Essay Example: Philosophy of Leadership in Education

Managing People Performance: Motivation and Morale

Within any organization, motivation and confidence play a critical role in managing the performance of people. Confidence refers to the overall satisfaction that individuals derive from their job, superiors, work groups, or the organizations they work. It is affiliated with the feelings of individuals' happiness, comfort, and satisfaction. Morale serves as a fusion of the attitudes of employees' behaviors and opinion as well as view manifestation. When combined in the different work situations, they result to positive performance within the workplace. Regarding the case of professional learning communities, therefore, it is essential for the parties involved to ensure that they lay significant emphasis on the diverse forces that influence motivation among the different parties involved (MSG, 2017). With higher rates of motivation and morale, PLCs would manage to work efficiently toward boosting the performance of educators and implement effective strategies for realizing organizational learning goals.

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Teams on the Context of School Leadership

Leadership in schools has emerged as a priority in the vein of global policy agendas. It plays a central role in boosting outcomes in schools through influencing the capacities and motivations of teachers as well as the existing school environment and climate. Effective leadership is vital for improving the efficient as well as equity in a learning environment. Whereas nations are focusing on adapting their educational systems to the needs of the modern society, anticipations for school leaders and schools are changing considerably. Most countries are shifting toward decentralization thereby learning schools to become more autonomous in their processes of making decisions while at the same time holding them accountable for the results realized (Pont, et al. 2017). Also, the need for boosting the overall performance of students while addressing the needs of diverse students is pressuring schools to utilize evidence-based practices of teaching.

As for the trends apparent in the learning institutions, the role of educational leadership in different OECD nations is increasingly being defined by requiring certain functions such as human and financial resource management as well as leadership for learning. Various concerns prevail across different countries since the past needs are not considered as any more appropriate. In many nations, principles have heavy workloads. Most of them are already reaching retirement while more challenges are emerging on how to replace them. Potential candidates are portraying reluctant to apply since they fear being overburdened by various roles, insufficient training and preparation, small rewards and support, and limited career prospects. In this sense, developments are being made to foster teamwork initiatives in learning schools. They target making school leadership a priority. These will ensure that different stakeholders will handle certain roles hence enhancing school leadership quality (Pont, et al. 2017). As such, for the professional learning communities to be active in today's challenging educational environment, the parties involved will require embarking on team building efforts, which will contribute toward improved school leadership in the coming years.

Engaging in and With Research: Research Engaged School

Investigations carried out on research-engaged schools reveal that it is essential for schools to lay significant emphasis on research and inquiry. The two initiatives should be at the heart of schools, their systems, outlook, and activities. Research engagement assists leaders of schools to develop their institutions in such a way that they can make them ideal working places. In this sense, it would be vital to understanding what a research-engaged school is. A research-engaged school is one that lays notable emphasis on investigating major issues in learning and teaching. It utilizes inquiry to foster staff development. Also, it turns data as well as experience to knowledge. Furthermore, it uses evidence to guide its decision-making process. Lastly, it promotes learning communities (Sharp, et al. 2017). In this perspective, it is apparent that a research-engaged school would be crucial regarding delivering optimal learning needs for the learners as well as the communities involved.

Before becoming a research-engaged learning institution, the different stakeholders should understand the various reasons for doing so. For instance, a broad range of indicators should reveal that an institution is doing well. To allow it progress further, it should lay emphasis on how it does things (Sharp, et al. 2017). With research engagement, institutions gain prospects for reinvigorating their collective self-esteem and professional identify.

When a school becomes research engaged, it develops the capacity for contributing to the key business of the school while at the same time addressing educational policy development for effective leadership and performance. Institutions should do this by raising their standards via boosting teaching quality as well as support. They should also contribute to self-evaluation within institutions. In this sense, they would manage to give educational leaders something they can discuss concerning improving schools. Moreover, they should move forward to personalize learning via comprehending as well as addressing the learning needs of the pupils. Furthermore, they should address citizenship for each learner agendas by consulting young individuals concerning their education as well as involving them in the research process. Additionally, they should contribute toward the workforce of the school by allowing them to participate in the research efforts irrespective of their status or role (Sharp, et al. 2017). Lastly, they need to develop the capacity for solving their individual problems as they arise.

In emerging research-engaged schools, they should ensure they make commitments to utilizing evidence as well as research in the entire institution. These would have several implications for leaders. Firstly, they would allow them to commit sufficient resources to research, particularly research time. Secondly, they would manage to identify appropriate topics and focus their research on particular areas. Thirdly, they would manage to establish a research team that would provide them with the capacity for working in a collaborative manner. Fourthly, they would be able to offer support, such as research expertise and mentor. Fifthly, they would develop the capacity for developing a supportive learning culture in the entire school (Sharp, et al. 2017). Lastly, they would be able to make commitments for embedding research engagements to their schools. In this sense, emerging as a research-engaged school would contribute toward realizing professional learning communities that foster effective leadership in schools.

Managing Staff Workload and Wellbeing

Effective leadership in education institutions emanate from the capacity to manage the workload of public servants as well as their wellbeing. In this sense, it is crucial to understand that each human performance strategy, every manager, or organization seeks to realize high performance across the entire workforce. An adaptable and innovative workforce serves as a real organizational advocate and contributes toward effective relationship building both externally and internally. The ability to boost performance and improve the quality of relationships among colleagues is crucial in realizing the success of an organization. They all entail psychological wellbeing of workers inside the organization. Here, the two forces vital to the mental wellbeing of employees comprise of trust levels among employees and the outside environment they work. Elements of distrust result to dysfunctional relationships that slow down each interaction and affect the economic performance of an organization negatively (Jacobs, 2013). Therefore, to manage staff workload and wellbeing effectively, it is essential to emphasize on implementing the forces that foster trust and give practical implications to organizational leaders. Therefore, in the event of professional learning communities, they would realize increased benefits when schools devise effective ways of managing staff workload well as wellbeing.