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DOCUMENT RESUMEED 310 529AUTHORTITLEINSTITUTIONPUB DATENOTEPUB TYPEEDRS PRICEDESCRIPTORSEA 021 251Joyce, MarkCultivating Excellence: A Curriculum for Excellencein School Administration. I. Introduction: Is There aCommon Role for an Educational Leader?New Hampshire School Administrators Association,Durham.Jun 8921p.; For other documents in the series, see EA 021251-256.Viewpoints (120)Reports - Descriptive (141)MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.Administrator Characteristics; *AdministratorFffectiveness; *Administrator Responsibility;*Administrator Role; Elementary Secondary Education;*Excellence in Education; *Leadership Qualities;*Leadership Responsibility; Leadership Styles;SupervisionABSTRACTThis report is tne first of a series on cultivatingexcellence in education for the purpose of training and retrainingschool leaders of the 1990s. The common role of educational leadersis discussed. Their central areas of responsibility andadministrative and leadership skills are reviewed, not as discreteconcepts, but as complex and dynamic dimensions of that role. Centralareas of responsibility include a working knowledge of the personnelfunction, finance, communications and community relations, studentservices, curriculum and instruction, and capital improvements andmaintenance. Administrative and leadership skills should reflectefficient planning, evaluating, supervising, directing,communicating, organizing, and coordinating. **************************Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made**from the original *********************t*********

CULTIVATING EXCELLENCEA Curriculum for Excellence inSchool AdministrationIntroduction:Is There a Common Role for an Educational Leader?I.ByDr. Mark JoyceSuperintendent of Schools, SAU #17"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BYU S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and improvementEDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER IERIC)Ce(This document has been reproduced asrecewed from the person or organizationoriginatingIT Minor changes Pace been made to rmproimreproduction qualityTO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)"Points of view or opinions stated tri this document do not nece ssanly represent officialOE RI posrtroo or policyPrepared by theNew Hampshire School Administrators AsJune, 1989'ationMorrill Hall, UNH, Durham, NHFunding provided by theGovernor'.4 Initiatives for Excellence in Education2BEST COPY AVAILABLE

IS THERE A COMMON ROLE FOR AN EDUCATIONAL LEADER ?When is a SUPERINTENDENT a SUPERINTENDENTOr aPRINCIPAL a PRINCIPAL 'IntroductionThe role of an educational leader, whether a CentralOffice Administrator or a Building Level Administrator, hasbeen defined and described in a variety of ways. Some viewsof our role include those of: an instructional leader, acoach, a manager,, chief executive officer of a complexorganization, a financial officer, a communicator of avision, a facilitator of people, a problem solver and ongoes the list.Depending on the expert you believe, theresearch base you use or the journal you read, the roledescription of a leader of an educational organization maydrastically differ. Yet amid these varied opinions thereappears to be agreement that our role is unique,multidimensional and challengingAs a practicing school leader and a teacher of leadersI am at times impressed, confused, exhilaratf,d andoverwhelmed by the varied demands placed on our jobsInreality I understand that there can be no simple formulathat will guide our work nor would I desire oneYet,I amaware that the varied definitions send confused messagesthat communicate uignificantly different expectations of the"appropriate" role of school leadersThis fact may

contribute to the common situation where two individualswith the same job title actually execute very differentjobs.Upon reflecting about the evolution of publiceducation, it is apparent to this author that the nature andpurpose of our work is determined by many factors andsubject to constant change. To a major degree we areinfluenced by regional, national and internationaldevelopments to which each local community creates its ownresponse, secs its own values and establishes its ownpriorities. Given our awareness that we work in a dynamicand pluralistic occupation,I still wonder.Is it possibleto begin to define a common role for school leaders / Is itworth the extra effort / or Are our rolessc, dependent onour local setting nnd individual preferences. they defygeneralizationM., responses to these questions are-YES, YES andMAYBE. Let me explain my thinking and I will caution youthat this is only one man's opinion.YES, it is possible to begin to define certain broadareas of administrative/leadership responsibility that areshared by most educational leaders. From my experience,reviews of research and discussions with colleagues, thereappears to be at least, six broad areas in which educailonalleaders workThese include the areas of. Finance.Communications and Community Relations, Curriculum andInstruction, Personnel, Capital Improvements/Maintenance.-2-4

and Student .oervices. In reality, there are variations toany one individuals involvement in these areas depending onwhether his/her work is focused at the school or districtlevel and on the availability of support personnel. Yet,itappears clear that each educational leader must be able tomove among these roles in the course of leading aneducational organization. In a later section, I will definethese roles and suggest some common skills we employ inleading each of these areas; but for now, on to the secondquestion.YES it is worth it, to spend the extra efforts to beginto identify a common ground for educational leadersIrespond to this question from two different perspectives.one as a school admmistrator and the other as a teacher ofeducational leaders.From the "trenches", we do not often have the luxury ofreflecting on the new researcn. contemplating the overallparameters of our career or masterfully orchestrating astrategic plan. Instead we are often immersed in fixingleaky roofs, solving explosive personnel problems,stretching tight resources, reacting to complaints andresponding to other threatening critical issues thatsurround our organizations. When we attempt to step back andsay hold it, we are not spending our time wiselyLet's lookat the overall picture. We are met with responses like"Isn't that your job ?" or "We set the priorities and youcarry them outor "What big picture " "-3-r-t./

On the other hand, from the "Ivory Tower", we aresometimes discouraged at the lack of application of soundtheory to practice. It seems so clear that there is acorrect way to: supervise employees, :trategically plan,market a school, evaluate programs and lead organizations.We often spend our time specializing in a certain aspect ofeducation, researching, testing, wniting, and coachingpractitioners. Yet, what we see is the existence of partialapplications of good ideas, and we are frustrated by thelack of overall planning ant thoughtful implementation.My favorite analogy for describing the role of a leaderis the image of a masterful juggler who is spinning plateson thin stir.ks (Illustration No. 1). He/she carefullybalances a spinning plAte on a stick and periodicallyapplies more spin in order to maintain the precariousbalanceAs his/her skill improves the juggler/leader isable to simultaneously spin several plates and evensuccessfully spin plates on top of plates.The juggler was not expected to begin to spin twenty platesat once, nor was he/she expected to spin a refrigerator, atoaster, a fo)tball, a grapefruit and an egg simultaneouslyRather the juggler was first taught the skills of juggling.given time to practice and experiment, and allowed theopportunity to perform his/her art.As educational leaders and teachers of leaders, ourjuggling is made more difficult, because we are unclearabout what we must juggle and the table on which we spin our-4-

plates is consta,Itly moving. If we begin to identify our"plates"A.t will allow each of us time to practice andupdate our skills, communicate our job (both the art andscience) to others, gain a mutually accepted understandingof our roles and perform those roles more effectively.In response to our final question, my response isMAYBEMaybe?.is a political response, some mightsay, to the question of whether our roles defygeneralization. In earlier sections of our discussion I haveidentified my belief that it is possible to begin toidentify a common ground for educational leaders.so whyMAYBE 7The -:eason for this apparent mixed signal is to clearlyunderscore the reality that our positions are in largemeasure shaped by the local community or communities .:orwhom we work. In order to discover the unique localinterpretation of a leader's role, educational leaders arefaced with answering several critical questions. What arethe needs, values and priorities that are unique to yourcommunity(ies) ? What are the leader's personal needs.values, priorities and skills 7 And how do you best developa mutually acceptable understanding of your role as aneducational leader 7As educational leaders we need to develop a clearunderstanding of what our role should be, examine our ownpriorities and negotiate a common understanding of our roleand its expectations with our superiorsWhether this occurs

letweer a superintendent and his/her school board or abuilding administrator and his/her central officeadministrator, it is a critically important step. I wouldsubmit that this is not a new concept nor an unpracticedtheory, rather it is a step that successful educationalleaders and leaders in other professions have practiced foryears .It is important, however, for us to understand thedifficulty of this challenge, in that we have many publicsand superiors to consider in our analysis. Unlike ourcontemporaries in business or other institutions, we mustconsider a variety of influences and struggle with balancinga myriad of sometimes conflicting interests. The interestsof board members individually and collectively, ofcitizens/taxpayers, of studentI, of parents, of staff, ofthe state legislature and society as a whole, are among themany pieces to consider in our analysisIt is easy to seehow educational leaders may be discouraged at the specter ofsuch a challenge. Yet, it is equally apparent that we needto rise to this opportunity to develop a clearerunderstanding of our role or be content with working in aconfused and conflicted profession.A plethora of current research is focusing onidentifying the vehicles used to achieve this difficultbalanceThey are varied and may include the establishmentof a strong organizational culture; creations of traditions.collaboratively developing a long term plan. or simply-6-