Leadership for Role of Teachers as Leaders - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theLeadership for Role of Teachers as Leaders. Answer: Introduction: A leader is defined as an individual who leads, commands, exercises authority over a group of people, and essentially enables them to achieve some goals. Usually, the term leadership is associated with the idea of a leader assuming managerial roles in an organization. However, at present times, the idea of leadership has expanded, and it is also used to imply educational leadership. Though less acknowledged, the teachers also assume the role of effective leaders, bringing about massive change in the lives of the students, leading them to learn a variety of new things, and implement plans that will bring about positive changes in the lives of the students (DuFour Marzano, 2015). A teacher enacts the role of a leader by structuring the academic curricula as per the needs of the students, diagnoses the specific needs of an individual student, and recognizes the importance of impacting the life of every student on a daily basis. As far as the schools of India are concerned, the school t eachers are involved actively, in the process of ensuring overall development of the child. Hence, it is important to assess and evaluate the leadership role as adopted by the teachers of India, and examine the effectiveness of the leadership style as adopted by the teachers of Indian schools. Discussion: Role of Teachers as Leaders in Indian Schools: The teachers enact the roles of leaders successfully in the Indian schools. A leader is being defined as a person, who is the head of a group, who inspires his followers to work perseveringly towards the accomplishment of a specific goal. Like any leader, a teacher utilizes the talent and ability of the individual students, and helps them expand their knowledge. Besides, the role of a leader is not merely confined to the act of guiding the followers to the accomplishment of the goals, but also to motivate them so that they are encouraged to work harder to achieve their goals. The motivational ability of the leader is an integral leadership quality [resent amongst the teachers of India. They motivate the students to learn even if they are suffering from temporary setbacks such as financial constraints, mental disability like Dyslexia or Autism and physical disability. While demonstrating leadership in the school premises, the teachers enable the students have faith in their ability so that they can confidently perform their tasks and surmount any kind of obstacle in the process (Soheili et al., 2014). The influence a leader has on the mind of his followers is mention worthy, and in case of the teachers of the Indian schools, he same is found to hold truth. In India, the teachers roles are not solely confined to the schools they are teaching in, but rather expand outside the school premise. It should be remembered that the teachers of the Indian schools rely especially on the use of the Visionary Leadership style, whereby they incorporate their values, ideals and beliefs in their teaching methods as well. Consequently, the teachers not only expand the horizon of knowledge of the students y teaching a variety of subjects, but also essentially influences their though process, by educating them about the moral values of human life. Hence, unlike most of the international teachers, the Indian teachers need to exhibit a strong awareness regarding the ethical codes of conduct as well as moral values (Lieerman, 2015)). A teacher teaches the students, the importance of helping others, or taking care of the old and the sick people. Hence, the teachers of the Indian schools have a strong impact on the lives of the students outside the school premises as well. Unlike the leadership approaches as taken by the teachers of most countries, the Indian teachers not only focus on the importance of the formal educational leadership approach, but also on the moral or ethical leadership approach. Hence, as leaders, the influence of the Indian teachers on their students is much more far-reaching (Bond, 2014) Leadership Roles in the Educational Sectors: It should be noted that the all kinds of teachers are usually not considered to be the leaders of the educational industry. According to pat researches, only those teachers who actively, and not passively contribute to the learning development of the student, both within and outside the school are considered to be the actual leaders of the schools. Herein lays the importance of the lead teachers, who are solely considered to be the leaders of the schools. In the year of 1986, a report funded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching claimed that each educational institution must entrust the duty of leading other teachers achieve learning outcomes for the students of a particular class (qvist Malmstrm, 2016). Hence, the lead teachers formulate the lesson plans, implement the action plans, and determine the learning outcomes of each chapter before the same is being taught to the students. Thus, these lead teachers take up the leadership roles in many of the Indian sch ools, who guide and command the subordinate teachers, regarding the content of teaching a specific group of students or the strategy adopted for the accomplishment of the time (Shah et al., 2015). Thus, the lead teachers in many India schools offer a sense of direction to the other teachers, while the latter group usually emulates what the former seeks to do. At the core of the very definition of leadership lays the two functions of the leader- his ability to provide direction and his power to exercise influence over the peers. Considering the hierarchical structure of the Indian schools, in the Indians schools, the lead teachers (also referred to as the teachers in charge) take up the leadership responsibilities, to which the roles of other teachers-leaders are subordinated. However, it should be argued, that each teacher as individuals do optimize the teaching and learning experience for themselves and the students (Klar et al., 2016). Hence, eliminating the contribution of other teachers, and subordinating them to the teacher in charge is unjustified. The Indian teachers, both the teacher leads as well as the ordinary teachers, satisfy the four important requirements expected out of a leader: The teachers take up challenges, and if necessary create changes to ensure smooth and effective delivery of excellent quality of education. The teachers ensure the overall development and academic growth of every student, thereby satisfying the organizational goals, mission and vision. The teachers work autonomously and independently to bring about a change if any, and does not entertain unnecessary external intervention. Thus, they are the goal setters. They are involved in accomplishing the noble missions that will ensure overall social welfare. For example, the teachers teach the students, the importance of integrity and moral duties. It should be remembered that any form of leadership does not merely involve the function of the mind, but also needs active engagement of the heart. Much beyond the beliefs and ideals of the teachers, the Indian teachers actively empathize with the concerns of the students, engage in their learning needs and exemplifies leadership with heart by being approachable and sharing the ideas, time, and support. The teachers not only motivate the students, but also chalk out distinctive teaching strategies as per the individual needs of the students (Saravanabhavan et al., 2016). Hence, considering the nurturing and supportive as well as guiding skills each teacher uses in the teaching process, each individual teacher should be termed as leaders in the truest sense. Leadership Style as Followed by the Teachers of the Indian Schools: While explaining the leadership style as followed by the Indian teachers, it should be remembered that the Indian teachers take up the mix of two leadership styles- the Authoritative Leadership style and the Visionary Leadership style. The teachers assume the role of mentors in the Indian schools whereby they not only teach the students helping them to expand their knowledge, but also act as their role models. The teacher teaches the students the importance of acquiring wisdom, behaving ethically and leading a life of disciplines. As a mentor, the teacher assumes the role of an autocratic and authoritative leader who commands and directs the employees regarding which direction they need to pursue to succeed in life or rather to accomplish the present task (Muralidharan Sundararaman, 2013). The students demands are however completely subordinated to the decision of the teachers. This is the reason why most of the Indian schools have a teacher-centric learning environment that conside rs the students needs but does not essentially recognize the importance of student interests. However, since the teachers are the only decision-makers in such situations, the students often lose interest in their studies and reluctantly follow the orders of the teachers. However, this authoritative leadership style enables the teachers exercise sufficient control over the classroom activities, and positively affects the learning activity of the students. As the leaders of the class, the teachers offer a sense of constant direction to the students, by teaching them new things and guiding them to complete their education in the long run (Das et al., 2013). The teachers teaching in the Indian schools possess the empathy, high sense of responsibility as well as the decision making capability expected out of a leader. As the authoritative leader, the leaders frame the syllabus, and determine which teaching methodology would best suit the needs of the students. He works independently as a n authoritative leader. Besides, in addition to this style of leadership, the visionary leadership style is also being followed by the teachers of the Indian schools. Consequently the teachers motivate the students to pursue the right and virtuous way, inspiring them to follow an ethical life. The teachers set a vision regarding what will constitute the framework of leading a healthy, normal life and accordingly incorporate the ethical values and moral lessons in the academic curriculum as well (Das et al., 2013). It should be remembered that the vision of an ideal human being is highly important, and the teacher not only assumes the leadership role for guiding the students to pursue their career, but also for enabling them lead the ideal life of virtuous person. This is the reason why the Indian teachers teach subjects like Value Education to the students as well. The role of the teachers as the effective leaders in the schools of India is not confined to their duty of guiding the students in the academic matters, motivating them to achieve heights of academic success, but the teachers are also expected to assume leadership roles in shaping the character of the students (Mittal et al., 2015). Thus, the teachers in Indians schools have a far reaching impact on the lives of the students, affecting them both within the schools as well as outside, The teachers ensure that the students not only learn mattes of academic interest from the schools but also the lessons that can help them lead a better live in future. Seen in this context, just like the true leaders, the teachers of the Indian schools also act as the torch-bearers for the young learners (Rao, 2014). Conclusion: To conclude, it should be remembered that the teachers assume the role of leaders who utilize all the resources and services to improve the skills, knowledge and understanding of the students. The teachers have always been referred to as the leaders, and the reason does not merely lie in their ability to teach and stimulate the students, but also in influencing the future of thousands of students. Although the leadership style as followed in the Indian schools is highly impressive, a Democratic Leadership style as followed in the schools could be more beneficial to the students. This style of leadership can enable faster academic growth amongst the students, engaging them in an interactive way and acknowledges the importance of student feedback as well. The leadership style as followed in Indian schools is highly effective, yet the teachers should introduce a more learner-centric environment in order to comprehend the learner needs as well. Reference List: Bond, N. (2014).The power of teacher leaders: Their roles, influence, and impact. Routledge. Das, A. K., Gichuru, M., Singh, A. (2013). Implementing inclusive education in Delhi, India: regular school teachers preferences for professional development delivery modes.Professional Development in Education,39(5), 698-711. DuFour, R., Marzano, R. J. (2015).Leaders of learning: How district, school, and classroom leaders improve student achievement. Solution Tree Press. Klar, H. W., Huggins, K. S., Hammonds, H. L., Buskey, F. C. (2016). Fostering the capacity for distributed leadership: A post-heroic approach to leading school improvement.International Journal of Leadership in Education,19(2), 111-137. Lieberman, A. (2015, January). Introduction to Creating the conditions for learning: Teachers as leaders. InThe Educational Forum(Vol. 79, No. 1, pp. 3-4). Routledge. Mittal, S., Gera, R., Batra, D. K. (2015). Evaluating the validity of Student Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness (SET) in India.Education+ Training,57(6), 623-638. Muralidharan, K., Sundararaman, V. (2013).Contract teachers: Experimental evidence from India(No. w19440). National Bureau of Economic Research. qvist, A., Malmstrm, M. (2016). Teachers leadership: a maker or a breaker of students educational motivation.School Leadership Management, 1-16. Rao, M. S. (2014). Transformational leadershipan academic case study.Industrial and Commercial Training,46(3), 150-154. Saravanabhavan, R., Pushpanadham, K., Saravanabhavan, S. (2016). India: School Leadership, India at the Crossroads. InA Decade of Research on School Principals(pp. 471-481). Springer International Publishing. Shah, S. S. H., Ali, N., Anwer, M., Jaffar, A. (2015). Nurturing Sustainable Teachers Leadership Culture: Possibilities, Challenges, Stakeholders Behavior Analysis in the Context of Pakistan. Soheili, F., Alizadeh, H., Murphy, J. M., Bajestani, H. S., Ferguson, E. D. (2015). Teachers as Leaders: The Impact of Adler-Dreikurs Classroom Management Techniques on Students' Perceptions of the Classroom Environment and on Academic Achievement.The Journal of Individual Psychology,71(4), 440-461.