A Critical Report on Effective Educational Quality, Leadership and Management
Relating to the context of an International Secondary School
Introduction
The concept of quality, leadership and management has become an important
discussion in the field of education, particularly in the last half century. This report will
explore some of the theories relating to leadership and management by analysing
various models for effective practice. I will focus on certain leadership models;
managing change; strategic leadership; distributed leadership; among others. In my
discussion of leadership models I will target participative leadership as an example that
is applicable in my context. It also encompasses many of the themes relating to
teamwork, which will also be examined in this section. The concept of managing change
is a crucial area for leaders to navigate, therefore the discussion of a number of theories
and arguments related to this will be beneficial to my practice. Distributed Leadership is
a concept which has become very popular in more recent times, however, there are
clearly arguments for and against this model which are important to explore. I will
determine how DL works in my context and whether it succumbs to some of the pitfalls
critics such as Jacky Lumby have put forward. As I evaluate the various theories related
to these topics, I will attempt to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of my own
practice relating to quality, leadership and management and suggest areas in which it
can be improved within my context of being a leader in an international school in
Cambodia.
The Importance of Leadership and Management in Education
In order to evaluate how to practice effective leadership and management in education,
it is necessary to clarify what these terms mean and how they can be understood within
the educational context. Bush (2008) indicates that while in management there is ‘a
clear link between aims, strategy and operational management’, leadership is more
concerned with influence and the direct relationship to people. This definition points to a
clear distinction between the two, however, they are also overlapping. Kotter (2013)
reveals that a common mistake is to use the terms interchangeably without valuing the
‘crucial difference between the two and the vital functions that each role plays.’
‘Leadership and management are not separate… It's not a case of, “You are either a
manager or a leader”’ (Scouller, 2011). Donovan (2020) points out that an ideal situation
might be where leaders and managers are separate people with clearly defined roles.
However, particularly in the educational sphere, they are often one in the same person
with expectations to both lead and manage. This becomes harder to navigate,
particularly if the individuals do not have an equal ability for both functions. This aligns
with Maxwell’s (2013) ‘5 Levels of Leadership’, where he claims that the first stage of
becoming a leader is purely positional. You may have a certain degree of authority just
because you have been given a position (such as manager or leader), but you cannot
successfully emerge into an effective leader by staying in that first stage, you must
progress onto the relational side of leadership, which involves a more person-centred
approach, in order to reach the next levels. Duigan and Cannon (2011) also point out
that, along with people oriented skills, educational leaders must ‘be knowledgeable and
skilled in curriculum, pedagogy, developmental psychology, assessment for learning and
accountability’. Educational leaders must have skills in the sense that any leader,
regardless of occupation, should have, yet there are a whole host of ‘extra’ qualities and
skills that come with being a leader in the education environment.
From personal experience of recently being assigned Head of Secondary at my school,
I am still learning the delicate balance of developing both management and leadership
skills without losing one in favour of the other. In a role that is relatively new to a
developing school (I am the first Head of Secondary), I have had the opportunity to
observe various leaders in other departments of my organisation and have been able to
observe those who combine the leadership and management skills successfully, and
those who are almost purely ‘managers’, with few people skills and very little direction in
terms of goal-setting. Fortunately, the Director of Education, who mentors me, is far
more balanced with a lot of experience in both leadership and management roles. From
her, I have a good example of how one individual can successfully manage operations
whilst still having the vision and mission at the centre of their role. In order to keep
developing as a leader, I know my next steps are raising some of the more capable
teachers to some leadership roles and being able to designate some of the daily
management tasks to others.
Leadership Models
When examining leadership models, it is important to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of each, rather than immediately suggesting that some should be
universally adopted whilst others left alone. In the table below Bush (2008) lists nine
leadership models that he has categorised:
Table 1: Leadership Models (Bush, 2003, cited in Bush 2008)
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As Fidler (2002) points out, the idea that any particular approach should be applied to
all situations and contexts should be resisted. Often models like transformational are
seen as the ‘ideal’ leadership style as it involves strong vision and drive from a
charismatic leader. However, in order for leadership to be truly effective it must ‘exhibit
many actions in different styles on different occasions.’ (Fidler, 2002).
The participative leadership model has a strong influence within the leadership
framework of my school. It involves the teaching team having an active role in
decision-making alongside the leader and therefore increases participation in the
decision making process. Bass and Bass (2008) suggest that by creating the conditions
where the subordinates observe how each member feels about a situation, the
resistance to change will be reduced. Sergiovanni (cited in Bush, 2008) points out that it
helps to ‘bond’ staff and thus takes the pressure off the principal as the sole
decision-maker. While this leadership model seems largely positive, there are potential
problems. Hickman (2020) gives the example that participative leadership failed in a
particular situation in her context, since ‘we as teachers knew that the school had
already bought the package and just wanted us to ‘feel’ like we were part of the decision
process.’ Evidently masking the decision-making process with an illusion of participation
renders it ineffective. Bush (2008) also suggests that a possible downside is that
decisions take longer to be made through the need to reach consensus and agreement
among the team. It may also prove more challenging for the leader who inevitably is the
one who must be accountable for the decisions made by the team.
Within my school, there is a strong emphasis on the necessity of teamwork and
collaboration in all spheres of school: for students, teachers and leaders. In my opinion,
the positives of this far outweigh the negatives. Certainly collaborating and including a
wider sphere in the decision-making process takes more time and effort. However, it is a
worthwhile process as it increases involvement throughout the teaching staff and
encourages engagement and motivation. As one of my first actions as Head of
Secondary, I immediately started up a student council which involves representatives
from all the year groups as well as a number of teachers. I have been actively involved
in it this year to get it started, but the aim is to build up leadership in all levels of the
school in order to engage more participation from students and staff in decisions
regarding the secondary school. Similarly, having a group of senior leaders in the school
means there is an element of shared responsibility and accountability which takes the
onus away from one particular person. I believe that because the staff in my
organisation are largely supportive of the overall mission and vision of the school, it
allows for a great deal of participation among those who do not have leadership titles.
Managing Change
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Managing change is a crucial role for a leader in any organisation. Fisher (2005) notes
that reflection on the past, as well as the present and future, is an essential stage of
understanding change and managing it. It is not just about recognising where the
organisation is going, but understanding the impact on those involved in the process.
‘For an organisation to change, individuals within that organisation must change.’
(Fisher, 2005) The diagram below demonstrates how this multi-faceted approach to
managing change can be most successful:
Figure 1: The change time framework (Fisher, 2005)
Without taking into account both the past failures and successes and only focusing on
the need for future change, leaders fail to recognise the majority of cases where ‘good
work has been carried out under the old processes or the psychological commitment
(emotional investment) that employees may have to past practices.’ (Fisher 2005). As
well as taking into account the past, it is necessary to have a clear direction. Kotter
(2012), identifies that a ‘good vision acknowledges that sacrifices will be necessary but
makes clear that these sacrifices will yield particular benefits and personal satisfaction
that are far superior to those available today’.
Gardner (2006) demonstrates that creating change first requires a change in mind-set
which is unlikely to come about through simply giving an announcement or single
presentation on an issue. Rather, by presenting a problem in various ways over a period
of time and inviting teams to problem solve, there is likely to be far less resistance to the
change as more involvement and time-investment has been taken. An example from my
context which supports this idea, was when project-based learning was introduced to
new members of the teaching staff. The initial training days helped with the basic
concepts, but in viewing the first lesson plans of these teachers, it was clear that they
were uncertain how to follow through and create successful projects. Therefore, I
decided that having a number of weekly PLC sessions aiming to develop and share
ideas with PBL as a particular focus would help it become more ingrained and change
certain mindsets. By presenting it as a problem that needed to be solved over a period
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of time really helped change the views of teachers towards PBL and went a good
distance in developing more of a culture of collaboration as the year went on.
In general, I would say the staff in my school are aware they need to have a certain
amount of flexibility in order to thrive and deal with the changes that growth and
progress produce. One of the biggest challenges as a leader is trying to guide teachers
who come from different cultural, educational and teaching backgrounds into the 21st
century style of teaching and learning that my school is committed to. Those who are
able to adapt in order to move forward, generally enjoy the environment of growth and
change within the school. Those who struggle with this and who are reluctant to
cooperate with feedback, will tend to have a more short-lived duration. Lamb (2020a)
suggests that in an environment where leaders and managers encourage clear and
transparent communication, the efforts of the disaffected few are less likely to succeed
because the majority of staff are more likely to respond positively to this approach. I
would agree with this view, as in my experience those who do react with negativity are
generally outnumbered by staff who are supportive, as long as the communication has
been clear and open from the outset.
Strategic Management
It is essential for leaders to have in mind a vision and strategy for their organisation as it
is almost impossible to make progress and develop without this in place. ‘Strategy
identifies new opportunities and is central to an organization's goals.’ (Fidler, 2002).
Davies and Davies (2005) provide 5 characteristics of a strategic leader which include
direction setting; translating strategy into action; aligning the people and the
organisation to the strategy; determining effective intervention points and developing
strategic capabilities. Beare, Caldwell and Millikan (1989) claim that “outstanding
leaders have a vision of their schools – a mental picture of a preferred future – which is
shared with all in the school community”. However, while it is crucial to use the vision to
develop a sense of direction, leaders should be wary of allowing it to cause uniformity of
thinking, deterring healthy debate and imposing values on others (Lamb, 2020b). The
key, then, is creating strategy and vision with others and not just imposing it.
Within my organisation I can see that the vision and mission guides the overall strategy
management in positive forms. I would agree with Al-Balushi (2020) who suggests that
vision statements are often idealistic within an externally controlled set of parameters,
but give the strategic direction in which the organisation is intending to follow. As an
International school in Cambodia that is run by an NGO based in the USA, we are
relatively free to develop a vision and mission that is in line with the NGOs aims, rather
than what the government of either country decrees. The mission of my school is linked
to the organisation’s wider mission, ‘to provide quality, bilingual Christian education for
Cambodian children.’ Certainly there is a level of idealism in this vision, yet it has a clear
direction that all strategy management can be guided by. Overall, I would say the
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strategy management is generally appropriately linked to this vision and that leaders
and staff are very aware of the long-term goals of the school.
Distributed Leadership
Distributed leadership is a widely debated concept with largely vague definitions and a
range of views as to what it actually entails. DL makes a shift from the traditional vertical
hierarchical styles into a more horizontal shared notion of leadership. It rejects the
models of instructional leadership that focus on the Principal as the center of
knowledge, expertise, power and authority (Hallinger, 2003). Instead it promotes
leadership ‘as a product of the interactions of school leaders, followers, and their
situation’ rather than ‘as a product of a leader’s knowledge and skill’ (Spillane, 2006).
Harris (2013) asserts that distributed leadership implies actively brokering, facilitating
and supporting the leadership of others. However, it does not necessarily mean that
everyone leads or that everyone is a leader. Bennett et al (2003) point out that the
nature of DL suggests an openness of the boundaries of leadership, the widening of the
leadership net. However, this then raises the question, regarding which individuals and
groups are to be brought into leadership or seen as contributors to it. DL does not give
these parameters, therefore it is something each organisation must decide for itself.
Lumby (2013) points out that distributed leadership was ‘offered as a heuristic tool, not
a type of or prescription for practice.’ The issue arose when it was asserted that DL was
the recommended form of practice. Lumby (2013) argues that DL literature is littered
with contradictions. While it rejects ‘previous heroic, hierarchical models of leadership’,
it still acknowledges the necessity and value of this style of leadership. Lumby is also
largely concerned with the concept that DL is idealised as inclusive and yet the same
power struggles apply. Vella (2020) points out that ‘for authentic distributed leadership
to flourish, the formal leaders in an organisation need to set the right conditions for it to
manifest, namely by valuing skills such as empathy and trust in a bid to build lasting
relationships where individuals can connect and collaborate.’ Although this seems to be
the intention of DL, and is certainly a noble one, it is easy to see how this notion may fail
when the reality comes into practice. Martin and Collinson (cited in Lumby, 2013) point
out that by idealising DL, schools appear to be staffed by 'the gender-free, race-free,
ageless, sexless, and un-embodied mythical “empty slot” worker'. It removes the
political aspect of leadership, which cannot be removed from reality.
While I appreciate the criticisms of DL, I also see the value of it. It may be true, as
Lumby (2013) argues, that this leadership style only allows those of a similar viewpoint
into a participative leadership sphere. However, this does not necessarily have to be a
negative. If the school has a particular mission and vision, surely it is wise to be more
inclusive towards those who have expressed the desire to support this vision, rather
than allowing everyone the equal opportunity to have leadership opportunities. In my
particular situation, it is clear that the Senior leaders use DL styles of leadership but are
also selective with those they appoint as leaders and those who are encouraged into
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the more leadership-orientated roles. As Principal, I am aware of the staff whom I know
can offer fair critique but are still supportive of the overall mission of the school and
have that as their central goal. Whereas those who I know to be generally critical
towards the organisation and will regularly oppose decisions because it does not fit in
with their particular views, I am less likely to distribute leadership responsibilities to. This
perhaps demonstrates a middle-ground between the more traditional vertical hierarchy
with horizontal distributed leadership.
Quality
West-Burnham and Davies (1994) claim that in education, ‘quality is holistic; stresses
values, the customer, and continuous improvement; and uses a range of techniques for
evaluation.’ They point out that parents, as the consumers make choices about the
perception of what they are ‘buying’ in terms of deciding what school to send their
children to. The way that parents perceive the quality of the school and education
provided depends on the overt and covert performance indicators. (West-Burnham and
Davies, 1994) This is especially applicable to the International school sector, where
parents are choosing to pay for education and must make the decisions about the
quality of education in each school in light of the expenses involved. Murgatroyd (1993)
claims that because schools are being asked to achieve higher standards of
performance for their students, there is a growing need for visionary leaders who can
enable their staff and customers to define the possibilities for what schooling can be and
help them achieve what is possible. This links in with what West-Burnham and Davies
(1994) demonstrate regarding the broader principles of initiating quality in education and
how they fall into specific areas of activity, which include: mission; leadership; customer
focus, quality assurance.
In an international school context, I have certainly found that there must be an emphasis
on quality of education which also compares to competing schools in the area. To
ensure we have enough ‘customers’, the school must be perceived as a quality institute
from the outside, as well as having the internal focus of quality which is embedded in
our mission and vision. There is certainly the need to keep parents happy by
encouraging and developing greater communication. My school regularly updates a
facebook page which many parents check on a regular basis as well as maintaining
regular weekly communications via a newsletter. The leadership quality is perhaps more
varied. There are excellent leaders in my school, however, there is quite a mix between
a more ‘managerial’ type leader and two very new leaders (myself included!) which will
inevitably need to change and develop to increase overall quality. The ‘managerial’
leader is in her last year currently, which should pave the way for new leadership
opportunities. Whilst the new leaders are gaining more experience and hopefully
improving in leadership quality as time goes by. It is sometimes a struggle to meet the
desired level of quality in terms of teaching practice and student attainment as there are
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numerous factors involved which relate strongly to the individuals in question.
Developing and raising up middle leaders will help this considerably.
Equitable Leadership
Equitable leadership is sometimes an issue that is relatively overlooked in the grand
picture of effective leadership and management. However, it is certainly something that
schools as organisations need to have as a focus and ensure they are promoting ethical
standards as an example to the wider community. Robinson Hickman (2010) claims
‘The challenges involved in establishing values in an organization are intricately related
to ethics.... Ethics... compel leaders and participants to take into account the impact of
their actions in relation to others.’ (Robinson Hickman, 2010). Similarly, Sergiovanni
(1998) points out that, ‘The source of authority for leadership is found neither in
bureaucratic rules and procedures nor in personalities and styles of leaders but in
shared values, ideas and commitments.’
A particular recent issue in which ethics has needed to be considered in a variety of
ways is with the current outbreak of COVID-19. Similar to Smith’s (2020) situation,
where her school is providing some staff well-being sessions as well attempting to meet
the needs of as many students as possible, my school has had a number of ethical
decisions to be made. The school has made it a priority to keep providing full pay for
staff throughout the period of school closures, as without this many would suffer. A high
proportion of the staff are local Khmer workers who need their pay in order to survive.
The students must, therefore, still be provided with a high quality online education to
ensure that parents do not withdraw fees. A number of parents have requested
discounts because many of them have had pay cuts and some are now unemployed. As
leaders, we are still in the process of deciding if discounts can be afforded and what this
might look like to ensure we protect our staff but also try to assist and protect students
and their families in this difficult time. There is inevitably no easy solution, but we are
continually reviewing the situation and making decisions based on ethics but also
keeping in mind the long term goals and future of the school.
Conclusion
To conclude, through analysis of various theories related to quality, leadership and
management I have deepened my knowledge and understanding of what it means to be
an educational leader. Through applying specific theories and models to my own
practice and that of leadership within my organisation, I am able to assess which areas
are in alignment with what I perceive to be quality leadership, and which areas still
require improvement. The potential for further development seems almost limitless in
these areas, and yet I can observe that in many ways my school’s leadership is run and
directed in a way that is largely effective and does take into account many of the issues
relating to leadership. For my own personal leadership, I am able to assess the areas in
which I can realistically make rapid improvements and those which require longer term
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goals and greater experience as I continue in my journey as an educational leader and
manager.
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