Researching Educational Leadership - Assignment Example

Download file to see previous pages... The Falk article draws data from a dozen vocational education programs and training sites throughout Australia. The facilities are known as vocational education and training sites. (VET) the accumulated data is derived from a series of 44 written surveys including interview responses. Five focus groups were also included from the various facilities around Australia, resulting in a total of 64 respondents to the questionnaires. In essence the data paints a picture of a four stage cyclical process, a process of leadership interventions which is characteristic of greater effectiveness. The cyclical process culminates with a leadership style that is enabling for the teacher leader and of the achievements of professional associates. Every individual, including teaching professionals possess their own unique traits, strengths, and personal aptitudes. Among these personal abilities natural leadership qualities can and will emerge in virtually any professional setting. The Falk study identifies the necessary role of these individual capabilities, and their contribution to the classroom setting. But it also illustrates a higher-level process of leadership that exists within the organization and which is defined by the cyclical process of the leadership intervention cycle. The key issues involved in this particular study hinge upon a question of whether or not the organization will have better overall direction with many individuals that display leadership qualities, or whether a single over all leader/administrator has more of an influence upon the success of the organization. The collective skills of individual teachers according to the study, are not sufficient to explain the overall culture of enabling leadership. A healthy organization, in which leadership principles are nurtured and developed will accrue a form of social capital, this can be instrumental in easing management burdens as well as facilitating diplomacy within the organization. Within a school district, as with other hierarchies often there can be tensions between the demands for efficient leadership as it pertains to risk management, as well as the necessary drive towards innovation, as it pertains to superior efficiency, and the vigorous fulfillment of the organization's mission statement. Thus, an over arching mediator becomes the crucial link in the chain that connects the resources of leadership as they exist on the individual level, amongst teachers themselves. Within the healthy organization this is required to achieve a synergistic effect that provides leadership, and improves the quality of lower – tiered leadership for the institution. This of course, raises questions about the potential of leadership training. Additional professional development to facilitate training of the institution as a whole in some cases can provide more effective leadership for the organization from a top-down perspective, as well as strengthening leadership potential amongst individuals within the organization. The benchmark establishment of professional goals for the school or institution can assist in this process. Q2 Many researchers in this field will cite a community of inquiry model, as core to their theoretical framework (COI). This model comes in many shapes and sizes, with a considerable breadth of information therein. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More