The Transformational Leadership Usually Focuses

How Transformational Leadership Usually Focuses?

 

Introducation:

As opined by Wagner (2014), the global public schools are expected to make the students academically sound so that they are able to compete on a global basis. The leadership has a great impact on the effectiveness of student learning. Sebastian and Allensworth (2012) stated that the leaders set directions by setting clear directions for the students and establishes high expectations which foster the students to learn in an effective manner. The leader engages in tracking the progress as well as performance of the students and communicates the same to the students (Sebastian and Allensworth 2012). This makes the student aware of their current performance standards and can work upon any shortcomings (if any). The aspect of leadership is important in the classroom instruction mode and they influence the learning capabilities of a student. The instructional leadership encourages on the improvement of the teacher’s classroom practices so that they can guide the students in an effective manner that would facilitate learning (Sebastian and Allensworth 2012). The instructional leaders include the teachers, superintendents and even principals who can influence the student learning by making appropriate decisions for them. Avolio and Yammarino (2013) argued that the transformational leadership usually focuses on the improvement of the different classroom conditions that would facilitate learning among the students. This may range from the incorporation of learning tools to the unique positioning of the classrooms so that the students are able to learn more in a fixed time period (Sebastian and Allensworth 2012). The decision-making activities of the school are being governed by the participative and the democratic forms of leadership, which has an indirect impact on the student learning process (Cavazotte Moreno and Hickmann 2012).

According to Thoonen et al. (2012), the 21^st century’s students’ performance can be of two types- qualitative aspects and the quantitative aspects. The quantitative indicators may range from grades of the students including monthly, quarterly and annual grades. The qualitative indicators of the student performance include the performance in the extracurricular activities, public speaking attributes, behavioral attributes and others. Cavazotte Moreno and Hickmann (2012) argued that the personality traits such as team work, collaboration and problem-solving are important dimensions of student performance. The teamwork is identified as the most important skills of the students which would help them in both academic life as well as in future professional life (Sebastian and Allensworth 2012). The students are expected to demonstrate their abilities to function in multidisciplinary teams. As stated by Nancarrow et al. (2013), the concept of team work is dependent on the attitudes, processes, skills and knowledge of the students, which would help them to perform well in a group work. The development of the team work capabilities is fostered by the instructional practices like “cognitive apprenticeship method” which is an amalgamation of the explanation, modelling and practice in relevant context. Teamwork is considered as a working environment in which metacognition and reflective practice are vital (Cavazotte Moreno and Hickmann 2012). It is important for the students to understand the effectiveness of team work and practice the same so that they can adopt practices of self-regulation as well as self-monitoring in their respective teams (West 2012). The aspect of team work is important since it increases the productivity of the students and would help them in increasing their professional goals.

As defined by Levi (2015), collaboration is an integral component of teamwork and it is defined as the process of working together in groups so that an objective is fulfilled. The students should have collaborative skills that would improve their academic performance (Cavazotte Moreno and Hickmann 2012). The sharing of responsibilities would imply that the students would be able to perform different kinds of roles and develop suitable strategies for action. These skills would help the students to perform collective decision making as well as well perform tasks based on the objectives of the organization. If the students are able to imbibe these skills, then they would be successful in their future professional endeavors too. Hwang Wu and Chen (2012) argue that the students need to have problem solving attitude for gaining the best performances. It is important that they improve their analytical ability and lateral thinking so that they can perform their tasks in a better manner (Cavazotte Moreno and Hickmann 2012). The students should have skills like persistence and logical reasoning which would help the students to solve critical business issues and be self-sufficient. This would also make them take initiative in their academic as well as professional life.

References

Avolio, B.J. and Yammarino, F.J. eds., 2013. Introduction to, and overview of, transformational and charismatic leadership. In Transformational and Charismatic Leadership: The Road Ahead 10th Anniversary Edition (pp. xxvii-xxxiii). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Cavazotte, F., Moreno, V. and Hickmann, M., 2012. Effects of leader intelligence, personality and emotional intelligence on transformational leadership and managerial performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 23(3), pp.443-455.

Hwang, G.J., Wu, P.H. and Chen, C.C., 2012. An online game approach for improving students’ learning performance in web-based problem-solving activities. Computers & Education, 59(4), pp.1246-1256.

Levi, D., 2015. Group dynamics for teams. Sage Publications.

Nancarrow, S.A., Booth, A., Ariss, S., Smith, T., Enderby, P. and Roots, A., 2013. Ten principles of good interdisciplinary team work. Human resources for Health, 11(1), p.19.

Sebastian, J. and Allensworth, E., 2012. The influence of principal leadership on classroom instruction and student learning: A study of mediated pathways to learning. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(4), pp.626-663.

Thoonen, E.E., Sleegers, P.J., Oort, F.J. and Peetsma, T.T., 2012. Building school-wide capacity for improvement: The role of leadership, school organizational conditions, and teacher factors. School effectiveness and school improvement, 23(4), pp.441-460.

Wagner, T., 2014. The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools DonÕt Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children NeedÑand What We Can Do About It. Basic Books.

West, M.A., 2012. Effective teamwork: Practical lessons from organizational research. John Wiley & Sons.