My Philosophy of Educational Leadership

Critical Element Paper #1

Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership
and Postsecondary Education
University of Northern Iowa

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the
Master of Arts in Education

By
Bryan Jurrens
Central Middle School
Waterloo, Iowa
December 7, 2013

Dr. Mcnulty

My Philosophy of Educational Leadership

My Philosophy of Educational Leadership

Educational leadership is a multi-position role in the education setting. The leader has
sole responsibility for the successes and shortfalls that occur in his/her school. It is up to the
educational leader to be the controlling force of the school who is guiding the school into
success. It is also the educational leaders role to nurture and care for his/her school.
My philosophy of educational leadership starts with the main role of being an educational
leader. As Wilmore (2002) stated: Everything we do must focus on promoting the success of all
students (p.72). An educational leader becomes an educational leader to promote the success of
students. Every decision that an educational leader makes must promote the success of all
students. Becoming an educational leader is not a professional advancement, its the next step in
helping the students.
How you promote success of all students in your building can be a challenge. A good
educational leader needs to balance the many tasks they are handed to create a culture and
climate, in their school, that promotes learning and success for his/her students. One of the
easiest ways to accomplish this is to be fully involved in the school. It is important for the
educational leader to have his/her hands in every decision to keep the school pointed in the right
direction. This does not mean that the educational leader must make every decision.
Collaboration should be used when possible during the decision making process. Leithwood and
Seashore-Louis (2012) states that: Sharing leadership may have its greatest impact by reducing
teacher isolation and increasing commitment to the common good (p.30). Having the teacher
take part in the decision making process will give the teacher a sense of ownership to the
decision, thus increasing the potential of student success.

My Philosophy of Educational Leadership

A major mission of an educational leader is defining his/her vision of the school. The
vision is an important goal that is set with the end result being student success. If we do not
know where or why were going someplace, it should come as no surprise when we dont get
there Wilmore (2002) (p.20). The educational leader should collaborate with other stakeholders
in the school as this vision is created. As previously stated, collaboration can have huge impacts
on the outcomes of a goal. It is, however, the role of the educational leader to oversee the
process of creating the vision, and make sure that he/she goes over it with a fine-toothed comb
before the final product is submitted. The vision is the driving force of the school. A school
without an appropriate vision will undoubtedly end up not seeing any increase in student success.
When the vision is set, it is up to the educational leader to ensure that every member of
the school is following the vision. As Wilmore (2002) stated: The principal becomes a nurturer
of the entire school community, the shepherd of the flock, the person who provides sustaining
lifeblood and passion to the school (p. 34). In this instance, we transition the role of an
educational leader into more of a support person and care-taker rather than decision maker. It is
important for the educational leader to nurture his/her school community and be the shepherd of
his/her flock. The educational leader needs to be the shepherd, leader, and show the ways laid
about by the vision. Everything that occurs in the school needs to follow the vision of the
school. It is important to not veer away from the vision.
As the nurturer and shepherd of the school, it is important that the educational leader
support and care for his/her stakeholders. This is vital to the relationship building that will
greatly impact the success of a school. A good educational leader will accomplish this by
maintaining an open door policy. As an educational leader you are the face of the school. It is
your role to be there anytime a stakeholder has a question or comment about the school.
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My Philosophy of Educational Leadership

An educational leader needs to also build relationships to establish a level of trust with all
stakeholders. Organizational trust is an important factor of any leader and is especially important
in a school. As an educational leader, every stakeholder needs to be able to trust that you are
doing everything you can so that everyone can see success. Driscoll (1978) found that such
trust predicts overall satisfaction with the organization better than employee participation in
decision making Wilmore (2002) (p.31). Each stakeholder requires different attention from the
educational leader to meet the needs that they demand to establish trust.
The community members are at times the hardest to reach as an educational leader. Some
community members want to be actively engaged in the school, while others want nothing to do
with the school. It is important to reach out to every community member and prove to them that
the educational leader is a trustworthy leader of the school. The community members need to be
able to trust that positive changes are occurring for the betterment of the community as a whole.
The higher the student success rate, the higher the success of the community. Community
members need to be invited into the school when possible and asked to participate in various
decision making processes.
Parents need to be able to have full trust in their educational leader. The educational
leader has their childs potential in his/her hands. They need to be able to trust that he/she is
doing whatever he can to find a way to create success. A parent that trusts his/her educational
leader will support the educational leader and what he/she is trying to accomplish in this school.
A parent should never be an enemy to the school, but rather another staff member that is
supporting the schools vision.

My Philosophy of Educational Leadership

Student trust in their educational leader is the hardest to consistently establish. It is up to

the educational leader to take the time to build individual relationships with the students. This
establishes a layer of trust. Todays political burdens placed on the education system place a
strain on the students. We are, unfortunately, constantly judging our students. This can place a
road block in front of any successes that a student might see. A student trusting their educational
leader will instill in them that they trying their hardest and that everyone in the school truly cares
about them from the top down.
Finally, one of the most important stakeholders to establish trust with is the teachers. As
stated by Leithwood and Seashore-Louis (2012) leadership is second only to classroom
teaching as an influence on student learning (p.3). It is no surprise that the people who spend
the most time with the students have the most impact on their success. That is why it is
important to establish trust with the teachers. An educational leader needs to be the care-taker of
the teachers in the school. He or she needs to support the teachers at all times. Any time a
teacher has a success, it is vital that the educational leader recognizes this success. This shows
the teacher that it was noticed. At the same time, the educational leader needs to be there to lend
a hand during difficult situations. The teachers are the biggest influence on whether the vision is
a success or a failure. It is important to instill trust in the teachers so they believe that the
educational leader is leading them in the right direction.
One of the biggest parts of being an educational leader is to maintain a role of leadership
in the school. The importance of collaboration is important to the commitment of the common
good, but still requires a leader to establish the collaboration. It also takes a leader to nurture and
be the shepherd of the school, to care for the well-being of all of the stakeholders, while still
being the guiding hand directing the school. It is easy for an educational leader to get
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My Philosophy of Educational Leadership

overwhelmed and start handing off the leadership roles to other people. This might be a
convenience for the educational leader at the time, but will cause confusion in the school as to
who the actual leader is. A good educational leader is going to make sure that they keeps his/her
hands in everything.
As I write this paper I am surprised at how much my philosophy of educational
leadership has changed since the start of this class. As a classroom teacher, I was frustrated at
times that I wasnt viewed as a whole school leader. Even as Ive picked up extra assignments
that give more leadership opportunities, I am still expected to converse with my educational
leader before we make any changes. The frustration I felt by the lack of leadership I was given
was one of the driving forces that encouraged me to pursue a degree in educational leadership.
Now that I understand the roles associated with educational leadership, I understand the
reasoning behind that. I have an entirely different perspective on education. The importance of
stakeholder involvement, the importance of a vision, and the importance of a strong leader are
what make students successful.

My Philosophy of Educational Leadership

References
Leithwood, K. & Seashore-Louis (2012). Linking leadership to learning. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Wilmore, E.L. (2002). Principal leadership: Applying the new educational leadership
constituent council (ELCC) standards. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.