The Leadership Skill that Makes an Awesome School Leader
Vilma B. Cawigan, PhD
The basic idea of democratic leadership is respect for authority, faith in their capabilities, and desire to enter into social relations based on inclusivity. Every leader deals with people, but perhaps the democratic leader is one who reaches into a give-and-take relationship with his/her co-workers, completely disregarding status, rank, and position. Democratic leadership promotes a feeling of self-respect, personal integrity, and fairness in all those with whom it comes into contactprofessionals, friends, relatives, people. It gives respect to junior coworkers on staff, to parents, to people regardless of race, color, and ethnicity. The democratic leader offers himself to anyone else and acknowledges what others may give him in the way of stimulation, counseling, support, or even opposition. He/she changes roles willingly, not clinging firmly to his /her position in advance of the organization, but willingly following when others think outside the box and suggestions.
If schools are there to provide the system that they govern with the right direction, modern strategic planning, and organizational problems have to be examined in a much wider context, or a much wider continuum. The community people need to be involved in the decision-making process. Likewise, school leaders must have access to new professional development programs to develop such an anticipatory style of leadership.
The unique experience offered by the various professional development programs must incorporate theory and practice. They must focus on issues affecting the realization of quality education in schools. It must be useful and relevant to participants and must expose school officials to basic research activities. All school leaders must be encouraged to see lifelong learning as a key feature of their careers.
School heads must be chosen and retained mainly in terms of their integrity as instructional leaders in the main areas of their responsibilities, not on the basis of personal character, previous classroom skills or academic skills alone.
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The author is Principal III at San Jose Elementary School, Tarlac City