Leading and Managing in Times of Change for Transformative Teaching and Learning
In contemporary contexts, modern educational literature often acknowledges that successful schools need both leadership and management, but this is not a marginal distinction. Rather, it is conceptual and strategic. Whereas management maintains systems, routine and compliance, on the other hand, leadership offers vision, direction and innovation.
Therefore, if schools are serious about promoting quality teaching, teacher professionalism and equity in learning outcomes then leadership must shift from that of management to something more intentional. Indeed, this strategic repositioning becomes particularly pertinent in complicated and diverse educational contexts, where schools are asked to adapt to changing learner needs, accountability pressures and pedagogical reform.
Leadership as a Transformative Practice
Importantly, educational leadership needs to be redefined as a dynamic and relational act rather than one of position. In this sense, transformative leadership reframes the priorities of schooling, anchoring institutional decision-making in teaching, learning, and equity. Thus, leadership, in contrast to managerial paradigms that focus on efficiency and control, touches on the moral and professional work of education by providing a sense of purpose shared responsibilities.
In particular, instructional leadership has become a central concept within educational effectiveness studies. For instance, Hallinger (2019) illustrates that effective school leaders concentrate specifically on teaching and learning through building teachers’ professional capacity, monitoring instruction, and aligning school goals with student learning. As a result, instructional leadership provides a link between the swivel chair of administration and the hard seat of classroom practice, organized so that decisions at one end reflect fundamental pedagogical dispositions on the other.
Leadership Role: In a ‘Learning-Centred’ School
In leadership-heavy schools, leadership is an administrative value-added activity that goes beyond management to also include instructional guidance, culture framing and evidence-informed strategic actions. Of these, three conjoint responsibilities are especially pertinent.
First, instructional leadership leaders must be knowledgeable about curriculum, instruction, and assessment as a first given. Accordingly, leaders should more directly observe classrooms, offer constructive feedback, and encourage reflective teaching. In turn, that allows for the sort of “culture of inquiry” that permits ongoing instructional enhancement and professional learning.
Second, leadership is the single-most determining factor in a school’s culture. Clearly, a culture of collaboration and learning doesn’t happen naturally; you have to deliberately make it so. Therefore, leaders’ demonstrate, lead the practice and development of partnerships that foster professional dialogue and enact structures such as Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Through this, these communities allow teachers to exchange teaching practices, analyse student data and help solve common learning challenges. Indeed, studies demonstrate that these collaborative cultures improve teacher self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and instructional coherence.
Third, according to simulated leadership school instruction, data-informed decision-making is the underlying area of concentration for those attending leadership-driven schools. Here, results are employed for diagnostic, not punitive purposes that inform instruction planning and focused intervention. Thus, leaders guide teachers’ interpretation of evidence in collaborative data analysis, and enable teachers to change instruction as a result of examining the evidence. In this way, data serve as an instrument of learning rather than accountability only.
Instructional Implications for Student Learning
As a result of this focus, a focus on leadership makes traditional classroom instruction more student centred, differentiated and inclusive. Specifically, leadership plays a crucial indirect role in influencing teaching practices by impacting teachers’ beliefs, expectations, and professional conducts. Indeed, it is evident from Bush (2020) that instructional leadership is positively related to formative assessment, reflective teaching and active learning strategies.
Furthermore, schools with a focus on leadership teach in ways that recognize the diversity of learners. Accordingly, teachers recognize and respond to the diverse needs of students by differentiating the content, process, and products of learning. Through this, by developing inclusive pedagogical approaches, learners with specific learning difficulties, language or socio-economic challenges will be supported as opposed to marginalised.
Beneficiaries of Leadership-Led School Improvement
Most importantly, the biggest winners in leadership-led school improvement are students themselves, especially those from underserved and marginalized communities. Notably, there is a significant indirect effect of leadership on student achievement through teachers’ motivation, commitment and instructional quality (Leithwood et al., 2020). Therefore, leaders make the environment for effective teaching and continuous improvement through investment in professional growth of teachers and well-being.
In addition, leadership-focused strategies also greatly serve teachers. For example, professional learning communities, mentoring and collaborative leadership create an environment that enriches teachers’ professional identity and instructional capacity. As a result, these institutions encourage collaboration, decrease professional isolation and lead to job satisfaction as well as teacher retention and efficacy.
Moreover, leadership-focused schools are best able to lead the way for educational equity. In particular, equitable leaders invest resources strategically, introduce inclusive policies and advocate for learners challenged by systemic barriers. Thus, leadership takes on both a professional and moral quality that links school improvement in service of broader social justice ideals.
Resource Utilization for Leadership Effectiveness
In furtherance, good leadership is not just to do with your resources but how you use them. As Leithwood and Jantzi (2005) contend, how resources are allocated is often more important than the amount of resources. Therefore, leadership serves to coordinate the other resource levers.
Notably, human resources will be the most important resource: qualified teachers, teacher leaders, and counsellors with ongoing job-embedded professional learning to support them. Likewise, the textbooks should fit into the curriculum goals and they should be sensitive to pupils’ diversity. At the same time, organizational facilitators, such as time for team meetings, access to needed information and supportive leadership models are of equal importance. Together, administration focuses these resources with a sound improvement plan for teaching and learning.
Conclusion
Ultimately, at a time when schools are supposed to do more with less, it is unrealistic to expect that “management,” to cause changes. What modern education requires: high quality learning for all students and the means by which that end is achieved (collaboration, shared decision-making, professional trust) need to be championed in the leadership ranks.
Therefore, by focusing school operations, strategically weighted towards leadership rather than management, schools situate themselves for change that is sustainable. In this way, leadership turns habits into routines, data into information and schools into professional learning communities. In the end, good schools led with purpose are not only efficient; they become places where all individual leaders included are inspired, embraced and empowered to succeed.
WRITTEN BY:
WISDOM KOUDJO KLU,
EDUCATIONIST/COLUMNIST,
GREATER ACCRA REGION.
Comments are closed.