Leadership and Management in Education: Developing Essential Skills and Competencies

Citation

Yu, H. (2004), "Leadership and Management in Education: Developing Essential Skills and Competencies", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 116-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230410517521

When compared to other books providing the basics of educational leadership and management, Leadership and Management in Education: Developing Essential Skills and Competencies is attractive because of its comprehensive coverage and its extensive review of research in the area. The book targets the development of essential leadership and management skills and competencies for current and prospective school leaders. It is particularly aimed at teachers in leadership roles, middle managers and school leaders in self‐managed schools.

This book contains 15 chapters carefully arranged in three distinctive parts, namely, the history and foundation of educational administration, the structures and processes of educational administration, and leadership and management skills relevant to educational organizations. Each chapter consists of a specific learning outcome, focus, conclusion and a set of review questions. Part one introduces the basic knowledge and concepts of educational administration necessary for school leaders to understand the field. Part two addresses organizational structures and processes. Key issues addressed include organizational communication, organizational decision making, educational planning, policy formation and conflict management. Part three focuses more directly on school leadership and management skills and competencies of educational organizations. It focuses on different styles of leadership, concepts and skills for leading and managing change, professional organization and human resource management. This section is particularly useful and may have benefited from more in depth coverage.

Section one includes five chapters. Chapter one describes the history and evolution of the field of administration and highlights the contributions of pioneers such as Frederick Taylor, Henry Fayol, Luther Gulick, Lyndall Urwick, Mary Parker Follett, Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger, Chester Barnard, Herbert Simon and Max Weber in the field. However, coverage of the “informal organization” of schools was comparatively weaker and worthy of further explanation. In chapter two, the authors carefully examine the meaning of educational administration and its development as an applied field of study. Much of the discussion reminds readers of differences between an administrative or managerial role, and a teaching role. The topic of school‐based management is raised in this chapter and continues as a dominant theme throughout the book. A more complete introduction in the area of SBM would have been helpful to set the scene for this ongoing theme. In chapter three, the authors identify the key responsibilities and tasks of educational administrators. They examine the roles of administrators and three types of management skills, namely, time, stress and conflict. Chapters four and five highlight the importance of organizational behavior and organizational climate and culture. The authors point out that the individual, the group, the leadership, the organization and the environment are five crucial factors influencing organizational behavior. The authors state clearly that the cultural perspective is an extremely important one. Cultural models such as Ouchi's theory Z, Deal and Kennedy's corporate cultures, Sergiovanni's five forces and Schein's model of levels of organizational cultures are introduced in the chapter.

The second section includes five chapters. Chapters six to ten concentrate on organizational structures and processes. Chapter six introduces the nature of administrative structures and processes and includes discussion of different levels of organization and dimensions of administrative structures, issues of downsizing or right sizing for creating flatter structures and the advantages and disadvantages of flatter structures. The authors point out that the restructuring of school councils and participatory approaches to management is inevitably creating conflict within schools. Effective leaders or managers, according to the authors, need to pay special attention to this if they are to cope with these changes. In chapters seven and eight the authors suggest a range of strategies for the promotion of effective organizational communication. These include regulating communication flow, receiver orientation of empathy, encouraging mutual trust, effective timing, simplifying language, effective listening, using the grapevine and promoting ethical communications. Different models and styles of decision making are also summarized and the authors advise administrators to create structures and processes for staff participation as the path to increasing ownership and commitment. Chapter nine discusses educational planning and policy formation. It focuses specifically on strategic planning and management planning, providing a number of perspectives on strategy formation. Two useful models, the collaborative school model and outcomes driven development model, for policy making in schools are presented. The main focus of chapter ten is on the management and resolution of organizational conflicts. Different philosophies, styles, approaches, models and skills available for conflict management are identified. The authors emphasize the need for school leaders to understand, develop and employ skills for handling and managing conflicts in organizational settings.

The final section also comprises five chapters. Chapter 11 discusses how various styles of leadership and management lead to the achievement of organizational goals. The authors identify appropriate styles of leadership and management such as contingency approaches, Sergiovanni's five forces of leadership, transformational leadership, moral leadership and participatory management. They argue that a leader is a mix of the artist, architect and commissar. Chapter 12 focuses on leading and managing organizational change. The authors summarize theoretical contributions and list the skills needed to lead the change processes. They suggest that a school leader's competency to function as a change agent is becoming increasingly crucial. They also argue that more emphasis should be placed on being a facilitator rather than a leader. In order to continuously improve the organization, they suggest that an effective leader should have a vision and take a more organic approach that actively involves the staff. Chapter 13 suggests that leading a professionally staffed organization needs special techniques – the authors explain the dual roles of the leading professional and the CEO. They point out that empowerment and teacher participation in decision‐making processes can enhance teachers' professional commitment. Chapters 14 and 15 give a constructive view on human resources management and holding meetings. Skills covered include staff recruitment, training and development, industrial relations and performance appraisal, and techniques needed for planning and leading effective meetings. The content of this particular section could be enriched by adding more discussions on the topic of team building.

Readers of this book will find useful references for their work as teachers, middle managers, serving and prospective school leaders. The authors have done a good job in collecting literature about leadership and management theories and practices, and have systematically categorized them in three parts and 15 chapters. The book can help readers reflect on their practices and develop their competencies for leadership and management in educational contexts.