Administrator Leadership Style Analysis

Improved Essays
A. Administrator Leadership style based on House’s Path-Goal Theory of Leadership
1. The principal at Napavine, Jason Prather, has been a principal for three years. He began as a Dean of Students in 2012-2013, completed his principal’s certification that school year and then became principal during the 2013-2014 school year. His primary leadership characteristic is directive because he typically leads meetings or sends emails with specific expectations, though there are times when he also is participative and achievement-oriented.
2. At the beginning of each school year, Jason has typically been directive. For example, last year at the first staff meeting he told the staff that we would not be allowed to have visitors during our duty-free
…show more content…
I am a supportive type of leader. I genuinely care about other’s well-being and I treat others as equals. I believe that every person in the school has a purpose and a reason for being there, whether it be the custodian, the librarian, the secretary, the teacher or the administrator. We are all in it together for the kids. We are a team who works together. It is like a football team, while the quarterback is the man at the helm, the one everyone sees and often the one who gets the glory or the blame; the quarterback couldn’t do his job without the linemen or the running backs. So it is with the principal. Principals must acknowledge the importance of every staff …show more content…
The principal at Napavine Jr. Sr. High School takes a directive leadership approach when dealing with staff. I am not that type of leader and I know I don’t necessarily respond well to directives. In addition, some staff members have complained over the past year that we are losing our sense of family and they believe that some of it is due to Jason’s leadership style. Teachers and support staff need to feel appreciated for the hard work they do with kids and often times, they just lack the supportive shoulder that they need. For example, one of our staff members spends many hours after school tutoring his math students. One of our seniors scored very high on a state math test and part of that student’s success was directly related to the many hours the math teacher spent working with the student. However, there wasn’t any public kudos given to the teacher and that teacher definitely deserved to be recognized for his effort. Jason is also very goal-oriented and that is both positive and negative. In our current educational climate, setting and meeting academic goals are extremely important, but not at the cost of our human relationships. We are in the people business, not the production

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    As I observed the principal, the demands of school leadership became very apparent, and I began to question if the demands were exceptionally overwhelming because we work as educators in a high-needs,…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Servant, the two components mentioned when discussing the dynamics of leadership are the task and the relationship. (2012, p. 40) Having a special connection and relationship with the faculty and staff must be accomplished before the principal can earn their respect and build authority or gain influence with them. In addition, to get the staff of a school on board and supporting his vision for the school, the school leader, or principal, must have established a solid and trusting relationship with them. Without relationships, one only has power and an unhealthy work environment.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Before making any decision or attempting to bring about any change, effective principals ask themselves one central question: ‘What will my best teachers think” (Whitaker, 2009)? As part of the decision-making process, great principals should ask themselves: What is the purpose of this, will this actually accomplish the purpose, and how will the most positive and productive people feel about this? Making teachers feel a part of the decision-making process is very beneficial and very important. When principals discuss their ideas with staff members, they become more accepting toward the implementation of change (Whitaker, 2009). Effective principals have the confidence to seek input in advance from staff members and feedback after implementation.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Whether it is through shared leadership, such as a PLC model or through a more typical top-down hierarchy, leadership is needed to provide a structure for the vision of the educational organization. Teaching staff benefits by realizing there is a vision or plan as the organization works with students year after year. As a current staff member, it is my opinion that implementing shared leadership has the potential to improve the low morale among the teaching staff and other leaders within the school. The first step, developing a shared vision at the helm of the leadership, which constitutes three members, is critical for developing needed cohesiveness among the teachers and instructors.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I think everyone would agree that, a principal is the most significant component of a successful school. Having good leadership skills are vital in order to shape the school’s culture and vision of academic success for all students. There is a correlation between the school’s success and the principal leadership style. Two influential leadership styles in education are transactional and transformational leadership. It’s a never ending debate, for which of the two leadership styles is better.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The principal must ensure that he/ she is a responsible leader that engages in professional practice through his/her financial decisions. The leader can promote positive change throughout the school with his/her financial style. As the educational leader, he/she should be open to diversity and innovation, especially with all the new technology that is being offered, and find ways to incorporate this new technology within the budget. The principal must promote student success by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Nine Principal Competency

    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Throughout this course I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about what it takes to be an effective leader in Texas. This course has given me the insight into the Nine Principal Competencies and how it effects the education system. I truly believe that if all Nine Competencies are mastered that it will lead a school in a positive direction. In today’s education system, it requires an educational leader to be culturally competent and culturally attentive in order to be responsive to the unique differences of each student. TEA Principal Stand I; Competency 003 states: “Standard I: Learner-Center Values and Ethics of Leadership:…

    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Each year since becoming a principal, I work with my school council to develop leadership qualities for our school. The council works together to determine how and if these qualities need to be revised and updated based on the current needs of the school, studnets, and staff. Altough these identified qualities should exemplify what the leader of the school should possess, they are used to find a replacement principal. This year, I have changed school and have most recently gone through this process.…

    • 1147 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Robin Kvalo Symbols

    • 1373 Words
    • 5 Pages

    An analysis of educational leadership reveals one of the many challenges facing a principal is the development of the school’s value system. The rituals of the school often demonstrate to the students, staff and community what the school values as important. The principal is often the leader of these rituals and they reaffirm the values of the school through what they attend to (Deal & Peterson, 1994, p. 30). Thus, the principal becomes a symbol of what to value and believe in.…

    • 1373 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    M8 Discussion In Case Study 1, “Who Needs Lesson Plans” the Buchanan Elementary School, in which almost 90% are students of color, 82% are economically disadvantaged, and the school has the largest percentage of non-proficient students in the district regarding state mandated achievement testing originating from the NCLB Act. The majority of the teaching staff, 11 out of 17, has only taught at Buchanan Elementary, with an average age of 53. Moreover, the energetic superintendent has only been with the district for 5 years, and the current principal of the Buchanan Elementary School replaced their beloved principal, who was coerced into retirement due to his inability to meet performance goals set by Superintendent Mark Simon. As a result, the…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Define what type of leadership style best fits your abilities. The leadership style the best fits into my abilities is the coaching leadership. Developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard in the late 1960s, Daniel Goleman in 2002 made it famous by including the coaching leader as one of the existing leadership styles (Boykins, Campbell, Moore & Nayyar, 2013). Coaching leadership style distinctively outline roles and tasks of followers, but the followers are included in the sharing of ideas and suggestions, and open communication style, but the leader still makes the ultimate decision (Boykins et al., 2013).…

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over the course of my seven years teaching high school social studies, I have had the opportunity to learn about the evolving roles and responsibilities of a school administrator from three amazing principals. Henry Kluttz, Kelly Withers, and Angelo DelliSanti have been excellent models for anyone aspiring to be an administrator. Having recently started my own journey towards this leadership role, my knowledge of what makes a great principal has grown exponentially. Having the opportunity to interview a pair of veteran elementary school principals through this assignment has been an eye-opening experience. Having spent the entirety of my teaching career at the high school level has left me with a limited understanding of how an elementary school functions.…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    It’s safe to say that our new principal, Gary Kalish, has started to feel a more comfortable in our little school, especially on the dance floor at homecoming! This is the first full school year GHS will have Mr.Kalish as its principal! Starting even before his time here, things as Greenport High School have been changing. In a recent interview Mr.Kalish was asked deeper questions, clarifying some questions that have been floating around this year. Here at Greenport Advanced Placement (AP) courses are not weighted.…

    • 2040 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this case we are looking for a prescription to the principal influence score. Knowing that the principal influence directly refers to the principal’s ability to affect the action of superiors in an influential way and works successfully with the superintendent to benefit teachers, the principal can look more closely at the individual questions of respondents to find root causes (Hoy & Miskel, 2013, pg. 215). The question now centers on whether staff believe that principal is unable to receive what they need from their superiors or whether the actions of the superiors impede the principal’s role in the…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I am grateful to be able to say that I have never worked for a principal who I have viewed as a boss. The two I have worked under were inspiring leaders who worked diligently to lead the teachers on the missions they declared for the school. I imagine working for a boss would be frustrating and get very tiresome after awhile. Most adults do not like to be told what to do and it truly limits their growth as an educator.…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics