Educational Leadership and Management in an Age of Accountability

Many believe that the source of hope in alleviating poverty specially in third world countries like the Philippines, rely on the quality of education which teachers and educators provide students with the fundamental skills and knowledge that will last a lifetime. Parents would like to have every advantage, including the best possible education they can possibly give for their children. Despite the vigorous effort of our government to strengthen our educational system, the path towards achieving the goal is seemed unclear. Unfortunately, our educational system is continuously challenged, crammed with social, economic, and political factors which hinder the course of development and global competency of our nation.

In a time of high educational expectations and professional accountability, today's educational leaders need to have a broad array of skills that enable them to function contentedly and effectively in changing environments and under highly politicized conditions. Such a situation can only be managed smoothly by enhancing educational leadership building skills. Educational leadership is in many ways the ability to understand the balance that is desired in a school. Running a school in today's environment is a tough job. Success depends on balancing the needs of the leaders of the academe, parents, and the students. Various models of educational leadership are conceptualize and recognized which are significant factors in enhancing educational leadership skills.

Managerial Leadership

Managerial leadership focuses on increasing the individual leadership capacity of a person, honing their abilities to affect organizational growth and transformation. It also focuses on managing existing processes and resources effectively rather than creating visions for further growth and development of an organization. This type of a leader is more like a director who would tell his followers what is expected to them. He would give specific time and schedules work to be done, and gives guidance as how to accomplish tasks. This kind of leadership follows a hierarchical process and is suitable for bureaucratic form of government. However, it has its disadvantage. The excessive centralization and bureaucratization will eventually create conflict to the role of teachers which is to be innovative and the openness for change.

Participative Leadership

At the core of participative leadership is democracy. Being a participative leader means involving your team in making decisions. This is most important when creative thinking is needed to solve complex problems. People are more committed to actions where they have involved in the relevant decision-making. When people make decisions together, the social commitment to one another is greater and thus increases their commitment to the decision. “Many heads are better than one”. Several people deciding together make better decisions than one person alone. The nature of this leadership style tends to function better with smaller groups of individuals that can offer an educated opinion, as it can be difficult to gain a consensus with a larger group. It is important for the participative leader to develop guidelines concerning participative leadership. Not every idea is a good idea, or can be utilized in every decision. These guidelines would concern how the ideas will be utilized in the decision making process.

Interpersonal Leadership

Getting along with others and pro-actively developing rapport building cooperative relationships. Effective interpersonal leadership skills help influence
others, guiding towards rewarding outcomes and their growth into success-driven leaders in the future.

Transactional Leadership

People are motivated by reward and punishment. When people have agreed to do a job, a part of the deal is that they cede all authority to their manager. The prime purpose of a subordinate is to do what their manager tells them to do. The relationship is based on the level of exchange. Exchange need not be money or material; it can be anything. The more exchange the stronger the relation. It is something done to anyone based on the return of this exchange. In politics, leaders announce benefits in their agenda in exchange to the vote from the people. In business, leaders announce rewards in turn to the productivity. This type of relation is all about requirements, conditions and rewards (or punishment).

The style of leadership taken by any administrator as a leader can be predetermined by the personality and motivational values of that person. It provides a strong influence on the way they lead and communicate with colleagues and the stakeholders. I believe that one of your greatest calls as an educational leader is to empower others. Encourage them to share their ideas, opinions, suggestions and take part in decisions to promote the determination and development of potential leaders. If you treat people with reverence and empower them to do great things, they will honor and respect you for that.

Effective Management through Efficient Leadership

What does it takes to be a leader? How does leadership correlates with management? Can managing be also at the same time leading? There has been much debate on this topic, particularly regarding its role and contribution in attaining success toward a vision and common goal of an organization. Leadership and management are seen very differently by diverse people. Some individuals see these terms as synonyms and often use them interchangeably throughout phrases and sentences. Others consider them as extreme opposite, so extreme; in fact, that they would argue that you cannot be a good manager and a good leader at the same time. Leaders focus more on people, while managers focus more about processes and systems. They both have goals and expectations. The key difference is that leaders make their own, while managers follow the goals and expectations of a leader making sure that it’s on the right track.
I see management as a skill or knowledge you obtained, something that you can learn and practice. Whereas, leadership is a talent that can be honed and nurtured. I think a manager’s ability to be great rests on inherent leadership proficiency coupled with a great plan that is in line with the goals to be taken along the way as any problem arises. Leaders focus is on aligning the people involved in meeting and understanding the vision and making sure that the people are committed to it.
According to John Kotter, “Strong leadership with weak management is not good and is sometimes actually worse than the reverse. The real challenge is to merge efficient leadership and effective management and use each to balance the other. One is not better than the other as both are essential for success. Knowing and understanding the relationship of the two will help managers to lead and get clarity about what is expected of them so they can be successful managers and leaders in their positions.

School Leadership

When a school lacks effective leadership, minimal learning takes places. School leaders must provide sturdy leadership that sets a tone for the daily operations of the school community. In the absence of such leadership, discipline breaks down, academics weaken, and a sense of organized chaos reigns. There are many qualities behind an effective and dynamic school leader. In order to be successful he/she must be a perpetual learner. Infusing his/her staff and teachers the desire to learn what is necessary to help the organization reach its’ mission. School leadership is not just about walking the halls and telling students to “tuck in their shirts.” Rather, it is about dynamic modeling that encourages collegiality and promotes fineness in every facet of the school community.
Self-motivated school leaders enter a classroom not to find problems but to offer solutions, share recommendations, and encourage and affirm good performance. They also encourage excellence while promoting a community spirit of collaboration. These are the kind of leaders that are able to identify emerging issues and problems and swiftly deal with them in a positive way and perhaps willpower, the ability to stand up for what is right in the face of adversities. Good school leadership often determines the dynamics of a school community and the academic outcomes of school policies and procedures.
School administrators or principals should no longer be strictly managers; they are also expected to be leaders. Leaders that can take their school to a higher point of academic achievement, where all students are successful learners and all teachers engage their students in learning. To become such a leader, principals need to leave behind their routine management styles and redefine themselves also as a moral or servant leaders. A principal that leads and not just to manage will be able to progress their school forward. It will also allow teachers to be leaders in developing better curriculums to reach the needs of all students. For a principal to maintain this type of leadership, he/she will need to learn how to serve his staff not just manage it.