Leading educational change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leading educational change - Essay Example When dealing with school leadership in the Australian context, it is important for the articles by Gurr et al, (2005) and Dinham (2007) to be considered so that a better perspective of the issue under discussion can be achieved. While one would state that there are some areas of agreement between these two articles, especially touching on the various aspects of leadership, how these leadership styles are applied has been found to have some divergence. It is a fact that in Australia, there has developed a vast body of research that has confirmed that the teacher in a classroom has a profound influence on the performance of his or her students. In the abovementioned two articles, there is general agreement that it is important to find out how the quality of teaching and learning can be influenced and improved through the development of good leadership skills among the teachers in the classroom. In both articles, it is stated that educational leadership is of principle importance when d etermining the quality of teaching and learning and as a result has a pertinent influence on the achievement of the students involved. ... It is often essential for the teacher to ensure that they have undergone some kind of leadership training so that they can be better able to handle diverse and unique situations in their classrooms. He further states that it is often necessary for the teacher or school leader to realise that each and every one of their students is unique in many ways and that the behaviour of students should not be categorised in general terms. What one student may be able to understand over a short period of time does not apply to another student who might not be capable of understand over the same time. This means that in order for the teacher to be effective in their classroom, it is often necessary for him to ensure that he treats each of his students in the most flexible way he can in order to cultivate their unique capabilities. Gurr et al (2005) are also of this opinion although they go even further by stating that teachers have to do a self-examination to determine whether they have the neces sary qualities that will enable them to become effective leaders so that they can be able to not only strengthen these qualities, but also work towards ensuring that they have acquired those qualities which are most essential in helping in the academic performance of their students. The two articles adopted different methodologies and these have been manifested in the divergent outcomes that resulted from the studies they conducted. Dinham, for instance, chose to pursue two types of research sites with the aim of studying how leadership had an effect in determining the exceptional student outcomes. The first of these was the conducting of studying on departments, which were responsible for the teaching of subjects in secondary schools for