Leadership for Successful Educational Organizations

To answer the following questions requires an attempt to derive a purpose or philosophy of education, which is a significant challenge. As an applicant to the Education Administration, Curriculum and Supervision (EACS) program, I was required to provide my educational philosophy. In the Organization of Education course, I was required to submit a statement of beliefs about high achieving classrooms, schools and school leaders. Although I maintain an idealistic focus in the face of realistic educational challenges, in an attempt to demonstrate my personal growth in this program, I use this philosophy and belief statement as a baseline for comparison to a more expansive and in-depth philosophy. My revised philosophy of education will be provided in the answers to these questions and the following sections of my portfolio. What are the characteristics of successful educational organizations? The success of educational organizations is dependent upon many factors and is not homogenous. Typically, the characteristics that constitute success in one organization may not necessarily be so in another. In the Organization of Education course by Dr. O'Hair, we are presented with the Foundations of Democratic Education (O'Hair, McLaughlin, & Reitzug, 2000). These foundations are built around the IDEALS framework, which is comprised of inquiry, discourse, equity, authenticity, leadership and service. As an idealistic person, the IDEALS concept is extremely appealing. However, I am aware that it can also seem limiting in the face of realistic challenges. Within this framework are the characteristics I believe to be essential in successful educational organizations: 1. Leadership. In my opinion, strong leadership is the most basic requirement for any successful organization. Traditionally, the characteristic of leadership has been viewed as one or a few individuals directing others toward a goal or toward the accomplishment of a mission. As

a military officer, I can appreciate the purpose of this type of leadership. However, in an educational environment, there is opportunity for a different style of leadership - the type of leadership described by Lambert (1998) in Building Leadership Capacity in Schools, "leadership is about learning together and constructing meaning and knowledge collectively and collaboratively." This type of collaborative leadership fosters teamwork and communication. It requires personnel who are comfortable with themselves, their capabilities, and their weaknesses and do not feel threatened by the capabilities and weaknesses of others. It is imperative that those leaders who demonstrate these characteristics strive to assist others in their leadership development. Most importantly, it is important to understand that this ideal characteristic is dynamic, not the result of a finite course of action. Developing a collaborative leadership model in any organization is a process that realistically never ends. One of the focal points of Dr. Brown's course School and Staff Development was building a professional development should be leadership capacity. A practical view of this style of leadership can be seen through the principalship experienced by Grant Sterling in Dunklee's (1999) You Sound Taller on the Telephone. 2. Mission. Mission is often referred to as purpose, shared values, goals, etc. What is the intended purpose for this educational organization - why are we here? Shouldn't the purpose be the same from one educational organization to another? I don't know if anyone can definitively answer these questions. It is my contention that most organizational mission statements are steeped in idealism with little to no opportunity for realistic attainment. As discussed in Dr. Garns' Policy Planning and Development and Politics in Education Administration courses, the values in a society change over time. With this change in values

comes a change in expectations for educational organizations. Typically, these expectations are expressed in the form of local, state and federal policy in the pursuit of quality, choice, equity, and/or efficiency (Fowler, 2004; Wirt and Kirst, 2001). I was able to research the effect of this phenomenon for a term paper on Hyman Rickover in Dr. Noley's History of American Education course, where I examined the possible influence Rickover had on the development of A Nation at Risk. It is evident from the minimal research I conducted that certain events in history shape society's view of the purpose of education. Quality in education is what society coveted in the aftermath of Sputnik during the late 1950's and once again during the early 1980's when A Nation at Risk claimed substandard performance of American students compared with those of other industrialized nations. Most recently, No Child Left Behind has overwhelmed educational organizations with wide sweeping changes to improve the public education system. This federal legislation seemingly values choice and equity more so than quality or efficiency. With such a dynamic value system, it is difficult to establish a definitive and static mission for educational organizations. Therefore, I contend that educational organizations must develop a dynamic mission that is lofty, but attainable and consistent with society's values. With the leadership characteristic discussed previously, any organization should be able to adapt to changes and successfully overcome conflict to establish and collectively support a revised mission that makes student's success the first priority. 3. Achievement and Failure. I believe that success is indicated through the achievements of an organization and how an organization responds to failure. Achievement and failure are measured against an organizations performance as it relates to their established mission. If an educational organization is not experiencing success based upon their mission, they have failed and must respond by evaluating and revising their mission. In essence, organizations must use the

dynamic PORT (Participation, Observation, Reflection, and Transformation) model of resilience education (Brown, D'Emidio-Caston, and Benard, 2001). Success can be built off any achievement, however great or small. Organizations must take advantage of the small achievements and build a tradition of success and positive response to failure. I believe this can be the most difficult characteristic to establish in an organization. Too often organizations readily see failure and respond (whether positively or negatively), however, it is all too common for organizations to take achievements for granted. Success must be celebrated in order to build effective leadership in an organization and continuously raise the level of expectation addressed in the mission. What are the practices of successful educational organizations? Each of the courses I have taken in the EACS program provides bountiful information for future principals to use as a resource in establishing sound practices in their respective schools. Organization of Education provides the ten practices of highly effective schools as a subset of the IDEALS framework. The Principalship, Supervision of Education and School and Staff Development provide extremely practical tools for use in professional development, collaboration, and evaluation. Technology in Education provides insight to the effective use of technology in support of student achievement. Politics in Educational Administration and Policy Planning and Development provide an understanding and appreciation of education policy - how it is established, what the impact is, and what can be done to effect change. Education and the Law demonstrates the vast legal backdrop in education administration and the importance for administrators to be knowledgeable on the legal issues. Financial Leadership provides an overview of school finance and the pitfalls of mismanagement of funds. Curriculum Development provides the instructional framework for the educational organization - what do we

teach? Bottom line is that I believe the most important practice of successful educational organizations is to have available and maintain the resources provided them and establish an expectation that all members of the organization be knowledgeable about their application. There are not many issues that must be dealt with in a moments notice. Time allows the opportunity to reference the resources and make a well-informed decision. In doing so, educational organizations maintain their integrity and ethical ground by doing the right thing, the right way, every time. The more concrete practices I address in the next question, since I believe all members of an educational organization are leaders in some respect and their actions comprise the action of the organization as a whole. What are some of the practices of leaders in successful educational organizations? As a student currently taking Dr. Joel Brown's course, Resilience Education, I would be remiss if I did not affirm that I believe successful group development or establishing a resilient community to be one of the most important practices of leaders in successful educational organizations. In fact, I ranked group development as the top priority of the five tasks of instructional supervision (Glickman, Gordon, Ross-Gordon, 2001) in my Supervision Platform for Dr. Watson and Dr. Jones' course Supervision of Instruction. Through group development, I believe that the characteristics of successful educational organizations discussed earlier come to fruition. How a group becomes successful is dependent upon the readiness of the individuals that comprise that group and how that readiness in maintained - essentially the bookend stages of the RPTIM model (Wood, Thompson, and Russell, 1981) of school-based staff development. The planning, training and implementation stages are primarily task oriented and I agree with Dr. Joel Brown's assertion that there must be a balance between the task and maintenance functions

when building a resilient community. As I addressed in my Staff Development Platform for Dr. Casey Brown's course School and Staff Development, there are many practices that I believe develop a caring, trusting, and supportive environment in any organization. Some of those practices are: 1. An open door policy for all members of the organization. Teachers must neither feel nor desire isolation. Administrators must invite all members of the organization to present their ideas in an open and supportive environment. 2. A mentor program for novice teachers. We cannot expect new personnel to step into a position and perform as a veteran. Leadership, guidance, and support are required to ensure the transition into a burdensome environment is not too encumbered. 3. A sponsor program and an orientation for incoming personnel. This is another program that ensures the transition into a new environment progresses smoothly. Typically sponsors assist in human resources area of a transition. 4. All members of the organization would be visible and establish the modus operandi of management by walking around. This creates a much more open, trusting, and collaborative environment. 5. Celebrate special occasions for all members, such as birthdays and anniversaries. Include special events to honor and remember the contributions of outgoing personnel and to welcome incoming personnel into a 'family-like' environment. While not an exhaustive list, I believe that any leader, who makes an effort to include these practices in their repertoire, will positively affect the organization. Imagine an educational organization where people look forward to coming to work every day, feel valued and enjoy the

people around them. When that environment exists, the sky is the limit in regard to implementing programs that have a positive affect on student achievement. How do educational organizations renew and improve? Throughout my studies in the EACS program, I have been able to identify in the literature many examples of educational organizations that have renewed or improved. A few that stand out in my mind are Central Park East Secondary established by Deborah Meier and Paul Schwarz (1995), every school Grant Sterling served as Principal (Dunklee, 1999), Montview Elementary - a school profiled in a videotape viewed in Dr. O'Hair's Organization of Education course, and the classroom of Steven Levy, a Disney Teacher of the Year. In addition to the practical examples listed above, the theoretical framework of school renewal and change provided by Glickman (1993) and Fullan (2001) support my belief that the most important factor in implementing change toward improvements and renewal in any organization is stable leadership. Specifically, Fullan outlines his framework around the energy level, enthusiasm, and hope exhibited by an organization's leaders. These attributes lead to an increase in commitment by all members of the team through the establishment of a moral purpose, an understanding of change, relationship building, knowledge creation and sharing, and a coherence making component. When this leadership dynamic is present in an organization, ultimately "more good things happen than bad things." (Fullan, 2001) Imagine what would happen in an organization where shared leadership was a common practice. Renewal and improvements to educational organizations are great when they work and are long lasting. However, I have seen other organizations where positive change has been only temporary, resulting in tremendous amounts of conflict. I wondered why this dynamic occurs. What I found lends further support to my contention that stable leadership is required to affect

renewal and improvement. I received feedback from a question posed to a member of AMI (Association for Managers of Innovation), Rolf Smith. He was asked about problems associated with legacy" in terms of innovation in corporations and innovation initiatives. He responded that people with responsibility and strong personal interest in change and innovation in their companies are often referred to as "the cult of one". When the leader who has launched something different leaves the organization, the vision and many of the changes seem to leave with him or her no matter how much effort he or she makes at putting a survivable network in place, hand picking personnel or developing a successor. To a certain extent, the schools Grant Sterling (Dunklee, 1999) served succumbed to "the cult of one", primarily because he was a "fix it" principal. Stable leadership and building leadership capacity through the use of Lambert's (1998) Leadership Capacity Matrix within an organization can remedy the shortfalls of "the cult of one". This requires a high amount of participation by all members of an organization and a high amount of skillfulness in leadership practices.