The Principal:
Creative Leadership for Excellence in Schools
By Gerald C. Ubben
Larry W. Hughes
Cynthia J. Norris
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1. The Principal: A Creative Blend of Substance and
Style
Social Systems Theory
•
The School Improvement Plan
The School: The Context for
Leadership
•
Schools as Machines
•
Schools as Organisms
•
Schools as Brains
•
Reflection
•
School expectations
•
Tightly Coupled and Loosely
Coupled Organization
•
Leadership Perspectives
•
Single-Loop and Double-Loop
Learning
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
1. The
Principal: A Creative Blend of
Substance and Style
The Principal: The Role in Context
•
Leadership as Philosophy in Action
•
Espoused Values and Values in Use
•
Leadership from a Values
Perspective
•
Shared Vision and Authority
•
Contrasting the Transactional and
Transformational
•
Ethical Responsibilities of
Transformational Leadership
•
Management and Leadership
•
Roles and Functions
•
Management and Leadership
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
A Perspective on
Leadership
The Principal Chapter 1
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Assumptions of Transactional
Leadership
•
•
Leadership is a
function of
organizational
position.
Leadership is goalcentered and goals are
driven by
organizational needs.
•
•
Leadership is bound
within the context of
the situation (tasks,
responsibilities, and
presented problems)
Leadership is
dedicated to goal
achievement.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Therefore Transactional Leaders (i.e.
Managers):
•
Control their organizations through the
manipulation of power designed to:
* Make individuals perform (task),
* Feel good about performing
(consideration), and
* Perform at their level of competency
(maturity).
- Foster, W. (1989)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
The Individualistic View of Leadership
Fails to Consider:

That leadership is
always context
bound
* It occurs in a social
community
* It is the result of
human interaction and
negotiations

That it involves
mutual negotiations
and shared
leadership roles
* It cannot occur without
followership
* Many times the two are
interchangeable
Foster (1989)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Power….


Transformational leadership is accomplished
when leaders “delegate and surrender power over
people and events in order to achieve power over
accomplishments and goal achievement”
Authentic accountability, the authority to match
responsibility, is granted.
- Sergiovanni (1989)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Authorship without power is
isolating and splintering. Power
without authorship can be
dysfunctional and oppressive.
- Bolman & Deal, Leading With Soul, 1995, p. 108
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Bass’ First and Second Order
Change Theory



First Order Change
(Transactional):
Determine
subordinates’ needs
Seek to provide
appropriate rewards
Respond to selfinterests that match
organizational goals
Second Order Change
(Transformational):
 Raise subordinates’
awareness
 Encourage commitment
to organizational goals
 Foster a broadening of
subordinates’ needs and
wants
-Bass (1985, p.20)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Moral Leadership



Professional Authority (craft knowledge and
personal expertise)
and
Moral Authority (Obligations and duties
resulting from shared values and ideas)
added to…
Traditional Authority…
Sergiovanni
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Moral Leadership: 4 Substitutes for
Leadership Added


School Norms– A
shared covenant binds
members around
common values and
beliefs.
The Professional
Ideal– Members accept
responsibility for their
professional
development and service
to students.


Collegiality– Members
join together in shared
support while still
developing selfmanagement and selfleadership skills.
Rewarding Work–
Members see their work
as meaningful and are
accountable.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Transformational Leadership…
Such leadership occurs when one or more
persons engage with others in such a way that
leaders and followers raise one another to high
levels of motivation and morality. Their
purposes, which might have started out as
separate but related …become fused.
Burns, J., 1978, Leadership.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leadership is More Than
Management for…
“It is oriented not just toward the
development of more perfect
organizational structures, but toward a
reconceptualization of life practices where
common ideals of freedom and democracy
stand important.”
-Foster, W. (1989, p.52)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Transformational Leaders…



Engage with followers but from higher levels of
morality…
* Goals and values are enmeshed and leaders
and followers are raised to higher levels of
judgment
Ask from followers…
Are involved in the creation of new social
realities
- Foster, (1989)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Such Leadership is Founded on
Moral Relationships:

It critiques social conditions (and followers’
roles in maintaining those conditions).

It offers new possibilities (visions) for social
arrangements (and points out followers’ roles in
changing situations).

It helps to raise the followers’ consciousness
regarding what is and what could be.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Four Criteria for the Practice of
Leadership

Leadership must be critical

Leadership must be transformative

Leadership must be educative

Leadership must be ethical
- Foster, (1989)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leadership as Educative

Fosters an analysis
* Considers organizational history, purpose, and
power distribution
* Reflects on institutional arrangements

Stimulates a vision
* Encourages consideration of alternative ways
of operating
* Raises followers consciousness of social conditions
Leadership as Critical

Examines previous conditions of social life and
subjects them to critique…Questions their
appropriateness for all individuals..

Views human beings as capable of reordering
their present conditions (i.e. constructing their
own reality)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leadership as Ethical




Is founded on the fact of moral relationships
Is intended to elevate people to new levels of
morality
Is oriented toward democratic values within
community
Promotes self-reflection and yet interdependent
membership within community.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leadership as Transformative
 Is
oriented toward social change
 Raises
human consciousness
 Requires
a community of believers
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Transformational Leadership is:

A transforming practice
* It is and must be socially critical

An empowerment of followers
* It does not reside in one individual but in
the relationship between individuals

A vehicle for organizational change
* It is oriented toward social vision and change
not simply organizational goals.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Transformation

It is not a radical
 It happens in
restructuring of a
everyday events–
social order; rather it
When commonplace
is (observed) in small
leaders exert some
doses in the activities
effect on their
of various groups and
situations…
individuals who hope
to make some sort
- Foster, W. (1989, pp.
of difference.
52-53).
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Cooperation
There is no enduring cooperation without the
creation of faith, the catalyst by which human
effort is enabled…
“Cooperation, not leadership, is the creative
process; but leadership is the indispensable
fulminator of its forces.”
- Barnard, (1968, p.259)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leaders Lead By …





Challenging the Process
Inspiring a Shared Vision
Enabling Others to Act
Modeling the Way
Encouraging the Heart
- Kouzes. J. and Posner,
B., 1987,
The Leadership Challenges,
p. 8.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leadership, in the final analysis, is the ability of
humans to relate deeply to each other in the
search for a more perfect union. Leadership is a
consensual task, a sharing of ideas and a sharing
of responsibilities, where a ‘leader’ is a leader for
the moment only, where the leadership exerted
must be validated by the consent of the
followers, and where leadership lies in the
struggles of a community to find meaning for
itself.
- Foster, (1989, p.61)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leadership:
A Creative
Process
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Personal Pathways to Leadership
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leadership


Is a matter of art rather
than science
Is aesthetic and moral
rather than
logical…Leadership is:




Feeling
Judgment
Sense
Balance

Fosters the creative side
of the organization
which is cooperation.
- Chester Barnard, The
Functions of the Executive,
1968.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
The Artistry of Leadership
Leadership is an art, a performing art.
And in the art of leadership, the artist’s instrument is
the self. Ultimately, leadership development is a process
of self-discovery and development.
Leadership artistry is an awareness of and faith in one’s
own values, beliefs, and abilities which form the basis
for mobilizing others toward higher purposes
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Vertical (LHB) Thinking
1. The method of science– experimentation and induction
A. A stepwise process. One step follows another in an unbroken
sequence.
B. Must be correct at every step. This is of the
essence.
C. Selects and deals with what is relevant.
2. Analogy is that of digging the same hole deeper.
3. Highly esteemed and very valuable in scientific and technical
matters.
4. View as the development of a structure.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Lateral thinking- The Opposite of
Vertical Thinking (RHB)
1.
Is Not Sequential. Common method
here is to begin at
3
the solution end rather than the beginning end of the
process. Jump to different points and allow the fragments
to coalesce.
2.
Does Not Have To Be Correct at Each Stage. Judgment
is suspended. The end may justify the means. May be
wrong within the frame of reference in order to update it.
3.
Is Not Restricted To Relevant Information. Uses random
or irrelevant information to perturb the systemsomething that cannot normally happen within the
system itself.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
To the extent that creativeness is
constructive, synthesizing,
unifying, and interpretive, to
that extent does it descend upon
the internal of the individual
(Maslow, 1976)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leadership
A Summary of the Principles of
Transformational Leadership Based
on William Foster, Paradigms and
Promises, 1989
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Views of Leadership


Transactional
Transformational
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Transactional Leadership




Leadership is a function of organizational position
Leadership is goal-centered and goals are driven by
organizational needs
Leadership is bound within the context of the situation
(tasks, responsibilities, problems)
Leadership is dedicated to goal achievement
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Transformational Leadership



Is oriented toward social change
Raises human consciousness
Requires a community of believers
(Foster, 1989)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
“Leadership always has one face turned
toward change and change involves the
critical assessment of current situations and
the awareness of future possibilities.”
(Foster, p. 52 )
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leadership is More Than
Management for…
“It is oriented not just toward the development
of more perfect organizational structures, but
toward a reconceptualization of life practices
where common ideals of freedom and
democracy stand important.” (Foster, p. 52 )
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Contrasting Leadership Views

Transactional


Exchange relationship
between leaders and
followers
Designed to gain support
of followers through



Concession
Negotiations
Accommodations

Transformational


Envisions new social
conditions
Communicates vision
through



Inspiring
Transforming
Challenges followers
toward greater human
concern
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Four Transformational
Leadership Criteria

Leaders must be
Critical
 Educative
 Transformative
 Ethical

(Foster, 1989)l
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Critical Leaders…


Examine current social conditions and question
the appropriateness of those conditions for all
individuals
Believe that individuals are capable of
improving their present conditions
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Educative Leaders…
•
•
•
Encourage an analysis of the organization
Raise the consciousness of followers
Inspire a vision of alternative organizational
structures and power distributiion
Ethical Leaders…




Operate from moral relationships
Elevate followers to higher levels of morality
Foster democratic values through community
Encourage self-reflection and interdependence
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Transformational Leaders…

Engage with followers from higher levels of
morality
Goals and values are enmeshed
 Leaders and followers are raised to higher levels of
judgment



Ask from followers…
Are involved in the creation of new social
realities
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Principal Roles







Instructional Leader
Staff Developer
Student Advocate
Community Representative
Building Manager
Networker
YOU (Your Own
Understanding)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Skills for School
Principals
NASSP
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Assessment Dimensions of the National Association
of Secondary School Principals:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Problem Analysis
Judgment
Organizational
Ability
Decisiveness
Leadership
Sensitivity
7.
Stress Tolerance
8. Oral Communication
9. Written
Communication
10. Range of Interest
11. Personal Motivation
12. Educational Values
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Survival skills needed by beginning school
administrators:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Leadership
Planning
Instruction
Personnel
Law
Finance
Facilities
Community Relations
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Performance domains identified by the
National Commission for the Principalship:

Functional domains







Leadership
Information collection
Problem analysis
Judgment
Organizational oversight
Implementation
Delegation

Programmatic domains






Instructional program
Curriculum design
Student guidance and
development
Staff development
Measurement and
evaluation
Resource allocation
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Performance domains identified by the
National Commission for the Principalship:

Interpersonal domains




Motivating others
Sensitivity
Oral expression
Written expression

Contextual domains




Philosophical and
cultural values
Legal and regulatory
applications
Policy and political
influences
Public and media
relationships
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Curriculum is
Shaped by Structure
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Structure
Philosophy
 Policies
 Procedures
 Practices

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Part of our failure stems from
a great irony. Those who still
live in the past confidently set
the norms for those who will
live in the future…
Goodlad, 1983
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Custodial vs. Creative Leadership
WHAT? HOW?

Transactional leaders
focus on improvement
by tightly coupling
(managing) objectives,
curriculum, teaching
strategies and evaluation.
WHY?

Transformational leaders
coordinate through
shared values and beliefs.
They understand that
autonomy in classrooms
is necessary for
fundamental change to
occur.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Reform I
School District
Tightly Coupled:
What? How?
Top Down Mission
Top Down Goals
School A
What?
How?
School B
What?
How?
School C
What?
How?
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Reform II
School District
Tightly Coupled:
Why?
Shared Mission
Shared Purpose
School A
Why?
School B
Why?
School C
Why?
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007