Innovative Leadership in Education
Jessie R. Silvestre
The complex, dynamic and competitive nature of the 21st century education requires the kind of leadership that develops the skills, knowledge, capacities and consciousness necessary for cultivating creativity and innovativeness to address the emerging challenges in the Philippine education today. Our affirmation as education leaders to think differently or freshly is of great importance.
As Albert Einstein prominently said, we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. The idea about good leadership can be measured through teacher and students' quality improvement, raised levels of achievement and wider accountability, but due to various circumstances, these might not be fully achieved. Sheer hard work, numerous accomplishments and old styles of leadership might not do well in a global, competitive environment of the 21st century education. Therefore, the ability to be innovative and to think creatively to combat the pressing challenges and issues in the 21st century education to ensure success of all in any aspect is very significant.
Generally, positive leadership inspires productivity and beneficial results. It is committed to providing solutions to the issues that the organization is facing, sustaining objectivity despite differences in opinions and ensuring that the subordinates share common motivations for development.
Thus, the overall well-being of an educational organization or institution is maintained. However, innovative leadership is an ideal paradigm of leadership in education that evokes never-been-tried pathways or solutions. In innovative leadership, new ideas, methods, techniques, strategies and processes are introduced. It is one of the key factors for educational leaders to form new paths to adapt to the changes and address the challenges posted in the 21st century education. The innovative leadership shapes leaders to build more successful educational institutions by making decisions based on a long-term vision, by being tolerant for taking strategic risks associated with potential policy shifts and by being eager on turning challenges or crisis into opportunities for improvement or change. In addition, it helps them to establish strong values to strive for continuity and sustain progress.
They key to fast improving educational and organizational system is innovative leadership. Indeed, good leaders are sufficient to provide service influenced by the best practices that are readily available and presently implemented. However, innovative leaders are needed whose skills and ways of thinking show extraordinary difference from what have been practiced over the years. They are the ones who move beyond best practices. The path forward is uncertain, but they widely know how to put new ideas to work effectively, efficiently and responsibly in every corner of the organizations. They can establish the future trends that are demanded by the 21st century education. For a leader to become innovative, the creation of new knowledge should be his/her primary consideration.
New knowledge creation or the ability to generate and learn new ideas plays a vital role in becoming an innovative leader. Through the creation and utilization of new knowledge, an organization can innovate and develop new strategic directions essential for the future. Imitating the practices of promising leaders is potentially helpful in keeping or reproducing the good things that already exist in the system. However, it does not take you any further than who or what you are as a leader at present. Indeed, building new knowledge, new insights and new practices is the central concept of innovative leadership.
It can be argued that the leadership style employed by an educational leader is influenced by his/her personality as well as the quality and characteristics of the workforce he is exposed to, but in the end, it is important to reflect on the idea that a true leader is someone who is not just a visionary, democratic, affiliative, transformational, coaching leader, but also an innovative one.
--oOo-The author is Principal I at Macabebe High School