Importance of Functional Leadership
Discuss about the Transformative Leadership in Education.
This essay talks about the importance of leadership and teams in public school education. Leaderships has been identified as a key strategy for leading the team. The role of an efficient leader is to motivate the team, build the confidence of the team and adopt innovative measures to promote the interests of the team. Transformational leadership has been identified as inspiring the team and motivating them to deliver their best performance through communication of the vision. In this context, the essay explores the current trend in leadership and team in the field of public education in Australia. The next section of the paper proposes recommendations that are indispensable for the leader of the public school. It has been discussed that the leader needs to adopt a collaborative approach for maintaining the stability of the team.
Literature review on team leadership has mostly talked about the importance of functional leadership pertaining to the teams. Efficient team leaders have been identified as those individuals who is ready to step into the shoes of any role given to the person (Harmon, 2015). The rudimentary role of the leader is to identify the functions that are absent in the team and therefore, there is a need to compensate. Literatures have mostly concentrated on the traditional perspective of leadership by highlighting the contributions of the leader. The education system in Australia has a self-reliant, self-managed and self-identification process that will inspire the aspiring leaders to pave their own path (McCleskey, 2014). This journey can be problematic as the candidates are motivated, experience and have the ability to seek leadership positions (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2014). The journey can be full of hurdles and obstacles in a situation that include absence of support. Leadership process begins at the early stage of career and four stages have been identified in this context. These stages are formation, accession, incumbency and divestiture. The accession stage is exemplified by the identification of the capacity of the individual to lead the team within the institutional boundaries, processes and structures (Savery, 2015). The divestiture and incumbency occurs at the stage of when the aspirant seeks to take on a leadership position. When it comes to leadership aspirations there have been mixed findings in the Australian Research (Kezar, Chambers & Burkhardt, 2015). Studies have shown that although there is a reluctance to take on the role of principals but there have been interest from the teachers to take on the role of principals. A study conducted by McKenzie et al. reported that 1.4 per cent of the teachers wish to apply for the position of teachers and 7.1 per cent for the position of deputy principal positions (Fitch, 2013). There is considerable reluctance to become a school principal but when it comes to becoming a schoolteacher, there were more enthusiasm from the participants. Studies have shown that middle-level school leaders are dependant on the roles that are constructed and given impetus by the senior-level school leaders based on their capacities, attitudes and abilities. According to Marion & Gonzales, (2013), middle-level leaders have been identified as important for the success of the school, research have indicated that some are expected to be leaders that inform learning and teaching. However, teachers in the position of leadership have limited opportunity and expectations to exercise any form of leadership. It is reported that successful leadership is established on the principles of support. This teacher finds lacking and because of which, they are motivated enough to take on leadership roles.
Leadership Aspirations in Australia
The courses taught in the university have been instrumental in the preparation, orientation and the development of a leader. It has been reported that tertiary institutions offer a range of leadership programmes to the students enrolled in the post-graduate certificate. In state of Victoria out of nine universities, eight universities have formal courses on teacher educational programmes that offer specialized courses in educational leadership at the level of post-graduation (Pazey & Cole, 2013). However, there have been limited interventions in finding out whether the courses have quality and credibility or not. There are hardly any emphasis provided on the courses by the deputy principal and principal selection panels. It has been found that many courses reflect proper organization or an emphasis on core leadership and the management of functions. There is also limited focus on the processes that would encourage the candidates to become successful school leaders. It was reported that the course is in consistent with the general leadership as against the preparation for the principalship in the programmes in USA. Gurr & Drysdale (2015), have found that education system in Australia has recognized the importance of support and therefore, have therefore, encouraged the development of leadership through the provision of different programmes. These programmes include both formal and informal topics as support programmes coaching, internships, shadowing, mentoring and through support leaves to attend international seminar, symposiums and conferences (Heikka, Waniganayake, & Hujala, 2013). These programmes are important on the ground that it provides opportunities to attain formal qualifications through masters’ level programmes. Government schools conduct their programmes through centre or institute and focus on leaders and aspiring leaders in the different stages of their career. The highlight of these programmes is that these include sponsorships or scholarship for the attainment of tertiary qualifications. These programmes cover all aspects of leadership teaching and are open to both government and non-government school personnel (Orazi, Turrini & Valotti, 2013). These programmes had meaningful impact in the shaping of a leader and reports have been published documenting the developmental journeys of the school leaders that support this initiative. To maintain the high-quality of learning, there have been the incorporation of schooling and teaching that leads to the culmination of a successful leaders who are confident, creative and successful learners and in addition are informed citizens. According to Gurr & Drysdale, (2015), there are five central professional practises in relation to leadership, these are developing self-esteem, leading teaching and learning practises, leading improvement, change and innovation, leading the management of the school and engaging with the community). It is to be seen in the future whether these practises are acceptable, high-quality and are sufficient to form the basis for the effective preparation and development in the context of Australia. In Australia, there is compulsory certification across all the schools to become a principal that includes four-year teaching registration and qualification are considered as the only requirement for school leaders especially in case of public educational institutions. This should not be read as that requirements have not been fulfilled who was interested to opt for the position of the principal. Every system has their own criteria regarding the selection and appointment of school principals.
Preparation and Development of a Leader
Being a principal in school is no easy task and is bounded by a range of responsibilities. In Australia, the school structure is quite complex. Eight government systems serve about two-thirds of all the students. In the twenty-first century, a principal who is entrusted with the responsibility of school leadership is required to build essential educational and professional skills (Faircloth & Tippeconnic, 2013). However, the administrative tasks often dominate and lead to the decline of the functions. Principals need to invest a considerable proportion of their time on the activities and administrative tasks that includes monitoring and supervising the human resources along with the physical resources. Principals have to endure cumbersome amount of tasks and hardly find time for decision-making the educational activities (Van Knippenberg & Sitkin, 2013). The central challenge faced by the principal in the execution of the duty is being overburdened with administrative tasks and therefore, facing difficulty in the consolidation of tasks. That would promote effective school leadership. This further leads to an increase in the complexity in the activities of the principal. In a situation, where keeping up with the external demands become all the more difficult, there emerges several cases of fragmentation (Eacott, 2013). It has been recognized that the main function of the principal would to identify catalyze organizational learning in the schools. The highlight of organizational learning is that it promotes effective leadership in schools. In the context of educational reforms, effective leadership in schools have been a cause of major concern among the scholars since the 2000s. Education system in these countries are considered in terms of the performance on the basis of their evaluation through tests like TIMSS and PISA. Educational reforms have also shown that the educational reforms that is promoted through 2000s demonstrate that the effective leadership of principals have a value. The other challenges that have rose from the diversity of education systems in 2000s are the parameters of decentralization and independence in regard to school leadership. Countries have promoted greater dependence in the last few years and this had negative effects on the responsibilities and functions of the leader. Greater autonomy rendered to the leaders leads to a condition where they can exercise transformational leadership. Therefore, in the present years, there has been greater emphasis on decentralization, parental and community control and shared decision-making (Tummers & Knies, 2013). The notion behind accountability and independence are the conduits of meeting the fundamental needs in a much more effective manner. These transformations have implications on the function of the school leader. Transformational leadership style has a positive impact on the performance of the team. Transformational leadership emphasizes on the dimensions leader’s communication style. Therefore, leaders will communicate differently to the team members and would direct their attention and focus in different ways. Leaders who underscore on the importance of motivational communication are inclined towards an excellent vision for the future of the tea, where the team members would work as a community. Inspirational motivation also have the propensity to emphasize on the abilities of the team, by asserting that the team is in competition with other teams.
Central Professional Practices in Relation to Leadership
The development of leadership quality is time-consuming and demands considerable action. In the light of Australia, the development and preparation of leaders are dependent on the self-management and self-identification that steers the individuals to decide whether they want to pursue leadership opportunities and later seek out to the experiences and support of others (Eacott, 2013). Leadership and team processes are intertwined and this have a bearing on the collective performance. In other words, leadership performances processes determine the performance of the team and influence the processes for the development of an effective leader. This intertwining between leadership and team performance has implications on one another. This may also jeopardize the team performance. At the complex level, team processes and leadership of the team are integrated and set the boundaries of each process to be fair and distinct. Such conceptualizations receive the multilevel nature of the membership of the team but it hardly makes any effort to make a distinction between teamwork and leadership.
It is important to realize that being a leader in a public educational institution is fraught with responsibilities and demands sophisticated skills and a thorough understanding of the responsibilities. The school leader needs to understand their responsibility towards the school. They should advocate for the school and maximize the opportunities for the teachers and the students. The leader of the public school needs to adopt a leadership responsibility through integration of local educational solutions, aspirations and understanding the requirements of the parents. The leader of the public school need to work for the interest of the various stakeholders in the education system and the wider community (Bao, Wang, Larsen & Morgan, 2013). This duality is important and may lead to tensions of being a leader who is in charge of a public school. The leader or the principal persistently need to strike a balance that would range between the interests of all the students studying in the school and at the same time marinating the prospects of the students. A school leader needs to maintain and contribute to the sustenance of high-quality teaching and thereby make a meaningful impact in the learning outcome of the students. The strength of the leader lies in successfully leading a team and inspiring them to deliver their best performance. The leader needs to master the art of leading through the creation of a teaching culture that promotes premium-quality teaching that fosters critical thinking and excellence among the teachers. The teachers or the team should be inspired to personalize the instruction so as to cater to the distinctive and unique needs of each children. The team should be motivated to expand their knowledge base and aspire to become better teachers and role model for the children. The leader need to continuously coordinate with the team with the aim to create a high-performance culture in school and contribute to a learning community founded on the values of professionalism and excellence (Van Oord, 2013). The principals need to develop mutually beneficial relationships with the various services and communication agencies. Innovation is the key success, therefore, the school leader needs to innovate by enhancing the flexibility through the incorporation of changes that would equip the students better to deal with their future. The leader needs to encourage the schools adopt their innovative strategies and encourage them to eliminate obstacles. The leader should inspire the team to usher in productive changes (Berkovich, 2014). The priority of the school would be to learn from each other. This would allow them to mould to different conditions and innovations according to their required contexts. The leader needs to ensure that there is a rethinking of the current schooling system and there is the adoption of different modes of delivery of service based on the requirements of the students (Tummers & Knies, 2013). Leaders play an important role in the building of positive relationships through partnership. Through this endeavour, the learning outcome and achievement of the students will be maximized in case of shared understandings and open communication. The leader needs to emphasize on the development of relationships outside the confines of the school premises. The importance of this would be to bring in transformation in the roles and functions of schools and make them the bastion of community values (Paulsen, 2016). Leaders need to be open-minded and seize the opportunities that would be in consonance with the interest of the schools. The leaders should strive to build in partnerships with the local government, industry and the business, government and non-government social actors along with different educational agencies that would promote the capacity of schools to meet with the requirements of the students.
Complex School Structure in Australia
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that in Australia there is the provision of conferences, symposiums and seminars that provide an opportunity for the leaders to grow them and master the art of leadership. Leaders in public schools are overburdened with administrative tasks that preclude them from realising their full potential. Transformational leadership has been identified as the key to leading a team successfully. The aim of this kind of leadership is to inspire the team to deliver their best performance. The recommendation for schools would be develop innovative strategies that would motivate the team to create a culture of good teaching. Teachers should feel motivated to expand their horizon of knowledge and inspire the students to realize their full potential. The principal needs to coordinate with different stakeholders in the execution of duties and work like a community in achieving the vision of the school. The schools should prioritize learning from each other and the adoption of innovative techniques for leading the team.
References
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