Reflection paper

Reflection paper

Introduction

In the beginning of 21st century, it is believed that quality of leadership can bring significant changes in school and students outcomes. For this, schools increasingly require effective leaders and managers to give their students best possible education. Schools required trained teachers, but teachers also need highly effective principal with senior and middle managers for their support in return (Bush, 2007).

School leadership role is not just performing the role of school head, as the nations' society and school communities relies on school leaders, so school leadership also an instructional leader and policy implementer (Hashim et al, 2010).

Discussion

Term educational management is defined as an area of study and exercise involved in the operational activity of educational institutions. It has time to time observed that educational management should be related with the aims or purpose of education (Bush, 2005).

These aims or purposes give fundamental direction to support the educational institutions management (Bush, 2006).

In educational management: process of identifying the aims of organisation is very important (Sharma, 2009).

Majorly in schools principal decides the aims, working with the leading management team, it also sometimes include school governing body. Schools aims are significantly affected by external factors too; this includes government expectations, sometimes expressed through legislation or formal policy (Bush, 2007).

Leadership

Leadership is affecting others' actions in attaining desired goals. Peoples with leadership skills shape goals, motivation and actions for others, and it regularly brings in a change to achieve new and existing aims (Bush, 2006).

Management

Management consists of several activities, which includes planning, organizing, leading and controlling, used on organisations' resources for achieving goals and objectives effectively (Griffin, 2006).

Management often performs leadership role, but its overall aim is towards maintenance rather than bringing in change.

Managing and leading are both important as different situations and occasions call for divergent responses (Bush, 2007). If schools want to be effective and achieve theirs objectives, equal importance should be given to management and leadership. Managing and leading are different but important too. In challenging environment organisations seeks for the managers with clear vision, and leadership skills.

Principals during practice as well as in their routine work sporadically identify their leading or managing role. They are just doing work for schools' benefit (Leithwood et al., 1999).

As the magnitude of leadership and management is creating and sustaining successful schools and also education systems are identified, but still there is less conformity about what leadership behaviour to adopt for most favourable results. Knowledge of alternative approaches is important to provide different techniques from which effective leader opts when faces problems during his day-to-day activities in educational organisation (Bush & Glover, 2002; Bush, 2003).

As practitioners and policymakers are unaware of “real” school situation, they tend to be unconcerned of theories and concepts (Bush, 2006). Administrators apply complex and problematic theories, which are unclear and not much popular in real life practices. This becomes difficult for the school managers to get optimum results. These remarks differentiate theory and practice as different sides of educational management and leadership. There is separation in theory and practice ...