Schools and colleges bring teachers, parents, and students together (Fitzgerald, 2009). Each of these groups has its unique goals and objectives. Every school leader should employ the best strategies in order to mentor these stakeholders.
School leadership is a complex practice aimed at guiding teachers and learners. Educational leadership is one of the best practices towards improving the performance of different learners.
My New Skills about Educational Management and Leadership
I have gained new skills as a school leader. My first understanding is that the quality of school leadership determines the performance of every learning institution. This explains why every person should apply the best educational leadership skills. Every institution requires the best leaders in order to attain its goals.
The best leaders will ensure their institutions provide quality education to their learners. Leadership should promote “performance, openness, mentorship, and teamwork” (Day, Gronn, & Salas, 2004, p. 874).
I will use this knowledge in order to become a successful educational leader. Every educational leader should focus on the best goals (Cranston & Ehrich, 2009).
Creating Teams
The first concept towards better educational leadership is creating cohesive teams. According to Bush (2007, p. 396), “a team is a group of individuals whose mission is to achieve a set of common goals or solve the problems affecting them”.
Every team member is committed to the targeted goals or objectives. A team will succeed if it has a good mentor or leader. A motivated team will achieve its goals much easier. The class readings have also explored some of the best practices towards better educational leadership.
Leaders should use different teams in order to achieve their goals (Sheard & Kakabadse, 2004). This practice will ensure every team achieves its educational goals (National College of School Leadership, 2009).
Team Leadership
Team leadership is a dynamic approach that ensures every learner achieves his or her academic goals. The readings have widened my skills as a team leader in an academic environment. The application of proper leadership ensures every team achieves its goals.
Every team leader should be competent and self-determined (Mayrowetz, 2008). I am also planning to become a professional team leader.
Team leaders should be ready to promote cohesiveness and improve the level of communication. Team leadership is “the ability to solve every problem affecting a given group” (Hall, 2002, p. 730).
Distributed and Middle Leadership
Distributed leadership remains a major practice in many learning institutions. This leadership approach helps every manager devolve his or her responsibilities across the institution. This leadership approach follows a top-down strategy.
This leadership approach is effective because it improves the level of academic performance (Johnson, 2003). The class materials have also informed me about the importance of middle leadership. Middle leaders examine every aspect of their learning institutions.
The leader “promotes enquiry, professional development, and curriculum” (Sheard & Kakabadse, 2004, p. 102). This leader also encourages his students and teachers to establish new teams.
The leaders sustain the best networks in order to achieve their goals. I have understood why every educational leader should use the best leadership styles.
Conclusion
I have gained new skills from the learning process. I am planning to use these skills in my future professional practice. A good educational leader supports every teacher or learner (Gunter & Fitzgerald, 2007).
Every manager should portray the best organisational behaviours. Different leadership models such as transformational and transactional practices will ensure every learner is contented with the learning environment. I will always use these practices in order to create the best teams.
Reference List
Bush, T. (2007). Educational leadership and management: theory, policy, and practice. South African Journal of Education, 27(3), 391-406.
Cranston, N., & Ehrich, L. (2009). Senior management teams in schools: Understanding their dynamics, enhancing their effectiveness. Leading and Managing, 15(1), 14-25.
Day, D., Gronn, P., & Salas, E. (2004). Leadership capacity in teams. The Leadership Quarterly, 15(6), 857-880.
Fitzgerald, T. (2009). The Tyranny of Bureaucracy: Continuing challenges of Leading and Managing. Educational management administration and Leadership, 37(1), 51-65.
Gunter, H., & Fitzgerald, T. (2007). Leading learning and leading teachers: Challenges for schools in the 21st Century. Leading and Managing, 13(1), 1-15.
Hall, V. (2002). From teamwork to team-work in education. In K. Leithwood & P. Hallinger (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational leadership and administration. Part 2 (pp. 697-733). London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Johnson, N. (2003). Working in Teams. Web.
Mayrowetz, D. (2008). Making sense of distributed leadership: Exploring the multiple usages of the concept in the field. Educational Administration Quarterly, 44(3), 424-435.
National College of School Leadership. (2009). School leadership: Federations and distributed leadership. Web.
Sheard, G., & Kakabadse, A. (2004). A process perspective on leadership and team development. Journal of Management Development, 23(1), 7-106.