Leadership is the first thing that is always considered by educated people.

Most reformers will

always depend on this issue.Most people have the notion that this is what most people in schools
need. Most people in the society are trying to have better understanding of appropriate educational
leadership skills. Leadership as an issue in the society is a progressive or growth industry. There are
several types of leadership such as
transformational,instructional,moral,constructivist,cultural,primal and servant
leadership(Goleman,Boyatzis&Mckee,2002).Only a few of the mentioned types are regarded as
leadership theories while some are tested theories of leadership while some are slogans.For
example, Instructional leadership as popularly used in North America and Learning centered
leadership as used in England ,both have the similar definition depending on whether the speaker
actually means by good leadership,and this does not refer to models of learning centered leadership
or instructional leadership that do not have conceptual coherence and its evident that they have an
effect on pupils and organizations.

Definition

Leadership is always required when two peoplr or even more with a common goal come and work
together in order to achieve that goal. Hence,leadership can be defined as a peson being able to
motivate,influence and even make others contribute to the improvement of any organisation or that
group they are working together in. It is just simply the ability to make others work towards attaining
the goals or objectives of an organization.(Mesons,Albert &Khedouri ,1988)

A theory is just a set of made up assumptions,accepted facts or propositions that try to give a
plausible explanation of causal relationals among an observed group of concepts or
phenomenon.The origin of the word(from Greek thoros, a spectator) emphasizes that most or just
all theories are mental models of the reality.

The theories of leadership try to identify and also predict which characteristics of leadership are
most effective and why they are.Mecon et al(1988) .Doyle and smith(2001) did show that the four
key generations of theory in classical leadership included the following trait theories,situational
theories ,contingency theories and transformational theories.

Transformational leadership theory

This theory is based on the assumption that actions of leaders are based on ethical,moral and equal
consideration of every person in that particular organistion (Kouzes &Posner ,
2002;Northouse,2007).Transformational leadership tries to define and articulate the organization’s
vision and this makes the followers feel motivated. This types of leaders are motivational,full of
charisma, intellectual, considerate, self-confident and honest leaders(Bass & Steidmer ,
1998;Dixon,1998).The theory has been is always seen as a link between the ancient and new views
of leadership.This leaders will always have knowledge of the current issues ,always use new styles
and methods is solving problems and making decisions ,encourage improvement of ideas and use
new philosophies and also emphasize on developing professional.This leaders act as an inspieration
to the followers ,that they should always inspire each other so that they attain high standards of
“motivation and morality”(Burns ,1978 .p.20) and also justice and equality.This leaders do not only
try to determine new approach in solving of problems but will try hard to convince their followers to
also use the new approach. Some of the qualities in this type of leadership include the following :
inspiration,trust,care,passion,commitment and vision. This leadership is hierarchical and does put
more emphasis on making a boundary between the lleaders and followers.

Studies done concerning transformational leadership indicate how leaders slowly develop and
maintain vision,how they empower there followers, how they understand the role of orgsnizational
contexts and create a cultural environment in ehich transformational leadership survives(Avolio and
Bass ,1994;Bass,1997;Schein,1992).Those people that have traits of a transformational leader can be
successful leader who is able to inspire ,an enthusiastic person,a visionary leader,a leader who looks
for new ways to solve problems and is ready to pursue any programs vital to the institution.This are
leaders who will, with faith implement any initiatives and ensure all tasks are done as scheduled.

Portugal(2006) emphasizes that most leaders should be transformational and innovative with good
visions and also be capable to energize,encourage,motivate and inspire their followers at the same
time articulating a competitive but shred distance learning agenda(p.9).On the same note,Bennis
and Nanus (1985) say that transformational leadership is a perfect model as it assists most people
such as administrators,faculty and staff,and other several people in organizations.

These type of leaders can adjust to new environment and just work at their optimum as they will just
define and articulate a vision for their organization and and also motivate their desciples. This
leaders are able to anticipate any unforeseen results and will always plan well enough to prevent
any mistakes that might lead to negative results during change(Nworie & Haughton,2008).This type
of leadership will require a leader to be a custodian of any new vision of learning, for future use. A
visionary leader is one who is inovable and can work well in symbolic circumstances ,can motivate
his disciples, and can easily adapt to new organizational contexts.(Portugal ,2006)

Contingency or situational theory.

This theory states that effective leaders will play both roles of leading and managing in the
organization. In this type,leaders assess situations or circumstances and see how this situations can
be effective in various contexts present in tasks in an organization(Northouse ,2001). A leader will
apply four types of leadership styles: delegating of tasks,coaching followers,directing his
subordinates and also supporting others.A good situational leader is one who understands all the
above mentioned styles and is able to appropriately use the right style to determine the follower’s
readiness level and also be able to choose the right style that will inform how a person behaves
when influencing performance of other people and this will entail both directing and supporting
others.(Blanchard,Zigarmi &Zigarmi,1985,p.46)Blanchard et al,describes directive behaviour as
telling people of what they should do,how they should do it, where they are supposed to do it,and
then you don’t quite supervise their performance .While supportive behaviour will involve listening
to other people,provide support and encourage them for their efforts and then facilitate their
involvement in slving of problems amd making decisions.

Leaders use this theory in the analysis of situations they are involved,then they come up with the
appropriate style of leadership.The style will vary depending on the type of followers and how they
compete in that organization.Situational leadership theory development has been credited to
Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey (1996). The main features of this leadership theory include
interacting of task behaviour and relationship behaviour,readiness of followers to to tasks,how the
different styles of leadership relate to followers confidence or capability to do tasks.

This theory addresses the change in the intricacy of tasks done by followers and the change in the
abilities of the disciples as they work as a team just to achieve an objective and this shows its
longetivity.As followers well understand how to perform their own particular tasks, leaders will start
reducing their task behaviour and advance their relationship behaviour so that followers increase
their levels of maturity in the tasks they undertake.As followers advance to above average levels
then leaders will reduce their relationship and task behaviour.

Being direct and flexible are the main strengths of this theory since it informs leaders on how they
can easily respond to different circumstances or situations. Adequate knowledge of expectations of
leaders and followers under various conditions and situations is important to leadership.Leadership
will involve change,maybe in the environment or people.Situational leadership defines how leaders
will cope up with the change. This type of leaders will alwys respond very quickly with appropriate
measures when different situations either internal or external changes in the organization results in
changes in the work environment.This leaders will also help come up with developments and ensure
refinement of staff members to help them in acquiring of the skills that will help meet the goals of
the organization.

Change is inevitable and will constantly occur in an organisation,situational leadership will help
address how leaders cope up with the change in organizational situations and contexts. Leaders
who operate in a constantly changing environment will need this type of leadership so that they can
easily adapt to the new pedagogies and emerging technologies and especially in the adoption of
various innovations .These leaders will also need to be able to work with professional and technical
staff with various levels of competency.Some changes may be rapid ,this may require skilful
management of resources and personnel.Situational leadership skills are essential in the managing
of a rapidly changing environment that involves different types of staff members.

Constructivist Theory

This theory involves teaching and learning based on the notion that learning leads to mental or brain
construction. In simplicity, students will always learn when they integrate new words or information
together with what they know. It is believed that learning is affected by the situation in which a
certain idea is relayed to students and this will also be determined by the beliefs and attitudes of
students. This theory explains the psychology of people on how they obtain new knowledge and
learn. Hence, it is directly applied to education. This theory suggests that a person will construct new
knowledge and meaning from their previous experiences. Constructivism is not a pedagogy. Piaget’s
theory of constructivist learning has had several effects on learning theories and other methods of
teaching and is quite essential in many educational reform associations. Research based on the
constructivist techniques of teaching has been mixed, where some research support these
techniques while others contradict these particular techniques.

Driscoll(2000) explains that this theory states that knowledge only exists in the human mind and
doesn’t have to be similar with any real world reality. Learners will constantly formulate their own
mental model of the real world different from the perceptions of that world.As they identify new
experiences,they will continuously update their mental models just to reflect on the new
information they obtain and construct their personal interpretation of reality. Jonassen(1994),states
that constructivism is occasionally misinterpreted as a theory that forces students to reinvent the
wheel which is not the case since it targets and triggers the hidden curiosity of students on how the
world works and how things actually work. The students do not actually reinvent the wheel but will
try to understand how the wheel turns or its functioning.They engage themselves in learning
through the application of their knowledge and other experiences ,also learn to formulate
assumptions ,they also test their formulated theorues and also draw conclusions from the results
they find.

Constructivism theory is basically based on scientific study and observations on how people learn. It
states that people will model their understanding and knowledge of the world, after their experience
on things and how they reflect on those experiences (Bereiter, 1994). When we experience
something new,we have to match it with previous experiences or ideas,or maybe change the belief
we have,or even discard the new acquired information as not important. We should know that we
are the creators of our knowledge. To create new knowledge ,we must first ask relevant questions of
the new ideas,explore and lastly assess the ideas we currently have. Constructivism will lead to
different methods of teaching in a classroom context.Generally,it means use of active styles such as
experimenting and problem solving techniques to create new knowledge ,reflect on it and
understand how it changes the situations.A teacher will make sure that he/she comprehends the
learners’ prexisting concepts and will guide the activities to address those concepts and even build
on them(oliver,2000).

The second concept is that the learning process is an active process and not a passive process.
Learners will deal with the understanding of what they encounter in the new learning set ups. If
what they encounter does not match they understanding of their current situation then it can
change just to conform to the new experiences. Learners will be active throughout the entire
process as they apply their current understandings,note the elements crucial in the new learning
experiences and also judge the emerging knowledge and basing on that judgement ,modify
knowledge (Phillips ,1995)

According to Driscoll(2000),the theory is a principle that enhances the students conceptual and
logical growth. The major concept in this theory is the role which experiences or the connections
with the adjoining atmosphere in the student education.The theory argues that people will produce
knew knowledge and formulate meaning upon their experiences.The major concepts that assist in
the construction of a person knowledge are assimilation and accommodation. Asdimilation will
cause a person blend the new experiences with the old ones.This causes that person have a new
outlook of situations,rethink on some misunderstandings ,evaluate on those that are important and
have different perceptions. Accommodation is quite different from assimilation since it involves
reframing those new experiences into the brain and have a better understand of them. Individuals
will always conceive a certain fashion that the world operates. When situations do not go as
expected then they must accommodate and reframe expectations with the outcomes. In this
context, constructivism is compared to objectivism, which is the direct opposite of constructivism.
Objectivist theory can be attributed to people such as Skinner(1953) who were behaviourists.
Objectivists have the belief that information is only known outside the human mind,and any
personal interpretation of knowledge can said to be either correct or incorrect.Objectivists view
pieces of information as currency or symbols that can be acquired by human beings and is easily
transferable from one person to another should the appropriate learning situations still prevail.
(Jonassen,1991)

Benefits/implications to Administrator or educational leader.

Constructive theory gives good information about leadership. A lot of research has showed the
foundation of the theory and it can be applied to all levels of management in an organisation. An
administrator or an educational leader can use information obtained from the theory to assess
his/her own position in an institution and also assess how to strengthen his/her position in that
instution. The theory serves as measure from where leadershio characteristics xcan be well assessed
and individuals get a well understanding of themselves and how they will or may affect others in the
different departments of the institution.The leader ,using the theory tries to identify his or her
weaknesses and strengths and hence get a better understanding on how to improve their qualities
of leadership. The theory gives a comprehensive knowledge and a good understanding of the
elements of leadership.

Transformational leadership studies help leaders understand how they can develop and maintain
their vision,how they can enhance empowerment of their followers ,how they perceive the
imporatance of contexts in the organiztio n and how they create a good environment where this
type of leadership thrives and survives.

Situational theory help an educational leader operate in an environment that constantly changes.
This helps him/her adapt quickly to the emerging pedagogies and technologies and even enables
them adapt to new innovations adopted in the organization. The theory will assist the leader be
flexible to work with professional and technical staff of various levels of competency in their careers.

To conclude, enough knowledge of leadership theories is quite essential for any leader. An
educational leader who does not have adequate knowledge of the leadership theories will
experience ineffective administration. The leaders with the knowledge will deal well with teachers ,
the society and even the stakeholders of the institution. This leaders will also be able to cope up
with the always changing situations in the education sector.