Article Review: Education and Transformational Leadership - Assignment Example

Article Review: Education and Transformational Leadership By YOU YOUR ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION HERE HERE Article Review: Education and Transformational Leadership Introduction The article proposes a literature review regarding the contemporary trend toward transformational leadership and the educational environment. Transformational leadership, according to the authors, represents a rather dynamic approach to leadership in which individual pupils (and the facilitators) experience personal and resource development utilizing a style of leadership which inspires and motivates others to work productively toward the accomplishment of educational goals. The article describes a primary study targeting 1,818 teachers and nearly 6,500 students, a quality sample group adding high reliability to the research results, which measured the outcomes of transformational leadership within the elementary school environment. The intention was to determine whether school conditions or other elements of transformational leadership impacted the quality of education and the outcomes on student behaviors. Questions How were the researchers able to utilize such a large sample population and still manage a competent data analysis with such a large volume of data to address? Though the surveys were created on a large-scale fashion, with one survey including over 270 different items, the researchers utilized SPSS statistical software when entering in the data. The research contained closed-ended questions on a rating scale of 1-5 which were entered into the SPSS software program. This supplied the study with a volume of quantitative research results to meet the intended goals of the study design. What was the rationale for using transformational leadership as the study objectives which would seem to be measured using much speculation or subjective analysis? It appeared somewhat vague regarding the rationale for choosing the specific elementary schools that the researchers did in order to measure elements of transformational leadership. It appeared that there were certain assumptions made about the leadership program at the sample educational facilities chosen which might be a previously-unidentified limitation to the study. With no mention of preliminary research identifying the chosen (target) schools for their educational and leadership programs, it is a likely assessment that these schools chosen did not maintain certified or rigid transformational leadership policies and programs. How does family structure and the family-related items chosen in this study’s methodology relate specifically to transformational leadership? It would appear difficult to fully measure the impact of family on educational outcomes in this particular study without some sort of preliminary testing on the children to identify their cultural heritage or other family-related environmental stimuli. Though these items are identified in the study design, the questions utilized for the study involved a similar 1-5 ranking scale with closed-ended responses. It would seem that an interview to fully gauge non-tangible characteristics, such as body language or the semi-structured interview, might have guaranteed a more accurate picture of how the individual student perceives their family to have an influence over learning or their focus on education when in the classroom. Henslin (2003) suggests that behavioral characteristics are best identified utilizing a qualitative approach to research. Classroom conditions: Wouldn’t they be unique to each teacher or school environment, thus difficult to measure accurately? There is a brief mention in the article which suggests that classroom conditions may play a significant role in the outcome of total transformational leadership. For instance, one particular teacher may view control as a primary element to a quality classroom while another identifies autonomy for students as a proper educational methodology for boosting motivation. It is a likely assessment that these different teaching methods would have different outcomes for different students, thus difficult to accurately measure in relation to total transformational leadership activities at the teacher or executive leadership level. It would seem that this is a variable in the study rather than a tangible factor that can be measured accurately in order to prove the correlation between transformational leadership and the outcomes of enhanced student learning. For instance, one particular student may value autonomy where another youth is unable to function competently without ongoing teacher instruction. Though the survey was designed to measure these aspects of learning, it would seem that it still allowed for a larger margin of error in determining whether teacher facilitation and policy impacts this process from a transformational leadership perspective. Reflection The authors state, in regards to discussing the outcome of the study program: “First, such research needs to incorporate a much broader set of student outcome variables, something much closer to the total set of academic, social, and psychological outcomes included in the curricula of most schools” (Leithwood & Jantzi, 1999: 466). The authors are making recommendations regarding how to best measure similar objectives in relation to education and transformational leadership for future researchers. However, they are suggesting expanding the research to identify more elements which can affect student outcomes of transformational objectives in the elementary environment. It would seem that their study attempted to measure too many variables utilizing a very close-ended survey format. Their chosen research instruments did not seem to provide for the flexibility of participant response that could have been afforded utilizing a less structured series of interviews. This researcher felt that this study lacked quality in relation to supporting the outcomes of the study due to the authors’ attempts to link transformational education objectives to the less-measurable aspects of psychology or inter-classroom socialization. In essence, what can only be measured using competent subjective observation was included into a very quantitative research program. I felt that this study would have been more conclusive had the researchers undertaken a more detailed, qualitative and quantitative approach to the research. Conclusion It is clear that the researchers undertook a large-scale study with the hopes of creating a form of best practice for educational facilities and instructors when dealing with internal transformational objectives. Further studies might want to reduce the amount of variables to be measured, perhaps focusing less on the impact of family structure and cultural beliefs and more on the leadership talents and activities of educational advisors and teachers. As a transformational objective in education generally involves restructuring historical programs in favor of progressive in-class activities focusing on modern theories of psychology or sociology, measuring the impact of leader behaviors and approaches on student focus and learning would provide a more tangible best practice in relation to how these objectives are perceived by youths when classroom changes occur. Bibliography Henslin, James M. (2003). Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach. 6th ed. A&B Publishing. Leithwood, Kenneth & Jantzi, Doris. (1999). ‘Transformational School Leadership Effects’. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. 10(4): 451-479. Read More