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Leadership Interview and Organizational Analysis, Essay Example

Leadership Interview

To learn more about leadership, I selected my principal for interview. She has been an administrator for 10 years and has 20 years of teaching experience. She has taught a variety of subjects, and has been involved in both elementary and middle school teaching. Her leadership skills are particularly prominent because she does not behave as if she is above the teachers, like many other administrators that I have experienced are. In fact, when a teacher is absent due to sickness, she will occasionally visit the classroom where the substitute is present and provide the students with a lesson of her own to ensure that instructional time is not wasted.

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One component of my principal’s leadership that is most important is her leadership style. Since we are all workers in a school setting, it is ultimately authoritative. However, there are certain activities that she allows the teachers to provide feedback on and she helps them work towards achieving personal growth. I therefore asked her why she believes her leadership style, transformational leadership is effective. She responded that since it is important for work to be done quickly in the school, she must assert authority, but wishes to work towards increasing the efficacy of each teacher.

The principal was also asked about her relationship with the assistant principal and how responsibilities are delegated. She responded that she provides the assistant principal with a power that is almost equivalent to hers, which allows her to have a partner that focuses on only certain tasks and obligations. However, the principal retains the final say on actions that should be taken and will occasionally override the decisions of the assistant principal if she finds this to be necessary.

Notably, the principal enforces discipline in the school and the children all tend to be silent when she is present, which indicates that they respect her. She was asked how this respect was gained. The principal responded that she will not speak until the children are silent and that they are aware of the disciplinary action that will be taken if their behavior does not comply with their expectations. In addition, she was asked how teachers could apply this understanding in the classroom to ensure that all children have proper behavior at all times. She responded that it is important to make rules, including rewards and consequences clear so that students can be reminded of their expectations at all times.

One of the major issues in my classroom is that the children are very talkative, so the principal was consulted to determine how this should be put to a stop. She recommended that the desks be arranged in groups to ensure that a minimal number of students are able to face each other. In addition, they should be placed in a manner that has an equivalent amount of boys and girls to enhance the likelihood that close friends are not put at the same table. When asked how to promote classroom cleanliness, she suggested that the students should be required to help clean up upon leaving the room, so that they are used to the idea of disposing of trash that may not necessarily belong to them in addition to learning to be accountable for the garbage that their class produces.

To determine how the principal is able to monitor every teacher, she was asked how she does so effectively. The principal stated that she is in constant communication with all teachers and regularly walks around the building to see what is being done in the classes. She uses this information to provide teachers with both formal and informal feedback to ensure that the lessons continue to be effective. In addition, she was asked about how the same ideas can be applied in the classroom to ensure that all students are getting the help that they need. She suggested that an effective teacher never stays at his or her own desk and observes student behavior and action at all times. In this manner, the teacher should be able to prevent behavior problems as it is starting and make sure that all students are on track academically.

In my school, unlike others, students are not given permission to switch between classes on their own. The principal was asked why this is the case. She stated that it is important to hold the students to their best behavior at all times, and if they are aware of line rules, they are more likely to be silent upon their entry into the next classroom. Since it is often difficult to calm students down once they’re excited, it’s better to ensure that this level of excitement is not reached while in the school building. In addition, the principal was asked what should be done with the few children that cannot behave properly. She recommended that various privileges be taken away from them, such as recess, in addition to providing the well behaved students with rewards. Ultimately, positive reinforcement is better than negative reinforcement. When negative reinforcement is used, it is important to make sure the child knows why he or she is being punished in addition to why the punishment is appropriate for the behavior.

Lastly, the principal was asked about how she selected members of the teaching staff, as a majority of teachers present this year are new. She stated that she looked for individuals who were either experienced teachers or demonstrated the ability to learn. She believes that formal observations provide excellent feedback to teachers and they provide them with the ability to grow. Therefore, she was not concerned with hiring many new teachers because she trusted the amount of time that each of them would put into their professional development and believed that she would be able to personally assist them in this experience.

Overall, this experience was valuable because it provides insight into why the principal does certain things that are closely tied into the personal development of both the students and teachers. The principal can be seen as the big boss, because she is directly in charge of the teachers who are in charge of the students. Therefore, the leadership style that the principal chooses to enact impacts the institution as a whole. My principal is an effective leader because she is interested in ensuring that both the students and teachers continue to learn and bases many of her actions on this concept. Furthermore, when appropriate, she consults the teachers for their specific expertise in order to make decisions. I learned successful strategies that I can incorporate into my leadership style. Importantly, it is essential to denote rules and expectations and to constantly remind students of them so that these rules are not broken. In addition, it is important to let students take charge of their own education to some extent to ensure that they are able to retain interest in their studies, which will promote both memory of the material in addition to a higher level of learning.

Organizational Analysis

The work setting at my organization is arranged both formally and informally. At the beginning of the school year, the teachers were provided many rules in the form of a handbook that were meant to serve as general regulations. However, the organizational culture is such that some of these rules are not followed by the administration and there is therefore an unspoken adaptation of them. Furthermore, the teachers are provided with some degree of freedom as to the actions they are able to take in the classroom, which enhanced the informal rules that are present in the building. All unspoken rules are in compliance with state and federal standards, so it is likely that they will continue to be implemented.

While the principal holds the vast majority of the power, she also shares responsibilities with the assistant principal and occasionally the teachers. The principal enacts transformational leadership while the assistant principle is authoritative. As a consequence, the principal is well-liked because the teachers get the feeling that the actions she takes are truly meant to help the staff and the students. On the other hand, the assistant principle behaves in a manner that is often confusing, preventing the staff to understand why certain actions must be taken. The assistant principal is very unwilling to discuss her rationale, and as a consequence, employees are less likely to agree with the decisions that she makes, but are forced to follow her requests anyway which decreases employee morale. The principal’s decisions are made based on a combination of her personal knowledge, experience, and consultation from other educators.

The principal does demonstrate some aspects of principle-centered leadership. It is clear that when she goes home at the end of the day, she continues to dedicate herself to work and promote the best interests of the students. Furthermore, she is happy and kind a majority of the time, which helps promote employee morale. My organization is strong because our leader promotes employee development and the employee all seem very educated and well-trained. However, the principal lacks some organizational skills and employees are often not contacted about important rules, events, and building changes until they become immediately relevant. However, it is possible that this stems from the fact that many of the employees are new and the principal is not used to conveying information that was likely understood by the old staff. Therefore, the principal was likely very effective with her last staff, but needs to adjust to determine how to best work with an entirely new team.

It is important for the school administration to determine a lack of understanding that may arise when communicating or now communicating with the employees. A majority of problems that exist in the institution are due to a general lack of knowledge of certain principles and a failure to remind employees of responsibilities that occur less regularly. For example, employees often learn of afterschool responsibilities on the day that they are required, preventing them from being able to plan beforehand. Therefore, it is essential for both the principal and assistant principal to work towards providing enhanced written communication.

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