LEADERSHIP IN SCHOOL

LOLITA B. LAPUZ

Schools need leaders who have a vision for improving quality and learning outcomes, and who are also effective at ongoing management tasks.

Schools need leaders with a vision for improving the school’s learning environment. This involves setting school directions concerning students, teacher development, and allocation of material and financial resources.

A school leader is effective, impacts motivation, commitment, and student and teacher success by facilitating school leadership that is both appropriate to the unique context and needs of the school community, developing and implementing school improvement plans, establishing fair and effective teacher appraisal systems, structuring classrooms and schools according to school needs, building partnerships with the community, and ensuring that frameworks exist to support the functions of other school departments and personnel.

School leaders can positively contribute to school effectiveness when they are prepared and able to use extensive leadership knowledge to solve complex school-based problems, and to build trust through working relationships with school staff, parents, students, and the community.

School leaders who model strong instructional leadership focus on planning, evaluation, coordination, and improvement of teaching in order to achieve positive student learning outcomes. They need to assess student and teacher performance and lead in a way that is culturally and pedagogically responsive to student’and teacher’strengths and needs.

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The author is Teacher III (Junior High School) at Diosdado Macapagal High School, Mexico, Pampanga