Educational leadership is the strategic function that produces the critical changes required in the educational system so that the vision and mission of the system are realized to the benefit of its clients. The notion is that if educational leadership is demonstrated effectively at all levels the performance of the school system would be enhanced, and its resources would match intended outcomes.
This issue of educational leadership is taken up by Jaevion Nelson in a commentary in the Jamaica Gleaner captioned "The new school year and educational leadership". Nelson states that at the recent JN Foundation School Leadership Summit, Renee Rattray, the education program director, mentioned that great schools have great leadership, and that the education system needed leaders who are bold, not afraid of doing what is uncomfortable, and not afraid to innovate.
The director further stated that the education system needs leaders who are willing to go beyond what is safe, and recognize they have to keep on doing things differently until the solution is found. (I have paraphrased in parts the direct quotation given by Nelson.)
My view of the ideas of leadership and leaders given by Rattray is that they coincide with the purpose the concept of leadership serves. Many studies have shown that schools are successful because of the quality of leadership that is exercised. And students go on to perform remarkably at the higher levels because of the good educational grounding they have received through caring professional teacher-leaders.
I agree with Rattray that the education system requires bold leadership, with leaders being unafraid of what causes discomfort, and who do not fear being innovative. I believe leaders should challenge the educational status quo, as well as seek through persuasion and reasoning to get others to see a more enlightened approach, which could change the situation for the better.
Innovation is at the forefront of leadership bringing to light new strategies, structures and technologies which move the system forward to achieve goals better and faster. It also means abandoning existing static practices and bringing into being new ways of looking at challenges and finding more workable solutions.
All of this presupposes disregarding what was initially thought to be the safe and comfortable ways of operating, and introducing more creative modes of enhancing educational competitiveness through qualitative leadership performance. The true possibilities of the system, previously latent, are then liberated. Things are therefore done more qualitatively different, resulting in educational quality becoming the norm for the way the system functions.
This happens also because, periodically, the walls of education need a good shaking, causing an awakening to what has been holding the system back and creating an awareness of new paradigms that transform how things could be done better and more cost effectively so that resources are more rationally distributed. Effective leadership in the system is critical to this happening.
But the notion of educational leadership, although solutions based, does not entail any single method or group of strategies to resolve prevailing issues. Continuing to do things differently until solutions are found, as the director states, could cause a sense of uncertainty and appear aimless.
Things can only be done differently and produce the desired results when leaders engage in solutions-based research and choose the findings more likely to address the nagging issues. It also means developing a different perspective and continuous scientific experimentation.
The notion of leadership is therefore not static. It is active, assertive, never satisfied, always seeking a better approach that would inoculate the system against its viruses. Leadership is also about developing a pleasing personality that makes others feel willing to be a part of the team, counselling and coaching clients to foster a different world view, recognizing that solutions occur through collective effort, and that no single individual has all the answers. It is about divining the best organizational development ideas, which bring everyone on board in the quest for an educational system that puts people first.
o Oliver Mills is a former lecturer in education at the University of the West Indies Mona Campus. He holds an M.Ed degree from Dalhousie University in Canada, a MA from the University of London and a post-graduate diploma in HRM and training, University of Leicester. He is a past permanent secretary in education with the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Published with the permission of Caribbean News Now.
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