Saturday, December 15, 2012

The Importance Of School Leadership Standards

By Celia Hall


Taking a leadership role in education today involves a commitment to helping students become mature, successful adults. School leadership standards are required to be at a certain level in order for this to take place. The importance of leaders with a high level of personal and organizational performance should not be underestimated.

Teaching and learning is the most important reason for the existence of an educational establishment. A leader must inspire all the role players involved. A vision is needed for what can be accomplished if a culture of learning exists. This vision must be shared and supported by everyone from teachers to parents and the wider community in order to succeed.

It is worthless to promote a vision without having the instructional program to back it up. The leader needs to demand high standards of instruction and content to ensure that students can reach their full potential. Teachers should be encouraged to expect the most from themselves and their students. Effective collaboration between all members of staff needs to exist.

Students cannot learn if the environment they are in is not conducive to this. They need to feel safe and confident in their surroundings. For this to happen, proper management of individuals and resources must take place. Good leaders know how to delegate and expect those given tasks to perform them to the best of their ability. They also use technology where possible to improve efficiency.

An educational leader needs to set an example with regard to morals and ethics. Fairness and integrity must be encouraged. Individuals must learn to respect one another in order to create the right environment for learning. There should be no room for bullying, prejudice and other negative behavior. Appropriate disciplinary measures must be in place in order to deal with this.

Educational leaders must be able to respond to the larger political, economic, social, and cultural context which affects education. An understanding of this is needed to present students with the best opportunities possible for learning. The ability to understand emerging trends in education could affect the making of decisions.

The leader must see his institution as part of the wider community. This starts with seeing the parents as partners in the learning process and involving them as far as possible. Involving the wider community such as the media, social service organizations and businesses is critical to effective functioning. Financial, physical and other resources often come from this involvement.

To facilitate learning, a leader has to make certain decisions regarding change and improvement. To make these decisions, data must be collected which can be assessed in order to decide what changes need to be implemented. Progress is monitored once changes have been made to observe how effective they are.

Creating a shared vision which motivates and inspires students, staff and parents is not an easy task. It requires a leader with courage, conviction and perseverance. Focusing on continuous improvement in school leadership standards is essential as without good leaders, chances of producing successful students is limited.




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