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The Principals Role as a Leader of Service

Critical Element Paper #2 Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership and Postsecondary Education University of Northern Iowa

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Arts in Education

by Amy L. Miehe Waterloo East High School August 28, 2012

Dr. Charles McNulty

Robert K. Greenleaf (1977), the founding father of servant leadership, devised the following phrase as his central theme:

Caring for persons, the more able and less able serving each other, is the rock upon which a good society is built. Whereas until recently, caring was largely person to person, now most of it is mediated in institutions-often large, complex, powerful, impersonal; not always competent, sometimes corrupt. If a better society is to be built, one that is more just and more loving, and provides greater creative opportunity for its people, than the most open course is to raise both the capacity to serve and very performance, as servant, of existing institutions by new regenerative forces operating within them. (p.4)

This new kind of leadership model presented by Greenleaf puts serving others as the number one. Servant leadership creates a sense of well-being and belonging in a community and increased opportunities for decision-making power and emphasizes the need for individuals to provided increased services to those around them. Servant leadership is essential in the educational setting. The traditional way of leadership in education suggested leaders were based off hierarchical positions. A leaders hierarchical position was often associated with wealth, family history and influence. The leader was often seen as in-charge and was obeyed by those below him or her. Sergiovanni (1992), suggests within our schools, corporations, and other institutions, a practice is emerging that requires us to redefine the concept of leadership. According to Sergiovanni (1992), we must examine the heart and head of leadership. The heart of leadership deals with what a person values, believes, dreams about and is committed to, or their personal vision. The head of leadership deals with theories of practice that a leader develops over time, and with their ability, to reflect on the situations he or she face.

Furthermore, he goes on to explain the importance of moral perspectives and views leaders hold of themselves, of their work, and of the purposes that guide their work.

Spears (2010) highlights 10 characteristics of the servant leader: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to growth of people and building community. ISSL 2 Culture of Learning, directly ties in with the servant characteristic of stewardship and commitment to the growth of people. These collectively tie into the attributes of trust and honesty. In order to be a leader, you must have followers. Those followers must trust their leader. As a future leader, we must develop trust amongst our staff. Love your employees (Fullan, 2008). Fullan suggests to earn trust leaders must demonstrate it through integrity and competence. As a future leader, I experienced this first hand shadowing an elementary principal in the area. In a short conversation with a student, the principal addressed her excellent behavior witnessed by her teachers. She told her how impressed she was with her behavior and acknowledged her improvement since the beginning of the year. Additionally, the principal called her parents to acknowledge her behavior with the student in the room. If we as leaders learn to develop trust amongst our staff, success will come.

The characteristic of commitment to the building ties directly to ISSL 4, Family and Community. We as leaders are preparing our students for the future. It is important that we create an environment that is welcoming and sets a good example for students. It is our students who will be responsible for the success of the future of our country. I experienced family and community ties during my shadowing experience at an area elementary school. The principal delightfully welcomed all students into the building as they arrived. She asked several, how are you doing? Or gave a high five for a job well done or simply smiled at them. Later in the day,

she visited with every 5th grade student to go over their reading and math score from the previous year and set a new goal for the upcoming year. She encouraged each student to push themselves in their goal setting and remained positive with each visit. Such communication is an effective tool to engender a sense of community and to foster respect, (Reese, 2007). Talking with students one-on-one and encouraging them is forming a bond which helps build a welcoming environment. The encouragement for better test scores can lead to positive results; which can lead to a stronger community. Spears(2010) listening, empathy and healing characteristics of servant leadership link directly to ISSL 5 Ethics. As a future leader, we must be able to communicate with all stakeholders. Communication is probably the most critical tool a servant leader can utilize. It is important that a principal is caring and supportive of his or her staff. The principal needs to be there for his or her staff to help out or listen to him or her. According to Sergiovanni (1992), values play an important part in constructing an administrators mindscape and in determining leadership practice. As a future leader, I have learned many of my internship opportunities that principals that are able to implement the servant leadership style have more staff interaction and better environment than others. The principal I shadowed displayed a genuine caring attitude towards her students, staff and community. It was evident while touring the building by the smiles and excitement towards her. The level of enthusiasm throughout the building was incredible. ISSL 6 Societal Context relates to Spears (2010) conceptualization, awareness, foresight and persuasion characteristics of a servant leader. As stated by Harry and Rosemary Wong (2005), teachers are not in private practice. We are in the helping and caring profession, a

service profession to help people enhance the quality of their lives (Swartz & Westerhuas, 2005). As a future leader, we must acknowledge that our job is to serve all stakeholders. It is important to show all stakeholders we are there to support them. In the school building, celebrating everyday by sending notes or emails to staff thanking them for their work. Increasing visibility in classrooms as well as in the community are important ways of showing support. Furthermore, persuasion also incorporates motivation and pacing. Motivation involves creating opportunities, empowering individuals and encouraging growth. Pacing involves a leader adopting the behavior of those around him or her to establish rapport. A servant leader models the way by setting the example of behaving consistent with values in the school (Wilson, 1998).

From the experiences I have had through teaching and internship hours, I have learned a tremendous amount about servant leadership. As stated by Fullan (2010), trust is everything. He also addresses the power of trust and one must work their way through the natural mistrust that many people have with respect to leaders. As a future leader, we must gain the respect of our students, staff, parents and community. We must support and help them regardless of our thoughts on a given situation. To do so, we build relationships with all stakeholders by offering an open-door policy and being visible. An example I experienced was a 3-year evaluation; the administrator was consistent and positive with his reflection to my lessons. He got to know me prior to just being an evaluator. He provided positive feedback in numerous reflective meetings and always praised, yet offered suggestions for improvement. Experiences like this will be useful as I prepare to implement servant leadership.

Another important aspect of servant leadership is communication. Through my teaching and internship experiences, without it a school will have little success. It is vital that

communication is strong with students, teachers, parents and the community. Technology today has provided easier access to all stakeholders. As a future leader, we must make our vision clear to all stakeholders. We must create an environment where effective communication can occur. One way to do this is to get to know our students, staff, parents and community. Strong communication will lead to a welcoming school culture and climate. In my teaching and internship experiences, it is evident when a school culture and climate is strong by the watching positive interaction in buildings.

It is obvious through research, experience and practice that servant leadership is critical in the educational setting. This model of leadership puts serving others the number one priority. If we, as future educators, adopt this type of leadership we will see success in our schools. We must be willing to adopt it and practice it patiently. Servant leadership creates a positive climate and culture that has a great impact on student learning.

References

Fullan, Michael. (2010). Motion Leadership: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Greenleaf, R.K. (1977). Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Genesis. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press. Reece, J. (2007). The Four Cs of Successful Classroom Management. Music Educators

Journal, 94(1), 24-29. Retreived from:

http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=081e10fd-

Sergiovanni, Thomas J. (1992). Moral Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Spears, L.C. (2010) Character and Servant Leadership: Ten of Effective, Caring Leaders. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, 1(1), p.25-30. Virginia Beach, VA School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship, Regent University Swartz, Sue; Westerhaus, Anita. (2005). Ethics in Iowa Education [slide 5]. Retrieved from: www.state.ia.us/boee Wilson, Robin T. (1998). Servant Leadership. 24(5), p1-5. Knoxville, Tennessee. American College of Physician Executives.