Leadership Lens
Leaders experience a myriad of dilemmas in the course of service delivery. The pursuit to identify an acceptable approach to leadership challenges has compelled empirical researchers to conduct extensive studies aimed to elucidate aspects that warrant effective leadership. Bolman and Deal (2008) discuss the various frames that are deemed ideal for different organizations. Principally, the choice of an ideal leadership frame is crucial in ensuring that the leadership dilemma is proficiently addressed. Educators reserve the obligation to adopt leadership approaches that improve the quality of teaching and student’s comprehension of complex concepts. According to Clayton (2014), educational leaders can improve the quality of education in a learning institution by implementing transformational leadership, maintaining competence, and being visionary.
Resource Used
In a bid to understand how the quality of education can be revamped in a learning institution that is rigid to change amid evidence that the current organizational culture is counterproductive, it is critical to synthesize insight presented by Bolman & Deal (2008) and Hoy & Miskel (2012). The sources identify leadership frames that should be considered to overcome a leadership problem or dilemma.
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Name of the Case and Page Number
The case that will be explored in this critical analysis paper is the case study entitled Old school culture and a new principal . The chosen case is on page 43 to 49.
Summary of the Case
Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School is a learning entity housed in the third-oldest facility in the entirety of the California school district. The general outlook of the organization paints an image of a deteriorating facility. Moreover, amid the prevalence of indiscipline cases in the school, the teaching fraternity believes that the adoption of negative reinforcement approaches such as suspending a student is cardinal in realigning the pupil’s behavioral and discipline compasses to what is expected of them. However, the disciplinary methods engrained on Holmes’ organizational culture have proven to be futile since no noticeable improvement in the quality of education or discipline has been realized. Despite the conspicuous evidence of the failure of the current approaches to alleviate the deteriorating academic and discipline levels at the institution, the Holmes’ fraternity has remained rooted in its culture.
John Lattimore, an experienced educator with over 31 years of teaching experience and 22 years as a high school principal, is the new principal of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School. John Lattimore was initially the principal of McKinley Elementary School, a learning institution that was deemed the epitome of academic excellence in the entirety of the school district. The risk of changing Lattimore’s assignment was perceived to outweigh the benefits since he would be transitioning from an institution that is oriented toward excellence to an educational facility that is opposed to changes in its organizational culture. Therefore, the superintendents projected that Lattimore would experience immense opposition in the struggle to revamp the academic standards of Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School.
After one year of getting acquainted with the school’s fraternity, the teaching, and non-teaching staff, parents, and students, Principal Lattimore present reformative suggestions that were intended to repeal rules that kept students out of school. Principal Lattimore suggested that students should be retained rather than flunked and they should only be suspended if they are found in possession of weapons or drugs. Typically, the approach suggested by Lattimore was tailored to ensure that students are retained in school. The reasoning underpinning the recommendations was negative reinforcement may be useful, but it is not effective for students that are already academically weak. Also, empirical data suggests that students who were flunked at first grade were less likely to finish high school. Hence, the negative reinforcement further deteriorated the chances of weak students to gain academic success.
Strengths of the Organizational Metaphor
In a bid to understand the challenges faced by Principal Lattimore in introducing reforms to Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School, it is crucial that the key players in the social systems at play in a learning institution are explored. Typically, schools are affected by politics, state mandates, and environmental forces (Morgan, 2006). The formal regulation and informal norms in a school system usually constitute the organizational culture of the learning facility. The internal elements at play in the school environment are the structural system, the cultural system, the political system, and the individual system. The complexity of the social systems synonymous with a school necessitated a slow and careful approach in implementing changes.
In reference to the case scenario, the ideal leadership frame that would propagate the alleviation of the case study dilemma is the structural frame. The structural frame focuses on the goals of the organization and lays down approaches that would facilitate the successful realization of the set objectives. According to Bolman and Deal (2008), organizations exist with the ultimate aim of attaining set goals. Moreover, the structural framework dictates that the structure of an organization ought to be tailored to fit the circumstances under which an institution operates in. Also, the goals of the organization can be achieved if rationality is permeated to prevail. Typically, the underlying assumption is that restructuring of an organization is vital in remediating problems and performance disparities. In the context of the case scenario, restructuring the school in a bid to eradicate counterproductive aspects of the organization’s culture is imperative.
The structural frame is beneficial and ideal for the case since it will allow the school to implement regulations that permit students to be at school. The underlying reasoning informing the decision is that students who are academically weak cannot benefit if they are continuously absence from school. Therefore, making suspension regulations that are stringent and seek to reduce the propensity of students being absent from school will be instrumental in ensuring student have constant access to education, thus, improving their chance of academic success.
Moreover, redefining or changing the organizational culture will be vital in allowing stakeholders, especially parents and teachers to understand that there is a problem with the current culture. Typically, Lattimore’s efforts to repeal negative reinforcement will be instrumental in introducing a new approach to the mannerism in which the school approaches indiscipline cases and low academic performance.
Lattimore should not yield to the opposition since the proposed reforms are beneficial to the student population. As a result, it is crucial that he holds meetings with the parents, teachers, and other stakeholders, and presents empirical findings that support his recommendations. Since the opposing party rationalizes its argument by the notion that the facility has always done things that way, the principal should demonstrate that the current policies have contributed to the academic dwarfism evident in the institution. Holistically, Principal Lattimore should appeal to the stakeholders that change is necessary for salvaging the quality of education.
Weaknesses
Although the structural frame comprehensively addresses the leadership dilemma in the presented case, the approach is susceptible to backlash and resistance since it challenges the prevalent culture and status quo at the school. Restructuring a learning institution and changing rules, as proposed by Principal Lattimore is challenging since the endeavor is not supported wholly, especially by teachers and teaching aids that are somewhat conservative. Ultimately, the partial support for policies and reforms impede the success of the new rules in improving the quality of education.
In conclusion, a conservative organization tends to oppose changes that contradict the institution’s culture. However, in the context of Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary school, change is necessary for a bid to improve the quality of education dissipated to the students.
References
Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Clayton, J. K. (2014). The leadership lens: Perspectives on leadership from school district personnel and university faculty. NCPEA International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation , Vol. 9, (1).
Hoy, W.K., & Miskel, C.G. (2012). Educational administration: Theory, research, and practice (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Morgan, G. (2006). Images of organization . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
