The educational system will not function effectively with weak school
administration. Effective administration begins with leaders who know how to
motivate teachers and students. Good administrators also know how to enlist
the help of the community in improving schools for all concerned. If
administrators allow personal relationships or ambition to dictate their
decisions, the school environment will become one of distrust. This lack of
unity and teamwork will result in low student achievement.
Leadership
Problems in educational administration stem from lack of leadership. School
administration officials are usually former teachers or principals who have
worked hard to qualify for their positions and have many years of experience.
But experience does not necessarily qualify one to be a leader. Educational
administrators must adhere to policies, even if they do not personally agree
with them. If exceptions are made, they are done so with the stated purpose of
serving a higher good. Good leaders compromise without sacrificing the
integrity of the system.
The educational system will not function effectively with weak school
administration. Effective administration begins with leaders who know how to
motivate teachers and students. Good administrators also kn ow how to enlist
the help of the community in improving schools for all concerned. If
administrators allow personal relationships or ambition to dictate their
decisions, the school environment will become one of distrust. This lack of
unity and teamwork will result in low student achievement.
Communication
Confusion results when administrators do not have regular and open lines of
communication with their teaching staff or with their superiors. Because of
overwhelming responsibilities, principals tend to be come less accessible,
which leads to less face-to-face interaction, which is important for the teachers
and students. Instead, issues usually are addressed in general meetings
because of time constraints. Faculty tend to perceive that they are being
preached at, instead of involved with meaningful discourse. This method if not
effective with students in the classroom; administrators cannot expect that it
will work with their staff.
The educational system will not function effectively with weak school
administration. Effective administration begins with leaders who know how to
motivate teachers and students. Good administrators also know how to enlist
the help of the community in improving schools for all concerned. If
administrators allow personal relationships or ambition to dictate their
decisions, the school environment will become one of distrust. This lack of
unity and teamwork will result in low student achievement.
Partiality
A major problem can occur in schools when certain teachers, parents or
community leaders are shown favoritism based on their degree of influence or
relationships with administrators. Many times, this bias is not intentional; it is
easier to placate rather than spend a lot of time in a battle of the wills with
someone who is known to be vocal about his discontent or who threatens to
call district and state education leaders. An effective administrator will make
decisions based upon what is deemed to be best for the student and will stand
firm in her position as advocate for children.
The educational system will not function effectively with weak school
administration. Effective administration begins with leaders who know how to
motivate teachers and students. Good administrators also know how to enlist
the help of the community in improving schools for all concerned. If
administrators allow personal relationships or ambition to dictate their
decisions, the school environment will become one of distrust. This lack of
unity and teamwork will result in low student achievement.
Politics
In schools that have elected leaders and school boards, competition and fierce
ambition can cause a problem when these concerns override the main purpose
of education. Principals who prefer one candidate over another may try to
persuade teachers to be like-minded. Some candidates may use low test
scores and high drop out rates as weapons to force current leaders out of their
positions, thereby casting the district into a negative light. If communities do
not see their educational leaders as people of integr ity, the motivation to
participate in school improvement projects is diminished, thereby negatively
affecting the future of their children's education.
Time Demands
Team teaching demands more time and energy from faculty. In addition to their
own individual preparation time, teachers need to schedule time to plan for the
team. Mutually convenient times must be found for discussing and evaluating
students. Re-conceptualizing courses to integrate the team -teaching method is
also complex and time consuming.
Interdisciplinary team-teaching is an educational strategy in which two or more
teachers from multiple disciplines work together on curriculum design,
classroom instruction and student evaluation. The team can be assigned to
work together for a year or more. Although it is a familiar and practiced
strategy at all levels of the school curriculum, there is some disagreement
about whether interdisciplinary team teaching is the best approach for effective
curriculum delivery.
Personality Issues
When teachers are placed on interdisciplinary teams with teachers they don't
like, there can be personality issues. This is especially true if they have just
been on a strong, high functioning team for a number of years, and the
principal decides to reconfigure the teams. S ome teachers have rigid
personalities and want to stick to a single method of teaching. Others feel
threatened by the skills of other teachers, don't want to share their teaching
secrets, or fear they will be paid the same salary for more work.
Interdisciplinary team-teaching is an educational strategy in which two or more
teachers from multiple disciplines work together on curriculum design,
classroom instruction and student evaluation. The team can be assigned to
work together for a year or more. Although it is a familiar and practiced
strategy at all levels of the school curriculum, there is some disagreement
about whether interdisciplinary team teaching is the best approach for effective
curriculum delivery.
Relationship Among Co-Leaders
Elements of distrust, unhealthy competition and over-dependence on one of
the co-leaders may lead to disagreements and the organization’s inefficient
administration. The situation can pressure the entity’s members to take sides
depending on whom they think is a better leader; this could worsen the
competition among co-leaders, leading to splinter groups.
Co-leadership involves shared equal power between two or more individuals to
improve management aspects including accountability, transparency,
commitment and smooth transition of power from one administration to
another. Co-leadership applies in running countries and small - or large-scale
businesses and organizations. Effective adoption of co -leadership requires
understanding the disadvantages this management style pre sents.
Lack of Accountability
Lack of accountability arises when leaders act to cover their parts of
administrative duties rather than look at the administrative unit’s overall
results. This weakens joint accountability that co -leadership aspires to achieve
and creates gaps through which mismanagement of funds can occur. Projects
that require joint inspection can receive reduced attention -- undermining the
organization’s output.
Co-leadership involves shared equal power between two or more individual s to
improve management aspects including accountability, transparency,
commitment and smooth transition of power from one administration to
another. Co-leadership applies in running countries and small - or large-scale
businesses and organizations. Effective adoption of co-leadership requires
understanding the disadvantages this management style presents.
Administrative Leadership
Administrative leadership is often focused on authority and task completion.
Administrative leadership is a leadership style tha t focuses on accountability,
bureaucracy management, and enforcing rules, procedural regulations and
administrative chores. (See Reference 1.) In this age of accountability, it is
easy to understand how an administrator might rely heavily on this leadershi p
style. School administrators are held accountable for the academic and
behavioral climate of the school and the impact that those concepts have on
the performance of the school as a whole.
The school administrator is the linchpin for success in the educa tional
environment. It is difficult to determine which leadership style or combination of
styles is most effective in education. Leadership styles and leadership theories
vary, intersect and overlap. The manifestation of a particular leadership style
and its effectiveness is often determined by the leadership qualities of the
leader, the type of organization, and/or the goal of the organization.
Transactional leadership, transformational leadership, shared leadership,
classical leadership and many others have been studied and defined to
develop a better understanding of effective leadership. (See Reference 4.)
Instructional Leadership
An instructional leader focuses on making instruction the best it can be.
Instructional leadership is manifested by a princip al whose actions are directed
at the ultimate goals of student growth, high expectations and academic
excellence. This type of leadership is focused on curriculum development and
alignment, monitoring and evaluating teachers and the allocation of resources
for optimal instruction. (See Reference 2.) The success of this type of
leadership is measured solely on the instructional growth and health of the
school.
The school administrator is the linchpin for success in the educational
environment. It is difficult to determine which leadership style or combination of
styles is most effective in education. Leadership styles and leadership theories
vary, intersect and overlap. The manifestation of a particular leadership style
and its effectiveness is often determined by the leadership qualities of the
leader, the type of organization, and/or the goal of the organization.
Transactional leadership, transformational leadership, shared leadership,
classical leadership and many others have been studied and defined to
develop a better understanding of effective leadership. (See Reference 4.)
Shared Leadership
In shared leadership, the group collaborates and proposes the path.
Shared leadership is an informal leadership style that is based on the
embodiment of ownership, learning and sharing and is sometimes aligned in
theory with "democratic" leadership. (See Reference 3.) The success of this
type of leadership hinges on the ability of the leader to establish a
cohesiveness among human resources personnel and to get them to accept
being a part of the leadership ring. The underlying theory is that the
collaborative leadership that uses all available human resources, engages
shared perspectives and solutions, and is more comprehensive is therefore
more effective.
The school administrator is the linchpin for success in the educational
environment. It is difficult to determine which leadership style or combination of
styles is most effective in education. Leadership styles and leadership theories
vary, intersect and overlap. The manifestation of a particular leadership style
and its effectiveness is often determined by the leadership qualities of the
leader, the type of organization, and/or the goal of the organization.
Transactional leadership, transformational leadership, shared leadership,
classical leadership and many others have been studied and defined to
develop a better understanding of effective leadership. (See Reference 4.)
Classical Leadership
The principal is the leader and everyone else follows.
In contrast to shared leadership, classical leadership is more formal and is
hierarchical in design. There exists a distinct division between leaders and
followers. (See Reference 3.) These leaders lead and expect others to follow.
They are goal-oriented, concern themselves with high productivity and focus on
engaging those in their charge to the organizational goal.