Leader vs. Manager: Best Practice for Principals in the Trenches of Aboriginal Education

2492 Words5 Pages

Introduction School districts across the province have signed Enhancement Agreements with the British Columbia Ministry of Education and the First Nations Education Council in the hopes of reaching parity between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2010). The necessity of these agreements has come from the long standing lower achievement results of Aboriginal students on provincial standardized tests (such as Foundation Skills Assessments and Provincial Examinations) which students complete annually (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2010). Literature suggests many factors such as school, student, and family influence the academic success of Aboriginal students (Clarke, 1994). One such factor is a school principal’s leadership. To improve academic achievement of Aboriginal students, I propose that high school principals need to become both managers and leaders. The requirement for this approach is demonstrated by an informative case study of a principal within a rural school setting who acts solely as a manager. I have chosen this case study because I believe it to be representational of the trend most principals currently follow. I will also demonstrate how positive the effect of shifting to a leader-manager run school will be on the academic achievement of high school Aboriginal students. To begin however, it is necessary to differentiate between the terms leadership and management, and determine whether it is possible for one person to perform both functions. Leadership and Management What is the difference between a manager and a leader? Are the terms interchangeable? These questions may be answered by examining two simple definitions in the literature for the terms... ... middle of paper ... ...inction between the roles and actions of leaders and managers. Principals are capable of adopting each approach and proper implementation would benefit staff and ultimately, student performance. As found in the case study and literature, currently most principals undertake a managerial role, but neglect to be leaders. Therefore, most principals should emphasize leadership behaviour to bring balance to the position. In the future, I propose examining the structure of the school system to find ways which would allow principals more time to be leaders. In addition, principals should take ongoing direct professional leadership development to further improve necessary skill sets. Once leadership techniques are properly implemented, I am confidant there will be a marked improvement of Aboriginal high school student achievement.

Show More
Related

  • Shadowing Superintendent Shirley Hall Of The Maplewood School District

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ms. Hall has had many years of public education experience and higher education training in which to hone her leadership style and framework. She started her career as a teacher in the Kirkwood School District. She then served as an assistant elementary principal at both Ritenour and Pattonville School Districts before being selected to serve as the assistant superintendent of the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District in 2008. Throughout her career she continued to pursue her education as a means o...

    Read More

  • Edgar Alfred Hitchcock Psycho Camera Techniques

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marion gets in the shower, and all you can here is the water. Right as Norman opens the curtain, screeching of the violins begins. The music paired with Marion's screaming, Norman's stabbing and the quick film clips, makes the horror scene extremely uncomfortable. Once Marion collapses to the bathroom floor, the music stops and the shower is left running. Music is crucial to the effectiveness of this murder scene. This alone is horrifying but paired with the other techniques Hitchcock uses, the fear in the audience in amplified even

    Read More

  • Helping Educators Become More Effective Leaders

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    Leading organizations of school administrators offer educators various opportunities to encourage educators to become leaders. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has mandated that leaders be better prepared for the task of providing quality education to all. NCLB “… is forcing all educational stakeholders to face the weakness of contemporary school leadership and is making it impossible to ignore the need for higher quality principals” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). It is believed that all educators can be and are leaders in their own right. A leader is a visionary and has the ability to inspire others to aspire to greatness. Of the numerous opportunities that are offered, those that are most beneficial include but are not limited to leadership training programs, professional development, and creating shared leadership opportunities for teachers to become leaders. The systems “…that produce our nation’s principals are complex and interrelated – and governed by the states. Each state establishes licensing, certification and re-certification” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). States use the ISLLC standards “…as the framework for preparation programs and in service professional development of school superintendents, principals, and other leaders” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.3).

    Read More

  • Aboriginal Education Essay

    1462 Words  | 3 Pages

    The needs of Aboriginal youth are not being met in mainstream systems. Undoubtedly, with the high dropout rate of “7 out of 10 first nation youth drop out of school” (Donovan, 128), the school system is failing them. Across Canada only “23 percent of the Aboriginal population has their high school diploma” (Donovan, 129). Aboriginal people make up the youngest and fastest growing segment of our population, and yet many still have significantly less education than the general population.

    Read More

  • Book Review of School Leadership that Works by Marzano

    567 Words  | 2 Pages

    In School Leadership that Works Marzano introduces twenty-one responsibilities of a school leader (see Appendix A). These leadership responsibilities are used in the two change orders discussed by Marzano, McNulty and Waters (2005). “Some innovations require changes that are gradual and subtle; others require changes that are dra...

    Read More

  • Tough Guy Case Study: Managing Organizational Conflict

    2184 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lussier, R.N., & Achua, C.F., (2010). Leadership, Theory, Application, & Skill Development. (4th ed). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

    Read More

  • Management and Leadership

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    Managers are not only interested in status quo, but also production, expansion and growth. Management was a system to control machines. Leadership can never be controlled. Where one sits in life determines what you see. To be a good manager one must look at views from different perspectives. As situations change, leadership relations change. Leadership cannot be transactional. It can only work if both parties keep their agreements. A class survey was held to compare leaders to managers. The overall opinion was that they are similar in many ways. A leader and a manager can be one in the same. The difference be...

    Read More

  • Leadership Self-Assessment

    3035 Words  | 7 Pages

    Lussier, R. & Achua, C. (2013). Leadership: Theory, Application & Skill Development (5th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning

    Read More

  • Visible School Principals

    2774 Words  | 6 Pages

    A school is like any institution that has different tasks and goals. Some of school objectives are to develop students' character, build their creativity, and improve their talents. Schools are like any institutions which have a hierarchical system with different employees, and positions. One of the important employees in a school structure is a school principal. Principals have different responsibilities such as providing clear vision, creating better learning and teaching environment, and developing positive school culture. Principals have the ability to move schools forward or backward. Nowadays, schools are looking for principals with high instructional leader...

    Read More

  • Management vs. Leadership

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    Presently many of us have learned that managers are primarily administrators who have learned to write business plans, utilize their resources and keep track of progress. We must learn that we are not limited by job title, and that means we can utilize our management skills in any position that we are in. We must also know that we can use our leadership skills in the same situations. On the other hand we have also learned that leaders are people who have an impact on those that surround them. The main difference that separates these two roles is that management is a function that must be utilized in any type of business, and leadership is the relationship that the leader has with his followers, which in turn can motivate and energize the organization.

    Read More

  • Personal Philosophy Of Supervision Essay

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    School administrators are important in setting the path for a successful school (Glickman, et al., 2014). The principals could play a dynamic leadership depending on how they exercise their beliefs of the organizational and social environment (McNair, 2011). The principals are the primary facilitators for developing the foundations in learning that will last, to manage the student’s performance at schools, and seeking the improvement at school that will cause great impacts in school‘s education (Gordon,1989). In the recent years in the U.S., education has change in a more cultural diversity population, it is imperative that school supervisors, are trained to encounter this cultural issues, but also assisting others with the opportunities to develop appropriate abilities to deal with different cultures (Glickman, et al., 2014).

    Read More

  • Review of Two Journal Articles on Educational Leadership

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the passage of NCLB, many school reform efforts have been initiated using top-down model in which each school leaders have been charged with initiating bold administrative changes to address the legislation. With the number of leadership theories and models, researchers have become interested in studying those to determine which might bring forth the most significant results for leading such change. Due to the lack of highly qualified administrators and the increasing demands for administrators, Bush, O’Brien & Spangler (2005) studied a program, the Southern Tier Leadership Academy, a collaborative of the New York Education Department. The study included three separate cohorts who completed an eight month program. Whereas, Somech (2005) chose to investigate directive and participative leadership approaches, and which would more significantly impact school effectiveness. Perhaps Somech’s reflect Scherer’s (2009, p.7) understandings as described in Educational Leadership, ‘broom-wielding leadership can indeed be beneficial’ as is putting advocates into positions of power and influence and building teams, both of which are seemingly contrasting opposites.

    Read More

  • The Heart Head, And Hands Of Leadership

    1529 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thomas Sergiovanni (2015) describes three essential dimensions of leadership as “the heart, head, and hand of leadership.” The heart describes those characteristics within the school leader that reflect personal “beliefs, values, and dreams.” The head of leadership refers to the practice of teaching and educating. The hand of leadership reflects actions taken by school leaders with respect to management behaviors. (p. 5) Within these elements, there is room for personal choice in how leadership is practiced and it is incumbent on new principals to find an individual leadership style that responds to the uniqueness of each school.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Effective Leadership

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    Leadership; “a process in which an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (DuBrin, 2013 p. 3), is needed at all levels in an organisation and can be practiced by other roles who are not specifically assigned to a leadership role (DuBrin, 2013 p. 3). The role of a leader and the role of a manager are two very distinctive and dissimilar roles. The role of a leader is the ability to inspire, motivate and stimulate others to achieve tasks and activities whereas, a managers role is the ability to supervise and direct the effort and activities of subordinates to achieve organisational goals (Long, 2007 p.4). Although some managers can be thought to have leadership qualities, not all managers are perceived as leaders (Eidson, 2011, p.6). Leadership influences relationships between leaders and followers in a hope to obtain accomplishments of a common task or shared purpose. This component expresses the importance of leadership in organizations and the imperativeness of management adopting it. The following critique; analyses the verity that not all mangers are leaders, the difference between superior and dire leaders, the role differences of leaders and managers and the importance of managers adopting leadership skills, by evaluating and applying reference to theoretical concepts.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Leadership In Education

    1465 Words  | 3 Pages

    Education is a very important aspect in the life of a child. The level of success a student has in the classroom is greatly influenced by their teachers. Students, as well as their parents, depend on the teachers to guide them through their education. But who guides a teacher to perform successfully in the classroom? Principals and teachers play an important role in schools. A good relationship among school leaders and teachers is necessary and play an important role in making improvements in the school. Leadership refers to the “process in which one person successfully exerts influence over others to reach desired objectives”. (Okoji, 2015) Good leadership involves honesty, vision, confidence and commitment. It is the ability to inspire a

    Read More

More about Leader vs. Manager: Best Practice for Principals in the Trenches of Aboriginal Education

Open Document