Reframing Leadership

Note your observations in your blog about Bolman & Deal.

This has been probably the most valuable of all readings so far. Two separate educators from other international schools happened to bring up this reading and engage in conversation about the article at a conference I was at this past week suggesting that it is extremely relevant and widely referred to by educators.  

The article begins with an overview of leadership to distinguish Leadership from management where leaders are focusing their energies on the purpose (mission/vision/values of the organisation) and management is much more about getting things done from planning to effective implementation (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 343). They continue to suggest leadership is not a solo act but rather it requires followers who support the idea of the leader.

A high-interest area of the article was the idea of gender and leadership with the ceiling effect for women in leadership. Unfortunately, I feel I am becoming more aware of the differences as I try to navigate a move in countries and seek more leadership opportunities. It is interesting how my current organisation and prospective schools feel as I begin to transition. This is also an area of interest as a group of international educators met in Hong Kong last month at the 21st Century Learning Conference with a session to discuss our ideas of #lead our initiative of supporting, discussing and sharing ideas about gender equality in education and leadership. I encourage anyone interested to please reach out or find us on Twitter or join our Facebook group as we begin to develop this idea.

I don’t believe there is one best way to be a good leader as I have had a few inspirational leaders that have led, motivated and inspired staff in very different ways. I know that I find certain aspects of the way leaders lead better for my style of learning and following but this may not be ‘better’ for everyone. I do believe the idea of leadership being somewhat situational. While leaders are more likely to have one approach to rely on most of the time, a good leader should be able to adapt to the needs of the situation and those involved to best support all participants.

The idea of the 4 frames of leadership are as follows:

1. Structural Frame (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 356)

This type of leadership frame focused heavily on implementation with an effective leader designing approach choices for planning for implementation whereas an ineffective leader would be much more bureaucratic in their approach. Unfortunately, the structural framework often does not allow for anticipating resistance to change and misreading cues.

2. Human Resource Frame (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 361)

Human resources frame focuses on the leader as a facilitator for change, a change agent. They have a very open approach as they support, coach and empower their followers through strong communication. There is a clear sense of people being put first through a partnership of all working towards goals.

3. Political Frame (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 364)

The political frame approach is much more about being real with clarity. These types of leaders think about the different stakeholders and what their power and interests are and work towards building valuable relationships. Power is used to persuade, negotiate and coerce.

4. Symbolic Frame (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p.

The symbolic frame approaches leadership through leading by example and looking for symbols to highlight a need for change. There is a clear vision with the focus on reaching the values level of the subordinates as they approach concerns with a bidirectional approach to leadership.  

References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing Leadership. In Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership (4th ed., pp. 341-372). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Privilege and Labelling Leaders

Think about the titles that are used in your current workplace to describe formal leadership roles.

• What practices do such titles privilege and value?

Job labels help to support an understanding of role responsibility and provide clarity for the community (Gunter, 2004, p. 21). The higher your label, the more leadership responsibilities you are known to have. Formal leadership labels often provide a clear identity to a person in the role. Many of the more formal leadership labels are actually more managerial responsibilities associated with them. The labels of roles denote a sense of where a person lies within the school hierarchy. In my current setting, the hierarchy begins with the Head of School, the Head of Primary/Secondary, Assistant Heads, Division Coordinators, Year Level Coordinators, Teachers, Teaching Assistants. This seems like much quite a distance from the top to the bottom at times.

• Which practices are marginalised or less valued by these titles?

Teaching Assistants are often seen as ‘less valued’ in the Asian context as there is a large ‘helper’ culture. I don’t believe this is seen by the teachers or even the school. However, students and parents can expect the TAs to ‘pick up after their child’ more.

Another area of labelling that has seen a change is our single subject teachers. Previously they were labelled as ‘specialist teachers’ in Primary. While they have expertise in one area compared to the homeroom teacher who does general subjects, the label of ‘specialist’ was having a negative connotation. Therefore the change to single subject allowed for a more specific label to accurately reflect their roles.

• What sorts of identities are produced by these labels as ‘manager’, versus ‘leader’ versus ‘principal/head teacher/ director’ etcetera?

We don’t use the word ‘manager’ except in the business office suggesting a more business approach to the school’s resources and finances. ‘Leader’ suggests much more of an inspiring approach to change rather than a ‘manager’ as the person who implements clear tasks and paperwork.

The word Principal to me suggests the person with ultimate responsibility for the school. This person is responsible for outlining the school’s vision and finding effective ways of implementing positive change within the school. They also have a number of managerial tasks to do on a day-to-day basis. It can be hard to not get ‘bogged down’ with these tasks instead of being visible in the school at times which can affect the subordinates as followers.

At times labels may be oppressive to the person in how they want to be viewed within an orgnisation.

• What are the political/economic/local conditions that may have led to these labels being adopted in preference to others?

The local community often reinforces these labels even more so than the educators within the systems. Parents and other community members have their own ideas of what these roles mean based on their experiences in their own workplace. The labels will likely continue to change to reflect the image and ideals the school wants to project to the community.

• What are the ethical implications of these kinds of labels being adopted in preference to others?

There can be some tension between the idea of what your label is and what your role is.

In an international setting, culture plays a large role in the implications of labels (Gunter, 2004, p. 34). Each culture may have a different interpretation of the label. This can cause tension between schools and parent/ student communities. Culture may also reinforce hierarchies within the school.

References

Gunter, H. (2004). Labels and labelling in the field of educational leadership. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 25(1), 21-41.

MARKET IDEOLOGY & ACCOUNTABILITY

Both articles are critical of the impact that some of these changes have had on education and training.   Consider how market ideologies and notions of accountability, have impacted upon your workplaces and by implication, on the work of administrators and managers in these settings.

As an international school in Singapore, families have a number of schools to choose from when they arrive on the island. Thus, we need to market our school as a unique experience compared to other schools to attract clients. The school has even hired a marketing department this year in preparation of expanding the school and the need to attract more families to our school. It is evident that more time, energy and finances are being funnelled into the marketing department to enhance the image of the school and promote it in the international market (Apple, 2001, p. 187).

When I first arrived at the school, there was not a lot of accountability to parents in terms of standardised ways of assessments nor accountability of staff to leaders. This has been a huge improvement of our school over the last four years moving slightly towards the other end of the pendulum. With more reporting per year to parents, there has been an increase in teacher workload to ensure that parents continuous are getting feedback about their child.

The school has also increased accountability through internal and external assessments. Measures of Academic Progress (MAPs) testing is now done twice a year by all students year four and above to ensure that the school is compared using a standardised test to other international schools. The school has also increased the number of standardised internal assessments within the primary school to create more trackable data of student across the years.

The school is a profit school and therefore has many key aspects of a business approach to education compared to a government-funded school. One of the things that can be hard is the need to measure all key performance indicators. Our school’s key performance indicators are directly linked to our staff work plans and appraisals even when at times, some of the KPIs we do not have control over.

As I begin to prepare myself to transfer to the Australian school systems in August, I will be interested to see how the different market ideologies and notions of accountability differ in the Australian setting.

References

Apple, M. W. (2001). ‘Markets, standards, teaching and teacher education.’

Topic 1 Discussion

Consider your current professional setting and identify leadership practices which resemble or can be traced to one or more of the leadership perspectives traced in Topic One.

Hierarchical Leadership - There is a clear structural component to the system of people within the organisation and the roles and responsibilities within the hierarchy.

Management vs. Leadership - Many of the tasks that our senior leadership team is focused around the management of people and resources rather than moving people towards a common goal of change. These could include ensuring planning is executed, editing reports, leading meetings with updates, etc. There are also times when the leadership team is inspiring teachers to make transformational changes such as focusing on the mission when implementing new change to appeal to the values of the staff rather than just behaviour.

Role Theory - Teachers are given a very clear outline of their job description (as are all employees within the school). However, the role and responsibilities may be perceived differently depending on who the Head of Primary is (we’ve had some turnover in the last few years). The expectations of teachers by different stakeholders may at times come into conflict making it difficult to navigate to ensure everyone’s expectations can be met.

Is there one perspective which seems dominant?

I believe the hierarchical approach to the organisation is the dominant perspective. While there are growing opportunities for collaborative approaches within the system, the overarching focus remains a top-down approach to the final decision making.

What evidence is there for your conclusion?

While there is no government dictating curriculum etc, the teachers must still follow the directions of their superiors. All final decisions are signed off on by the Head of School. As I’ve mentioned in some of my blog posts, while there is teacher voice within some of the decision making processes to encourage buy in, teachers have limited influence on the final decisions. Policies and procedures are purely created by the senior leadership team and followed by staff. Through the hierarchy model, decision making can be more efficient and often higher quality, however, missing the important aspect of buy-in.

How does the evolution of leadership perspectives impact on current leadership practice in your professional setting?

I believe that the school is trying to move to a more collaborative approach to leadership. Change in mindset, culture and processes take time. It is optimistic that the school providing opportunities for more teacher input such as plus/deltas with events, policies and procedures. Knowing that the school would like to value teacher opinions more, I believe that in time and with an effective leadership team facilitating change management, we will see even more of a shift towards a collegial system.

Foucault: Discipline & Punishment Reflection

Do you see any parallels between Foucault’s description of ‘examination’ and current workplaces in which you are located? In particular, look at the key phrases he uses in the opening paragraph including ‘observing hierarchy … normalizing gaze … qualify … classify … punish .. a visibility through which one differentiates and judges’

In education, there are definitely norms and expectations. There are year level expectations and it is the norm that students should be able to achieve these benchmarks by the end of the year. In terms of ‘normalizing gaze’, we do have a set of internal and external assessments we use to help us understand our students' needs. In my international private school in Singapore, these results for the most part, are only used by the teachers to inform learning and look at the data across the grade and the school. This helps for planning and purchasing of resources as well as the professional development needed to support students. At no point is this knowledge shared with parents or our wider community. Students who are falling below expectations are identified and strategies to better support them are implemented.

There are norms for teachers as well. It is expected that teachers attend meetings, do their planning, grade assessments, meet with parents etc. Should teachers demonstrate they are not able to do these things, teachers may meet with the principal of the school to discuss next steps for support, provide warnings or even termination as a ‘punishment’.

In my setting, there are no capabilities for leadership. However, many countries such as Australia do have these and may be seen as a way to evaluate and classify ‘good’ leaders, similar to the trait theory.

References

Foucault, M. (1991). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. London: Penguin.

Foucault's Quote

Response to the following quote:

‘Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?’ (Foucault, 1991, page 228)

While the comparison is a bit extreme, it does hold some value. These are all institutions set up to hold particular roles and responsibilities within a community. The comparison between factories and schools have long been connected as schools creating pupils to do specific jobs post graduation with Fordism. In all institutions mentioned there is a hierarchy of leadership to ensure the roles, rules and responsibilities are done as expected.

That being said, schools have changed a lot over time. With inquiry learning, student voice is becoming more and more important in the classroom, leading teachers to facilitate learning and learn alongside their students.

References

Foucault, M. (1991). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. London: Penguin.

Hierarchical Forms of Leadership

In response to MacBeth, how relevant is this account of the authority of the King in Elizabethan times to contemporary understandings of authority?

During Elizabethan times, there were distinct hierarchical forms of leadership with the King having absolute power, and various tiers below with the peasants/farmers on the lowest rung. The power and leadership are driven in a top-down model. There were very clear structures in place whereby people had very specific roles and did not change in the hierarchy.

Comparing to contemporary understandings of authority in my current school, there is a senior leadership team. However, there is much more of a top-down AND bottom-up approach depending on the situation. Middle management leaders take charge of different various portfolios and individuals have the opportunity to grow and be promoted. At times, the Head of School or Senior leadership team do need to make strong decisions but the gathering of opinions and feedback often inform decision making.

References 

Shakespeare, W. (1974). The Tragedy of Macbeth. In The Riverside Shakespeare (pp. 1306-1342). USA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Trait Theory of Leadership

How relevant is the trait theory to your workplace?

When I was reading this article, it made me think of the IB Learner Profile and transdisciplinary skills to some degree. The learner profile attributes are ten qualities as teachers we try to instil in our students to help them be successful beyond our school. It is difficult to measure these attributes (How do you measuring caring vs very caring vs exceptionally caring objectively?).  

In the workplace, qualities are used as identifiers in appraisals and are outlined in job descriptions. Again though, it can be difficult to objectively measure and provide evidence for any of these qualities except for observations, anecdotes and perhaps comparisons between people. Often a person with certain characteristics is encouraged to apply for certain jobs. However, while the person may have certain qualities, they still have to use them effectively in the given context to hold any value for the organisation. It is also important to remember that with subjectivity can come different perspectives. A strong driven leader may also be seen as too pushy with their agendas

Strengths of Trait Theory of Leadership

• Exists due to characteristics people want in their ‘heros’ p 13
• Quick way to identify potential ‘good leaders’
• Highlights ‘idealistic’ characteristics people want in leaders

Weaknesses of Trait Theory of Leadership

• Good leadership not based on physical traits (age, height, weight, appearance) p. 11
• Doesn’t take into account social context (good in one context, not the other) p 11
• Separates people into ‘leaders’ and ‘non-leaders’ through subjective judgements  p.12
• Over simplistic and doesn’t take into account all factors of what makes a good leader p 13
• Low correlation between good leadership and characteristics (and some contradicting)

Does your nation or province have a framework which lists the capabilities or competencies of educational leadership?

Working in an international private school in Singapore, I am not aware of a framework of capabilities or competencies of educational leadership. It has been interesting to read about the  Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) in others’ blogs.

References

Watkins, P. (1986). The trait approach. In A critical review of leadership concepts and research: The implications for educational administration (pp. 11-13, 21-25, 28),

Heroic Masculinist Notion of Leadership

While I believe that non-white male leaders are becoming more prevalent, there is still a lack of equality. As a female in the international teaching setting in Asia, it is very rare to find female heads of school or even female Heads of Secondary/Primary. In my current organisation, our senior leadership team consists of 5 administrators (head of schools, head of secondary, head of primary, head of student services and director of education technology). Of those five, only the head of student services is female.

It is also challenging in Asian countries with the stereotypes of our parent community expecting a male to be the dominant leaders in the schools. I have been in many meetings where a parent from an Asian country continuously looks to my male counterpart to answer, even when I have already provided him with the answer. There is definitely a need to break down gender stereotypes and support equality.

As a female aspiring to be in leadership, it is difficult to find female leaders and mentors to look up. It can be frustrating with education being a profession with a higher percentage of female educators, and yet, so few females reach the top of the leadership chain. I’ve recently received a copy of Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and am looking forward to hearing her perspective on this topic.

Southwell & Social Construction

• What does Southworth mean by 'social construction'?

Social constructivism is the idea that our understanding of the world is based on the shared ideas, concepts and expectations created through the interactions with others.  Vygotsky has been a key theorist of social constructivism.

Socially constructed views of educational leadership change based on culture, history and context(Southworth, 2000). It is based on the current beliefs of educational leadership and what ‘good’ educational leadership is. This has continuously changed over time from where the role was more of a managerial role to now focused on more inspirational leadership while still requiring aspects of educational leaders as managers. Southworth suggests that social construction is the assumed norms, though we may not always be conscious of them.

What might be some of the 'deeper structural beliefs' to which Southworth is alluding? Some of the ‘deeper structural beliefs to which Southworth is alluding to might be the traditional forms of leadership. This may include the idea what white males have traditional occupied leadership roles in most settings. Race, gender and religion (as well as many other cultural and social contexts) have impacted the what is considered ‘good leadership’ through the passing of accepted norms throughout generations. It is often difficult (or at least an uphill battle) to redefine the socially constructed norms into more equitable expectations and understandings. References

Southworth, G. (2000). School leadership in English schools at the close of the 20th Century: Puzzles, problems and cultural insights, Paper presented at the meeting of the American Education Research Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.

Education Leadership

• What is leadership and educational leadership, in particular?

Leadership is moving a group of people in a particular direction. Educational leadership is leadership in a school setting. There are many different leadership styles, some more effective than others, depending on the context and individuals you are leading.

• What is the purpose of educational leadership?

The purpose of educational leadership is to support the school community and stakeholders in living and breathing the mission and vision statement of teh school. This includes visionary leadership, strategic planning, professional growth of staff, school growth, meeting individual student needs and developing a cohesive community.

• Where do we gain our knowledge and ideas about both educational leadership and leadership in general?

The best and worst examples of educational leadership is gained through experience. Through various roles, I have encountered leaders that inspire me or frustrate me with their decision making. I admire leadership in many different arenas especially in the school setting with teachers, students and administrators. Through this masters, I hope I gain more theoretical knowledge about leadership that will help me develop my own leadership skills.

• List some  big questions that you have about educational leadership that you would like to examine in this subject.

• What do I need to develop personally to move into more senior education leadership roles?
• How might I enhance my current leadership abilities?
• How might leaders change their leadership styles in given situations?
• How might educational leadership differ for females?

Comparing Challenges and Issues of Educational Leadership Past and Present

My name is Emily MacLean and I am an Education Technology Coach at an international school in Singapore. Working at a private school gives me a very different perspective on schooling and leadership compared to growing up in a public school board. I am doing this course as part of my Masters of Education (Information Technologies) as my role provides me with a unique leadership position where I am not responsible for any teachers but yet responsible for supporting all teachers in their use of technology in the classroom.

• What do you think may have been the demands, key issues and dilemmas facing educational leaders/managers when you were attending school?
• Finances for resources
• Equality
• Parent expectations of their children
• Political pressures for curriculum, class sizes etc.
• Delivering content
• Teacher -centred approach
• Limited support for students with learning needs and special education students
• Accountability
• Reflect upon the current professional setting in which you are working and note down the demands, key issues and dilemmas facing yourself as a leader/administrator. Alternatively, if you are aspiring to leadership/management, list the demands, key issues and dilemmas facing leaders/administrators in your workplace
• Parents as stakeholders (private school setting) - expectations and demands
• Time (in general)
• Professional Development for teachers - Staying current with teaching practice
• Teacher shortage ( in public domains, international schools not facing this issue); Finding highly qualified staff
• Continually upgraded technology resources (finances)
• Technology integration
• Diversity
• Developing learning environments - flexible learning, finances
• Developing skills not content
• Student-centered approach - diverse needs, individualised
• Strategic planning - forward thinking, backwards by design
• Accountability - use of data driving instruction
• School vision
• Changing teaching roles to more of facilitators
• Inquiry learning
• Competing with other private schools for enrollment
• Are there areas that you have listed that are the same on the two lists? What areas/issues/dilemmas have you listed that are different?
• Budgeting and finances - resources, staffing, operational needs
• Teacher professional development
• Student behavior
• Parent expectations- change in parent expectations from student to expectations of the school
• Accountability - although changes to who school is accountable to
• Staying current trends
• Time

• Reflect: What key events have occurred in the world and in our lives which may have led to these differences?
• Some of the biggest changes have been due to the advances in technology. Technology has become more readily available and more affordable. Students have technology at home and now it’s been brought into the educational setting. This changes the learning environment by extending it beyond the classroom and also impacts how teachers must teach. Teachers are now facilitators in the learning environment supporting and co-creating with their students. No longer must teachers be the sole expert but one of many in the classroom. Teachers require more professional development as the educational setting continues to evolve in order to stay current.
• Research is becoming more prominent and more available to educators. Many teachers are becoming researchers themselves as they document their action research. Because of the increase in educational research, educators must continue to stay current by reading up on best practice and again, ensure they are receiving professional development to help them put this learning into their classroom.
• For many countries (like my home country of Canada), there have been changes in the government since I was in school. With the changes of political parties, there is changes to funding, teacher expectation, policies and even curriculum. This continues to be an area that educators have to be aware of to ensure they are aware of the changes as they occur.