EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Key Challenges for Educational Leaders:

Grooming Capable and Authentic Educational Leaders
PROF. A. MOHANTY
CENTRE FOR EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
IIT KHARAGPUR

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Key Challenges for Educational Leaders:
Grooming Capable and Authentic Educational
Leaders
 Educational Leaders have to be capable both as individuals & as professionals

 They must be able to effectively use their knowledge, skills and competencies
confidently, with good judgement & wisdom, to solve complex problems in
changing circumstances and contexts

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 Key challenges for them are :
1. Competency – based training approach often misses the key dimensions of
leadership
2. Leadership is too dynamic, situational and unpredictable to be mapped through
training
3. Due to diversity & administrative workloads in education sector principals
usually adapt the “management of compliance” style and act as the ‘Site –
Manager’ rather than an educational leader
4. Due to seniority many teachers become principals without any soft skill
training, mental preparation , aptitude nor personal interest

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  Educational leadership needs capabilities (beyond competencies) to
denote a dynamic capacity to respond positively to changing
circumstances
Capable Educational Leaders need to possess certain qualities:
*1. Ability to generate positive changes that improve people & contexts
*2. To act as an empowering and capacity building force for others &
organization
*3. To be good at listening skill, emotionally intelligent , non – judgmental , self –
confident & capable of conflict‐management
*4. To have the inner wisdom for critical reflection & future vision
*5. Must have high ethical standard, values, & self –efficacy to deal with
unfamiliar situation
situation.
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Why do we need Authentic Educational Leaders ?

1. Authentic educational leaders help infuse educational practice with a higher

purpose & meaning

2. They focus on ethics & morality in actions and interactions

3. They encourage teachers to strive for quality in their teaching, & support through
developing teams for innovative teaching approaches

4. They provide resources to enhance collaborative teaching and learning, planning

and practices

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Authentic Learning :
Authentic learning is not just about taking new knowledge & skills for oneself but is
more about developing the capability to give one’s unique contribution to others

Key characteristics are:

1. Personal meaning from & through learning
2. Awareness of the relationships between the self and the content of the study
3. Respect for the integrity of the subject / object of the study
4. An appreciation of the implications of their learning for their lives outside the
school

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Key characteristics are:

5. An ability to apply their rich understanding of their learning in practice

6. Their capabilities as authentic and capable human beings (Duignan & Bezzina,
2004), in transforming the students’ potentials / abilities

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Authentic Pedagogy:
• Students are encouraged to generate new meanings and deeper understandings
of complex issues related to the subject content
• Teachers use disciplined inquiry approach in teaching for developing higher order
thinking skills of students
• Halpern & Luban (2003) offered a Model of “Authentic Leadership” called PRES ‐

P = Being Present R= Reaching out

E = Expressiveness S = Self – knowing

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 Grooming Capable & Authentic Leaders
• What are? !!!!!!!!!!!!

• Authentic leaders’ capabilities‐ beyond simply

processing knowledge, skills & demonstrating
these in teaching‐learning contexts

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Personal capabilities:
 Is self – reflective

 Demonstrates intellectual acuity

 Displays a sense of self – efficacy & personal identity

 Uses intuition as well as logic & reason

 Projects confidence, optimism, & resilience

 Exemplifies honesty & integrity

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Personal capabilities:

 Demonstrates ethically responsible behaviours

 Is morally courageous

 Is spiritually connected

 Displays imagination & vision

 Integrates work & personal life

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Relational Capabilities:
1. Is relationally adept
2. Is emotionally mature
3. Communicates with influence
4. Is authentically present
5. Displays a trusting disposition
6. Cultivates collaborative working environments
7. Engages in positive politics
8. Nurtures leadership capability in others

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Professional Capabilities:
1. Is contextually aware & responsive

2. Inspires a collegial purpose & vision

3. Displays curriculum and pedagogical know – how

4. Focuses on educational outcomes & accountability

5. Engages in and supports professional learning

6. Demonstrates professional commitment

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Organizational Capabilities:
1. Engages in strategic thinking
2. Develops organizational capacity to respond to contemporary & future
expectations of key stakeholders
3. Builds a sharing organizational culture that focuses energies and talents on
achieving high quality outcomes
4. Constructs creative designs for the use of people, time, space & technologies
5. Models cultural sensitivity
6. Demonstrates managerial aptitude (Duignan, 2005; Spry, 2004)

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Conclusion:

 Possible processes / mechanisms of Authentic Leadership Development through ‐

a. Learning Projects
b. Face – to face interactive sessions
c. Analysis of complex cases
d. Leadership development portfolio
e. Analysis of life stories/experiences
f. Sustainable leadership with moral purpose & integrity

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 Watch these videos on Authentic Leadership

• Authentic Leadership Videos

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwosvHSlK2U
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MqUbirZqSY
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQPQCcqZ9EY
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC7nLzd4CN4

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