Abstract
Leadership is an important component for performance of every organization. Schools like any other organization also need leadership that will make things happen. The social inequalities existing in schools make it very important for school authorities to appreciate that although leadership is a key to improvement in every school, there is the need for school authorities and stakeholders to appreciate that not every type of leadership is needed in every situation of the school. Different situations need different types of leadership. Therefore, the inequalities in schools also calls for different leadership types. This chapter critically examines the various types of leadership needed in PK-12 educational setting and how such leaders could help address the social inequalities that exist in our schools.
TopTypes Of Leadership: An Overview
Every school leader must apply some approaches in his or her day-to-day activities so as to make the school become competitive, help learners to succeed and assist the school to achieve its vision. The approach to be adopted will depend on the type of leadership being exhibited or adopted. The adoption of a particular type of leadership will also depend on many factors. Schools are very complex institutions with diverse individuals with different aspirations and goals, so leading such institutions needs certain leadership approaches or types. For instance the nature of students, teaching and non-teaching staff, the organizational culture and strategy, the principles underpinning the establishment of the schools, the school’s vision, mission and values may all influence the type of leadership approach to be adopted. The adoption of these leadership types has brought a lot of confusion and controversy in many leadership literature as to what do we mean when we talk about leadership type? And whether it is leadership type that must be adopted and at what stage or point must such leadership type become necessary?
The confusion has come as result of how leaders use or apply the concepts of types of leadership and also how the concept is explained in many leadership and management literature. In some of the leadership literature, there has been confusion as to the difference between leadership styles and types. Although the main focus of this chapter is to show very explicitly the various leadership types are applied by educational practitioners in PK-12 educational setting to improve students learning outcomes and overall school improvement, it throw more light on types of leadership and how they differ from styles of leadership in a PK-12 educational setting. This chapter will show how leadership types differ from styles and eliminate any confusion that exist in various leadership and management literature.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Distributed: A situation whereby organization’s responsibilities or tasks are assigned or allocated to individuals on a permanent basis and they remain accountable and accept responsibility.
Inequality: They are differences that exists between individuals in an organization, institution, society, or community as a result of unequal distribution of resources, wealth, education, access to social amenities, etc. that make individuals feel disadvantaged or neglected.
Collaborative: When two or more people come together and work towards achievement of a common goal.
Motivational: Information or messages that inspire people to do something extra to achieve organizational goals or objectives.
Transactional: It is the conduct of organization or institution business or task or duty to achieve a desirable result.
Transformational: Doing something that will bring about a positive change to an organization through its vision and mission to a new and better state.
Instructional: This is information that is given to individuals to perform a task or duty through any positive actions a leader takes to ensure improvement in teaching and learning in an educational institution.