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Leadership in Education at School
As a general fact, strong leadership is the hallmark of high-quality education. Leadership in education at school
level is becoming increasingly important for government, as well as public, as the world becomes a global village.
In countries like America, a typical school now has a great variety of children in terms of their ethnic
background, socioeconomic class, physical disabilities, mental disability and capacity of learning, and other
variations. Strong leadership skills are thus accentuated in all programs of developing school curriculum.
Role of Leadership in Education
The vital role that leadership plays in quality education is not foisting its interests on educational institutions
but directing the latter towards the broader goal of progress-academic, social, economic etc. Exploring better
means of polishing skills of students and refining their personalities into a mould of productive responsibility
lies at the heart of every leadership scheme. Instructing to learn via influencing by formal/informal authority is
the crux of leadership in education. In brief, leadership serves the function of making learning more effective for
students.
Leadership in School Education
Research studies focusing on the role of leadership in education reveal that the direct effect of leadership in
school education is not big although it is educationally important. Also, good leadership indirectly enhances the
educational performances of schools. Indirect influences of leadership include laying out clearer vision and future
goals for both teachers and students, and overseeing processes of teaching and managing student affairs.
Leaders in School
Leadership in education is primarily the role of principals and teachers. This role is played either formally or
informally in imparting educational codes-academic, social, moral. Teachers also play leaders for fellow teachers
(and students for fellow students) in improving teaching methods. Leadership comes from the students’ families as
well.
Qualities of Successful School Leaders
A good school leadership requires many qualities, some of them listed below:
- A successful school leader is capable of creating an environment of healthy competition in his/her
school.
- He/she is able to energize others for participating in healthy activities pertaining to academic and
personal growth.
- He/she can plan fruitfully for the development and improvement of effective means of education.
- He/she owns the skill of bringing about cohesion among students so as to create communities within the
school. This promotes a sense of trust among students coming from different backgrounds.
- A successful school leader has the ability of promoting trust and communication between the students’
families and school staff.
- It is a desirable quality in any successful school leader to focus on shared meanings among school staff
and particularly among leaders. This sharing of meaning leads to better understanding of the aims and visions
of the school’s educational plans.
- Certainly, an exemplary school leader will be a great source of motivation and encouragement.
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