On Becoming a School Leader: A Person-Centered Challenge

243 Pages·1999·1.34 MB·English

by  Arthur W. Combs, Ann B. Miser, Kathryn S. Whitaker

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Become Leader Book 3/15/06 2:23 PM Page 1
Education
$22.95
On Becoming
The work of educational leaders depends
on relationships with people—faculty
and staff members, students, other
a
mdeminbeisrtsr.a Ttohris, bpoaorekn ptsr,e saendt s cao mnemwu nwiaty a Scshool Leader
of viewing leadership: how to become
person-centered leaders. Rather than
relying on outdated ways of managing
schools, principals and other leaders must
pay attention to the people issues of the
school.
The authors show concrete ways
school leaders can consciously seek the
appropriate type of data
to respond to; increase
On Bsecoming their capacity for empa-
thy; develop healthy per-
sonal self-concepts; and
a School Leader learn how to develop
healthy self-concepts in
others, both students and teachers. School leaders
should be committed to a broad purpose for school-
ing, informed about how their beliefs and behav-
ior influence the organization of the school, and
able to participate in interactions with authen-
ticity. They also must be able to help create
authenticity in their school organizations.
In these ways, school leaders will create
schools that are learning organizations for every-
one. Universities that prepare future school lead-
ers should spend more time developing leaders
who are person centered in their approach to lead-
ing schools. This new way of thinking will require
leader preparation programs to change their priorities for
curriculum, academic activities, and field experiences.
Arthur W. Combs is a past president of ASCD and the editor of the
1962 ASCD Yearbook, Perceiving, Behaving, Becoming. Ann B. Miser is
a research associate in the School of Education at Colorado State
Univ-ersity. Kathryn S. Whitaker is a professor in the Division of
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of
Northern Colorado.
ARTHUR W. COMBS
VISIT US ON THE
WORLD WIDE WEB ANN B. MISER
http://www.ascd.org
KATHRYN S. WHITAKER
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Alexandria, Virginia USA
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On becoming a school leader: A Person-Centered Challenge COMBS • MISER • WHITAKER
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Become Leader TP 3/15/06 2:24 PM Page 1
On Becoming
a School Leader
A Person-Centered Challenge
ARTHUR W. COMBS
ANN B. MISER
KATHRYN S. WHITAKER
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Alexandria, Virginia USA
™
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
1703 N. Beauregard St. • Alexandria, VA 22311-1714 USA
Telephone: [phone] or 703-578-9600 • Fax: [phone]
Web site: http://www.ascd.org • E-mail:
ON BECOMING A SCHOOL LEADER
A PERSON-CENTERED CHALLENGE
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Section I: Leadership and Belief Systems
1. A Person-Centered Perspective on Educational Leadership . . 7
2. Seeking and Responding to Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Section II: Leaders’ Conceptions of Change and Self
3. Beliefs About People and Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4. Creating an Environment for Learning and Change . . . . 67
5. The Leader’s Sense of Self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6. Developing the Self in Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Section III: Leaders and Organizations
7. Creating and Responding to Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
8. Authenticity and Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
9. Leaders and Their Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
10. The Person-Centered Preparation of School Leaders . . . . 203
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
INTRODUCTION
OVER T H E P A S T 5 0 Y E A R S , T H E W O R L D H A S S E E N A D R A M A T I C
shift in knowledge about human nature and how people learn and
change. Many psychologists have moved from things-oriented, be-
haviorist concepts to views that are more person centered. Yet not
everyone has taken advantage of the best of this modern thinking.
Education reform faces a crippling gap between the person-
centered approach and many educators’ current practice. The dis-
crepancy is particularly critical for educational leaders. Their work
heavily depends on relationships with people—such as faculty and
staff members, students, other administrators, and parents—and on
community and public expectations. On Becoming a School Leader:
A Person-Centered Challenge explores the significance of person-
centered thinking for leadership in education.
About This Book
Section I of this book describes why it is important for school
leaders to understand how people’s belief systems drive their personal
and professional behavior. Section II focuses on the need for school
leaders to understand how and why people respond to, or resist,
1
2 ON BECOMING A SCHOOL LEADER
change. Section III focuses on how organizations influence person-
centered leadership and how leaders, in turn, influence organizations.
More specifically, Chapter 1 introduces the concept of person-
centered, as opposed to things-centered, leadership. It reinforces the
idea that school leaders must understand the types of behavior that
facilitate and encourage high performance among staff members and
students.
Chapter 2 describes the kinds of data that leaders should seek and
use in the innumerable tasks of their daily work. It shares examples
of how successful school leaders avoid potential problems by pur-
posely pursuing specific kinds of information. These leaders under-
stand that a person’s behavior should not be viewed in isolation, free
of an interpretive context. Instead, behavior offers a way to discern
the internal meanings a person has given to a situation.
Chapter 3 provides a foundation for understanding human moti-
vation for behavior and action. This includes the concepts of threat
and challenge. The chapter also touches on why it is important for
school leaders to have healthy self-concepts.
Chapter 4 centers on the need for school leaders to develop a
climate where learning and change can flourish. This chapter de-
scribes the heart of a learning organization. It also describes how a
school that focuses on learning and change can benefit teachers and
other adults, as well as students.
Chapter 5 more fully illustrates the importance of a healthy
self-concept for school leaders, reinforcing several of the psychologi-
cal principles discussed in Chapter 3. Before leaders can facilitate
healthy self-concepts in others, they first must look at their own needs
and behaviors to see if they are developing a thriving person within.
Organizations frequently mirror their leaders’ self-concepts; there-
fore, it is crucial for school leaders to have balanced and sound
personal belief systems that guide their daily behavior.
Chapter 6 portrays several examples of how person-centered
leaders help develop positive self-concepts in others. It explores how
INTRODUCTION 3
schools are affected when leaders take the time to encourage, inspire,
and advocate the positive development of all individuals. This is a
daunting, but crucial, task.
Chapter 7 focuses on why a person-centered leader must demon-
strate purpose and commitment. Purpose is characterized through
policies, procedures, and daily events. This chapter also reinforces the
need for clarity of purpose in all that a leader does. Further, Chapter
8 illustrates the vital role of authenticity in developing a healthy
organization. This chapter considers the authenticity of the leader’s
behavior and authenticity in the systems the leader develops. Such
authenticity allows for open, honest dialogue where people are not
afraid to share their true thoughts and emotions.
Chapter 9 portrays the symbiotic relationship between leaders
and organizations. It suggests that all parts of the organization are so
closely intertwined that whatever happens at one level must neces-
sarily affect the rest of the organization. Leaders are accustomed to
controlling an organization’s events through goals and activities, but
organizations have a life within that must be acknowledged and
honored. This life has nothing to do with external controls that
leaders may attempt to impose.
Finally, Chapter 10 discusses needed changes for university
preparation programs. It offers specific suggestions for changes that
will foster a more person-centered approach to the preparation of
future school leaders.
About Our Experiences
The writing team for this book brings together the thinking and
experience of a person-centered psychologist/educator and two edu-
cational leaders, each with long and successful careers as teachers,
principals, innovators, and trainers of educational leaders. As a result
of our collaboration on this book, we have a new empathy and respect
for the complex, demanding occupation of school administration. We
4 ON BECOMING A SCHOOL LEADER
also have come to see the work of educational leaders from a new and
challenging perspective. We have tackled old problems from new
directions, and we have explored and discovered innovative ways of
being and becoming as people and as professional educational leaders.
We feel richly rewarded by this experience and hope our attempt
to convey these explorations to others will be equally challenging and
helpful. The new understanding about people and their relationships
has important implications for almost every aspect of educational
leadership. These kinds of understanding have the potential to im-
prove the education process for all students and to foster each educa-
tional leader’s personal and professional success and satisfaction.
LEADERSHIP AND BELIEF
SYSTEMS
I