英语论文网

, in terms of his or her vision and inspiration produced a significant negative association, both with teacher outcomes as well as with student learning culture.

A transformational leadership style was however found to be quite effective in bringing about changed practices in teachers in a Dutch study which investigated the impact of this leadership style in the context of innovation programs. (Geijsel et al, 1999) This study showed that there were three significant dimensions to a transformational leadership style in school leadership, i.e., vision, individual consideration and intellectual stimulation. These three aspects were analyzed in relation to how they influenced teacher concerns, teachers’ learning activities and teachers’ changed practices. The results showed that a transformational leadership style in school principals appeared to be quite effective in fostering innovative practices and bringing about changes in teacher practices.

The direct effect of a transformational leadership style of principals on school staff turnover and school performance was examined in a study carried out by Griffin (2004). The data relied upon for deriving the findings in this study were (a) survey data from elementary school students and teachers and (b) student achievement test scores, derived from the student archives. This study did not demonstrate a direct positive or negative impact of transformational leadership on either student achievement scores or on the turnover of school staff. Principal transformational leadership showed a positive indirect impact on the job satisfaction of staff members and student achievement scores, which it had an indirect negative impact on staff turnover in terms of reducing the levels of staff turnover and thereby indicating that staff turnover had actually reduced as a result of the principal’s leadership style. Since the principal’s transformational style also produced a smaller gap between the achievements of minority and non minority students, this further contributed to high job satisfaction levels.

A new leadership paradigm:

The skills of leadership are even more important in a changing world. As Dilts (no date) points out, most of the existing literature on leadership focuses upon the characteristics of good leaders, but such characteristics are too vague and general to be of much use. Examining effective leadership styles within the business context may also be ineffective in a school environment, because the organization is geared towards profit making, while schools are geared towards imparting a strong educational foundation for students that does not merely include academic achievement. According to Dilts, effective leadership covers a variety of skills, including self skills, relational skills, strategic and systemic thinking skills and involves a mastery of various elements such as self, relationship, communication and problem space.

On this basis, Dilts states that effective leadership in schools needs to address all of three different levels (a) micro leadership, i.e., issues at the levels of environment, behaviour and capability (b) macro leadership, or issues at the level of beliefs, values and role identity and (c) meta leadership or the levels of spirit and identity.

Similarly, Dimmer and Walker (2005) have pointed out the need to incorporate cultural elements into the study of