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COE 5.1 Benchmark – Leadership Style and Philosophy

Soua Lor

Grand Canyon University

EAD – 501: Educational Administration: Foundations for the Developing Leader

Dr. Patti Beltram

May 5th, 2021

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Benchmark – Leadership Style and Philosophy

Educational leadership is the core to building a foundation for student success. Many

leaders have different styles of representing themselves and how they lead their teams, which

forms from a philosophy that leaders create to guide their mission for the company and staff

members. Often times when leaders embrace their vision clearly, staffs will know what to expect

and can predict the response from their leader (Benson, 2018). In determining a leadership style

and philosophy, it is important to consider values that are essential to one’s beliefs and rational

principles of the company. To deepen this thought, leaders may want to question themselves,

“What do you, as a leader, hope to accomplish throughout your career as a result of your

leadership?” (Benson, 2018). When creating a philosophy, keeping the end goal in the forefront

will motivate the organization to continue working toward the desired results.

Personal Values and Beliefs

There are many components in creating a leader’s personal values and beliefs as an

educational leader, which includes insuring that teachers are provided with appropriate

professional development, teacher salary increase, and closing the achievement gap. Personally,

student success is the end goal that drives my thinking. I believe that by providing teachers the

appropriate training they need to be fully equipped for their job will increase student outcomes.

One of my old supervisors used to always say, “Sometimes you don’t have to recreate the wheel.

You just have to roll it out.” This statement reminds me of the Professional Standards of

Educational Leaders (PSEL) Standard 7 in which it promotes opportunities for professional

development in the work environment by allowing staff collaboration (NPBEA, 2015).

Professional Development for Teachers

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When engaging in collaborative meetings, providing workshops for teachers to analyze

data is what affects decision-making towards student success. For example, when there are low

numbers in the amount of homework returns from students, we must dive deeper to see where

the complications are and find solutions to help parents engage with their children more at home.

Data-driven helps me to set goals for where I would like to see improvements. In most cases,

improvements come from teamwork among different departments in the school, including

Family Service, Education Department, Finance and more. This collaboration is an interaction

with others to meet specific goals for individual children and their families.

Teacher Salary Increase

Throughout the past decades, there have been sporadically cases of maltreatment towards

children from their own teachers. Have you ever wondered why an adult would hurt something

so fragile and innocent? The amount of training teachers have could impact the way they handle

complex situations appropriately. The ratio number of children to adults in the classroom is 10

students per one teacher. In a federally funded program such as Head Start, in order to continue

receiving grants from the state, it is mandatory that 10% of the children in the program have a

special need. For example, children who come from a low in-come family/poverty, have an IEP,

Action Plan for language or challenging behavior have a higher chance to qualify for the

program. With all of these factors that teachers have to manage from a day-to-day basis, it can

become overwhelming, just as any other job. A better salary to show appreciation for their work

could help to eliminate stress and make their job work it. Most Head Start teachers are paid a

salary that allows them to qualify their own children into Head Start. What does that mean? It

means that these programs are setting teachers for failure. A higher salary increase will give

teachers better opportunities to live above poverty.

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Close the Achievement Gap

My motivation to close the achievement gap in Head Start performance across a wide

range of socioeconomic families is also what creates my own personal values and beliefs in the

school system. Children who come from low-income families should also be provided with high

quality education. When parents work all day and maybe even two jobs, it limits their available

time to spend with their children, which could result in the students’ lack of certain academic

performance. Student success is more effective when children have a well-rounded learning

environment, which includes cooperation from parents in the home to ensure homework is

completed. In order to close the achievement gap, parents must also be provided with resources

and education from the program to better support their children at home, including social-

emotional techniques, outdoor learning activities, and academic subject-based guidance.

Leadership Style Aligned

After studying many different leadership styles, I was able to determine which ones I

could relate to the most. I came to a realization that the philosophy of transformational and

servant leadership were two styles that align with my personal values and beliefs due to our

common goals. Though there may be certain factors that I also agree with in other leadership

styles, I was able to compare and contrast on my true beliefs. As an educational leader, I am

quickly finding my own philosophy as I gather a combination of qualities from other leaders that

have come before me.

Transformational Leadership

“Transformational leadership is the process whereby a person engages with others and

creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and the

follower” (Northouse, 2019, pg. 164). I can relate to this quote as it displays a leader that guides
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followers to reach their full potential in their work. Often times, I find myself having

characteristics of a transformational leader, such as setting high expectations, being persistent,

listen to my staff to develop cooperation, and strategic about problem-solving (Hay, 2006). As

mentioned in my personal values and beliefs, I find my staff to be a crucial part of a school

organization, which is why transformational leadership aligns with my way of leading.

Servant Leadership

A second style that resembles my own personal values and beliefs is servant leadership.

There are also many values in this practice that aligns with my own way of leading, such as

building a mutual vision for my team, creating advance levels of interdependence, identifying

mistakes and learn from them, encourage cooperation from each staff member, maintain being

humble and more (McGee-Cooper and Trammell, 2013). One characteristic of servant leadership

that I often find myself practicing is listening. “Servant leaders communicate by listening first.

They recognize that listening is a learned discipline that involves hearing and being receptive to

what others have to say” (Northouse, 2019). In a working adult environment, I see myself as a

mentor to help teachers scaffold among their own teaching practice as they learn by self-

reflecting on their interactions with children. My personal belief toward education is to enhance

my teachers’ self-efficacy to be the best they can be by sharing additional training that may

benefit their teaching, allow them to facilitate school and collaboration meetings in order to

support student success.

Integrity and Fairness

I will act with integrity and fairness for all students by meeting them where they are. This

involves communicating with transparency, perseverance, and working towards a continuous

improvement, as stated in Standard 2 of the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders

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(NPBEA, 2015). School is a place that should be an inclusive environment where children of

different needs are eligible to attend, including those with challenging behavior, speech therapy

needs, action plans, individualized education program (IEP) / individual family service plan

(IFSP) and more. The terms “equal” and “fair” are quite different in definitions and it is

important that teachers understand them in order to provide education appropriately to each

whole child. “Equality by definition is treating everyone the same” (Butler, 2005). In an

inclusive classroom where there is a wide range of children at different developmental stages, an

example of equality is providing them all with a blank piece of paper and asking them to write

their names, knowing that the results will vary. In contrast with the same example, fairness is

giving all children a blank piece of paper and also providing those individuals who may struggle

to write their names a name card as reference for support.

As teachers, we have all heard children say, “It’s not fair.” What does that actually mean

and do children fully understand the definition of fair? Although we want to hold high

expectations for all of our families and students, sometimes there are exceptions that we have to

make in order to support those individuals. The best way to teach fairness is by demonstrating it

using two different measurements to portray this idea for young children. An example of how

this could be done is by reading social stories about differences, teachers could do a puppet skit,

or act out certain scenarios. Conducting training for teachers to ensure that they also understand

the difference between equal and fairness is a great way to better support student success by

creating an individual learning plan that works best for each child.

Model of Effective and Inspirational Leadership

My proposed philosophy has unique factors of its own that affects teachers to be better at

their job. Creating a work environment where all staff feel safe, respected and supported is a
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healthy workspace. Alongside from developing staff, my personal values and beliefs of deeply

analyzing data in student assessments and progression of teacher performances are of effective

and inspirational leadership. Success comes when there is a strategy to study past results or

history, current situations and plan for the future to effectively support both staff and students.

As an educational leader, my philosophy is one that builds staff self-efficacy and promotes

student success in different areas to strengthen the relationship within the school as we reach for

improved desired goals.

Conclusion

The key points of providing appropriate professional development for teachers, salary

increase for educators, and cooperating with parents to close the achievement gap are values and

beliefs of my philosophy to better improve the school system. Changes can be made when we

identify the problems and put forth a plan to work toward better results. Regardless of where a

child comes from, skin color, or their title of having a special need, it is our job as educators to

provide them a fair education. It is important to continue motivating students to do even better

and set reasonable high expectations per whole child. Values and beliefs that affect all staff

members and children personally is a philosophy created for success.

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References

Benson, D. (2018, May 29). How to Determine Your Personal Leadership Philosophy. American

Association for Physician Leadership. https://www.physicianleaders.org/news/how-

determine-your-personal-leadership-philosophy. 

Butler, C.J. (January 2005). Equal and Fair Are Not the Same: Classroom Issues of Fairness.

York County Public Schools.

https://www.ttac.odu.edu/newsletter/PDF/OLD/Nov_Dec_2004_Jan_2005/Page2.pdf

McGee-Cooper, A. & Trammell, D. (2013). Essentials of Servant Leadership: Principles in

Practice. http://amca.com/amca/wp-content/uploads/The-Essentials-of-Servant-Leadership-

Final.pdf

National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional Standards for

Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author. https://www.npbea.org/wp-

content/uploads/2017/06/Professional-Standards-for-Educational-Leaders_2015.pdf

Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice. SAGE

Publications. https://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/sage/2018/leadership-theory-and-

practice_8e.php.

Review education policies - Education GPS. OECD. (September 29th, 2020). Class Size and

Student-Teacher Ratio https://gpseducation.oecd.org/revieweducationpolicies/#!

node=41720&filter=all.