Literature Review by Peter Donatelli and Pat Mancuso
(For Lyn Sharratt TPS 1048)
Main Articles
1) "The Principalship in an Era of Transformation," by Joseph Murphy and Philip Halinger in Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 30, No. 3, (1992) pp. 77-88.
2) "Personal/Interpersonal Aspects of Effective Team-oriented Headship in the Primary School," by John Johnston and Susan Pickersgill" in Educational Management and Administration, Vol. 20, No. 4 (1992) pp. 239-248.
Supplementary Article
Helen Spence, "Fostering Leadership," in OPC Register, Vol. 2, No. 3 (May, 2000) pp. 10-13.
______
In "The Principalship in an Era of Transformation," Joseph Murphy and Philip Halinger contend that "decentralization is at the heart of nearly every school restructuring effort" worldwide (79). As a result, principals have had to become more accountable at the local level for "environmental leadership" or relations with the school's immediate environment, including marketing, public relations, resource recruitment and involvement with industry (82).
Furthermore, Murphy and Halinger state that this new climate "dramatically highlights the importance of participatory leadership and principals' interpersonal communication skills (Murphy and Halinger, 82) over transactional methods.
This line of thinking is consistent with the argument presented by Johnston and Pickersgill in "Personal and Interpersonal Aspects of Effective Team-oriented Headship in the Primary School." The researchers maintain that if principals are less than effective in the interpersonal role required of them by so many, primary education cannot have the leadership it merits and requires (Johnston and Pickersgill, 248).
Principals must continue to foster open, democratic institutions to support the development of "leadership teams" within the school. Johnston and Pickersgill contend that this will only happen if primary school processes are solidly founded in teamwork and individual professional accountability and responsibility (248). Principals must be willing to move away from the acceptance of schools as hierarchical organizations requiring a top-down approach to management and leadership. Therefore the school's accountability must derive from ownership of professional accountability by each individual member of the team rather than be the burden of the principal alone. The principal, however, needs to know when to take the lead and when to confirm the leadership offered by his/her colleagues. This thinking is consistent with some of the discussions in the course concerning participatory leadership and its goal of increasing the organization's capacity to respond to change internally and externally (
As school systems worldwide implement change and become more decentralized, we must not forget the principal's essential role of instructional and curriculum leader. Therefore, principal training programs should be sensitive to the "domain specific knowledge" candidates will need to be effective educational leaders and not just managers. They argue that training programs must continue to give candidates a foundation in curriculum and instruction.
Second, to support the change toward participatory leadership, training programs must teach leaders the processes behind building group capacity for identifying and solving educational problems (84). As Johnston and Pickersgill suggest, "personal and interpersonal skills and the behavior of the principal are now, more than ever, crucial dimensions of leadership (240). Furthermore, the authors conclude that there is a clear need for a "more systematic approach to the training of prospective principals than just merely relying on the observation of role models and simply 'learning on the job'. They argue that it is vital that the system supports its leaders through enabling them to refine and develop their interpersonal skills. We need a new kind of professional dialogue and the continued development of structures for collaborative processes in schools generally (240).
Johnston and Pickersgill state further that there is a clear need for a more systematic approach to the training of prospective principals than merely relying on the observation of role models and 'learning on the job'(248). A great deal of research has supported mentoring as an effective way to support future leaders. However, as Helen Spence maintains in "Fostering Leadership," mentoring principals should not be viewed as a panacea for leadership development. Mentoring requires an active and professional approach: one that extends beyond simple role-modeling or apprenticeship. It must be conceptualized as a continuum of learning: one that enhances the leadership capacity for both the experienced and the new or aspiring leader, through a continued process of reflection and dialogue" (12).
Establishing 'collaborative cultures' is mandatory. As Bennis maintains, building an organization's culuture is the unique and essentail function of leadership (see "The Influence of Culture on School Leadership, Course Notes, p. 2). We need to continue to foster and develop effective leaders. This can only be achieved in an environment that has "dynamic leadership, a collaborative culture, participatory decision-making and shared values to sustain meaningful change amid a turbulent environment" (see "The Influence of Culture on School Leadership," CourseNotes, p. 12).
Hyperlinks
Journal Information
------