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Research Paper: Potential Practical Applications of Leadership Research

Victoria Minardi

EDLP 6010- 802: Leadership In Learning Communities

Professor Samuel Fancera

October 18, 2020

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Investigation of Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles

This article discusses a study which evaluates the effects of transformational and transactional

leadership, particularly paying attention to teachers’ perceptions of these leadership styles and

how those perceptions affect overall school performance. This study involved 1,117 teachers in

both public and private schools in Istanbul in 2014. The data was obtained from a “personal

information form” as well as a “leadership styles scale”. Although the study claims to show and

explain benefits derived from both leadership styles, the majority of the article favors the

transformational style of leadership. The article takes time to thoroughly define both leadership

styles and the importance of school leadership in general in terms of its relationship to a school’s

overall success. The author goes into great detail as he subdivides each category of leadership

and explains each subdivision’s qualities. The importance of leadership styles is a major focus of

his explanations. In his analysis of teachers’ perceptions of leadership styles, he found that

gender did not affect those perceptions, nor did teacher seniority. He ends his study with a

conclusion that transformational leadership plays a vital role in positive outcomes in schools.

(Avci, 2015, p. 2758-2767) In the article, Avci defines these two forms of leadership succinctly

first before further elaborations and discussion:

Based on more traditional styles, transactional leadership acts under the principle

of awarding and involves mutual exchange between leaders and followers. In

transformational leadership, leaders establishes a link between himself/herself and

followers/employees, affects them, becomes a role-model for them, encourages them to

work willingly beyond their performance, acts under team spirit, pays effort to

realize the organizational goals in unity, follows constantly innovations, changes

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and developments, keeps the organization full and alive under fierce competition and

enables the organization to get closer to success. (p. 2759)

This particular article struck a chord with me. My experiences prior to the district in which I

now work have been under transactional leaders, who seem to fully embrace the idea that I and

my colleagues were subservient to their whims. Morale was abysmal. The climate created

within this type of leadership model was beyond discouragement and frustration. It was a terrible

place to work. At the time, I thought that this was the way things were everywhere and that all

schools were like this. When I became employed in my current district, I joyfully discovered my

previous assumptions to be false. I didn’t know what to call it at the time, but I noticed the team

atmosphere and felt support from both the leaders in the district and my colleagues. It was

exactly as the term dictates, it was a transformational experience for me. After studying this

article, I had names and descriptions to fit my experiences. The ideas here offered me not only

clarity, but inspiration. This is the type of leader I want to be. These ideas and concepts are the

reason I got into education in the first place and my hope is to encourage and develop a team

dynamic in the school where I am a leader. I’ve learned that support and encouragement are not

just for the kids; the teachers need it too. It is my current perception that this style of leadership

is the ideal framework from which to build successful collaborations, and thus a successful

school.

Reflections on Education Reform and Team Leadership

This article explores the concept of team leadership and discusses how it has emerged as

a leading idea in current educational reform. It states that given the complexities and challenges

of education in the 21st century, the leadership paradigm is in dire need of a shift from the
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former bureaucratic autonomous model to one that celebrates collaboration and cooperation

amongst all stakeholders in each school community. The researchers assert that teamwork must

replace former hierarchical structures in order for today’s schools to be successful. This new

paradigm makes school decision-making and problem- solving now the work of the entire

school community, including superintendents, school board members, district support staff,

principals, teachers, parents, and students. It is a dramatic change and a shift in the definition of

what “leadership” means and what that role entails.

The article proceeds to discuss the values and advantages of this collaborative leadership

model. This emphasis on teamwork “ challenges traditional industrial-management perspectives

that view subordinates as self-serving, motivated by earning rewards through avoiding

punishment, and willing to comply with directives.”(Browne-Ferrigno & Björk, 2018, p.

339-347) It recalls the old saying, “Two heads are better than one”, and then expands upon it by

turning one into an entire team of individuals, all who are personally invested in the school’s

outcomes. It makes sense. Each person brings their own ideas, opinions, sensibilities,

preferences, experiences, and attitudes to the collective table, which offers a wide range of

opportunities when committees are brainstorming, problem solving, and creating learning

opportunities. This team of individuals is then empowered and that alone affects and alters the

culture of the school community for the betterment of all involved.

The description of the team leadership model reads like an off-shoot of transformational

leadership. As I have previously stated, this form of leadership is ideal in my view. It enables all

stakeholders to have a hand in the education of the children within a school community.

Responsibilities are shared and thus all involved are fully invested in the goals and outcomes of
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the district. It is a model I will follow in my future leadership positions, for the outcomes far

exceed those in transactional leadership situations.

School Principals’ Leadership Behaviours and Teachers’ Job Satisfaction

This article analyzes the relationship between administrators’ leadership styles and

teacher job satisfaction. The study was done using data supplied by respectable data bases in the

area of educational sciences. Cansoy collected and evaluated this information and was careful to

measure and evaluate the quality of the studies used. The leadership styles evaluated include:

transformational leadership, interactional leadership, laissez-faire leadership, distributive

leadership, leadership towards individuals and duties, being a change-centred organization,

servant leadership and ethical leadership. This study analyzed the findings of 27 other studies.

Overall, the discussion of the findings was extremely convoluted and difficult to decipher. What

was most helpful in determining the conclusions of the study was Appendix A, which briefly and

concisely organized the results of the study. Overall, transformational leadership practices had

the most positive effect on teacher job satisfaction. It was concluded that transforming the

traditional hierarchical structure into a more collaborative, participative one served to improve

teacher satisfaction and occupational health. On the other side, it was also concluded that

negative leadership behaviors led to more teachers being unhappy in their jobs. Thus, this study

reinforces the idea that there is a definite connection between leadership style and job

satisfaction. The article suggests the following:

School principals should have mutual communication with teachers, help and support

them, exhibit behaviours based on justice, equality and honesty, create a strong vision

around common objectives, share school-related tasks with employees, and improve their
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skills. Moreover, they should make an effort to form a strong school culture where there

is participation, flexibility and healthy and open communication. In this way, teachers can

be enabled to enjoy their job and perform higher quality work. (Cansoy, 2018, p. 37-52)

This article further affirms the importance of collaborative leadership structures that support

teachers. Unlike other studies, it spotlights the value of teacher job satisfaction, an area that is

often overlooked by school leaders. It asserts the idea that if employees are happy, it will

improve their job performance and longevity in the school district. This makes sense. In

building a team-like environment, it is essential that employees feel valued and appreciated for

their efforts. It is a practice I hope to emulate in my future positions.

Equalizing Learning Environments Through a Model of Professional Development

The major themes of the study can be summarized in this quote:

When teachers embrace this integrated model of PD using SDT (Self-Determination

Theory) to illicit healthy forms of motivation in students, using the knowledge of cultural

proficiency training to embrace and value all students, and critically self-reflecting to

adjust and improve, educators can create healthier environments for all of their students

and ultimately help all of their students reach higher levels of success.(Ford, 2019, p. 19)

The concepts and ideas explored here are reminiscent of the Khalifa text. (Khalifa’s work is

actually quoted in this article.) The article focuses on teacher professional development in the

areas of critical self-reflection, cultural proficiency, and self-determination theory . The author

articulates that the purpose of this article is to act as a reference tool when planning teacher

preparation and education programs. Ford first talks about the need to equalize learning

environments that continually experience disparities in the areas of physical buildings, classroom
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layouts, resource availability, technology use, the quality of teachers, and the cultures or climates

within schools. She states, “It is the differences in educational opportunities that contribute to the

differences in student outcomes...achievement gaps can be identified along racial and ethnic lines

as well as along socio-economic lines.” (Ford, 2019, p. 27)The next portion of the article

discusses the importance of critical self-reflection. She cites Dewey and links this practice to not

only educator effectiveness but as a practice which fosters personal well-being and growth. The

next section describes the importance and the challenges of cultural proficiency. The Khalifa

quote states: “Cultural proficiency helps teachers to stop seeing differences as problems and to

start embracing and learning from each unique culture represented within their classrooms,

moving from deficit-based thinking to value based.”(Ford, 2019, p. 23) The final section focuses

upon SDT, or Self-Determination Theory, which emphasizes the merits and values of intrinsic

motivation vs extrinsic. In conclusion, the author suggests a combination of all of these theories,

studies, and practices as a means of effective teacher education and development.

Although I have always valued the merits of critical self-reflection and self-determination

theory (a newly acquired term but an honored principle for me), I have gained a great deal of

insight and inspiration from the discussions of cultural proficiency offered by the readings and

research I have done in this class. In my current district, I am witnessing these inequities and I

strive to remedy them, even within the confines of just my teaching. “Deficit-based thinking”

seems to run rampant and appears to be the source of the student achievement pitfalls that I am

observing. Though there is some attempt to bridge the gaps, I feel that my current colleagues

could benefit tremendously from professional development in the arena of culturally responsive
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pedagogy. This type of training is a practice I hope to adopt in the future, so that my team of

stakeholders all operate with similar understanding of the needs of our school community.

Beyond Schools: Community-Based Experiences as a Third Space in Teacher Education

This article examines a pilot program at a university in Canada that enables new teacher

candidates to experience community involvement as part of their professional preparation

program. The logistics of the class are these: “Teacher candidates are required to attend a weekly

three-hour seminar (over eight weeks), as well as commit twelve hours per week (for six weeks)

to a community-based organization, such as art-making centres, youth drop-in centres, or

immigrant and refugee centres.”(Janzen & Petersen, 2020, p. 57) These cultivated experiences

were not used to evaluate these new teacher candidates but rather, they were used to accomplish

a set of objectives. One of these objectives, which is repeated several times throughout the

article, is to disrupt teacher candidates’ assumptions about teaching and learning. This “third

space” mentioned in the title is the community. This pilot course proposes that the community in

which students live serves as another place for teachers to teach and learn. The article cites three

purposes for offering these experiences: “building awareness of diversity and multiculturalism,

broadening and challenging the understanding of teaching and learning, and making community

connections outside of school, with students and families from the school placement.” (Janzen &

Petersen, 2020, p. 52) Until this study was performed, there had been limited research on

community-based practicums. The article explains the benefits of such fieldwork to include the

planning and implementation of lessons, decision-making, flexibility, initiative and the

development of content to reach the needs of students. One of the greatest benefits I perceive is

the creation of “community-based learning opportunities that have the potential to challenge
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teacher candidates’ beliefs and stereotypes.” The bottom line is that such fieldwork can

“develop their awareness of multiculturalism and multicultural education.” (Janzen & Petersen,

2020, p. 54-67) The knowledge I have gained from studying this article has formed a foundation

for my research and planning for the implementation of culturally responsive leadership. The

fieldwork suggested for teachers is a practice I will work to implement in my further leadership

roles in order to involve the community in the education of their children and also to involve

teachers in the community. The research overwhelmingly supports the notion that communities

need to be a part of underserved populations of students. The theories and examples in this

article, along with the Khalifa text, serve as a starting point for me as I further my investigation

and practice of being culturally responsive.

To Empathize or Not To Empathize In Educational Leadership

This article discusses the role of empathy in educational leadership. The author shines a

particularly bright light on transformational leadership, the most widely researched leadership

theory, and extols its benefits, which is explained to rely mostly on leaders’ personalities and

interpersonal skills. There is much written here that talks of sharing visions and goals, as well as

teaching followers to be problem solvers. Inherent in transformational leadership is the need to

cultivate empathy. Before this idea is explored, Jiang and Lu review some of the other popular

theories about leadership and styles used such as The Great Man Theory, which is exactly what it

sounds like, Leader-Member Exchange Theory, which focuses on high-quality exchanges, and

Servant Leadership Theory, which highlights the followers’ perspectives. It goes on to list the

“ten characteristics of servant leaders (to)include listening, empathy, healing, awareness,

persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of the people

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and building community.” (Jiang & Lu, 2020, p. 8)The article then goes on to explore the

definition and concept of empathy: “Empathy is defined as one’s ability to identify, understand,

and experience others’ emotions.” (p. 9) This exploration into the concept of empathy is quite

lengthy and borders upon philosophical speculation. In the end, empathy is praised as an asset to

leaders, however the writers include this disclaimer regarding administrators making

assumptions about others : “Cautions are necessary so they can make efforts to be more accurate

in reading others’ emotions in communication.”(Jiang & Lu, 2020, p.1-21)

I have always viewed empathy as a valuable asset to any individual of integrity. This

article served as a reminder that those individuals should also include leaders. This goes back to

the manner in which one builds a team. Empathy is a vital part of creating relationships. It is a

practice that leads to the successful implementation of any of the successful theories in this

paper. Leaders must identify with their team members in order to form honest relationships and

for true collaboration to occur.

Connecting Dimensions of School Leadership - Practices of Family Engagement

This study collected data from over 380 schools nationwide in order to examine the role

of the principal in creating school-family partnerships. The purpose of this research was to really

see how much influence a school principal has on establishing these partnerships. The article

focuses on the research associated with community involvement in schools, establishing the

importance of such involvement and in the careful cultivation of these partnerships. It explains

that teachers play a particularly vital role in fostering these relationships and that it is extremely

important for the teachers to be the ones to reach out to families in order to create these

connections. As a result, teachers, students and their family members benefit by teachers then
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“designing classroom and home activities that involve families in their children’s learning,

creating open lines of communication with all families, and personally inviting families into the

classroom and the school.” (Jung & Sheldon, 2020, p.11)

Parent-teacher conferences and home visits are cited as the best ways to establish these

connections. In this way and as a result, teachers are “increasing families’ understanding about

schools, helping them feel more informed and empowered to be true partners in the education of

their children.” (p.12) The authors then emphasize that forming these collaborations can’t simply

be “random acts”, they must be part of a larger, whole school strategy for improvement. Where

do the principals come in? They create the culture of the school that fosters these kinds of

behaviors in teachers. According to the authors, it is the principal’s job to inspire teachers and

staff members to engage with the school community in this way. It is the principal who creates

the climate for continuous learning, ongoing professional development, regular collaboration

with students’ families as well as with colleagues, and shared leadership responsibilities. The

article then outlines how families in this study were engaged in school communities and how

those collaborations affected their schools, ultimately leading to positive outcomes.(Jung &

Sheldon, 2020, p.9-32)

In the event that I do become a principal of a school one day, this article has taught me

that it will be my responsibility as the principal to cultivate and foster the ongoing relationship

between the school and its community. It would be my job to encourage and hopefully inspire

teachers to form and make those connections with families. These collaborations should be a

regular part of the school culture and ongoing school improvement strategy. If given the
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opportunity, I hope to implement these strategies and support my staff in their endeavors to

create school and family relationships.

Investigating the Theoretical Structure of Deliberative Democratic Leadership

The inspiration for this study seems to have been the 2007 film, Freedom Writers, about a

young teacher who inspires at-risk youth to engage in deliberative democratic pedagogy,

unbeknownst to them. The journey of this young teacher throughout the film involves her

inspiring students to become their own creators of knowledge and to pursue education beyond

the school’s walls. This study discusses the paradigm shift in leadership from centering on the

individual to a distributive approach which involves the sharing of responsibilities in a more

democratic manner. The study used a questionnaire to survey deliberative competency in

Taiwan, examining the following 7 dimensions of deliberative democracy leadership in schools:

ethic, inclusion, well-informed, publicity, deliberation, reciprocity and consensus. According to

this article, teaching this approach to students inspires motivation, leads to an open approach to

knowledge, uses dialogue as a means of critical thinking instruction, promotes creativity, teaches

students how to learn, and provides solutions to conflicts in school. This study uses quantitative

rather than qualitative research to conclude that teaching deliberative democratic leadership

“directs instruction towards the deepest purposes of creative human potential”. (Lin, 2018, p.

168-173)

The idea of democratic leadership is one that I obviously embrace based upon my

previous explanations. However, democratic practices within the classroom are a different story.

Coincidentally, true story, I had a conversation with one of my current students about this very

topic via Google Meet after our class time. She had brought up the subject in class and wanted
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to share her thoughts about it. She had heard about schools that use methods following

democratic pedagogy and wanted to discuss its merits. Her interpretation of a democratic

education centered solely around student choice with regard to curriculum and study. (Her

translation did not include the notion of equity, which I deem to be the center of the concept.)

She believed that students should be able to choose everything with regard to their education; in

her view, it should be entirely in their hands. (I must add that since she is a teenager, her views

are not surprising.) Although I do agree with her in some respects, the traditionalist in me still

feels that students also require guidance and structure from their teachers. I am a huge proponent

of student choice and am currently investigating the merits of project-based learning, a practice I

intend to try in the not-so-distant future. However, I firmly believe that students should be

exposed to all kinds of content using a variety of teaching methods in order to become

well-rounded individuals. In order to become capable of making decisions about one’s

education, one must first be educated; it’s a bit of a paradox. Those decisions need to be

informed, otherwise one might overlook opportunities and underestimate the one’s potential.

Teachers sometimes, probably oftentimes, expose students to learning they would not have

chosen for themselves. In short, although student choice appears to be liberating, in some cases

it can be limiting. In my estimation, it’s all about the balance of the two.

Teachers’ Perceptions about Servant Leadership and Organizational Commitment

This article studies and discusses servant leadership and organizational commitment,

focusing on teachers’ perceptions of both. Ultimately, he found that his research disagreed with

similar studies done by other researchers in previous years. He defines servant leadership early

on in the article as differing from other leadership structures but at the same time sharing
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qualities of transformative leadership. He describes servant leaders as having high morals with a

personality that strives for honesty and goodness, deeming that a leader’s personality is his most

important asset in the servant leadership style. He itemizes the ten personal characteristics of

servant leaders as follows: listening, sympathy, improvement, awareness, persuasion,

conceptualization, forward-thinking, self-determination, devotion to human development, and

community formation. Organizational commitment is also stressed in the article. The author

states that employees with organizational commitment will work more and make more sacrifices

for the achievement of the organizational goals.(Palta, 2019, p. 36-41)

I perceive servant leadership as a kind of sub-set to transformational leadership, only

servant leadership seems to take on the ethical and moral implications of a vocation rather than

simply a job. Many educators, myself included, embrace this notion of vocation, which calls us

to devote ourselves to our occupations to a point well beyond the paycheck incentive. Those

characteristics listed for servant leaders are qualities I aspire toward both as a professional and a

human being.

Inclusive Education Beyond Popular Discourses

This article revisits the definitions and notions of inclusion by challenging those

definitions and notions to depart from a deficit-centered mentality. It argues that in order for

there to be democracy in education, and on a smaller scale a democratic community in the

classroom, we must redefine inclusive education and reconceptualize the ‘needs’ of students.

Discourse in the field of education began discussing inclusion in the 1990’s as integrating

children with special needs into regular classrooms. The writers later argue that inclusion is not

an obtainable reality but a philosophical ideal toward which to strive. What is most interesting is
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the authors challenging the concept of inclusive education because it creates a distinction

between normal students and those with special needs, which by the act of doing this contradicts

the concept of inclusion. By definition and concept, inclusion cannot exist if deficit mentality

exists. It proposes inclusivity to be a process, a place of working toward, rather than a stagnant

ideal to be obtained. The idea that democracy is not something that we are but something that

we make is the overall conclusion. (Portelli, J. P., & Koneeny, P., 2018, p. 133-144)

This article too deals with the perils of deficit mentality when it comes to labeling

students. In this instance, classified students in inclusion classes are the focus. The knowledge

gained from this article has already affected my teaching and my goal is for it to inform my

leadership practices. Again I go to professional development for teachers as a means of sharing

these philosophies in the hopes that they will alter teacher perceptions of classified students. The

idea is to make education equitable, accessible for all, including those with special needs. The

key is to view these students as “normal” rather than “lacking”; they simply learn differently than

other students. The theories of multiple intelligences and varied learning styles come to mind.

My intention is to share these philosophies with my staff via ongoing professional development,

and thus improve the culture of the school with regard to the perception of classified students.

Leader-member Exchange Theory in Higher and Distance Education

This article discusses the qualities of Leader-Member Exchange Theory or LMX.

Contrary to other theories that focus primarily upon the qualities of the leader, this one focuses

on the nature and quality of relationships between the leader and his/her subordinates. However,

strangely it does not specify how exactly to go about cultivating and enriching these

relationships, thus I must admit that the “guidance” of this theory is less than helpful.
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Furthermore, Power speaks of “in-crowds” and “out-crowds” with respect to their relationships

with the leader. This arrangement is a bit too “high school” for my taste and is not coincidentally

the flawed aspect of the theory which the author describes. Predictably, those members of the

“in-crowd” reap greater benefits and demonstrate more desirable behaviors than the

aforementioned “out-crowd”, who not surprisingly feel detached from the school community and

even a bit resentful towards those “in-crowd” peers.The suggestion in the article is to avoid such

“out-crowd” members, but fails to explain how exactly to do that. Also important to note: “They

describe LMX as both transactional and transformational, noting that the evolution of highly

effective relationships results in the emergence of transformative behaviors for both parties.”

(Power, 2013, p. 277-284)This claim is a bit suspect since this theory lacks many specific

guidelines. Although the author presents himself as a proponent of this theory, there seem to be

more drawbacks than benefits to this theory. This will not be a theory I intend to practice.

Transformational Leadership and Organizational Intimacy with Organizational Empathy

This article focuses on a study in Iran regarding relationships between transformational

leadership, organizational intimacy and organizational empathy with the eventual findings stated

in the article’s title. The more interesting aspects of the article involve the definitions and

explanations of each of these factors. Salari & Nastiezaie begin by discussing the importance of

intimacy in any organizational environment. Intimacy in this instance is defined as “sharing

one's inner desires with others” (Salari & Nastiezaie, 2020, p. 58) which eventually leads to a

closeness between individuals. Such a state of closeness must be developed over time. The

author personifies school environments and likens them to human beings with emotions, identity

and character. Given this analogy, intimacy is an important way to form community and achieve
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school goals. In opposition to this, transactional leadership is deemed inferior to transformational

leadership, which “empowers the followers, motivates them for performance beyond their

expectations, and encourages them to follow collective goals rather than transitional personal

ones”. (p.60) The quality of empathy is also discussed as a necessary tool for interpersonal

relationships and thus, relationships within the school environment. Overall, the take-away is

that leaders who establish trusting, honest interpersonal relationships with staff members and

focus upon cultivating teachers’ intrinsic motivations ultimately end up with higher performing

schools, as opposed to leaders who bark orders and provide extrinsic motivations. This is a

philosophy that I enthusiastically plan to practice. In order to create a team and cooperative

environment, relationships are key.

Creating Collaborative Schools in the United States: A Review of Best Practices

This may be one of the shorter articles but it is full of useful information. I chose this article

because I currently work in a district composed primarily of students of hispanic origin, many of

whom are first generation Americans to be born in this country. After reading the Khalifa

chapters, I was eager to learn more about how community involvement of minoritized parents

affects student learning. The information I gained here provided many helpful insights into the

community where I currently teach. Being that I had previously worked in an affluent,

predominantly white school district for over a decade, I have seen drastic differences in the

degree of parental involvement. However, being the child of an immigrant who grew up in

poverty, I did not think that those differences were due to deficits on the part of these minoritized

parents. Rather, I was curious to read the research. What I found were a number of factors
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contributing to the reality that the halls were not full during Back-To-School Night as they had

been in my previous district.

Creating Collaborative Schools in the United States: A Review of Best Practices

This article provides several reasons for a lack of parental involvement in schools, which

include feelings of isolation, being ignored in school settings and long work hours that conflict

with school schedules. Language is often a barrier as well. Contrary to the beliefs of some

educators, there exists no lack of interest in their child’s education. It was also found that there is

a strong correlation between minority educators (principals and teachers) and community

involvement. Cultural and ethnic similarities seem to create a sense of acceptance by parents and

inspire community involvement in the school. Positive father involvement has also been linked

to student success. Also if parents believe they can have a positive effect on their child’s

education, they become more involved with the school. Special attention to bilingual parents, to

parents’ work schedules and specific invitations from teachers also have prompted parent

involvement. The idea of culture brokers is brought up by the researcher as a solution to the

problems, however that solution does not apply to white educators and administrators. (Solone

et al., 2020, p. 283-292)

A lack of parental involvement is a subject that I have pondered a great deal about. In

my current district that is a real problem. This article has shed light on the subject and caused me

to imagine potential solutions to this problem. Admittedly, I had the thought that is was due to a

lack of concern. Shame on me. In the future, I will continue to research and vow to implement

strategies to inspire parents to participate in activities in the school community. Outside of

decision-making committee, I think that social and cultural events geared towards the needs of
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community will inspire parent participation. Hopefully, such activities will make parents feel

comfortable in reaching out to teachers and school administrators.

Maximizing Teacher Time: The Collaborative Leadership Role of the Principal

This article examines how principals value a teacher’s most prized and limited

commodity, time. According to national data, such as that provided by the MetLife Survey of

the American Teacher (2013), teachers are most concerned about how their time is used during

the school year. One important concern cited in this article is teacher burn-out. Teachers are

spread very thin and their time is extremely valuable yet limited. This article looks at the role of

the principal as one to help teachers allot enough time for teaching their students, collaborating

with colleagues, professional development, and all of the other time consuming duties involved

in a teacher’s professional life. Teacher perceptions are briefly examined, citing that teachers

feel that their time is not their own and that work environment is very directly related to teacher

job satisfaction. Surprisingly, the article focused mainly on the perceptions of the principals

regarding how they feel they assist teachers with time management. In some ways, I can’t help

but think that the principals who participated in this qualitative research study may only be

seeing what they want to see. The authors here may perceive this as well, because they do

include some information and discussion about the importance of empathy for principals with

regard to the duties and responsibilities of teachers. According to the results of the study, most

principals are trying to accommodate the needs of teachers in the best way they know how.

However, as many teachers in this profession generally feel, there never seems to be enough

time.(Sterret et al., 2018, p. 1-27)

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I believe that empathy comes into play here again. My own experiences as a teacher will

inform my mindfulness that teachers’ time is limited and that must be taken seriously into

account. To do otherwise will only cause resentment among staff and a reluctance to trust me,

which is a major hindrance to operating as a transformational leader. This article has reminded

me not to forget my own experiences and to be empathetic to the experiences and need of my

teachers. There are only so many hours in the day and most teachers are doing their best within

the constraints of them. As I plan projects, events, professional development and the like, it is

important that I consider and value the time of my teachers.

Balance in Education: Immigration, Diversity, and Schooling in Urban America

This article, similar to portions of the Khalifa text, serves as a history lesson in order to

offer insights into the current educational landscape. Zervas talks about the needs and conflicts of

turn of the century immigrants, mostly European, and how their presence in this country

transformed the structure of education at the time. He talks about how these immigrants’ need to

preserve their cultural identities while learning how to not only function, but prosper in a new

land. He talks of their demands to incorporate their native languages into the school curriculum.

He discusses how when the needs of certain groups couldn’t be met in public schools, they

created their own. These groups were mostly Catholics, Jews, and Greeks. During this time, the

curriculum in schools shifted from traditional classics education to one that focused upon

meeting the needs of the child. The article also looks at John Dewey’s role in the Progressive

Movement in education affected by the industrialized world, the growing technological

advances, and the shift to a culturally diverse America. This article was truly fascinating and
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echoed many of the difficult issues we are facing during the current transformations of American

education. (Zervas, 2017, p. 77-84)

In considering how to proceed in the future, it is inevitable that we must evaluate our

history and our experiences in the past. It is important to understand where the problems in our

educational system most likely stemmed from. As I proceed in my training to become an

educational leader, I will continue my study, my ponderings, and my evaluations, which will be

an ongoing process. It will continue ad infinitum, for that is the only way I can become and

evolve as an effective leader.

 22

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