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ADMINISTRATORS AND SCHOOL CULTURE.
Term Paper ID:30396
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Essay Subject:
Examines effective strategies used by school administrators in shaping the school culture.... More...
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8 Pages / 1800 Words
9 sources, 24 Citations,
APA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Examines effective strategies used by school administrators in shaping the school culture. Contends that the school administrator or principal is the key person in terms of leadership, school reform, creating a secure school environment, involving stakeholders and implementing visionary leadership. Suggests that transformational principals and administrators are best for multicultural learning communiities.
Paper Introduction:
Administrators and School Culture
In education, at the level of the individual school, it is the school administrator or principal who is key in terms of leadership, school reform, creating and maintaining a secure school environment, involving stakeholders of all kinds in the school, and implementing visionary leadership. The purpose of this brief report is to examine effective strategies used by school administrators in shaping the school culture. It will be argued, as Jason (2000) has suggested, that transformational principals and administrators are needed to increase the efficacy of instruction, socialization, and other interaction processes in increasingly multicultural learning communities.
H.S. Williams (2000) contends that the literature on school effectiveness repeatedly refers to the need for strong principal-center
Text of the Paper:
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Ensuring that curriculum, instructional strategies, and student assessment are coherent components in the teaching and learning process (Tirozzi, 2 1). These researchers foundthat effective principals are intimately involved with all aspects ofschool governance and performance. Transformational leadership isnecessary to ensure that disparate power bases in the school are linked notas counterweights, but as mutual support for a common purpose. Reavis,Vinson, and Fox (1999) identified components of the high-success schoolculture in a study of a single secondary school. Incorporating parents into theschool as volunteers and providing parents with training to manage childbehavior are also highly recommend by Peterson and Skiba (2 ), who claimthat the principal must also empower parents to take control over theirchildren and their communities. Thus, schools have aunique opportunity to recruit, select, train, and motivate a new group ofleaders. Teacher's perceptions of principaleffectiveness in selected secondary schools in Tennessee. Such leaders bring a high degree ofdemocracy and proactivity to their tasks, while empowering otherstakeholders for meaningful participation in decision-making. While resistance to change is commonplace inall organizational settings, principals must develop the abilities and thedetermination to overcome this resistance and lead their schools and itsstakeholders into the future. Administrators and School Culture In education, at the level of the individual school, it is the schooladministrator or principal who is key in terms of leadership, schoolreform, creating and maintaining a secure school environment, involvingstakeholders of all kinds in the school, and implementing visionaryleadership. The Clearinghouse, 72(4), 199-2 3. Promulgating a vision for continuous improvement in student performance . Williams (2 ) contends that the literature on schooleffectiveness repeatedly refers to the need for strong principal-centeredleadership. Promoting excellence in teaching . These concepts have been further addressed by Peterson and Kelley(2 1), who believe that American schools are facing one of the mostmassive leadership transformations in their history. While it is critical to recognize that principalsface a number of challenges in balancing administrative tasks alone, it isalso important to recognize that effective school administrators andprincipals are instructional leaders as well. (2 ). The study revealed that teachers perceived the principal asoccupying the most strategic position in the school with respect to bothorganizational development and change. Williams (2 ) examined teachers' perceptions of principaleffectiveness in secondary schools nominated for the National SecondarySchool Recognition Program (NSSRP) via a mail survey employing the Audit ofPrincipal Effectiveness (APE), which was completed by 647 Tennesseeteachers. Peterson andKelley (2 1) contend that school districts must implement developmentprograms and training initiatives to ensure that the new crop of schoolprincipals are thoroughly aware of the myriad challenges facing theirschools and capable of addressing those challenges in an effective manner.Specifically, these researchers believe that principals must be mentored byexperienced administrators and must also be assisted in achieving thecommunicative and interpersonal competencies needed to involve parents andothers in school improvement activities. Peterson, K., & Kelley, C. B. Making a commitment to sustained, comprehensive development for staff members . Transformational leadership, with itsemphasis on empowering others and developing professionalism is criticallyneeded in this new school environment (Jason, 2 ). Twelve ways for principals to promote good will. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(6), 434-444. RayLemley, an educational consultant and former principal, agrees with thisand states that communication competencies should also be added to thislisting of skills needed by the principal (Twelve ways for..., 2 1). Transforming school leadership.Leadership, 3 (3), 8-14. CurriculumReview, 4 (5), 1 . A study by Moore(1998) found that there is a strong link between principals' leadershipbehavior and school climate. (2 1). S. The school is a microcosmic social unit that mirrors the largersociety (Peterson & Skiba, 2 ). The old style top-downleadership paradigm is giving way to a structure in which horizontalleadership is needed and in which principals play a critical but notnecessarily authoritarian role. Nevertheless, principals and other key school administrators areoften faced with the necessity of delegating instructional improvementtasks to others as they cope with creating a culture of success. (2 ). Creating opportunities for parental involvement is seen ascritical in reducing school violence. Peterson, R. (2 ). Instruction, however, is acritical aspect of school success which effective principals must addressif their schools are to meet the diverse needs of an equally diverse groupof stakeholders. High School Journal, 83(3),1-12. The tasks of theprincipal include: . Phi Delta Kappan, 82(8), 598-616. Some estimatesindicate that more than one-half of all public school principals are likelyto retire over the course of the next five years. Principals who will succeed in the new environment, will bring totheir tasks a full set of administrative and managerial competencies (i.e.,planning, directing, budgeting, coordinating, communicating, andmotivating). Empowering teachers by developing a communal sense of self-efficacy istherefore a critical leadership role of the principal (Jason, 2 ).Parents as well as students should be given opportunities to develop theirown leadership skills and to participate in collaborative decision-making.When self-efficacy and empowerment are linked, individuals and groups growin confidence and acquire the ability to solve mutual problems and toachieve their goals. Williams (2 ) maintains that about 9 percent of high schoolprincipals' activities tend to be concerned with other than curricular andinstructional issues. Preventing School Failure, 44(3), 122-14 . Each of these stakeholders has a vested interest in positiveeducational outcomes and can contribute to school improvement. With increasing cultural diversity inthe schools and with new technologies and reform demands placing greateremphasis upon principal-centered leadership, the principal of today mustbecome an agent for change. Jason (2 ) also suggests that principals mustactively engage parents, community members, and local businesses inidentifying the needs of the school community and finding ways of meetingthose needs. Parentand community involvement, character education, violence-prevention, andconflict-resolution curricula, and peer mediation are among the keystrategies used by successful schools and their principals to reduceviolence. L., & Skiba, R. W. Principalship, according to Williams (2 ), is viewed as a positionin which competencies in dealing with the human component of the school(i.e., community, teachers, students, and central office personnel) andwith the improvement of the educational program are ideally important. This suggests that principals focus much of theirenergies on administrative as well as structural issues. Developing andarticulating a vision for improvement is equally important, as iscapitalizing upon the benefits and advantages of diversity. (1998). (2 1). Schools that are sites for violence tend tobe schools with inadequate leadership and also tend to be schools locatedin troubled communities in which violence is commonplace. Importing a culture ofsuccess via a strong principal. N. Jason (2 ) makes note of the fact that principals have theleadership priority of understanding how different values and beliefsaffect the teaching and learning process. Developing principals asinstructional leaders. Tirozzi (2 1) claims that effective leadership in the schoolenvironment must recognize that principals are single individuals whorequire the support of teachers, support staff, parents, students, thecommunity, and local businesses in order to succeed. The role of the principal as transformationalleader in a multicultural learning community. Establishing a climate for excellence . Moore, L. The task of theprincipal, says Moore (1998), is therefore to identify sources of violenceor dissent and to ameliorate the problems created by these concerns. The intense interest on the part of educators and scholars inachieving better understanding of the dynamics of school effectivenesspoints to the principal as a key agent of change, reform, and schooltransformation. Tirozzi (2 1) asserts that the changes inthe demographic profile of the American school (i.e., increased culturaldiversity, a mobile student population, a technology rich environment, anddemands for improvement in educational outcomes) require principals to bemuch directly involved in all aspects of school leadership (includinginstruction) than they may have been in the past. Competencies in community relationsand service, pupil personnel services, pupil control, and personnelservices were identified as the key competencies which an effectiveprincipal must possess in order to lead. Principals who provide positive feedback to students, teachers, andsupport staff and who create a proactive administrative stance towarddiscipline, safety, reform or change, and involving stakeholders tend to bemore able to influence school culture than principals who are authoritarian(Fink & Resnick, 2 1). Creating school climates thatprevent school violence. H.S. Leadership theory and student violence: Isthere a relationship? The purpose of this brief report is to examine effectivestrategies used by school administrators in shaping the school culture. Theseprincipals also recognize that cultural change, reform, or schoolimprovement is necessary and achievable and work to ensure that othersparticipate in these processes (Reavis, et al, 1999). Reavis, C. NASSP Bulletin, 82(596), 5 -56. A., Vinson, D., & Fox, R. References Fink, E., & Resnick, L. H. (2 1). The key toschool improvement becomes people improvement and attention to professionaldevelopment must be the cornerstone of any initiative to enhance theeffectiveness of schools. The artistry of leadership: The evolvingrole of the secondary school principal. Williams, H. They articulate goals and objectives,make decisions quickly, and show respect for students and teachers as wellas parents and community members. Education121(2), 264-275. In addition, effective principals will have a positive attitude towardtheir own professionalism and toward collaborative work. (2 1). Jason, M. (1999). However, Fink and Resnick(2 1) believe that most principals are overwhelmed by the activities ofmanagement such as scheduling, reporting, handling relations with parentsand the community, and coping with the multiple crises and specialsituations that are inevitable in schools. Nowhere is this challenge more readily apparent than with respect tothe necessity of creating school climates that prevent school violence.Peterson and Skiba (2 ) state that a number of ideas have been proposedregarding how schools can affect and improve their school climate. Itwill be argued, as Jason (2 ) has suggested, that transformationalprincipals and administrators are needed to increase the efficacy ofinstruction, socialization, and other interaction processes in increasinglymulticultural learning communities. While educational leadership is difficult to define,Williams (2 ) suggests that educational leaders (including principals)must fulfill a number of functions that include community leadership, thedevelopment of liaisons with key stakeholders, implementation of effectivestudent discipline programs, and the oversight of school improvement orreform efforts. To achieve these ends, principals must regard themselves and theirresponsibilities as inherently centered upon the transformation of systems,processes, and people as well as attitudes. Tirozzi, G.
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