths, school board/superintendent relationships, minority superintendents, gender, leadership styles, and professional preparation (Glass, 2006; Clisbee, 2004; Revere, 2003 Lunenburg, 2003; Tallerico, 2000; Shakeshaft, 1999; Moody, 1970). None, however, have compared possible …

Leadership Influences On Turnover Intentions Of Academic Staff In Tertiary Institutions In Zimbabwe, Frank Gwavuya

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Southern Africa has been witnessing an upsurge in the departure of technical expertise in virtually all sectors over the last five years (Stilwell, 2003). Experienced leaders inspire employees and lead them by vision, energy and integrity. From this it is evident that the quality of leadership determines how the talents, potential, and commitment of employees are optimized for the benefit of the workplace. According to Kusluvan (2003:546) leadership and turnover intention are inextricably linked.

Linking Transformational Leadership To Student Teachers’ Efficacy: Contributions Of Mentor Teachers’ Leadership Behaviors, Tao Gong, Ron Siers

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

A literature review of student interns’ (often referred to as student teachers or pre-service teachers) efficacy beliefs revealed that most studies have focused on the effects of teacher efficacy on teacher effectiveness and student achievement. However, the role that mentor teachers (often referred to as cooperating teachers or collaborating teachers) play in the growth of efficacy beliefs of student interns has received little attention, and the empirical evidence is insufficient. A teacher’s sense of efficacy has been defined as “the teacher’s belief in his or her capability to organize and execute courses of action required to successfully accomplish a specific …

The Impact Of National Cultures On Corporate Cultures In Organisations, Kwasi Dartey-Baah

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The school’s main core business is teaching and learning. A quality curriculum and effective instruction are key elements to ensure successful teaching and learning in schools (Grigsby et. al. 2010). Thus, various activities and resources established in the schools should be optimized to ensure that teaching and learning are implemented effectively. From the human resource perspective, the main drivers of successful teaching and learning are teachers. Hence, quality teachers who can perform their responsibilities with commitment are prerequisites for successful and excellent education.

Transformational Leadership: Operating In An Abundant State Of Mind By Capitalizing On Tangible And Intangible Resources, Darrell Cain, Jim Picquet

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Becoming an effective and well rounded leader in academia often requires proficiency in the three critical components of an academic career: scholarship, service, and teaching. However, the emerging focus on faculty scholarship as the most salient of these elements, particularly as evidenced through publication in academic journals for graduate faculties, has been well documented in research (Green, 2005; Green & Baskind, 2007). While the relative weighting and importance of scholarship is somewhat inconsistent across universities, disciplines, and faculty rank (Green, 2008; Price & Cotton, 2006), the publication productivity of faculty is the major correlate for graduate program rankings from the …

Virtual Teams And Their Leaders: A Paradigm On Achieving Learning Agility, Laurie Pearson

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

This paper provides a brief historical background on the redefinitions of school leadership preparation programs in a particular state (Illinois) in the United States. The paper chronicles the collaborations, challenges, and accomplishments of a professional organization, from the period of 2001 to 2010. Set in the context of concerns about school leadership preparation at the national level, the paper focuses principally on the work of the Illinois Council of Professors of Educational Administration (ICPEA) as it engaged with multiple stakeholders at university and state levels to strengthen school leadership preparation.

United States Organization Working To Strengthen School Leadership Preparation, Jenny Tripses, John Hunt, Sandra Watkins

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

We have come into a time where there is of scarcity of resources, where colleges and universities are being pulled in different directions by many of its constituents, and state politicians are jockeying for which policies that they want to implement with limited or no resources to support them, which makes the support for higher education even more scant. If there was not a more urgent time to have a different mindset to transform a college or university this decade, then there likely will not be one. Knowing the obstacles in which higher education institutions need to overcome, the leadership …

Supporting The Continuing Professional Development Of Teachers In Sub-Saharan Africa: An Integrated Teacher Education Model, Cosmas Cobbold, Albert Dare

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Periodically, school operations come under intense review as we take inventory of what has worked and what improvements still need to be made. In fact we label time periods by major events and trends, e.g. back-to-basics (Smith, 1978). As we move into the second decade of a new millennium, we are reflecting and projecting to see where we have been and where we need to be going. We are asking what we have learned and what needs to occur to improve education and our country. The importance of teachers and teacher leadership in education is gaining attention (York-Barr & Duke, …

A Comparative Study Of Leadership Behavior Of Principals In Relation To Job Satisfaction Of Teachers In Govt. And Non-Govt. Schools Of U.T., Maninder Khanna

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The study was designed to achieve the following objectives: 1. To compare the Leadership Behavior of Principals in Govt. and non-govt. schools . 2. To compare the job satisfaction of teachers in Govt. and non-govt. schools . 3. To ascertain the relationship between Leadership Behavior of Principals with job satisfaction of teachers in Govt. and non-govt. schools .

A Principal’S Dilemma: Instructional Leader Or Manager, Bettye Grigsby, Gary Schumacher, John Decman, Felix Iii Simieou

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

This study focuses on the emphasis principals’ place on the design and delivery of curriculum and instruction on individual campuses and the extent federal regulation has impacted principal behaviors as instructional leaders. The transformation from the principal’s role of manager to that which is inclusive of instructional leadership is due to the steady increase of the regulations governing the accountability system culminating in No Child Left Behind. In fact, “ … one in three principals says implementation of NCLB is the most pressing issue he or she is facing” (Sergiovanni, 2009, p. 44).