Impacts of Leadership on School Performance in the United Kingdom - Literature review Example

Impacts of Leadership on School Performance in the United Kingdom Name Institution Impacts of Leadership on School Performance in the United Kingdom Introduction According to Drucker et al, (1996), leadership comes out as one of the essential concepts of utmost importance. In most cases, there is no substitute for leadership. Nevertheless, it proves to be difficult to promote or create leadership. According to Kotter (1988), successful business entities and companies do not wait for leaders to come along. Such organisations actively seek out individual with the leadership potentiality prior to exposing the individuals to the career experience aiming at developing their potentials. It is essential to note that management and educational practitioners tend to have a concrete agreement on the possibility of teaching leadership and developing leaders. In the recent years, there have been critical debates in relation to the relationship between leadership and performance. The purpose of this research is to focus on the assessment of the impacts of leadership on school performance in the United Kingdom. It is essential to note that academic institutions are increasingly undergoing significant process of innovation, as well as institutional reforms. In this context, it is vital for the leaders to adopt and incorporate effective training and development mechanisms with the intention of developing and preparing leaders of the learning institutions in relation to the changes. Leaders need to incorporate a broad set of leadership and governance skills in the areas of policy reforms, organisational development, change management, and administration of the academic process (Harris, 2008). It is critical to note that learning institutions depend on leadership throughout the organisation in the course of shaping productive futures under the influence of self-renewal process (Klump & Barton, 2007). In the process of enlarging leadership capacity, learning institutions have focused on improvement of the academic performance. This is through enabling the principals to involve teachers in sustained dialogue, as well as decision-making in relation to the educational matters. The school leadership continues to establish a new primacy. From this perspective, school leadership continues to emerge from several decades of being in the shadows of educational administration, as well as management with the intention of enjoying its own platform for assessment (Harris, 2008). In the contexts of the United States, Australia, and Canada, there seems to be renewed interest in the assessment of the school or learning institutions’ leadership under the influence of the widespread belief in the potential head teachers or principals seeking to deliver or provide high-quality educational outcomes. In the case of England, the integration of National College for School Leadership in 2001 was a major unprecedented investment in relation to leadership development, as well as training (Hall, 2002). In addition, the approach continues to generate leadership epidemic across the school system. It is essential to note that leadership and leadership development continues to retain a consistent high profile image in the context of education. The study will present analytical review of leadership theory, competency frameworks, and various leadership concepts, as well as educational leadership while relating to the case of the United Kingdom. Moreover, the research will examine the issues in relation to instructional leadership, distributed leadership, and school leadership (Peeter et al., 2006). Part 1: overview and discussion of the concepts of leadership, educational leadership and teams Leadership refers to the process, which enables an individual to influence others in the course of accomplishing an objective while providing accurate and valuable direction to the organisation for the attainment of more cohesive and coherent entity. In the course of executing this process, leaders have the obligation of integrating their leadership attributes with reference to skills, knowledge, character, values, beliefs, and ethics. In the context of the United Kingdom, educational leadership makes followers want or desire to attain or accomplish high goals rather than bossing people around (Milhem et al., 2014). In order for leadership to occur, three factors must hold substantively. In the first instance, there must be a person with the tendency to utilise social influence in influencing others or followers to accomplish something (Heck, 1992; Leithwood, 2005). Secondly, leadership requires others to get something achieved rather than utilisation of direct reports. In the third aspect, there is a need or desire to accomplish an objective. The process leadership refers to the process by which leaders apply their skills and knowledge in relation to the concept of leadership. In addition, there is the concept of trait leadership, which relates to the existence of traits that tend to influence the human actions. According to this perception, leaders were born rather than made. In the course of understanding the concept of leadership, it is critical to assess the four primary factors: situation, leader, communication, and follower. Being a leader demands an individual to understand who he or she is, what he or she knows, and what he or she can do from a leadership perspective. Leadership is effective and efficiency under the influence of two-way communication. Much of communication in leadership is nonverbal. Moreover, it is ideal to note that all situations are different (Peeter et al., 2006). According to Bass’ theory of leadership (2009), there are three basic ways in the course of explaining how individuals attain leadership positions. In the first instance, certain personality traits might lead people naturally into leadership positions, thus the issue of trait leadership. Secondly, crises or important events might lead people to rise to the occasion and demonstrate extraordinary leadership attributes. In the third aspect, individual can choose to become leaders through enhanced training development in the course of learning leadership skills (Bradley & Herbet, 1997; Van et al., 2001; Hartenian, 2003). This represents one of the dominant theories in the modern world with reference to the transformational or process leadership. In the current context, there seems to be a debate in relation to the difference between transforming leadership (Burns’ perspective) and transformational leadership (Bass’ perspective). Transformational leadership focuses on motivating others to do more than they set out to achieve. On the other hand, transforming leadership concentrates on enhancing the well-being of human existence. There is also the concept of educational leadership, which relates to the procedures and principles of enlisting, as well as providing guidance to the talents and efforts of the teachers, students, and parents in the course of achieving or accomplishing common academic and educational aims (Harris, 2005). Part 2: a synthesis and critique of the theory base for the school leadership, distributed leadership and instructional leadership This section of the report will focus on the assessment of the theory base for the school leadership, distributed leadership, and instructional leadership while utilising appropriate examples and illustrations. There are numerous theories in relation to understanding the theoretical bases for educational leadership, instructional leadership, and distributed leadership. In the first instance, it is essential to note the essence of the great man theories. These theoretical perspectives relate to the belief that leaders are exceptional persons with innate qualities, thus destined to become leaders. Secondly, there is the aspect of the trait theories. The theories state that there are critical lists of traits or qualities in association with leadership existing in abundance, thus the continuous production process. The third theoretical base is the behaviourist theory. Such theories have the tendency of concentrating on what the leaders actually execute rather on the quality. This is through observation of diverse patterns or themes in relation to the behaviour in the course of categorising various styles of leadership. It is also essential to note that practitioner and researchers have focuses on understanding the issue and concepts of the contingency theory. From this perspective, there is need to incorporate situational perspective while focusing on the identification and illustration of the situational variables, which are best in predicting the most effective and appropriate leadership to handle the critical situation or circumstance. There is also the transaction theory, which concentrates on the importance of the leadership between the leader and the follower. It is critical to note that researchers focus on the mutual benefits from the contract through which the leader concentrates on the delivery of rewards and recognition for the commitment, as well as loyalty of the followers. Finally, researchers have focused on the integration of the concept of the transformational theory, which concentrates on the issue of change, as well as the critical role of leadership in envisioning and integrating the transformation of the organisational performance. School Leadership Hay McBer (2001) focused on the development of a model, which is critical in understanding the concept of leadership in the learning institution. According to this model of school leadership, there are 17 school leadership qualities, which are ideal in the pursuit of improved performance, effectiveness, and efficiency in the learning institutions. In the first instance, school leadership requires the trait of analytical thinking. In the United Kingdom, school leaders have the tendency of expressing confidence, challenge and support, information seeking, integrity, initiative, and developing potential with reference to improving the image and reputation of the learning institutions. There is also need for the school leaders to demonstrate aspects of teamwork, effective and efficient understanding of the environment, understanding of the subjects, incorporation of transformational leadership, and substantive integration of strategic thinking. It is critical to note that this theory captures valuable aspects of leadership with the intention of inspiring the staff members in pursuit of competitive goals and targets at the end of the strategic goals. These attributes are critical in the achievement of effectiveness and efficiency through assessment of the influence of teamwork. Another critical theory in relation to the school leadership is the Management Education Training Organisation, which has been one of the critical elements of leadership in the United Kingdom. In this context, leadership position calls for management of various aspects in relation to the demands and expectations of the consumers or the target audiences. For instance, it is critical for the leaders to generate quality management while focusing on the management of resources, activities, human resources, information, energy, quality, and projects. Effective leadership is ideal in improving the overall output of the shareholders and stakeholders while pursuing competitive advantage within the industry of operation. Instructional Leadership Effective and efficient school leadership in the United Kingdom must combine the traditional school leadership duties with reference to teacher evaluation, scheduling, maintenance of facilities, and budgeting with the deep engagement in the specific or particular aspects of teaching and learning (Heck, Larsen, & Marcoulides, 1990). From this perspective, instructional leaders enjoy increased involvement in the curricular, as well as instructional issues, which have direct implications and influences on the achievement or performance of the students and teachers. Instructional leadership in the United Kingdom focuses on illustration of the influence of prioritization. Principals are the key elements in relation to the improvement of the school performance and efforts within the context of the United Kingdom. Instructional leadership focuses on the issue of accountability while insisting on the need to implement and integrate effective programs, as well as offer evidence in relation to the success and justification for the changes by the leaders in the learning institutions. Leaders have the obligation of prioritising, monitoring, planning, and motivating diverse entities within the learning institutions. In this context, leadership is only second to the issue or aspects of teaching in relation to its potential influence and implication on the learning and development of the student. It is the role and responsibility of the instructional leader to ensure that each student attains the highest quality instruction on a daily basis. In order to achieve this, instructional leaders focus on the improvement of the quality of teaching, as well as improvement of the student learning. On the other hand, teachers and principals in the United Kingdom have the obligation of working in collaboration with the objective of ensuring that students improve their learning or academic performance with reference to the educational goals and targets of the institution. Instructional leadership enables teachers to participate in the decision making while focusing on the improvement of the image and reputation of the learning institutions. Distributed Leadership In the context of learning or education, distributed leadership comes out as a leadership approach, which facilitates collaborative working between individuals who tend to trust and respect each other’s contribution. In addition, distributed leadership focuses incorporation of a reflective practice, which facilitates evaluation or analysis of the actions prior to challenging and developing the most appropriate strategies under the influence of cycles of planning, action, reflection, and assessment, as well as replanning (Mount et al., 1998). Distributed leadership happens most effectively and appropriate when individuals at all levels engage in action, thus acceptance of leadership in their particular areas of expertise. In addition, distributed leadership must incorporate substantial resources with the ability and potentiality to offer adequate support while enabling collaborative environments with a flexible approach to space, finance, and time (Marks & Printy, 2003). These aspects have the tendency of occurring because of the influence of various contextual settings within learning or academic institutions in the United Kingdom. Distributed leadership enables principals and teachers in the United Kingdom to exploit shared and active engagement in pursuit of developed leadership capacity with the objective of sustaining improvements in the contexts of teaching and learning. According to the distributed leadership perspective, there are multiple leaders (Pineda & Lerner, 2006). In addition, leadership activities have the tendency of being shared with and between organisations. It is critical to note that the distributed leadership concentrates on interactions, rather than actions of the formal and informal leadership roles. In education, distributed leadership concentrates on utilisation of leadership practice, as well as how leadership tends to influence organisational and instructional improvement. There is minimal structural, as well as functional differentiation since all teachers must have a leadership function in the school to facilitate fulfilment of their contractual obligations (Manzoor et al., 2011). For instance, it is not effective for the principal to make important decisions on his or her own, thus the need to execute a transparent decision-making process under the influence of distributed leadership or interactions between teachers and leaders. Part 3: a synthesis and critique of the theory base for teams and teamwork A team refers to a group of individuals or people focusing on collaborating on related tasks towards the achievement or realisation of a common goal. In various organisations, it is essential to note that teams tend to accomplish most tasks since it is essential for the employees to have the appropriate skills to work effectively and efficiently with others in pursuit of the critical or common goal. Organisations or institutions in the United Kingdom have the tendency of utilising permanent, as well as temporary teams in accordance with the situation or circumstances (Theaker & FitzGerald, 2006; Binti, 2009). It is critical to note that teams are ideal in accomplishing too large, as well as complex tasks, thus the perfect platform to integrate various set of skills and expertise. According to the STAR team model, effective teamwork in an institution occurs under the influence of four aspects: strengths, teamwork, alignment, and results. It is critical to note that individuals have the tendency of flourishing as they use and develop their valuable strengths. Similarly, people come together in the course of building relationships, thus the effective platform for efficient teamwork. Furthermore, it is the obligation and responsibility of the leaders to align the team through effective communication of objective or purpose, thus enabling individuals to combine their strengths with teamwork with the intention of delivering collective outcomes (Pounder et al, 1995; Silins, 2002). Collectively, individuals have the potentiality of achieving more because of the performance flows, as well as the attainment of meaningful results and rewards for the team. It is critical for the learning institutions and entities to focus on the development of leadership in teams. In this context, it is ideal to note that a team can build or generate its leadership capacity through interaction with the goal of completing shared work since the team is intentional or purpose-driven around the learning and development, which emanates (Griffith, 2004; Hallinger & Heck, 2010). In the course of understanding different perspective on leadership in teams, it might be ideal to assess frameworks, which describe team performance in diverse or various systems. For instance, the input-process-output (IPO) model is essential in understanding leadership in teams through describing the team performance in systems terms in which inputs to the teams tend to influence the processes of the teams, thus the eventual measurable outcomes (Smylie et al., 2002). In this context, inputs take the form of the individual skills, knowledge, abilities, and other aspects of human capital with reference to the leaders’ skills and experiences. Teamwork comes out as a dynamic and elusive phenomenon. This is because of the existence of various problems in relation to composing, developing, and managing teams in spite of the decades of research on the topic. In order to achieve effective and efficient team work, there is need to integrate mutual performance monitoring, which relates to the ability of the team members to ‘keep track of the other members’ work in the course of executing their own tasks with the intention of ensuring that each element is running in accordance with the expectations. In addition, team members must ensure that they are following procedures correctly. The awareness demands integration or incorporation of a shared understanding of the task, as well as equipment roles and requirements. There is also need to incorporate supportive actions on the part of the team members with the objective of demonstrating back-up behaviour. In the existing literature, teamwork comes out as a recurring theme in relation to the concepts of leadership, group dynamics, and effectiveness (Day, Gronn, & Salas, 2004). Teams and teamwork have great or significant importance in relation to the school improvement and performance. For instance, teams and teamwork contribute to the improvement of the quality of teaching, as well as performance of the students. It is critical to note that teachers form a team (Oplatka, 2009). They have the tendency of working in trust of each other’s capabilities, skills, and experiences. From this perspective, the shared understanding, as well as mutual relationship among teachers is vital in the improvement of their contribution towards the achievement of the collective gain or goal with reference to the performance of the institution (Bush & Glover, 2003). In addition, teams and teamwork focus on the integration of the concept of diversity. Diverse workforce is vital in the improvement of effectiveness and efficiency in relation to adoption and implementation of appropriate decisions concerning the development of growth of the learning institutions. In this modern era of increased competition and need for efficiency, leaders tend to recognise the importance of teamwork more than the previous contexts. Teams have the potentiality of expanding the outputs of the individuals or teachers under the influence of collaboration. It is critical to note that employees working in teams become the standard for the learning institution. Teamwork provides the perfect opportunity in the course of improving labour utilisation, as well as improvement in the performance levels of the individuals. Employees have the opportunity to utilise support from the upper level management to work confidently in team while increasing the productivity of the learning institutions. In addition, leaders of the learning institutions and organisation have the tendency of assigning more team projects to the teachers with the intention of strengthening their knowledge, as well as development of appropriate skills. According to the recent research activities, employees working within teams have the opportunity to produce more output in comparison to the individuals working in isolation. Teamwork comes out as an important factor for the smooth functioning of the institution, which is highly applicable in the case of the United Kingdom. Various organisational or institutional activities become complex because of the advancement in technology, thus the need for the teamwork to come in as a major focus in the course of aiding performance of the organisations and employees. It is critical to note that teamwork is necessary for all types of organisation inclusive of the non-profit organisations. Team member have the potentiality to enhance the skills, knowledge, and abilities while working in the various teams. It is ideal to note that organisations or learning institutions, which emphasise more on the teams, have increased chances of increasing or improving the performance of the employees while realising greater productivity, as well as better problem-solving techniques in the various workplaces (Hamidun, 2009). In this context, leaders have to demonstrate appropriate characteristics with the intention of working effectively and efficiently in accordance with the skills of the team members. For instance, leaders have to exploit transformational leadership skills, as well as instructional leadership experience with the intention of working effectively and efficiently in handling the demands and expectations of the target audiences and other relevant stakeholders. From the above illustration, it is essential to note that teamwork has significant positive implications in relation to the performance of the employees in diverse or various institutions in the United Kingdom (Manzoor et al., 2011). Trust among the team members tend to come when individuals with the group develop substantive confidence in each other’s competence or skills. In the course of evaluating the performance of the teams in the learning institutions, it is critical to focus on the assessment of reduction in mistakes, quality in outputs, customer satisfaction, and increased productivity levels. Conclusion and Recommendations Conclusively, it is essential to note that management and educational practitioners tend to have a concrete agreement on the possibility of teaching leadership and developing leaders. Leadership refers to the process, which enables an individual to influence others in the course of accomplishing an objective while providing accurate and valuable direction to the organisation for the attainment of more cohesive and coherent entity. There is also need for the school leaders to demonstrate aspects of teamwork, effective and efficient understanding of the environment, understanding of the subjects, incorporation of transformational leadership, and substantive integration of strategic thinking. The importance of teamwork is identifiable through the work environment, leadership and the productivity of the work. Collective action or teamwork can lead to Impressive results by individual. Combining the different capabilities and skills in one team would strengthen and increase the work efficiency and productivity. Leadership makes followers want or desire to attain or accomplish high goals rather than bossing people around These attributes are critical in ensuring that the teachers and students contribute towards the realisation of the goals and targets of the learning institutions. In addition, it is critical for the leaders in the learning institutions to consider development of teams and promotion of teamwork among the teachers and students with the intention of improving performance and quality of the output, as well as increased level of production. Teams have the tendency of generating or developing quality relationships among the members in relation to the expertise, confidence, and skills of each individual in pursuit of the collective goals and targets. The approach is valuable in ensuring that teachers contribute to the all-round development of the students. Leadership has a positive implication on the improvement of performance in the learning institutions. In the United Kingdom, principals and other teachers have the tendency of utilising educational leadership and distributed approach with the intention of improving the performance of the students. The distributed leadership approach in the learning institutions in the United Kingdom has been critical in the achievement of the goals and targets with reference to the development of the all-round students. Educational leadership focuses on the aspect of delegation of duties and responsibilities with the objective of aiding attempts and efforts by students and teachers in the process of improving the performance of the learning institutions. Effective and efficient management in the learning institutions in the United Kingdom have been ideal in the improvement of efficiency and proficiency in the delivery of services and products in accordance with the demands and expectations of the target audiences. Similarly, learning institutions in the United Kingdom should consider utilisation of the transactional and transformational leadership techniques while handling various expectations with reference to performance and motivation of the employees. For instance, transformational leadership mechanism is appropriate in the provision of quality inspirations and motivations to the teachers in pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage. On the other hand, transactional leadership is ideal in adapting to various situations aiming at improvement of the performance of the students and contribution of the teachers. References 1. Manzoor, S. R., Ullah, H., Hussain, M., & Ahmad, Z. M. (2011). Effect of teamwork on employee performance. International Journal of Learning and Development, 1(1), Pages-110. 2. Harris, A. (2008). Distributed leadership through the looking glass. Journal of educational administration, 46(2). 3. Marks, H. M., & Printy, S. M. (2003). 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The leadership factor (Vol. 10). New York: Free Press. Read More