Transactional versus Transformational Leadership
...aims of education—not simply education in the abstract, but education for the youngsters in your school system. 2. Major achievements of students this year. Bring these aims down to more specific application; identify the major achievements of students by the end of the year (e.g., mastery of some academic skills up to a certain level; the acquisition of certain basic principles that would govern behavior; more personal achievements, such as increased self-awareness or self-confidence, or trust and openness). 3. The social significance of the student’s learning. Some teachers emphasize vocational learning, or the utilization of learning for good citizenship, or the acquisition of a particular cultural heritage. 4. The image of the learner. This element tries to uncover attitudes or assumptions about how one learns. Is the learner an empty vessel into which one pours information? Some may view the learner in a uniform way—as though all learners are basically the same and will respond equally to a uniform pedagogy. Some may use “faculty” psychology to explain how students learn. Some will focus on operant conditioning; others on targeting instruction to the cognitive developmental stages of concrete operations. Still others will differentiate among various styles and dispositions for learning that point to a greater emphasis on individualization of learning. Obviously, we are emphasizing here the active engagement of the learner in the production and performance of knowledge. 5. The image of the curriculum. This element touches upon attitudes about what the student learns. Some say that the most important learnings are those most immediately useful in “real” life. Others say that any kind of learning is intrinsically valuable. Others qualify the latter position and consider some learnings, such as the humanities, to be intrinsically more valuable because they touch upon more central areas of our culture. Others would claim that the learning of subjects has value only insofar as it categorizes people of different abilities and interests and channels them in socially productive directions. Here we emphasize the curriculum-as-learned and performed. 6. The image of the teacher. What is a teacher? Is a teacher an employee of the state, following the educational policies and practices dictated by the local, state, and federal government? Or is a teacher a professional specialist whom a community employs to exercise his or her expertise on behalf of youngsters? Or is a teacher a spokesperson for tradition, passing on the riches of the culture? Or is a teacher a political engineer, leading youngsters to develop these skills necessary to reform their society? Here we emphasize the teacher’s role as facilitator and guide of student learning. 7. The preferred pedagogy. Will the teacher dominate the learning experience? Some assume that inquiry learning is the best way to teach. Others assume that each discipline lends itself better to some forms of pedagogy that others. Some would opt for much more student-initiated learning, while others favor group projects. Although there may be some reluctance to focus on one pedagogical approach to the exclusion of all others, teachers tend to settle on two or three as the more effective approaches. 8. The preferred school climate. This element brings various environmental considerations into play, such as the affective tone to schoolwide and classroom discipline, feelings of student pride in the school, faculty morale, the openness of the school community to divergent lifestyles, expressive learnings, and individualistic ways of thinking and behaving. Some would describe an environment reflective of a learning community; open, caring, inquisitive, flexible, collaborative. Some would opt for order and predictability. Others would prefer a more relaxed climate, perhaps more boisterous but also more creative and spontaneous. This element is very much related to what is valued in the curriculum and to the social consequences of learning. 9. The purpose or goal of supervision. Some would answer from a neoscientific orientation. Others would speak from a human relations perspective. Some would tend to stress the moral activity of teacher empowerment and enriched student learning. 10. The preferred process of supervision. Some would express a preference for the clinical supervision approach. Others would prefer a more eclectic process that responds to the contingencies of the situation. Others would stress the development of teacher leadership in service of the restructuring agenda. Douglas McGregor, Warren Bennis (revisionists) Theory X Theory Y 1) Average people are indolent by 1) Management is responsible for organizing nature—they work as little as the elements of productive enterprise— little as possible money, materials, equipment, people in the interest of educational ends 2) Lack ambition dislike 2) People are not by nature passive or responsibility, prefer to be led resistant to organizational needs. They have become so as a result of experience in organizations 3) Inherently self-centered, 3) Motivation, potential for development, indifferent to organizational needs capacity for assuming responsibility, readiness to direct behaviors toward organizational goals are all present in people 4) Resistant to change 4) Essential task of management is to arrange organizational conditions and method of operation so that people can achieve their own goals best 5) Gullible, not very bright Fiedler’s Contingency Model (contingency—“it depends”) Relationship—oriented—concerned with people Task-oriented—motivated by task accomplishment 1) Leader-member relations 2) Task structure 3) Position power Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Physiological---adequate heat, air, and base salary to ensure survival Safety------------fringe benefits, job security Belongingness—good relations with coworkers, participation in a work team, and a positive relationship with supervisors Esteem------------increase in responsibility, high status, and credit for contributions to the organization Self-Actualization empowered and creative, acquire training for challenging assignments and advancement Five Types of Leader Power French and Raven Legitimate power – granted from a formal position in an organization Reward power – use rewards to influence subordinates behavior Coercive power – power to punish or recommend punishment, opposite of reward power Expert power – when a leader is a true expert, subordinates go along with recommendations because of his or her superior knowledge Referent power – charisma, depends on leaders’ personal characteristics THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIZATION PLATFORM 1. The primary aim of education is to enable the individual to function in society. Assuming a democratic society, the school should promote not only those qualities necessary for survival (employment, getting along with people, managing one’s financial affairs, being a responsible family person, etc.) but also those qualities necessary for a healthy democratic society (political involvement that seeks the common good, willingness to displace self-interest for a higher purpose, skills at community building and conflict resolution, an understanding of how the political process works and how to influence public policy, etc. 2. The school should intentionally arrange itself so that learning takes place primarily in a community context. Students should be taught to collaborate on learning tasks rather than compete with one another. Team projects, peer tutoring, group rewards, and discussion of community problems should have priority even while encouraging the development of individual talents. Individual talents however should be prized more for what they contribute to the community than for the exclusive enrichment of the individual. 3. Learning is best nurtured in a community context. Language skills are developed by regular and varied group group and communication. A sense of history and culture is nurtured by a focus on the group’s history and culture. Psychological needs such as self-esteem and assertiveness are best met through active involvement in the community. Acceptance of differences and the development of individuality are negotiated best when there is a sense of community. Values, laws, and social customs are best taught within the context of the community. 4. The educator stands within the learning community and yet holds a special place of authority. The educator facilitates and directs the learning tasks of the younger members of the community but allows the agenda of community dynamics to intrude on the more academic tasks when the need arises. 5. Teachers and students function best when they work in relatively small, relatively self-contained, relatively autonomous learning communities. Hence those schools with large enrollments should be broken down into manageable learning communities that allow for closer and more continuous contact between a team of teachers and their students. 6. The curriculum should be controlled by a set of schoolwide learning outcomes for each year, but the learning community should have considerable autonomy in the ways it achieves these outcomes. The teams of teachers should be accountable for promoting required learnings but should be allowed to devise the particular learning activities that best...