Building Leadership Capacity in Schools

Introduction
Building Leadership Capacity in Schools by Linda Lambert touched on a number of key ideas. Lambert provided examples from different schools, principals, and her experiences on obtaining and sustaining leadership capacity while developing her character. Lambert points out that to build leadership capacity in schools there should be participation by parents, students, and staff. Also these are the same characteristic as to becoming a great character in society. In this paper I will talk about the staff and there level of participation. Lambert points out that conversation with individuals about their roles as a leader should take place as individuals take on the task of leadership and character development. One key element in the text was the level of participation and degree of skillfulness for leadership capacity while trying to discover your character. Another element in the text that I found key was to break the dependency relationships on staff and the principal. As we work toward building leadership capacity and charcter, it will take time and time is a big factor on building leadership capacity because there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done that we would like to do without strategically planning leadership meetings.
Level of Participation
In building leadership capacity it is important to ensure that there is broad-based skillful participation. We want the students, parents, community, and staff to be participants. This is important because it allows for staff to take responsibility for the growth and development for not only themselves but for their peers in doing the work of leadership. It is helpful to have the community working together towards the common goal as opposed to ...

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...staff member’s problem solve so that they are breaking dependency and removing the “top down” authority of the principal. In promoting leadership capacity it is important to be mindful that time may be an issue and to utilize the time that you have in a productive and meaningful way so that you are able to achieve the Quadrant 4 leadership capacity in your school. Lambert provided Surveys to look at leadership capacity to help a school see where growth development is needed. Building leadership capacity takes the developing work of all participants to be sustained and successful even if it means making tough decisions of someone removing themselves or being removed from a position all together.

Works Cited

Youniss, J., and M. Yates, 1999. “Youth Service and Moral-Civic Identity: A Case for Everyday Morality,” Educational Psychology Review, 11 (4): 363 – 378