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Is type of principal leadership really critical to student

success?

Nephra Nazir – Howai (91720192)

The University of the West Indies

St. Augustine

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I strongly support the view that the style of leadership

adopted by a school’s principal ultimately impacts the success of

students, academic or otherwise. The success that is oftentimes

sought from students, whether it is achievement in examinations,

sport or competitions, finds its origins in the way the school is

managed, its teachers are lead, and its students are inspired to

produce successful outcomes. These are the decisions that are

made by the principal, who must have a clearly defined vision and

mission for the school that incorporates its definition of

student success and that is agreed upon by all relevant

stakeholders. This must be consistently realized by the principal

and through his or her actions and decisions and should be

filtered down continuously to the teachers and the students to

create a culture and climate that supports the achievement of

student success, an end result that is beneficial to the future

of the student and to the school. Principals, through their

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choice of the appropriate leadership style, are able to create a

safe and orderly environment, that result in high levels of

learning and building of self confidence, responsibility and

perseverance in students.(Cotton,2003)

The stimulus asks for the consideration of two important

factors that impact student success: First, what are the various

leadership styles that can be adopted by a principal when running

a school and second, how is student success defined by the school

and the principal. These two elements are critical in how student

success is rated.

While there are many definitions and theories related to the

concept of leadership, Hersey and Blanchard (1988), in their

Situational Leadership Model, best captures how a principal

should approach leadership and management of a school to afford

successful outcomes. In utilizing the four styles of leadership,

Autocratic, Democratic, Participative (encouraging and social)

and Laissez – Faire (delegating) they state that situational

leaders would utilize the appropriate response, dependant on the

situation and circumstance. The principal can also employs the

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idea of transformational leadership, where subordinates are

motivated to do more than they are originally expected to do

(Bass 1997) and instructional leadership where the actions of a

principal, or those he influences or assist, promote growth in

student learning.(Leadership for Student Success E-Lead) When

this is put into practice, the principal fosters educational

achievement by making it a priority. The principal works with the

teacher to define educational objectives that create a

collaborative learning environment. This type of leadership

clarifies the vision of the school and gives the principal a

clearer sense of what takes place in the classroom, thereby

enhancing the whole idea of student achievement.(Leadership for

Student Success E-Lead) When these three styles of leadership are

brought together, through the actions of the principal it allows

for a decision making process that guides and motivates teachers

to realize greater sense of teacher efficacy and ultimately a

greater chance of student success.

The term success in its simplest form is defined as the

accomplishment of an aim or purpose. (Oxford Dictionary 1989)

However, in defining student success, especially in the context

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of today’s society, it is not as straightforward as saying that a

student has passed his/her five subjects, so therefore he/she is

successful. In defining success purely from an academic point of

view, other levels of success such as sport, learning social and

practical skills, reading and writing and numeracy skill, are

discounted. Therefore, the principal who considers how success is

defined by the school and what is considered as achievement and

then aligns this to the school’s vision, culture and climate, is

in a better position to measure and achieve successful students.

While a principal does not directly teach students, it is

important for a principal to understand the relationship between

what he/she does and the impact on the duties a teacher carries

out and more importantly a teacher’s efficacy. The idea of self -

efficacy comes out of Banduara’s Social Cognitive Theory (1986),

which states that a person believes that he or she can perform

behaviours that are necessary to bring about a desired outcome.

When applied to the concept of teaching, teacher efficacy is seen

as the extent to which a teacher believes that he/she can affect

student performance. (Hipp, 1995) The definitions put forward by

Bandura and Hipp, especially with regard to teacher efficacy and

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its link to student performance clearly identifies why principals

need to carefully consider the decisions they make as they affect

teachers.

The principal therefore needs to adopt the role of

instructional leader, where the actions of the principal or those

assists promote growth in student learning. According to the

National Commission on Excellence and Education (1983), the

principal as an instructional leader needs to be able to manage

data collected on student performance, head school improvement,

be knowledgeable of curriculum and instruction methodologies, and

have the expertise to guide teachers out of isolation and into

professional learning communities. Lashway (2002) added that

instructional leaders need to deeper their endeavours into the

science of teaching and learning, offer professional development

to teachers, and utilize data analysis of student performance. In

adopting this style of leadership, the principal, in an indirect

way, secures the ability to positively impact the teacher in

numerous ways that leads to student achievement and success.

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As an instructional leader, the principal can make teaching

and student learning a priority in terms of managing the school

and are discussed and improved along with the management of

resources, infrastructure and finances. The principal will also

be up to date in the content of the curriculum and instructional

material so that when changes are made either to the curriculum

itself or to the teaching materials that are used in the

classroom the principal will be aware of such changes and be able

to advise teachers of such changes. A principal’s curriculum

knowledge positively impacts the teacher and the student, as this

assists in the alignment of the curriculum to the needs of the

student and also to the external environment and gives the

teacher the ability to keep teaching and classroom activities

current and relevant. Adopting an instructional leadership style

also allows the principal the opportunity to carry out data

analysis on past and current student performance with the end

result of determining what is working and what is not in the

delivery of the curriculum by teachers. The principal can then

use such data analysis to determine what areas of professional

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development are necessary to improve deficiencies and to enhance

or refine practices that are working.

These core elements, when carried out by principals

consistently, allow for the deepening of teacher efficacy.

Teachers believe that when they are supported by their principal,

their personal teacher efficacy is affected positively, and they

believe that they are more likely to motivate and reach students.

Teachers also believe that their general teaching efficacy is

positively reinforced when their instructional programs are

supported by, as well as when they are defended by the principal

when they are met with unreasonable demands from the external

environment. This reinforces importance of the principal’s

involvement in curriculum delivery through the reinforcement of

teacher efficacy as this directly impacts how successful students

are in and out of their school.

An educational leader promotes the success of every student

by acting with integrity, fairness and in an ethical manner.

(Educational Leadership Policy Standards 2008) The framework that

incorporates the ethic of justice (rules, fairness,

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equity),critique (inequities in school and society) and care (the

enrichment of human life) and the principal’s own philosophical

perspective that seeks to reinforces the vision and policies of

the Ministry of Education, as well the creation and institution

of the school’s own internal vision and policy. These underlying

ethical elements allows the principal to be constantly reflective

of his/her existing state (praxis) and the state of the school to

ensure that maintenance of positive practices are realized and

improvements are made when they are required.

A principal guided by ethical practice is then better able

to facilitate the implementation of the school’s vision and

mission, with the aim of establishing and maintaining a healthy

and productive school culture and climate. A school’s culture can

be defined as the guiding beliefs and values evident in the way a

school operates, (Fullan 2007) while the school’s climate is seen

as the quality and character of school life. It is the heart and

soul of a school and it is the element that draws teachers and

students to want to be a part of it. (Friedberg and Stein 1999)

The combination of a school’s culture and climate is the major

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influence student achievement. Unhealthy school cultures and

climates are indicators of poor leadership, unhappy teachers and

students, which results in low achievement.

Therefore, when a principal has a clear understanding of the

importance of the impact of the school’s culture and climate,

he/she is able to gain the insights needed to foster values,

beliefs and attitudes in teachers and students that will result

in student success. The principal is then able to act as a

‘change agent’ and transform the school when necessary, to infuse

values and positive behaviours into the practices of teachers

that support high achievement in students.

The indirect link between school leadership (the principal)

and student achievement and success is clear and supported by the

research done on it. The influence that the principal has,

through the adoption of instructional and transformational

leadership styles, in affecting the school’s culture as ethical,

value based and positive one and having these practiced in a

positive, safe and orderly school climate creates an environment

where teachers are encouraged and assisted by the principal in

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recognizing their competencies and their areas of improvement, in

setting goals to achieve best practice and mastery and providing

access to professional development and constructive feedback on

their actions. More importantly, principals create a safe,

nurturing, caring and ethical backdrop for students to learn and

develop academically, to achieve high levels of confidence,

responsibility and agency which all contribute to student

achievement and success.

In today’s educational framework, schools, when defining success,

oftentimes neglect to address the relationship between a child’s

current learning and their own lives. (Schools for a New Society

2006) They are taught, but with no defined pathway as to how

their education can help them create a life for themselves in the

world they will ultimately enter. The decisions of a principal

become critical in this sense to ensure that the school becomes a

transition mechanism for the child to be able to successfully

function in the wider society

Therefore, a fundamental role of the school, often seen as a part

of its hidden curriculum, but really should be an clear and

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defined goal set by the school’s administration, is to ensure

that the student is equipped with the skills that allows them to

function in mainstream society and to provide the knowledge to

access opportunities for social and economic mobility. (Sociology

notes my e-learning) This concept should align with all that is

done regarding the child, so that academic work, extra and co-

curricular activities become synonymous with that sense of agency

required of a student and the needs of the external environment.

The 21st Century society demands that for a young person to

survive in it, he/she is required to not only be competent in

language, mathematics, and science, but must also be a confident,

independent, critical thinker and problem solver. (Schools for a

New Society 2006) Therefore, in order to meet the needs of

today’s society and to afford the ability for a child to be

successful in it, the decisions made by the principal, especially

with regard to the curriculum needs to move the child beyond just

academic competence. The school must be prepared to include in

its teachings the development of a child’s sense of agency, the

power to act on and effect positive change in one’s personal and

social context. (Schools for a New Society 2006). At the core of

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student agency is the development of a positive culture and

social identity and an understanding of one’s own history and

relationship to the broader society. (Schools for a New Society

2006). This sense of agency, while is personal to the student,

must be reinforced by the school through its class room

activities and the general culture and climate that set, which

ultimately comes from the school’s administration. When this is

achieved, the principal, through the school environment, would

have positioned the student to achieve success not only within

the school, but also to achieve long term success in the larger

society

While the principal is not directly involved in the teaching of

students, the method of principal management and leadership is

directly linked to the teacher. The impact of the leadership

style adopted by the principal on the teacher is directly related

to what and how the teacher does in the classroom. Therefore the

success or failure of the principal to lead effectively, will be

reflected in the classroom, through the effectiveness of the

teacher or lack thereof to deliver quality lessons, and this will

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ultimately be passed on to the students, thereby affording levels

of success or failure.

Thus far the relationship between school leadership and

student success has remained at the indirect level, where the

principal either affects the teacher or the environment around

the student to bring about student achievement and success.

However, from the perspective of HFLE (Health and Family Life

Education), the principal has the ability to directly affect the

student, through support programs within the school that assist

in the maintenance of the physical health of a student together

with the direct relationships that most principals have with a

child’s parent/guardian, which will allow greater insight into

possible issues and problems a child may be experiencing away

from the school environment that may be a hindrance to student

success.

There is an abundance of research that clearly shows that

nutrition and physical activity are directly linked to academic

achievement. Children who eat well and are physically active are

able to achieve a stronger academic performance than poorly

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nourished and sedentary children, whose cognitive abilities are

diminished due to the lack of nutrition and physical stimulation.

Schools play a critical role in promoting health and helping

young people establish healthy lifelong behaviours. (The Center

for Disease Control and Prevention webpage 2010)Therefore, it is

necessary for principals to ensure that there are school health

programs available to students that assist in the reduction of

poor nutrition and physical stimulation. In doing so, a principal

enhances the ability of the child to achieve greater levels of

success in school.

The establishment and maintenance of student support

programs by the principal, such as school feeding programs, where

meals such as breakfast and lunch are provided for students who

may not have access to regular meals, ensure that a child’s basic

needs are met and that the child’s classroom performance would

not suffer due to poor nutrition. The support of well established

physical education programs and extracurricular activities in

schools by principals also allow children to access healthy

physical stimulation that develops both motor and cognitive

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skills, and also builds social skills such as responsibility and

team work. These elements all contribute to the enhancement of

the student’s capabilities, thereby improving the chances of

successful outcomes and higher levels of achievement in school.

The principal also has the direct opportunity to foster

collaborations with families (parents) and community groups that

establishes a safe and comfortable environment that allows

students to succeed. (Trail 2000) A child’s parent/guardian, for

various reasons (discipline, social issues, family issues) will

go directly to the principal to discuss and resolve such issues.

Through these interactions with parents/guardians, the principal

has the ability to accumulate firsthand knowledge of what a child

may face outside of the school, in his or her community and

family. While the principal may have striven to create a positive

school climate and to engender a high level of teacher efficacy

to increase student achievement, this positive environment may

not stays at the school, still leaving the student to deal with

whatever pressures or issues exist outside of the school

environment. The social pressures, financial issues, family

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issues that affect the child can still create a negative impact

on student success despite the child being supported by a

positive school culture and climate.

This being said, the principal, through his knowledge of

what limitations a child may face outside of the school, may seek

to extend that element of positive culture to help the child

overcome such problems. Utilizing the student support services of

the school, such as the Guidance Councilor, School Safety

Officers, Social and Financial Committees and community groups,

such as the Community Police and Health Facilities, the principal

is able of offer solutions in the form of financial aid,

counseling, or even medical advice that would buffer some of the

emotional and psychological stresses a child may face. In

alleviating some of these stresses, a child is then able to

concentrate better in the classroom, thereby making positive

changes that support and enhance student achievement and success.

(State of Connecticut Board of Education 2008)

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Outside of the quality of teaching in the classroom, principal

leadership is second only to this in its impact on student

learning and success.(Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, Wahlstrom

2004). While the impact of principal leadership remains as an

indirect link to student achievement and success, the discourse

that discusses the impact that principal leadership has on the

teacher and the general school environment, which ultimately

leads to the success or failure of the student, is unparalleled.

The first major purpose of a school is to create and provide a

culture that is hospitable to learning. (Barth 2001) The creation

of a healthy culture and climate comes from the principal who is

and instructional and transformational leader, encouraging a high

sense of teacher efficacy. The principal’s leadership style also

engenders a clear vision that defines student success and

achievement, establishes high expectations from teachers and

students and conditions the school to support rather than inhibit

learning, in order to achieve this. .(Leithwood, Louis, Anderson,

Wahlstrom 2004) The support afforded by the principal, in the

areas of health, social well being and preparation to meet the

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needs of society clearly establish the importance of principal

leadership on student success.

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A

social cognitive theory.

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Bass, B. (1997) A New Paradigm of Leadership: An Inquiry into

Transformational Leadership. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum

Barth, R. S. (2001). Learning by Heart San Francisco, CA: Jossey

Bass.

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Cotton, K. (2003) Eric. What is Instructional Leadership and why

is it so important. Retrieved from the newsletter for the Reading

First Program. http://eric.ed.gov.?id=ED483357

E-Lead, Leadership for Student Success. A partnership of the

Laboratory for student success and the Institute for Educational

Leadership retrieved from

http://www.e-lead.org/resources/resources.asp?ResourceID=14

Educational Leadership Policy Standards (2008). retrieved from

http://teal.usu.edu/files/uploads/asc/elps_isllc2008.pdf

Freiberg, H. J. and Stein, T. A. (1999) Measuring, improving and

sustaining healthy learning environment.Philadelphia, PA: Falmer

Press

Fullan, M., ( 2007) The New Meaning of Educational Change. New

York: Routedge

Hersey, P., and Blanchard, K. (1988). Management of

Organizational behavior: Utilizing Human Resources (5th Ed).

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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Hipp, K. (1995, April). Exploring the relationship between

principals' leadership behaviors and teachers' sense of efficacy

in Wisconsin middle schools. Paper presented at the annual

meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New

York.

Lashway, L. (2002, July). Developing instructional leaders.

Clearinghouse on

educational policy management. Retrieved July 26, 2006, from

http://eric.uoregon.edu/publications/digests/digest160.html: ERIC

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Leithwood, K., Louis, K. S., Anderson, S., Wahlstrom, K. (2004).

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Wallace Foundation.

Oxford Dictionary (1989) retrieved

fromhttp://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/success

Schools for a New Society, (2006) A Framework for Success for All

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Sociology lecture notes. Foundation lectures on Conflict theory.

Marxism

The National Commission on Excellence and Education, Gardener,

D.P. (1983), A Nation at Risk: Washington D.C.

The Center for Disease control and Prevention webpage retrieved

from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/health_and_academics/pdf/pa-

pe_paper.pdf

The State of Connecticut Board of Education (2008). A Guide to

Comprehensive School Counseling Program Development. Matt

Falconer. Retrieved from

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/DEPS/Special/counseling.pdf

Trail, K., (2000). Taking the Lead – The role of Principal in

School Reform Vol 1 No 4.

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