Introduction
Good leadership in schools is mainly the practice of encouraging and enabling school-wide teaching expertise to achieve a substantial rate of progress for all learners. The practice of positive leadership can be driven by executive staff, principals, and teachers in traditional. It’s critical for academic staff and aspiring leaders in the field of education to comprehend what constitutes effective school leadership and how it can lead to long-lasting change. School leaders are under considerable pressure to demonstrate the contribution of their work to school improvement, which has resulted in the creation of a wide range of literature that addresses leadership in the context of school improvement (Louis and Murphy, 2018). Leadership in schools is faced with multiple challenges, such as ensuring consistently high-quality instruction and learning, incorporating a firm grasp of fundamental concepts and abilities into a broad and balanced curriculum, overseeing conduct and attendance, managing resources and the environment strategically, establishing the school as a professional learning community and creating partnerships outside the school to promote parental support for education and new learning opportunities. In the work of Louis and murphy regarding the theory of positive school leadership, their main focus was on creating a theory that resonates with the complex position of contemporary school administrators (Louis and Murphy, 2018). This paper will focus on the positive potential of leadership for school improvement.
School as an organization
A school is an organization where development and training take place, and it can be viewed as an organization since it encompasses a structure of overlapping systems. The systems include students who are concerned with development and learning, teachers whose primary focus is upholding and ensuring professional standards are held in a lie with practical teaching, parents whose primary concern is linking the schools with the child and the body of administration, which is concerned with the management of all school systems such as external relations ad security (Murphy et al., 2017). As a set of systems, the school as an organization operates mainly under leadership which is primarily reflected in school improvement. The potential for positive leadership for school improvement is flourishing from an organizational standpoint that holds that achieving learners’ well-being can only be achieved if adults through school leadership are experienced (Cherkowski et al., 2020). In addition to interactions with students in the classroom, teachers’ well-being experiences are anchored in their work teams, their involvement with learners, and their relationships with formal leaders. The collaborative effort between learners, leadership, and the community is impacted the school outcome (Klinge, 2015). Based on positive school leadership, therefore, improvement is made where there is collaborative school management.
Positive leadership in practice
Effective school administrators use their knowledge of education and management abilities to direct their and the teaching staff’s efforts toward raising the standard of student learning outcomes. This is in line with keeping abreast of the most recent developments in educational technology and trends. As leaders interact with students, employees, parents, and other communities to get ongoing feedback and identify chances for innovation, it also calls for excellent interpersonal skills. School administrators should therefore have a firm grasp of operational best practices and the ability to foster ongoing improvement. A good leader would always try to innovate in the field of education, staying abreast of the most recent advancements while also getting input from the faculty and students (Southern Cross University, 2019). School administrators must support the ongoing professional growth of their teaching staff so that contemporary business practices inform instruction. Positive Leadership promotes cooperation and collaborations with other educational institutions in addition to their own, as this will have more significant effects on the educational system (Brown, 2004). There is increasing evidence that within each school, school leaders can contribute to improved student learning by shaping the conditions and climate in which teaching and learning occur (Cherkowski et al., 2020). Education reform involves the leadership of the schools heavily. Much has been written about the differences between top-down and bottom-up approaches to school reform, and it is generally agreed that the two must be blended and coordinated. At the same time, higher educational levels frequently offer policy recommendations for Success in schools depending on school leaders’ intentions and deeds.
Positive leadership as a catalyst for school improvement
Principals play a significant influence in shaping a school’s culture as the front-line leaders in educational institutions. The culture that school leaders create has the potential to help or hinder student learning and staff achievement in teaching. A school’s culture is a concoction of the institution’s norms, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and traditions; culture emerges through interaction and teamwork. Every school has a culture that its constituents function under. Whether the culture is toxic, apathetic, or growth-oriented can be inferred from the leadership style of the institution. A critical factor in determining whether a school has a favorable or adverse culture is the degree of staff collaboration (Bettini et al.,2016). Schools that encourage higher behavioral and academic standards typically include staff members who work well together. To foster a culture of collaboration that enhances teaching and learning, several principals have created professional learning communities (PLCs) (DuFour & Mattos, 2013). Teachers collaborating with other subject matter experts are more likely to increase their efficacy. For school improvement, therefore, Effective leaders provide a clear vision and sense of direction for the school. They prioritize and focus the staff’s attention on what is essential and keep them from getting diverted and sidetracked with initiatives that will have little impact on the students’ work. Leadership that is more involved in school improvement always ensures the quality of teaching ad for student achievement. This implies strategizing on high expectations and monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of learning outcomes.
Conclusion
The demand for leadership distribution, both inside and across schools, is driven by school leadership’s rising responsibility and accountability (Beatriz et al., 2008). School boards have a lot of additional responsibilities. Although practitioners consider middle-management roles essential for good school leadership, these practices are uncommon and frequently ambiguous, and those participating are not usually given credit for their work. The definition of school leadership needs to be expanded, and policies and working circumstances need to be changed to reflect positive school leadership. This is because school leadership does not function in rigid learning contexts. The expectations of schools and school leaders have drastically changed as learning institutions try to modify their educational systems to meet the demands of modern society. Many nations have increased school autonomy in decision-making while centralizing standards and accountability demands and requiring schools to embrace cutting-edge, research-based teaching and learning strategies. A high-quality educational environment for students and staff is fostered in schools by effective leadership. This can be accomplished by leaders in schools at all levels by acquiring the critical competencies required by school leaders.
References
Beatriz, P., Deborah, N., & Hunter, M. (2008). Improving school leadership, volume 1 policy and practice: Policy and practice (Vol. 1). OECD publishing.
Bettini, E. A., Crockett, J. B., Brownell, M. T., & Merrill, K. L. (2016). Relationships between working conditions and special educators’ instruction. The Journal of Special Education, 50(3), 178-190.
Brown, R. (2004). School culture and organization: Lessons from research and experience. A background paper for the Denver Commission on Secondary School Reform.
Cherkowski, S., Kutsyuruba, B., & Walker, K. (2020). Positive leadership: animating purpose, presence, passion, and play for flourishing in schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 58(4), 401-415.
DuFour, R., & Mattos, M. (2016). How do principals improve schools? Educational Leadership, 70(7), 34-40.
Klinge, C. M. (2015). A conceptual framework for mentoring in a learning organization. Adult learning, 26(4), 160-166.
Louis, K. S., & Murphy, J. F. (2018). The potential of positive leadership for school improvement: A cross-disciplinary synthesis. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE), 2(2-3), 165-180.
Murphy, J., Louis, K. S., & Smylie, M. (2017). Positive school leadership: How the professional standards for educational leaders can be brought to life. Phi Delta Kappan, 99(1), 21-24.
Southern Cross University. (2019, June 25). What is good leadership in schools? eSchool News. https://www.eschoolnews.com/ancillary/2019/06/25/what-is-good-leadership-in-schools/
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