EDUCATION 5850: Leadership and Technology

Fall, 2005

MODULE THREE PAGE

Confucious said that leaders are "dealers in hope". (Bennis & Nannus,1997, p. xiii)

How we change what others
think, believe, feel and do

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Faculty of Education
Course Outline

Topic of the Day: The Impact of Technology on Leadership Styles

Housekeeping:

Assignments: Your next assignment "Annotated Bibliography" is due October 17. You might use the email activity from module one as a starting point.

 

Thoughts, ramblings and critical questions:


Study after study shows that a crucial factor in determining whether schools—and school districts—succeed or fail is the quality and stability of their leadership. Yet we know that leadership styles vary and that more than one style can offer a successful environment for change. Look at the following sites to get a brief overview of different leadership styles.

What is “Transactional Leadership”?

What is Facilative Leadership?

What is Transformational Leadership?

Moral and Ethical Leadership

Within an ever-changing technological environment, how does a leader respond to:

Leadership for technology integration involves much more than establishing a task force (or technology committee) to layout what needs to be done, when, and by whom. The tasks of the leader are much broader. They include: ensuring on-site support (Webster, 1999; Bozeman & Hiatt, 1999); providing the time and resources to develop skills for technology integration (OTA, 1995; Gay, 1997); having a vision (Fullan, 1992; OTA, 1995); understanding the change process (Bridges and Mitchell, 2000; Webber, 1995); and embracing a democratic process wherein stakeholders are included in decision making (Webster, 1999; Maney & Brooks, 1996; Fullan and Miles, 1992; Wheatley, 1995).


Bridges and Mitchell (2000) note that the process of leading for change requires that leaders understand the organizational and individual dynamics of change. As individuals experience change, they also experience transition:

 

… transition occurs in the course of every attempt at change. Transition is the state that change puts people into. The change is external (the different policy, practice, or structure that the leader is trying to bring about), while transition is internal (a psychological reorientation that people have to go through before the change can work) (Bridges & Mitchell, 2000, p. 3).


Change is a personal matter. Policies can be implemented and change mandated, but ultimately, it is the individual teacher who either changes or refuses to change. Leaders who are sensitive to issues associated with personal change and continual teacher growth are better prepared to lead (Leithwood, 1992; Poplin, 1992) enhancing their chances of experiencing successful technology integration at their sites.


It may be the case that a teacher's willingness or unwillingness to change is associated with the broader issue of meaning. Wheatley’s (1994) view that there is a “call of meaning in our organizational lives” (p. 134) highlights such a notion. Leaders strive to improve education, to integrate new technologies, or to embrace a new model of teaching. But what, ultimately, is being done? Rather than identifying a particular item to integrate, whether it is technology or open education, the 'call of meaning in our organizational lives' demands more. It demands that organizations both prod and help individuals make sense of their professional lives; to understand what they do and why, and to ultimately judge whether or not they should be doing so. Their actions are grounded in a moral purpose.

In this weeks readings, Fullan introduces the idea of Moral leadership. He accurately states: "Whatever one's style, every leader, to be effective, must have and work on improving his or her moral purpose". (p.13)

I want you to consider the following questions.

Glossary and Resources for the Week

Sergiovanni, Fullan, Leithwood, Hargreaves...all key authors in school reform movements and change. Begin to take the time to search for resources in educational change and leadership.

Hughes, M & Zachariah, S. (2001). An Investigation into the Relationship Between Effective Administrative Leadership Styles and the Use of Technology. International Electronic Journal for Leadership in Learning, 5 (5). Available online: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~iejll/volume5/hughes.html

Lakomski, G. (1995). Leading and Learning: From transformational leadership to organizational learning. Leading and Managing 1(3), 211-225.


Lashway, L. (1995). Can instructional leaders be facilitative leaders be facilitative leaders? ED381893, Number 98.


Leithwood, K. A. (1992). The move toward transformational leadership. Educational Leadership, 49(5), 8-12.

Ertmer, P. A. , Bai, H., Dong, C., Khalil, M., Park, S. H., Wang, L. (2002). Online professional development: Building administrators’ capacity for technology leadership. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 19 (1), 5-11.

This research examined changes in administrators’ ideas about technology integration and technology leadership while participating in an online professional development course. Eight administrators, enrolled in a semester-long course, participated in 16 discussion forums related to k-12 technology implementation issues. Pre- and post-course surveys indicated significant changes in ideas about technology integration as well as methods used to support teachers’ integration efforts. Analyses of interview and course discussion data suggest that administrators view technology leadership as a “shared responsibility” that requires both administrative skills and technical knowledge.

Hord, S. (1992). Facilitative Leadership: the imperative for change Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin, Texas. http://www.sedl.org/change/facilitate/ [23/9/03]

Sergiovanni T. (1996) Moral Leadership: Getting to the heart of school improvement. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Module Activities:

(things you must do for this module :-)

 

 

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