Can transformational leadership influence on teachers’ commitment towards organization,teaching profession,and students learning? A quantitative analysis

This study investigates the impact of transformational leadership as idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration on teachers’ commitment towards organization, teaching profession, and students’ learning. A quantitative survey method was applied, and four broadly hypothesized relationships were tested with a sample of 1,014 trained non-graduate and graduate teachers serving in twenty-seven secondary schools in Sarawak, Malaysia. The results indicate a moderate level of teachers’ commitment and a low level of transformational leadership qualities among the respondents. This study found that inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation were the factors contributing towards teachers’ commitment to teaching profession, and there was no dominant factor influencing commitment to students’ learning. Moreover, it was discovered that inspirational motivation was a factor to teachers’ efficacy and teaching experience. Besides, teachers’ efficacy and teaching experience were predictors to teachers’ commitment to organization, teaching profession, and students’ learning, respectively. These findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between transformational leadership and teachers’ commitment to organization and teaching profession, but not students’ learning. The results of this study indicate the necessity for leadership development of school leaders so that they could systematically acquire and internalize the effective transformational leadership qualities that are crucial in changing teachers’ attitude and improving their commitment towards their profession.     

Technical college teachers sharing their knowledge: does leadership,institutional factors or barriers predict their practices?

This study determines the preferable leadership practised by colleges’ directors, institutional factors and challenges encountered in knowledge sharing in Malaysian technical higher learning institutions (HLIs). Using a pragmatic mixed-method strand, we obtained 212 teachers and instructors’ viewpoints on knowledge sharing factors and barriers. The study also interviewed four teachers in exploring college directors’ leadership practices and issues faced while sharing their knowledge and experiences with their colleagues. The findings revealed that technical college teachers favoured enabling others to act as a preferable leadership practice that empirically supports their knowledge sharing practices. Thus, reward system and culture were antecedents and significant predictors for teachers’ knowledge sharing practices in technical HLIs compared with their colleges directors’ transformational leadership practices. Teachers also highlighted that their directors provide affirmative responses concerning the knowledge sharing activities; thus, practising their roles as a knowledge sharing catalysts. However, lack of support from the management, micro-politics and teachers’ own negative perceptions were identified as challenges and constraints teachers encountered while sharing their knowledge with their peers. The findings put forward some suggestions for improvement on technical college’s knowledge sharing practices.     

Design and implementation of an M.B.A. program in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The current leadership literature includes the concepts of visionary leadership, transformational leadership, situational leadership, breakthrough leadership, and shared leadership. This article relates the literature to specific distance education settings and presents cases in higher education that reflect relevant leadership issues and dimensions of leadership. The article includes theory‐ and practice‐based applications to assist leaders in higher education in the implementation of distance education initiatives. Case examples from outside the United States illustrate important leadership variables in exporting distance education to new settings. The significance of networking and collaboration as leadership strategies is explored as a major theme of the article.     

Technology and school leadership

As the demand for schools to become more effective and efficient learning communities increases, the need for principals to cultivate broad‐based, skilful participation in the work of leadership is essential. It is important for educational leaders to recognise the significance of their role in technology implementation and utilisation. They should be proficient in the use of technology and then provide leadership in the use of technology for administrative, instructional, and learning functions. Relatively few studies have empirically examined the level of computer use by principals, their perceived computer competence and their leadership style. This paper will report on these issues from an initial analysis of baseline data gathered from 30 secondary school principals in Tehran, a large province in Iran. Findings indicate that school principals spent a few times a week working on their computers and they had moderate levels of information technology competency. This paper also suggests that transformational leadership can help school leaders increase successful use of technology in schools. Hence, policy makers must design professional development programmes, such as leadership studies, in order to teach the components of transformational leadership: idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration to future administrators.     

谈教育局长的领导力及其提升策略

教育局长是我国区域教育行政管理的基本领导群体,其领导行为直接影响着区域教育发展的内涵与进程。按照权变领导理论框架,教育局长的领导力与教育局长的工作情境直接相关。由于教育局长的工作情境具体由教育局、政府和学校系统三个开放的工作系统构成,因此,教育局长的领导力呈现出三维结构,即行政领导力、政治领导力和教育领导力。相应地,教育局长要提升领导力,应该从三个维度入手:领导领导者,有效提升教育局长的政治领导力;认识教育组织特征,有效提升教育局长的教育领导力;发展组织文化,提升教育局长领导的有效性。     

The role of authentic assessment in developing authentic leadership identity and competencies

The need to develop assessment practices that are contextualised, meaningful for students and closely linked to real-world challenges has been increasingly recognised in higher education. This is particularly relevant for leadership development programmes that are assumed to have a work context embedded in their content and assessment components. Assessment practices currently used in higher education focus mostly on testing academic knowledge, rather than on enhancing leadership competencies. This research used an abductive approach to investigate how the application of authentic assessment can assist in developing authentic leadership competencies. Thematic analysis of written reflections of 24 students revealed that authentic assessment, accompanied by self-reflection, not only enhanced students’ comprehension of theories and improved their leadership skills but, more notably, helped students develop elements of self-concept, which is a key aspect of authentic leadership. Our findings demonstrate that authentic assessment combined with a reflective piece can assist students in the development of their self-understanding and authenticity as leaders.     

Leadership for team learning: the case of university teacher teams

Teacher team involvement is considered a key factor in achieving sustainable innovation in higher education. This requires engaging in team learning behaviors that should result in new knowledge and solutions. However, university teachers are not used to discussing their work practices with one another and tend to neglect any innovation in their tasks. Team leadership behavior is often considered essential for stimulating team learning behavior, but it is unclear how this transpires. Therefore, the present study explores university teacher team members’ perceptions of team learning behavior, their assigned task, and leadership behaviors in their team. Interviews were conducted with 16 members of different teacher teams at a university of applied sciences. Findings included that the vast majority of the team learning behaviors only involved sharing ideas; engaging in constructive conflicts and co-constructions was not observed. Only a few teams combined all three team learning behaviors. In these teams, members observed that existing methods and solutions were no longer adequate, with leaders appearing to combine transformational and transactional behaviors, but operating from a distance without actively interfering in the process. Furthermore, these team members shared leadership behaviors while focusing on the team as a whole, instead of solving problems at individual level. This strongly indicates that task perception and specific vertical and shared team leadership behaviors play a role in stimulating teachers in seeking controversy and co-constructing new knowledge.     

The Role of Interracial Interaction in the Development of Leadership Skills and Cultural Knowledge and Understanding

While higher education leaders tout the benefits of racial diversity for developing culturally knowledgeable civic leaders, our understanding of these benefits and, in particular, the role of interracial interaction in realizing them, is still emerging. In this study, differences between the effects of interracial contact among students that are close friends versus more casual interracial interactions are examined for their affect on students' leadership skills and cultural knowledge and understanding. Findings suggest that casual interracial interaction is particularly beneficial among students with more racially homogeneous friendship circles, especially with regard to developing leadership skills. In addition, findings indicate that frequent interracial interaction among students may be more important in developing cultural knowledge than involvement in formal activities such as cultural awareness workshops.     

Leading Change and Innovation in Teacher Preparation: A Blueprint for Developing TPACK Ready Teacher Candidates

When preparing TPACK ready teacher candidates, faculty must incorporate and model TPACK within the teacher education curriculum, which often requires an ongoing change process. But for change to take place we must consider the role leadership plays in the innovation of change. Leaders, deans and department heads must be an integral part of this process. The challenge for innovation, change and education technology leaders is to transform teacher preparation programs into fully realized TPACK environments and determine the necessary learning opportunities and support necessary to motivate college leaders and faculty to fully embrace the change process. This article outlines a collaborative ongoing process and blueprint that leaders should consider as they make plans for the effective integration of TPACK into their colleges. “Tomorrow’s teachers must be prepared to rethink, unlearn and relearn, change, revise, and adapt” (Niess, 2008, p.225). Leaders, deans and department heads must be an integral part of this process if it is to be successful. While technology can support changes in how teacher educators teach and future teachers learn to teach (Dilworth et al., 2012), teaching with technology is a “wicked problem” in that it has “incomplete, contradictory and changing requirements” (Koehler & Mishra, 2008, p.10). New and innovative ways of confronting this complexity must address core knowledge base components that include content, pedagogy, and technology. These components have been used as the foundation for a technology , pedagogy , and content knowledge (TPACK) framework known as technological pedagogical content knowledge, or TPCK (AACTE, 2008; Koehler & Mishra, 2008; Mishra & Koehler, 2006; Pierson, 1999). But what is the role of leaders where TPACK based processes are being implemented in university teacher preparation programs? Educational technology leaders often approach models for teacher preparation in collectives that examine them iteratively. The 2012 National Technology Leadership Summit brought together the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) and its Innovation and Technology Committee. Representatives from college administrations met and examined leadership issues facing deans, directors and chairs as they work to support college-wide change facilitating faculty and teacher candidates in the task of becoming TPACK proficient. This work built upon a CITE (Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education) journal editorial focused on initial conversations around leadership needs for effective TPACK implementation (Dexter, Herring, & Thomas, 2012). A presentation at AACTE 2013 extended this work with teacher preparation and education technology leaders sharing “what worked” in their colleges around these processes. A panel presentation at the 2013 Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) Conference also shared insights into a blueprint for key areas that leaders should consider as they make plans for the effective integration of TPACK into their colleges as well as several implementation case studies. This article compiles this iterative work from a leadership perspective. While the challenge is to transform teacher preparation programs into fully realized TPACK environments, leadership becomes the key in developing new ways of confronting this complex issue that must address core knowledge base components inclusive of content, pedagogy and technology. To accomplish this task, faculty are faced with incorporating modeling these ideas within a teacher education curriculum in concert with ongoing change processes. A solid understanding of the interactions of these components can result in effective teaching with technology in varied and diverse settings; but the critical role of leadership in making such changes must first be considered. The critical features of a blueprint for leaders is based upon the work of Leithwood and colleagues’ framework comprised of three key leadership functions associated with improved student outcomes (Day, Sammons, Leithwood, Kington, 2008; Leithwood, Harris & Hopkins, 2008; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2008; Leithwood & Riehl, 2003). The three major component of the Leithwood transformational leadership model are: (1) Building vision and setting direction (2) Developing people through understanding people and (3) Developing the organization through redesigning it. Leithwood, Begley and Cousins (1994) define transformational leadership as follows: The term ‘transform’ implies major changes in the form, nature, function and/or potential of some phenomenon; applied to leadership, it specifies general ends to be pursued although it is largely mute with respect to means. From this beginning, we consider the central purpose of transformational leadership to be the enhancement of the individual and collective problem-solving capacities of organizational members; such capacities are exercised in the identification of goals to be achieved and practices to be used in their achievement (p. 7). Transformational leaders can create significant change in both followers and the organization with which they are associated (Griffin, 2003). Transformational leaders also find common ground that allows them to enlist followers in processes of change. Fullan (2010) finds that for true reform to take place, resolute leadership that remains focused is critical when new ideas encounter serious difficulty, thereby sustaining and building on success. To achieve this task and create significant change, transformational education leaders realize that true technology integration means understanding and negotiating the relationships between the three components of knowledge and going beyond a “business” organizational model to create change in teacher preparation programs. Too often organizations start down the road to change without being clear on key factors that influence the outcomes of the initiative. Deans and educational leaders must develop a model for change based upon both the organizational culture and the environments they need a set of resources to help and guide them to integrate a framework like TPACK. Through ongoing collaboration and discussion the focus has been around the development of a leadership module which would help leaders establish a vision and set a direction for addressing TPACK. The purpose of a leadership module would be to provide Deans and other educational leaders with the tools they need for full-scale implementation and motivate them to redesign their programs while continuing to improve and sustain a developing / changing curriculum.     

Distributed Leadership for ICT Reform in Singapore

This study examines distributed leadership in Information Communication Technology reform in a government school in Singapore. The study adopts a naturalistic inquiry approach, drawing upon a case study of the aforementioned school for much of its data. The study found that leadership for Information Communication Technology reform is distributed according to functions of transformational leadership, instructional leadership, emotional leadership, and the strategic management of resources. The key enabling factors are an official leadership position, access to expertise, support by senior management, and interpersonal synergies among the leaders. Senior management consistently performs transformational leadership, whereas middle management generally performs instructional leadership. Both senior and middle management provide emotional leadership.     

变革型领导理论视域下蔡元培北大改革的内在逻辑和实践路径

在蔡元培入主北京大学之前,北京大学校政腐败、制度混乱、学生求官心切、学术氛围淡薄、封建文化泛滥。蔡元培下定决心到北京大学任职,并进行了全面改革。变革型领导理论视域下蔡元培的北京大学改革实践包括:凸显领导魅力,塑造北京大学的美好愿景;倡导智能启发,改变教员的心智模式;组建学生社团,促进学生个性化发展;重视激发鼓舞,赋予教授民主治校的权利等。通过蔡元培积极稳步的改革,北京大学从“升官发财之阶梯”成功转变为“研究学问之场所”,并对当今高等教育改革和发展有一定借鉴价值。     

Influential Factors for Teachers' Creativity: Mutual Impacts of Leadership,Work Engagement,and Knowledge Creation Practices

This research examined the structural relationships among transformational leadership, work engagement, knowledge creation practices, and the level of creativity among the teachers in career and technical education (CTE), and investigated the mediating role of work engagement and knowledge creation practices in explaining the association between transformational leadership and the level of teachers' creativity. A total of 304 responses from CTE school teachers were analyzed. The structural equation modeling (SEM) method was employed. Transformational leadership was found to have positive impacts on work engagement and knowledge creation practices of teachers, but no direct relationship was found between transformational leadership and the level of teachers' creativity. Teachers' work engagement and knowledge creation practices were respectively associated with their perceived creativity levels. Therefore, work engagement and knowledge creation practices of teachers may be considered as mediating factors in the relationship between transformational leadership and teacher's creativity. To promote teachers' creativity, transformational leadership should be complemented by a school climate where teachers' work engagement and knowledge creation are encouraged.     

School Leader Appraisal — A Tool to Strengthen School Leaders' Pedagogical Leadership and Skills for Teacher Management?

With increasing school autonomy, often coupled with greater accountability requirements, school leaders are increasingly responsible for new human resource management tasks. Policies to improve the teaching workforce, therefore, cannot do without policies to improve the school leadership profession. Teachers' effectiveness depends, among others, on effective school leaders who shape teachers' working environment and influence their motivations. Furthermore, as recent research indicates, school leaders are the second most important school-level factor affecting, even if mainly indirectly through their influence on teachers, student learning after classroom instruction. Considering the role school leaders play for the effective school-level management of teachers and for teaching and learning through their pedagogical leadership, it is essential that school leaders are adequately prepared and supported for their role. As part of their school reform programmes, more and more countries have been introducing a range of evaluation and assessment policies to improve school, school leadership and teaching practices. The individual appraisal of schools leaders and teachers is a key component of evaluation and assessment policies. This article explores if, and how, individual school leader appraisal can develop school leaders' pedagogical leadership, a key element of which is teacher management. It analyses the policy approaches of several European countries and the extent to which formal frameworks in these countries focus on developing pedagogical leadership. The article concludes with ideas for policy to strengthen appraisal as a tool to improve school leaders' practices and behaviours and their competencies for pedagogical leadership and teacher management.     

Influential factors for knowledge creation practices of CTE teachers: mutual impact of perceived school support, transformational leadership, and work engagement

This study examined the structural relationships among perceived school support, transformational leadership, teachers’ work engagement, and teachers’ knowledge creation practices. It also investigated the mediating effects of transformational leadership and work engagement in explaining the association between perceived school support and knowledge creation practices. Samples included 284 career and technical education teachers in the United States. Structural equation modeling was employed. Perceived school support was positively associated with transformational leadership and teachers’ work engagement, but had no direct impact on knowledge creation practices. Transformational leadership was found to affect knowledge creation practices, but not work engagement of teachers. Although a supportive school climate had no direct relationship with knowledge creation practices, it indirectly affected this outcome variable through transformational leadership and teachers’ work engagement. The results suggest that in order to increase teachers’ knowledge creation activities, a supportive school climate should be provided with efforts to improve teachers’ work engagement and transformational behaviors of the principal.     

From managing impression to leadership perspectives

As political and economic forces continue to impact on the delivery of education in New Zealand there is a continual blurring of the boundaries between schools and communities. The bridging role of school leaders between educational imperatives, market forces, political hegemony, and managerial complexity has become threefold — that of statesperson, connoisseur and entrepreneur. In addition, their professional dilemmas have increased. The reforms have strengthened the necessity for schools to portray a positive impression which has led to increased feelings of isolation along with a loss of confidence for many school leaders. In this context, along with the greater workload and responsibility for new tasks, many school leaders became reactionary and focused on management roles, or fled the field. When school leaders are assisted to get beneath the façade of their professional practice, they can be led to increased critical perspectives about education generally and towards transformational leadership practices in their schools.     

员工沉默行为：智力型组织的创新障碍与治理

员工沉默是组织行为学中值得研究的重要课题。我国智力型组织中存在较为普遍的员工沉默行为。尽管不同类型的沉默行为产生的动机不尽相同,但默许沉默、静止沉默和亲社会沉默都在不同程度上阻碍了智力型组织的协同创新,而亲社会沉默对我国智力型组织创新的影响可能远高于西方国家。针对员工沉默的动机与影响因素,组织可通过员工分享机制、民主管理、培养变革型领导风格、塑造公正的工作氛围、鼓励谏言等机制对员工沉默行为进行有效治理,从而推动组织的创新活动。     

Levinas,bureaucracy, and the ethics of school leadership

Given present criticisms of contemporary education and leadership practices, this article investigates the ways in which the basic concepts of state freedom and bureaucracy stifle ethics and social justice in educational leadership practices through the philosophical framework of Emmanuel Levinas. By investigating Levinas’ ‘an-archy’, the definition of ethics and justice in school leadership can be reframed towards responsibility to otherness rather than individual freedom. The anarchical ethic of pure responsibility to the Other suggests that educational leaders should prioritize specific acts of responsibility over general actions based on the assumptions of traditional state education. Aspects of transactional, transformational, and social justice leadership are critiqued from this perspective.     

The effects of student personality on perceptions of two-source transformational leadership

This paper examines the role of student personality traits on student perceptions of an instructor’s and community partner’s leader behaviours in a service-learning context. Extant literature does not examine the role of an educator’s leadership in service-learning projects in conjunction with that of a community partner and does not consider the importance of student perceptions of these two sources of leadership. The present study demonstrates that the emergence of transformational leadership is not only an outcome of leaders’ personality and behaviours, as most of the transformational leadership literature suggests, but also to a degree a function of followers’ attributes. Thus, the development of effective transformational leaders must factor in followers’ personality traits. Specifically, the effects on perceptions of leadership of three personality traits were examined. Findings suggest that both agreeableness and conscientiousness correlate with service-learning participants’ perceptions of an instructor’s transformational leadership behaviours, but extraversion did not. Results also suggest that service-learning participants’ perceptions of an instructor’s transformational leadership behaviours correlate with their perceptions of a community partner’s similar behaviours.     

实施知识产权法强化高校科技档案管理

知识产权法律制度的建立和不断完善，为科技档案管理工作提供了良好的环境，科技档案在收集、归档、开发、利用中存在的科技档案管理与知识产权保护的诸多问题已引起了高校管理部门的重视。针对科技档案长期搁置造成的知识产权自然流失、转让范围划分不清、保密不当、执法监督不到位引发的知识产权纠纷等问题，许多高校从加强普法宣传和职业道德教育、加大科技档案管理力度等方面着手，切实解决知识产权保护与科技档案管理、开发、利用中的矛盾，使二者有机结合，相互补充，相互促进。