Preparing school leaders: A critique of conventional approaches and new, critical directions. Marina Stefania Giannakaki

1. Preparing school leaders:
A critique of conventional approaches
and new, critical directions
Dr. Stefania Giannakaki
School of Education,
Queen’s University Belfast
m.giannakaki@qub.ac.uk

2. Outline of the presentation
1. Management or leadership?
2. Conventional notions of leadership
3. New leadership models
4. Critical leadership
5. Teaching critical leadership

3. Management Leadership
 Accepts status quo
 Concerned with existinggoals
(maintains)
 Asks ‘how’ (efficiency)
 Short/mediumterm perspective
 Limits choices
 Challenges status quo
 Develops new goals
(transforms)
 Asks ‘why’
 Long term perspective
 Expands choices
1. Management or leadership?

4. But who is the leader of
a school?
?

5. But who is the leader in
a school?
?

6. But who is the leader of
a school?
?

7. 2. Conventional notions of leadership
‘Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a
group of individuals to achieve a common goal’ (Northouse,
2013, p. 5).
‘By leadership, I mean influencing others’ actions in
achieving desirable ends’ (Cuban in Bush, 2008, p. 273).
(It is implied that leaders are people or groups with power over
others)

8. What forms of power do leaders have?
 Positional power
 Power of expertise
 Personal power
 Coercive power
 Reward/transactional power
Some forms may be considered more legitimate than others.
Children in schools disadvantaged compared to adults.

9. Current educational leadership
rhetoric emphasises:
 A capable, skilled leader (usually the Principal)
 Bringing teachers/parents/students together
 To work towards a common vision (moral purpose)
(strong school communities)

10. Assumptions:
 We need a person in charge
 We need to build a common vision
 We need to identify common interests
 We need to develop shared values
 We need to focus on instrumental goals(e.g. student performance)
 The above are achieved through:
- The leader’s skill in bonding people and creating a sense of
togetherness.
- Dialogue/teamwork to which everyone contributes (equally?).

11. Conventional notions of leadership:
 Overvalue the qualities of individual leaders
 See employee conformity as positive
 See resistance as negative
 Attribute success and failure to individual leaders
 Avoid questioning common goals / values

12. Some critical questions
 How does a group develop common
vision/values/interests?
 What happens to those who disagree?
 How are competing interests/conflicts resolved?

13. Transformational leadership: a
conventional model
 Puts ‘common’ organisational (school) goals first.
 Aims to align people with these goals.
 Is supposed to influence people through charisma.
 The leader articulates the common vision and goals.
 ‘Empowers’ people to achieve the common vision.
This leadership modelhas been criticised for its deceptive character
(pseudo-transformational).

14. Key element of conventional leadership approaches:
Power is concentrated in the hands of the few
• Less potential for change (instinct of self-protection)
• Lower quality decisions
• Inability to manage things well
• Reduced knowledgeof the context (of what happens on the
ground)
• Narcissism and corruption
• Excessively positive discourses
• No constructivedissent
• Less ability tomanage risk or unexpected problems
• Danger of sustaining problematiccourses of action

15. Ostracism in the Athenian Democracy
507 – 415 BC

16.  Ostracism was a measure introduced in the city-state of Athens
around 507 BC by Cleisthenis to protect democracy.
 It aimed to prevent the concentration of poweron any single
citizen.
 Once a year, Athenians wouldvotefor a fellow citizen to be
expelledfrom the city-stateof Athens for ten years without
charge or defense.
 The exile was not a penalty, but a preventive measure.
 The citizen ‘votedfor’ would be one considered to have
acquired so much power that could become a threat to
democracy.
 Those exiled retained all their property and citizen rights. They
returned to Athens after 10 years (or earlier, in case the exile was
recalled)withoutsigma or any other consequences.

17. 3. New leadership models
 Authentic leadership
 Leadership as practice
 Constructivist leadership
 Student leadership

18. 4. Critical leadership
Foregrounds the disguised dynamics of power and control.
Principle of critique
Principle of community (collective action and political
citizenship)

19. Exercise of power:
 Subtle
 Unconscious
 Embedded in practices that we take for granted (i.e. we see
as normal)
E.g. student evaluation based on tests determined by adults

20. 5. Teaching critical leadership
MSc Educational Leadership, Queen’s University Belfast
Those studying educational leadership are challenged to think
about:
 Invisible forms of power/control in everyday leadership
practices
 Their effects on democracy and justice
 The negative effects of over-conformity to specific norms
(mono-cultures that stifle critical feedback)
 The importance of critique and dissent

21. Examples of teaching practices:
 Open dialogue in class and online forums
 Interrogation of theories / published research / case studies
“Is there evidencein this case study that gives you any insight into what
employees think?’’
 Guest speakers representing both senior leaders and
teachers/students (top-down and bottom-up view)
 Students leading teaching sessions

22.  Conduct of projects in small multicultural groups
 Intercultural interviews
 Conduct of empirical research
 Simulation scenarios / role play
 Life histories
 Multiple perspectives debated with no expectation that they
will be resolved.

23. Some issues / difficulties
 Students expect the course to focus on prescribing “tools”
and “techniques” on how to be a “good” leader”
 Challenges students and takes them out of their comfort
zones leading to “resistance”.

24. Teaching leaders how to survive or succeed
within existing structures?
Or
Teaching leaders how to transform?