Educational leadership and management is a collaborative process that involves influencing students, parents, and teachers’ thinking and behavior consistent with the set objectives of an education institute. It plays a critical role in learning.
Understanding educational leadership will guide you through critical perspectives and approaches throughout your life.
This article will seek to understand educational leadership. We shall look into:
- Role of education leaders
- Types of educational leadership
- Six educational leadership traits
In our institutions, educational leadership and management demand has never been so relevant and needed. Therefore those working in our educational institutions must learn more about education leadership and management.
Role of Educational Leaders
Table of Contents
- Guides and helps students fulfill their dreams, vision, and purpose.
- Development and implementation of school programs.
- Educators in leadership ensure overall success in all areas of their department.
Types of Educational Leadership
We do not have only one style of leadership in our educational institutions. Educational leadership styles vary. It is essential to understand them because different scenarios call for a different leadership approach. Here are three educational leadership styles.
Transformational Leadership
The transformational leadership approach inspires change in individuals, groups, and even social systems change. This model is change-oriented. Transformational leaders improve the team’s morale and align them with the vision of the educational institution. According to authors, Bass and Riggio, transformational leaders stimulate and inspire followers to achieve extraordinary outcomes and, in the process, develop their leadership capacity.
Through transformational leaders, students develop into leaders as they are more empowered to be proactive and aligned to the larger organization’s goals.
Responsible leadership
The responsible leadership model makes leaders willing to be held accountable for their actions. They can be called on to answer to the decisions made by the seniors and by all the stakeholders of the institution.
Distributed Leadership
This complex approach seeks to understand how leaders navigate among people working in any institution.
Six Key Leadership Traits
You must understand these six traits to be an excellent educational leader. As a good educator, one must observe the following;
Communicate
Educational leaders must embrace effective communication.
They should be able to relay information through all levels of management. For example, information such as the institution’s vision, mission, and strategic plan should be communicated effectively to all organizational stakeholders.
Communication will enable all stakeholders to buy into the principles and values of the organization. Also, with a clear and coherent informational transfer, a leader can overcome barriers that may result from any change.
Through good communication, the following is achieved:
- Improved engagement
- Align employees with strategic plans, mission, and objectives of an organization
- Builds trust, transparency, and coherence
Honesty and Integrity
As a leader, honesty and integrity are core characteristics that need to be upheld. People should strive to pursue educational leadership with institutions that align with these values. Good educational leaders drink what they preach. They follow their principles and accept when they make mistakes.
You may wonder how to build this important trait, and luckily, here is a few set tips that will help you.
- Be a good example to your followers.
- Always take responsibility for actions done- either right or wrong. You should always own up.
- Deliver your promise when offered
Attitude
As a leader, bring forth a positive attitude to your followers. Resilience and a positive mindset should be engaged when in leadership. Leaders drive others to succeed for their individual and organizational work satisfaction with the right attitude.
With the right educational leadership traits, one can build networks to help one achieve set goals.
Confidence
A confident leader inspires following and trust from subordinates. Self-confidence is usually a superpower. Confident people carry the aura, and their energy introduces them even before they utter any word. Through confidence, obstacles are navigated through and milestones set are met.
Be Ready to Learn, Unlearn and Relearn
A good leader should always be ready for new ideas. They should be readily able to do away with old information, ideas, methodologies, and tactics and adopt new concepts to advance their career growth.
In the 21st century, a good educational leader should adopt the art of learning, unlearning, and relearning, which is the epitome of human adaptability.
Take Away
Our educational institutions are foundational in our society: the institutions’ relevance and impact on our community call for efficient leadership and management. Therefore, we must keep learning, unlearning, and relearning to empower ourselves better.
