Effects of Leadership on Students Performance - Research Proposal Example

Effects of Leadership on Student’s Performance Name Course Instructor Institution City, State Date of Submission Table of Contents 1. Rationale…………………………………………………………………………………..3 2. Research Topic………………………………………………………………….…..……..3 3. Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………3 4. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..4 Research Aims Research Questions 5. Identification of previous research in the field……………………….…….…..…………5 a) Leadership Styles Experienced by Students b) How Leadership Affects Students in their performance c) How Should Leaders Conduct Themselves 6. Proposed research methodology, analysis and data presentation........................................7 7. Intended Outcomes………………………………………………………………………14 8. Advantages and Disadvantages of Teaching Leaders……………………………………15 9. Recommendations………………………………………………………………………..15 10. Bibliography...……………………………………….…………………………………..16 1. Rationale The subject of how leadership affects students has been arousing the interests of various groups, from the late ‘70s. As much as some groups believe that it may not disturb the school performance of students in any way, a huge number of academic explorers have come out to clash with them. Head teachers are not the only frontrunners that schools have. Normal teachers are leaders to students too. Teachers, being leaders, should understand if their style of leadership would affect students. This is because all teachers are fascinated by the performance of their students. If leadership will have a significant impact on students, then definitely, good leadership will help them improve in their school performance. This creates the need to conduct this study. By the end of this research, it will be possible to understand how leadership influences students, and how it can be used to mend their performance. 2. Research Topic According to Bezzina, a leader is anyone who has a follower. Leadership hence comes with influence. Any person who is in the position of influence, and exercises such level of influence is a leader. In school a leader is that person who has the authority to make influential decisions, and people abide by them (2008, p. 6). Leadership on students is one of the topics that have raised great debates in the educational fields. The topic started gaining popularity in the early 1970s’ although it was not given much attention (Goker, 2006, p. 187). In the modern days, this subject is being taken seriously, and many scholars are setting out to explore it in depth. Secondary sources will be useful in writing this topic. They are an important source of history, because they keep a record of what happened in the past (Bezzina, 2008, p. 159). This does not mean that other sources of information will not be considered. It will be important to, also consider all the available resources that hold useful information for the subject matter. Primary sources will also be used, although they will not give the bulk of the information required for this dissertation. 3. Abstract A brief, but concrete overview of the whole topic will be presented in this section. It will provide a short summary of all the work that is contained in the paper. Anyone who reads this part should be able to understand the purpose of this literature review, and what has been tackled inside. 4. Introduction The question of how leadership affects student’s performance is one that has put scholars from across the globe behind locked doors for hours (Goker, 2006, p.23). Different groups of researchers and academicians have spent long hours discussing this topic. To be able to answer this question, it is necessary to get the true and real meaning of the term “leadership.” Many people have come up with their own explanations and definitions of this word, depending on the subject matter of their discussion (Harris, 2007, p. 19). However, it will be right to get the base meaning of this word, in order to be able to answer this question effectively. The base meaning cannot be anything else, apart from that which has not been manipulated, and gives a clear and concise explanation. Research Aims The background of the ideas discussed above has left many questions unreciprocated. This vagueness can only be cleared through getting the right answers. This paper, hence aims to establish find out several things about leadership in relation to the performance of students. The following are the major research aims of this paper. a) To investigate the impact that leadership has on the school performance of students. b) To find out the forms of leadership that affect student’s performance. c) To investigate the extent to which leadership can affect a student’s performance d) To establish the aspects of leadership that have the highest influence on student’s performance Research questions. A good research must be guided by a narrow scope of questions (Goker, 2006, p. 189). As much as all research papers have an aim that drives the scholar, setting study questions gives the researcher a clear and specific guideline to work on. This paper will work on the basis of the following research questions: a) How does leadership influence the performance of students? b) What is the basis of successful leadership, and what should leaders do to rally student’s accomplishments? 5. Identification of previous research in the field Several scholars have conducted a research on this topic. However, the topic has not been fully explored. Barker is one of the people who have conducted an extensive research on this topic. In his paper, “The leadership Paradox (2007),” he talks about what leadership is and what it has that influences people. He then narrows down to the academic field, where he argues that student’s school results will always be a reflection of good or poor leadership at school. Harris Clarke is another scholar who has spent a lot of time researching and writing about the area of leadership in the school arena. Generally, a few scholars have covered this topic, and this means that materials for research will not be too hard to find. This literature will be divided into various topics to ensure that no stone is left unturned. All the important questions must be answered. The following topics will be covered: a. Leadership Styles Experienced by Students? Previous research findings indicate that students experience different types of leadership styles. This depends on their level of study, the environment of study, and the type of leaders they have. It is important to note that these different types of leadership styles affect differently on students. That is why students in different learning environments may have different academic results. This section will take a deep look into this issue. It will concentrate on identifying these styles, and conducting an extensive study on how they affect students, in their class work. Transformational Leadership, organic leadership, instructional leadership, and shared leadership will be discussed in this part. People who have critically explored the topic in the past have identified these major leadership styles. b. How does Leadership Affect Students and their Performance? This section will evaluate how leadership contributes to the character of a student in classroom. It will develop on the leadership styles that affect students, and give examples of how students are influenced by the conduct of their leaders. It will then analyze each of the leadership styles individually in an attempt to establish if they have an impact on the character of students. Leadership will be linked directly to the performance. This will be in attempt to find out how it affects students even in their studies, and general performance in school. Leadership traits that contribute to student’s achievements will be emphasized. c. How should Leaders Conduct themselves before Students? This section will discuss the character traits that are expected from leaders of students. It will give different suggestions, criticisms, and recommendations regarding what are expected from these leaders, as they try to influence them positively. 6. Proposed Research Methodology The aims of this research are very wide. Asymmetric information can be gathered, if care is not taken. To avoid such risks, this paper will use several research methodologies, with the aim of digging deep and finding out sufficient information that will help in writing the actual paper. Numerous research methods can be used to gather the required information. However, it is important to select the most important and most accurate sources, so that the final paper will be true, or close to the truth. The paper will base on both primary and secondary data, although it will put a great emphasis on secondary documents. The methodologies were selected on the following basis: Cost Time Available Available resources Type of Information required The following methodologies will be adopted: a) Interviews Interviews are very effective while collecting information (Barker, 2007, p. 31). In this method, you select a number of people, and ask them a number of pre-set questions, to get their response and views. Research indicates that interviews always help researchers to get some level of confidence about the information that they had earlier collected (Castangno, 2008, p. 3). The following are the advantages collecting data using interviews: Motivational-interviews motivate people to give information. Most people prefer speaking to writing. This means that a respondent who is interviewed is like to be more open and give more comprehensive information compared to one who is writing. Talking is easy, and one does not get tired within a short time. Flexibility-Interviews allow the respondents to be flexible and take any direction while giving the answer. Some questionnaires, as if the closed ended ones do not give the respondent an opportunity for further expression. This means that important information is locked out at times. Through this method, it is also easier to explore complex topics, and come up with one answer that suits the question. Additional Information-Through an interview, the interviewer can collect a lot of information from the respondent. First, it is easy to judge the honesty of the respondent just by looking at the way someone is talking. This is not possible with other methods of research. This It hence becomes hard to judge the honesty of the respondent, using those other methods, and at times, the researcher may end up replying on incorrect information. Technical reasons-If you, or the respondent is in hurry, then interviews will be the best way of gathering information. Interviews help in saving time. Unlike observation, reading or filing questionnaires, interviews are fast and time saving. The above advantages, however, should not make you fall for this method and dismiss the rest, before one decides to take up this method, it is important to understand the following shortcoming associated with interviews. Training- Before going for the first interview, one must train to ask questions well, and listen to the respondent talk. The interviewer must acquire skills that will help him to guide direction and to takes notes as the respondent talks. This is not only useful for record keeping, but they also motivate the respondent because they see that they are appreciated, and that their contributions are valued. Time and Cost-Actual interviews are not time consuming. However, the process of preparing for an interview can end up being very expensive and time wasting. This is especially true if the interviewer has to travel for long hours, over a long distance to get hold of the respondents. Confidentiality-Some people may not be able to give information via interviews, for fear of being exposed. This is unlike questionnaire, where people fill unanimously. Distortion- Interviewer must be careful to ensure that there are no distortions of any kind during the interview, since they can lead to inaccurate and bias information.  b) Filling of Questionnaires It will be to right ascertain this information by giving out questionnaire questions to be filled out by different people. These questions should touch, the same subject matter, but they should be very short and precise. The following are the major holdings of questionnaires: Cost Effective-They help save on money since one does not have to travel to meet the respondent. The questionnaires can just be sent for the respondent to fill, and send them back. Comparison-Since the answers are written down, it becomes easy to compare answers of different people. Several questionnaires can be filled at once, by different people. This is unlike interviews, where the respondents have to wait until the interviewer is through with one person. Just like interviews, questionnaires also have their short-comings Cost of Printing-One should be willing and able to print the number of questionnaires required. If there are many respondents, it may be quiet costly to print them. Time-Filling questionnaires may be tiring and cumbersome to some people, especially if there are many questions. Long questions are also not advisable. Insufficient information-Some people may not give enough information since writing may take a lot of time. Others may be willing to give sufficient information, but they may be limited by the space provided. c) Secondary Resources (e.g. Documentaries, Books and Journals) The bulk of information used in this dissertation will be from secondary sources. By reading through relevant books, one will be able to gather a lot of knowledge and data about leadership, and how it affects the performance of students. A single book will not have all the information that one needs, but by reading through several books, one is able to gather enough data that can be used to make a reasonable conclusion. The following are the advantages of reading written material like books, journals and newspapers. Historical Data-Books are a store of information. Even very old books are still important. They hold information on things that happened several years ago. Such information can be used to solve some modern problems by analyzing how resolutions were made in the past. Comparison-Since books provide a lot of information that runs across ages, it is possible to compare such information and come up with a conclusion based on what has happened over the years. Details-Though not all books may give fine details, reading through several books, by different authors enables one to acquire detailed information, which can be used to make a plausible conclusion. Comprehensive-People can read book at their own speed, according to their understanding. This ensures that one is able to understand every bit of information being worked on. 7. Analysis and Presentation Once information has been gathered and collected, it will be necessary to analyze it so that a reasonable conclusion can be drawn. Just like methods of data collection, there are also several ways in which data can be analyzed and presented. A thorough analysis will be conducted by comparing past findings and the data collected. Attention will be given to issues that keep coming up. Excel sheets will be an import tool in this case. They will help in the scrutiny of numerical values. However, it will be important to select only those methods that will help come up with a precise and direct conclusion. The following methods will be useful: a) Use of pie-charts Visual graphs presented in a circular manner, to show the relativity with which different sets of data differ. Pie charts have been used for a long time to present information visually (Goker, 2006, p. 189). They breakdown information into various parts, and each part is represented on the pie chart, as a percentage of the whole. The advantages of pie chart for presenting information are as follows: They are Visual-Their visual character enables audience to easily interpret and compare data with each other. When data is just presented in numerical form, it may be quiet difficult to interpret. Pie charts come in to reduce this difficulty. Percentages-Pie chart are also advantageous since they present data in percentages. This helps to compare different sets of data, and assess their strength without having to go deep into complicated calculations. Simple-Pie charts are very simple to interpret and to understand. Even children and people who are not highly educated can be able to understand them. This paper will consider using pic charts to present information so that it can be in a simple form. The disadvantages of pie charts are: Not Exact-Pie charts are very simple since they use percentages and the real numerical values are usually left out in most cases. This means that they only have simple overview of data, and a person who is interested in fine details may not find them useful. Pie charts cannot display numerous sets of data. They are only ale to display a specific set of data, hence individuals who are interested in multiple sets of information may not need pie charts. b) Use of graphs Graphs are another type of tools that are used to represent data visually (Goker). They can also be used for qualitative parameters. Graphs have many advantages since they are not only used for representation, but also for analysis (2006, p. 191). The following are the advantages of using graphs. Relationships-They are good in showing relationships and comparisons that may arise between different sets of data. When looking for the comparison of magnitudes, bar graphs may come in handy. Line graphs are important when one needs to establish the trend. Data Condensation-Data can be interpreted very easily after putting it onto a graph. This does not change even if the amount of data being handled is so much. The graph condenses data into significant forms that can fit onto its scale. Changes in Trends-Line graphs show deeps and peaks as they occur. It shows the way a trend changes, and this can be traced from the start all the way to the end. This can also be important in determining which trends are strong, and which ones are not. Clarity and Simplicity-Just like pie charts, the presentation of graphs has clarity, and is simple. Even a nonprofessional can get basic meaning from a graph, just by looking at it. This makes it an important tool since one does not have to strain in order to understand what has been presented. 8. Intended Outcomes A conclusion must be drawn at the end of this paper. The dissertation will come up with one accepted definition of the term leadership. This research will also help to understand various aspects of leadership that are influential to students, and to what extent. The most appropriate way of disseminating this information will be through academic publications and leadership magazines. That will facilitate getting to the target audience. The target audience for this information is leaders, and people who are seeking to be in leadership positions in academic settings. Being more centered on students, school leaders will be the most suitable audience for this paper. 9. Advantages and Disadvantages of Teaching Leaders After the research is complete, advantages and disadvantages of teaching leaders will be discussed. This part will focus on giving 10. Recommendations Recommendations must be made after such an extensive research. Some problems may come up during the research. Solutions will also be developed. It is hence important to come up with recommendations on the subject matter. This helps to contribute positively to the research focus. Bibliography in progress Barker, B. (2007). The leadership paradox: Can school leaders transform student outcomes? School of Effectiveness and School Improvement, 18(1) 21-43. doi:10.1080/09243450601058618. Bezzina, C. (2008). The road less traveled: Professional communities in secondary schools. Theory into Practice, 45(2), 159-167. doi: 10.1207/s15430421tip4502_8. Castangno, A. (2008). Improving academic achievement, but at what cost? The demands of diversity and equity at Birch Middle School. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 11(1),1-9. doi: 10.1177/155545890824903. Goker, D. S. (2006). Leading for learning: Reflective management in EFL schools. Theory into Practice, 45(2), 187-196. doi: 10.1207/s15430421tip4502_11. Harris, A 2009, Distributed Leadership: Different Perspectives. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht., 10.1007/978-1-4020-9737-9 (US edition), 10.1007/978-1-4020-9737-9 Harris, A. (2002), Effective leadership in schools facing challenging contexts, School Leadership and Management, 22(1), 15–26. Harris, A. (2008) In K. Leithwood, B. Mascall, B. and T. Strauss, (Eds.). Distributed leadership according to the evidence. New York: Taylor F Francis. Harris, A. (2008). Distributed Knowledge and knowledge creation. In K. Leithwood, B. Mascall & T. Strauss (Eds), Distributed leadership according to the evidence (pp. 253-266), New York: Routledge. Harris, A., Clarke, P., James, S., Harris, B. and Gunraj, J. (2006).Improving Schools in Difficulty, London Continuum Press. Harris, A., Muijs, (2004). Improving schools through teacher leadership. London: oxford University Press. Read More