Educational Leadership Philosophy

Melanie Bergenhagen

Minnesota State University, Moorhead

In thinking about my own personal leadership philosophy, I have come to realize

there is a lot more to leadership than I had originally realized. Leadership is not only about

guiding others and building them up, it is about how you present yourself, communicate with

stakeholders, show/articulate your mission and vision, implement change, support others and

more.

One of the most important of these things I feel is having a mission and vision for your

school. I believe that a leader needs to know what their purpose and direction is and this is

shown through the mission and vision. If the administrator doesn’t know where he/she is going,

how can we expect them to get their staff there? A leader needs to be able to develop a vision

that, “meets the organizational goals as well as community goals, states your values, and are a

public/visible declaration of your expected outcomes, precise and practical.” It must also, “guide

the actions of all involved by reflecting the knowledge, philosophy, and actions of all.” (Smith,

2002) Leaders should be able to devise a research based plan of action with the input of all

stakeholders. They should also be able to successfully articulate their mission and vision and

their rationale/research for it to all stakeholders. When everyone is on the same page they can

collaboratively access and improve the culture and climate of the school to meet the needs of all

students and reach their goals.

A leader also needs to be a good communicator. On a daily basis an administrator

will need to communicate a variety of different things to different stakeholders. When

communicating to stakeholders administrators will need to be consistent in providing their

purpose and direction for the school and goals. Leaders need to be able to do this is a way that

helps the stakeholders understand the information being delivered, gain their support and listen

to their concerns/input. I believe that getting stakeholders feedback and being open and honest

will help everyone overall.

Leaders need to be able to develop a sense of community while maintaining structure

in the school. All schools have differing levels of authority among them, rules and policies,

systems, meetings, task forces/networks. In turn it is easy for schools to be “complex, surprising,

deceptive, and ambiguous.” (Bolman, & Deal, 2008). A good leader should be able to develop

culture and community in their school giving people a sense of structure, encouragement and

support, recognize successes, and give others the opportunity to build their own leadership.

People want to be able to do something that is meaningful to them and that they believe in.

By creating a community feel at school, staff members are more likely to buy into the schools

mission and vision and in turn put more time and energy into helping it be successful for student.

A great way for leaders to do this is by modeling shared leadership and decision-making

strategies and facilitating teamwork. This gives others the opportunity to express themselves

and their ideas and concerns. “When individuals find satisfaction and meaning in their work, the

organization profits from the effective use of their talent and energy.” (Bolman, & Deal, 2008)

Leaders need to be researcher and a decision maker. “Leaders are frequently facing issues

such as shrinking budgets, restructuring and accreditation issues. These issues often require

change, and change tends to have profound effects on all of the organization’s stakeholders.”

(Bradbury, Halbur, & Halbur, 2010) It is important for a leader to be able to “think and probe

more deeply into what is really going on, and to develop an accurate diagnosis” of many

different situations.” (Bolman, & Deal, 2008)A leader needs to be able to research best plans of

actions/strategies and to make informed decisions based on that research to decide what is best

for all stakeholders (students, staff, and community). They can easily do this when they are

able to reframe situations. “Reframing is a powerful tool for gaining clarity, regaining balance,

generating new options, and finding strategies that make a difference.” (Bolman, & Deal, 2008)

Some leaders get stuck because “when we don’t know what to do, we do more of what we

know.” (Bolman, & Deal, 2008) It is important for a leader to be able to move beyond this and

gain insight from others when they are uncertain or confused. “A good frame makes it easier

to know what you are up against and, ultimately, what you can do about it.” (Bolman, & Deal,

2008)

Leaders need to be able to successfully implement change and educational reform. There

are many times a leader needs to implement changes both big and small. A leader needs to be

able to gain data on why the current situation is not working from different frames. They need

to also have input from stakeholders to utilize the data in coming up with an action plan that will

work best in helping the school to meet its mission and vision. This is important because

“innovation inevitably generates four issues. First it affects individual’s ability to feel

effective, valued, and in control. Without support training, and a chance to participate

in the process, people become powerful anchors, embedded in the past, that block

forward motion. Second, change disrupts existing patterns of roles and relationships,

producing confusion and uncertainty. Structural patterns need to be revised and aligned

to support the new direction. Third, change creates conflict between winners and losers.

This conflict requires creation of arenas where the issues can be renegotiated and the

political map drawn. Finally change creates loss of meaning for recipients of the change.

Transition rituals, mourning the past and celebrating the future help people let go of old

attachments embrace new ways of doing things.” (Bolman, & Deal, 2008)

The leader then needs to be able to successful implement the plan of action keeping these

in mind and giving the support and help those rationale that do not buy into the change. In

interviewing my principal, Arturo Sanchez, he said “There are two reasons people do not

buy into the change, either they don’t understand the benefit, what they have been doing has

worked for them so why change it, or they are not properly prepared for the change, either in

understanding the change, personal skills or lack of support/training.” (A. Sanchez, personal

interview, July 27, 2011) I agree with this. Leaders need to be able to work through these two

hurdles with stakeholders to get the buy in that will help make the change be implemented easier.

Lastly, a leader needs to themselves and their ethics. A leader needs to be able to “know

what they truly believe about the rights of teachers, students, parents, and the community?” (A.

Sanchez, personal interview, July 27,2011) Then a leader knows what they stand for and why it

is easier for them to make consistent decisions that are best for the overall mission and vision of

the school. Trusting themselves and their beliefs about what the rights are of your stakeholders

will help keep transparency and understanding, which in turn will create more support when

needing to make difficult decisions.

Overall, an educational leader needs to be able to do what they feel is best for students

and their education. A leader needs to be able to advocate for those issues they know is best for

students even if it is difficult to implement. We need to keep the students and their education at

the forefront of decisions, since they are reason we chose this role in the first place.

References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. (2008). Reframing organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Bradbury, B.L., Halbur, K.V., & Halbur, D. (2010). Authority and leadership via a multiple

frames approach . Society for the Philosophical Study of Education.

Smith, J.A,. (2002). Educational leaderhip toolkit. Retrieved from

http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/