Critical Commentary: Leadership and Management in Schools (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

CRITICAL COMMENTARY
Name of Student
Institutional Affiliation
Instructor
Course
Institution, State
Date of Submission
Leadership and Management in Schools
Leadership is the process in which an individual influences a group of other people to work towards the accomplishment of a common goal or mission. According to Shone and Parry (2010, p. 3), the individual also inspires the commitment of the others, leading to an improvement of the organization. As such, leadership plays a critical role in the performance of an organization. The ability of the leader to inspire the workers is very critical (Van Wart 2005, p. 26). Consequently, various qualities are considered when appointing someone to lead in an organization. The manager is usually accountable to the overall management if their departments fail to hit the set organizational objectives. A critical commentary on the leadership and management of a small public school in one of the villages in the country is presented in this essay.
Smart and Paulsen (2011, p. 1) argue that there is a difference between leadership and management. Mehnert (2008, p. 2) defines management as the process by which activities are planned, organized, and coordinated in a business so as to as to achieve the set goals. Management also ensures that the available resources are used effectively and efficiently to meet the organizational objectives. The management of resources incorporates the management of human relations and resources in the business. It is the role of the management to ensure that a healthy working environment is established and maintained in the workplace.
The existing model of leadership is discussed, highlighting the opportunities that could improve the performance of the leadership and management. The challenges and their causes experienced in leading and managing are also discussed. Consequently, the potential solutions to these problems are also presented. Notably, the application of the proposed model of leadership and management to the system and other systems is also discussed to improve administration in the school and improve the quality of education and the performance of the students.
There exist several opportunities for leadership and management in the nursery unit. One of these opportunities is that several meetings are convened three or four times in a week. These meetings can be used to address the issues facing the school as a whole. They should also create a forum where the teachers point out any issues that they find dissatisfactory and performing below par. The junior teachers should also be involved in the decision-making process especially with matters affecting their profession. That is in accordance with the democratic leadership theory as stipulated by Kane and Patapan (2012, p. 11). The head teacher should not be the sole decision maker. Teachers who have been in the institution for a long time should also be given priority to air their views. They are the most resourceful since they have witnessed the progress of the system. Thus, they are capable of identifying issues that need urgent attention and correction.
The institution also has adequate human resources. There are several teachers in the school. That makes it easy for the division of labor. The head teacher should focus on ensuring that teachers are assigned a particular number of students and lessons to avoid fatigue. Fatigue reduces the performance of the teachers. He should also ensure that all teachers are engaged in work and that some are not idle while others are overworking.
Another opportunity that is available is that the teachers have different teaching skills and styles. Some of the styles are easier to comprehend than others. As such, the head teacher should conduct a survey and establish the styles that fit the most. The techniques chosen should also be evaluated based on the category of students. Fundamentally, children in the early years understand more when taught practically rather than theoretically. Teachers with such styles should then be assigned the lower classes so that the learners can gain the most. The presence of this diversity also gives the head teacher the opportunity to select which teachers lead the various departments. He also appreciates the fact that the leaders he chooses are the best suited for the management of the school. “First, in terms of what leadership meant to the variety of leaders present in the diversity of settings presented, was having a clear vision and working towards this,” (Aubrey 2007, p. 10).
According to Rodd (1998, p. 11), leading and managing the early year’s systems is also faced with some challenges. One of these problems is the fact that the learners are too young to comprehend some fundamental concepts. The teacher takes quite a lot of time to explain to them before they understand. That creates the need for the teachers to use practical styles when teaching. Practical studies are easier to understand than theoretical ones. That requires the teachers handling the junior students to adapt their teaching methods to practical ones. Unfortunately, most of them have a negative attitude towards that, and they do it for the sake of the job. That means that they lose their morale and self-motivation for the work. Additionally, most teachers are against the idea of teaching the young learners despite the fact that they have the required skills and styles.
Secondly, there is a cropping of informal relationships among the staff members. Most of the staff members are age mates and go out and have fun during the weekends and when out of class. That has made them close to each other, and sometimes they behave informally while in class. Some of the teachers go to the extent of missing classes to stay in the staffroom telling stories. That is unprofessional and unacceptable. It has contributed to the downfall of the p...