Author(s): Williams, Henry S. & Tyrel L. Johnson
Published: March 2013 in Education
URL to article
Research Focus Area: Strategic planning strategies for school leaders
Abstract:
Strategic leadership is built upon traits and actions that encompass the successful execution of all leadership styles. In a world that is rapidly changing, strategic leadership in schools guides school leader through assuring constant improvement process by anticipating future trends and planning for them and noting that plans must be flexible to respond to changes. All planning and change processes must be guided by a strong school vision. To determine how strategic leadership is perceived by teachers in their school, a survey was administered to thirty candidates in a school administration. Based on the analysis of the data, it can be concluded that more work needs to be done by our school leaders to effectively communicate the purpose of strategic plans.
Research Question(s):
How can strategic leadership best be defined? What are its key elements? How is strategic leadership perceived by teachers?
Methods:
Survey
Setting:
6-question survey admitted to 20 participants
Key Findings:
- strategic leadership is vital to the successful operation and progress of schools
- Strategic leadership is not a leadership category in itself, but rather a framework upon which all other successful leadership style categories should be built
- Effective strategic leaders
- Have a clear vision of where the organization is headed and can express that vision to others and motivate them to embrace it
- Have zeal for the vision that motivates and inspires others both in and out of the organization
- Listen to members of the organization to determine where things are and evaluate where things need to go
- Are analysts and assessors of their situation in terms of politics, finances, and markets
- Understand the value and impact of services provided by their organization, and know how to use that information to adjust the mission and vision, to mobilize resources, and to generate action
- For strategic leadership to be effective, there has to be agreement within the school of what the product of changes will look like. It is crucial for school leaders to define what the desired outcomes are and the steps that need to be taken to reach them.
- More work needs to be done by school administrators to effectively communicate the purpose of strategic plans.
Implications:
- The solution to increasing complexity of the educational landscape is not longer and more detailed school plans. Instead, in additional to learning outcomes and support for quality teaching, focus should shift to sustaining administrators that center operations around the school’s articulated vision
- Administrators should respond to the changing needs of students and schools with planning processes that anticipate future events
- These plans must be
- built around an articulated vision that is developed, fostered, and embraced by the stakeholders in the school
- specific enough to provide strong direction, yet flexible enough to be adapted to unforeseen turbulence.
- When using strategic leadership strategies in schools, administrators should
- Work with their constituencies to develop school-wide change targets
- Empower individuals and departments within the school to develop their own smaller-scale targets to steer the school toward the larger ones
Limitations:
it is not clear how many different schools the 20 participants came from. The article does not provide insight into to the types of schools they came from. Whatever the context, 20 participants is quite a small sample size for a survey of this type.