“A good leader takes people to where they want to be. A great leader doesn’t necessarily take people where they want to be but rather where they should be” - Rosalynn Carter
What is leadership and why is it important?
In any type of organization, group, or team, there will always be the need for a leader who is capable of steering people to achieve a common goal as well as guiding people in order for them to reach their maximum potential inside and outside of the workplace.
Generally, when leadership is mentioned, people tend to think about companies or businesses, but schools and classes also require leaders. This is called educational leadership and it is defined as the ability to mobilize and influence others to articulate and reach the shared goals of their educational institution.
This has an important role in school betterment, allowing schools to reach their full potential, raising motivation, enhancing abilities, practices, and working conditions whilst impacting positively and indirectly on students learning.
Types of leadership
The leadership style depends on the distinct characteristics of each group, people, objectives, and resources, of the person who will act as the leader, amongst other factors.
Some leadership styles are:
Transformational leadership: This is a type of leadership that is capable of making a significant transformation within the organization. The leader expresses high expectations toward every collaborator and projects a sense of complete trust in the team.
Distributed leadership: The leader becomes somewhat of a change agent that is aware of all the individual skills that all their collaborators possess. They make the most out of these skills and are capable of identifying and establishing agreements, and goals that foster a space of openness and trust amongst everyone.
Pedagogical leadership: This is oriented towards the management of places dedicated to education. Its focus is on the practices developed in schools and on the learning improvement as well as proper teacher development. Its priority is the teaching-learning process.
Importance of leadership in education
The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) declared educational leadership as the second most important factor in developing learning abilities. It is necessary to create educational organizations that are more flexible, and capable of adapting to diverse social contexts. The making of educational spaces focused on effective learning should not only be for the students but also for the teachers, that way they have the proper support to teach to the full of their abilities.
This implies focusing on factors such as:
Making learning an activity.
Create proper conditions for learning.
Effective communication between the leaders and the people.
Sharing leadership.
Share responsibility for results.
Promote cooperation and cohesion between the teachers.
Understand and visualize what you want to achieve as an individual and as a group.
In addition to the creation of appropriate learning and teaching environments, the transformation should be visible. The renovation has to be seen everywhere and show an improvement. In distance education, this means the use of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies), the betterment of hardware, and even techniques and methods of teaching.
Good leadership is necessary to achieve development and learning goals and objectives. It is just as important to create spaces where leadership, teaching, and learning can interact equally. Understanding this relationship means accepting that there is a direct correlation of responsibility from both sides, teachers, and students, in making a space where education flourishes and benefits everyone.
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