The role of a school leader during an era of high stakes accountability Essay Example for Free

The role of a school leader during an era of high stakes accountability Essay No doubt, the definition of the role of a school leader is has over generated debate amongst educationalist in America. This has left principals with the same questions. What is expected of them from the parents, students and their teachers? In this era of result oriented age, visionary leadership is an undisputed ingredient in the effective running of any organization especially a educational establishment like the school. This is why the governments have demonstrated interest in the development of programs, trainings and empowerment seminars for educators. The significant roles played by these set of people in the development of the nation can be left alone in their hands because they are producing the leaders of tomorrow that will develop the nation. This is why high quality and qualitative pedigree is required in handling of schools and educational organizations. The person of a school leader must understand that leadership is not about the title but the responsibility and the achievement of their objectives. The failure of any ward has been linked to the leadership and leader of the school. Parents do not ask themselves the same questions but they demand answers from their child’s school leader. This signify the enormous task attached to the position of the school leader as a failure on his /her path will lead to the poor quality of the academic results which further leads to withdrawal of wards by parents and without mincing words it will lead to the closure of the school. On the other side of it, even in business leadership error leads to the collapse of such company while effective leadership will generate improvement of the company. An example is former Ceo, of GE, Jack Welch. The world is moving fast and responsibility are been shifted the to the leaders whom they believe should not fail in discharging their responsibility for effectiveness. One of the important roles of the leader in this era of high accountability is effective communication. The ability of the principal to communicate between the important personalities will increase his/her chances of productivity as a break down of communication will lead to the collapse of the school.   The leadership style employed will hence the accountability simply because it will be a transparent administration. This will give room for broad base participation in the administration. Without this the role of creating effectiveness will be grounded as leadership is all about influence and not the post you hold. Intellectual stimulation has an important role of principal during this period as they are to encourage and work on the intellectual development of their students whose parents will be busy and have no time for them at home. Performance expectation and achieving the expectation have won the heart of parents, educators and even the government as tends to put smiles on the faces of their parents. Every average American parent has less than 5 hours for their children making their educational success in the hands of their teachers in school. No doubt the role of school leaders are constantly changing as they are also to serve in the capacity of parents, advisors and counselors to their students who may have difficulty in their studies or emotional issues that are afraid to discuss with their parent at home. In America today, life has changed and school leaders have gradually taken the important role of foster parent to their students towards productivity as they are the only person to be held responsible for whatsoever happens to organization. In conclusion, leaders are men who are always held responsible for whatsoever happens to their organizations either good or bad. This is the reason why they accountable for every single that happens within their school. Some leaders have suffered as a result of this while others have been praised. Reference: Mulford Bill. Changing roles and impact on school effectiveness. oecd.org Linda lambath.   Leadership at all schools nsdc.org webpage By Larry Lashway.   Role of the School Leader Revised July 2003. College of Education University of Oregon. Colin Powell. The art of leadership Michael Fullan. The Moral Imperative of School Leadership