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EDLM 803 FINAL EXAM (Edillor)
EDLM 803 FINAL EXAM (Edillor)
Test 1. Discussion
Direction: Discuss the questions below. Each question is good for 5 points. ( 50 points
in all)
1. How do diversity and pluralism affect the practice of educational leadership?
Answer:
Diversity and pluralism affect the practice of educational leadership in a way that it needs
to have a correct attitude towards pluralism and diversity that is extremely important to
effective practice of educational management. There are three dimensions of pluralism
which is the bases on which attitude may developed and would help understand diversity
and pluralism. The first dimension centers the conditional nature of values. Most people
believed that there are number of genuine values that differ from culture to culture and
from generation to generation. These values are worthy of consideration and must be
contemplated from a perspective that appreciated diversity. The manner in which leaders
/ principals administers his/ her school is driven to a significant degree by that person’s
primary and secondary values. Because primary values are universal, minimal conflict
usually exist between administrator and staff members over the necessity to exhibit
primary values in relationship with one another, with pupils and parents. The
conditionality of values implies that values are open to interpretation.
The second dimension of pluralism centers on the observation of conflict is unavoidable
because the perspective of what constitutes a good life and the values that facilitate it are
diverse and varied. These perspectives and values are such that realization of one often
prohibits the realization of others. Thus, conflicts over reasonable perspectives and values
are unavoidable. From these concepts arises the idea that conflict always result from
incommensurable or incompatible values. According to people who advocate this this
approach, a reasoned decision does not require acceptance of a highest value or a
meditating value or an authoritative value, but it does require acceptance of any one of a
plurality of equally reasoned values.
The third dimension of pluralism involves the necessity of developing an approach to
resolving conflicts. The very conditionality of values significantly influences the manner
in which conflict resolution is carried out. A more desirable approach to the resolution of
conflict is based on a mode of thinking that views conflicts as unavoidable, given that
values are conditional, incommensurable and incompatible. The resolution of conflicts
requires a sense of objectivity that allows the person to retreat from the conflict in order to
evaluate how its resolution will ultimately affect the entire value system of the disputants
or of the tradition. Shared values always connect at the level of primary values, but
identification of shared secondary values can and often does promote conflict resolution.
4. Explain how the social covenant idea of Thomas Hobbes is central to communication
within human communities.
Answer:
One of his fundamental ideas concerns the social contract. His definition of the social
contract entails the delivery of something by a person while leaving another to perform
his or her part of the contract at a later determined time. This notion of contract obviously
calls for an element of trust because one person performs his or her end of the contract
before the other person does. This element of trust raised the idea of contract to the level
of covenant. Communication is the key to developing trust because people generally do
not trust someone without knowing something about who the individual is as a person.
Thus, the types of communication that a principal uses with parents instill a sense of either
trust or distrust in his or her abilities to administer the school in a safe and effective
manner. For something as important as the principalship and superintendency, various
types of communication are necessary in order to produce the kind of trust that is required.
People are the constituents of the social covenant. Communication is the vehicle for
establishing and maintaining the covenant, and public discourse is the manner in which
communication can be enhanced. People want to be heard and want to debate their ideas
concerning education in general and the schools they support in particular. Both
communicative discourse and the social covenant are the two necessary components for
implementing effective communication
in public education.
Spontaneous and interpersonal communication between friends and people who have
intimate relationships, of course, was not the focus. The assumption is that spontaneous
intimate communication is inappropriate in a professional setting, but it is recognized that
such communication is essential to human growth and development. People who do not
know how to communicate in a spontaneous and interpersonal way will have difficulty
learning the more controlled type of communication required of educational leaders.
5. How can the paradigm that is presented in this chapter be used to analyze the ethics of
communication in educational leadership? (Chapter 11)
Answer:
Analyzing the culture of a school or school district involves much more than just knowing
what people say about it. It requires systematic analysis. A paradigm that can be used to
analyze culture is as follows: Attitudes, beliefs and values, feelings, and opinions generate
activities, talk, and behavior that can be analyzed by describing, listening, reading, and
observing, which in turn leads to interpretation. Attitudes are mental perspectives that
fashion the way a person views his or her personal circumstances. Attitudes can be
superficial or deeply rooted. Deeply rooted attitudes such as ethnic prejudice is not easily
changed or masked. Beliefs are ideas about the meaning of existence, life, and death.
Values are self-regulating principles that people use to direct their conduct and that are
based on beliefs. Most beliefs have been passed down from one generation to the next, and
most of them are embodied in religious and philosophical tenets. Feelings are synonymous
with emotions. Obviously, humans are not only intellectual but also feeling creatures. It is
also obvious that a person’s feelings exert a degree of influence on his or her speech and
behavior. Some of the most common feelings are anger, joy, happiness, sadness, sorrow,
and love. Opinions are the conclusions that people draw from their experiences. They are
not necessarily systematically reasoned conclusions, although they can be. They are
conclusions drawn from a broad base of experience applied to a specific situation.
Opinions are not always logical and are often influenced by a person’s attitudes, beliefs
and values, and feelings. All these components generate activities, talk, and behavior.
Activities are the engagement of administrators, teachers, and staff members, which can
be routine or extraordinary professional activities or social activities. The manner in which
people engage themselves is the important concern in analyzing a school’s or school
district’s culture. Observing that the engagements are always formal or informal, whether
they are routine or extraordinary professional activities, is also a significant aspect of the
analysis. In terms of analysis, social activities are perhaps the most important because they
tend to reveal, in a more open way, the attitudes, beliefs and values, feelings, and opinions
of people. Talk refers to the verbal exchanges that occur between people. In terms of
culture, professional discussion is different than casual talking for the same reasons that
professional activities are different than social engagements.
7. What is the most basic premise concerning the ethics of nonverbal communication?
Answer:
The term nonverbal communication is commonly used to refer to expressions that convey
to others feelings and attitudes. It is much more than that, however; an operative definition
that is descriptive and applicable to educational leadership is: Those communications
transmitted by other than linguistic means. This is an important distinction because
linguistics is the study of the nature and structure of language as it is used in human speech
and writing. Nonverbal communication is divided into physical expressions,
environmental expressions, and vocalizations. The most basic idea about nonverbal
communication is that it exists and is a part of every encounter between people. It is also
safe to state that nonverbal communication is extremely important and powerful. It is
powerful because it is immediate and can indicate the true feelings and attitudes of a
person. A second idea is that nonverbal communication is conditioned by culture. Thus,
nonverbal communication can be easily misunderstood from one culture to another.
However, nonverbal communication can be controlled, so an educational administrator
can utilize nonverbal communication to enhance his or her speech communications. The
third idea about nonverbal communication is that it is relational in the sense that it plays
a big part in how people are viewed by others. Consequently, nonverbal communication
has a social effect.
8. Explain how verbal communication can have a positive effect on others.
Answer:
Verbal communication skills matter because they enable you to build rapport with other
people, which creates more positive interactions and stronger work relationships. With
these skills, you can convey a sense of confidence and ensure that your audience
understands your message or expectations. The ability to communicate clearly helps you
succeed in various work situations, including projects, negotiations and job interviews.
Verbal communication can be ambiguous and sometimes people misinterpret what others
say and are misunderstood themselves. The most basic idea about language is that it is
symbolic. Words, by themselves, have no meaning; they are given meaning by the
common agreement of people. However, experience teaches us that people can and do use
words to mean something different than common usage. Thus, being acutely aware of the
subjective nature of word meaning is important for educational administrators. It is always
important to clarify the meaning of statements. A second idea about language is the
importance of structure. Phonological rules set forth how words are to be pronounced.
Syntactic rules establish how words should be arranged in clauses, phrases, and sentences.
Semantic rules areconcerned with the meaning of words, and pragmatic rules help people
interpret communications in a given context.
Pragmatic rules are learned primarily through experience and are conditioned by
circumstances and culture. Thus, statements must be interpreted by analyzing the
intention, relationship, context, and personal orientation of the person making the
statement.
Verbal communication has three ramifications. First, verbal communication can have a
significant effect on how a person views circumstances and events. Second, verbal
communication can have an effect on the way a person views him- or herself. Third, verbal
communication can have an effect on how a person views others. Therefore, the way an
educational administrator uses his or her verbal communication can have a positive or
negative effect on other people. Particularly important are the following issues in verbal
communication: the use of a person’s name, the use of certain speech patterns, the degree
of abstraction used in speech, the content and style of verbal communication, the effect
speech has on establishing and maintaining relationships, and the effect verbal
communication has on shaping and reflecting a person view of reality.
10. Explain how positive regard and the empowerment of others are dimensions of
ethical educational leadership.
Answer:
Positive regard is predicated on the idea of unconditional acceptance. Free expression of
ideas, attitudes, and feelings—not only by individuals, but also by groups of people—is
cultivated primarily in a climate of positive regard. The operative expression of positive
regard is a nonjudgmental attitude exhibited by administrators, teachers, and staff
members. Sometimes people confuse acceptance with approval. However, nonjudgmental
administrators are really asserting that they value the right that others have to their
separateness. This receptivity to the subjective world of others demonstrates that an
administrator is an advocate for teachers, staff members, students, and parents. Principals,
superintendents, and other administrators certainly can express their own opinions, and
inappropriate behavior by teachers, staff members, students, and parents cannot be
tolerated. Central to this attitude of positive regard is the attitude of caring, which is a
genuine concern for others as human beings. A caring attitude can be expressed through
gestures, tone of voice, and facial expressions. When administrators exhibit an attitude of
positive regard, they contribute to the personal growth of other people because they can
see in practice the importance of developing in themselves an attitude of positive regard.
teachers and staff members from the isolation that can occur if they are not overtly engaged
in the operation of the school and school district where they practice their profession. The
roles and functions of teachers, staff members, and administrators are so interwoven that
what each does significantly affects the ability of others to carry out their responsibilities.
Thus, a sense of trust and community must exist between administrators and teachers and
staff members if the goals of a school and school district are going to be accomplished.
Empowerment is an attitude of mutual trust that naturally leads to shared decision
making. Supporting the idea of empowerment is the concept of facilitative and inclusive
leadership. Facilitative leadership recognizes that leadership does not only reside in the
principal or superintendent but also in teachers, staff members, students, parents, and
community leaders. Inclusive leadership recognizes that teachers and staff members are
not only employees but also stakeholders in the school and school district where they
serve. Inclusive leadership means that teachers and staff members are provided with the
necessary information and opportunities to participate in the decision-making process
about policy and procedure issues that affect a given school and school district.
Read the case below and answer the questions that follow:
1. Outline the procedures the superintendent should follow to implement the affirmative-
action policy.
2. What is the basic ethical principle concerning equality that may be lacking in this school
district?
3. Describe how equality of employment opportunity affects the instructional program
and the education of students.
4. What federal legislation affects the promotion and employment of women?
5. What attitudes about women might contribute to their underrepresentation in positions
of educational leadership?
Answers:
1. Outline the procedures the superintendent should follow to implement the affirmative-
action policy.
Process on the Implementation of Affirmative Action Policy
Nondiscrimination
The District will deliver equal employment opportunity and treatment for all applicants in
hiring and such equal employment opportunity will be provided without discrimination
with respect to sex. The Superintendent (Board) will designate a staff member to serve as
the Compliance Officer.
Affirmative Action
The District, as a recipient of public funds, is committed to undertake affirmative action
which will make effective equal employment opportunities to applicants for employment.
Such affirmative action shall include a review of programs, the setting of goals and the
implementation of corrective employment procedures to increase the ratio of women who
are under-represented in the job classifications in relationship to the availability of such
persons having requisite qualifications. The Superintendent will develop an affirmative
action plan which specifies the personnel procedures to be followed by the staff of the
District and will ensure that no such procedures discriminate against any individual.
Reasonable steps will be taken to promote employment opportunities to all women that
are recognized as protected under state law. This policy, as well as the affirmative action
plan, regulations and procedures developed according to it, will be disseminated widely.
Progress toward the goals established under this policy will be reported annually to the
Board.
2. What is the basic ethical principle concerning equality that may be lacking in this
school district?
The basic ethical principle that may be lacking in this school district is gender equity and
equality that leads to unequal employment opportunity. Gender-biased attitudes are
detrimental to all attempts at equalization. The language in school and school-district
policies should be free from gender bias, which can be of significant help in changing
attitudes. More so, civil-rights laws provide a basic foundation for gender equity; strict
adherence to these laws helps ensure the fair treatment of girls and women as students
and as employees.
As a leader in my own school being an SBM Coordinator and a teacher, I commit to hold the values
and principles of becoming an ethical leader. I will continually to connect the core values to
everyone and define what ethical behavior means to the organization. I should exercise balance by
considering the viewpoints of individual differences. As a leader, I must create strategies that help
to focus on the goal of ethical interactions.
I also commit that my primary job as a leader now is the facilitation of knowledge because people
don’t change their behavior unless they first change their attitudes and this type of change
generally comes through the process of learning. Certainly, this implies that I must possess the
right leadership traits to able to lead effectively.
Part of my commitment as well is to consider ethical principles to minimize conflicts within the
organization. I will not become myopic in understanding the nature of my team members, so I
could have wider perspective decision making and thus harmony will be achieved. Furthermore, I
must maintain a high level of moral and ethical characteristics to optimize work performance and
allow the organization to operate more effectively.
VIVINIA B. DAUG
MIKEGER J. EDILLOR Signature of student over printed name ________________________________
Signature of student over printed name Signature of Professor over
printed name