Moral Leadership Lect 3

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Value-based Leadership • Cultural Model: • values are at the heart of the organisation. • as they move from the periphery to the heart of the organisation they become more acquainted with the values of the culture contributing to its development. • consequently these values influence the behaviour of the members creating a style of comportment synonymous with the ideals of the institution. • The more the members move towards full participation the more they become part 2 of the institution intensifying ultimately an

• Leaders have a responsibility to sustain and maintain the culture of the institution by going beyond the achievement of gaols to building purposes and embodying them into everything that is done at school. Purpose in what is done transforms school members from neutral participants to committed followers (Sergiovanni 1991). • Both the managerial and the moral dimension of the school are important and the neglect of either one creates problems. • The discourse and understanding of management must be matched by a discourse and understanding of ethics, morality and spirituality (Grace 2000). • The call of all those who have a leadership 3 role in the school is to foster not only a

• Effective Democratic leadership entails the ability to empower others through delegation after setting clear boundaries within which different teams are expected to work. At the same time the leader remains involved in propelling the members to keep in perspective of the vision of the organisation. • This involves co-ordination, teamwork and a lot of support to the members especially at critical moments in the life of the 4

Leadership based on values and collaboration

• High performance in schools depends on a strong sense of connectedness among the members. Parents, teachers and students need to be bound together to a set of shared purposes and ideals that are important and which give to both the school and the members a sense of direction. It transforms the group into a community striving towards common aims and ideals (Sergiovanni 2001). • Schools that are driven by a community spirit base their relationships and commitments not on rules or bureaucratic dictates but on the school’s values and 5

• This form of leadership carries dual implications: A sense of obligation and commitment from the members. A sense of obligation and commitment to live out the school’s ideals from the leader/s. (Kam-cheung Wong, 2001). • This implies a moral standing on the part of the leader. Leaders are expected to teach not only through words but also through their actions. • To be credible, leaders need to be truthful to what they claim to believe

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Leaders can very often face difficult challenges and certain conflicts can pose painful choices, but it is precisely in these moments that leaders have to show loyalty to the purpose and values of the institution. They are expected to take up the challenge and show disagreement when the common goals and values of the institution are threatened (Lashway, 1996) 7

Authoritative vs. Authoritarian

• When leadership is based on shared ideals and common purposes he members within the setting are morally bound to show allegiance to the values and purposes of the organisation rather than the authority attached to the office of the leader. • “Authoritative” leadership (Lakomski, 2001) – a leadership derived from the agreement on ideas and a strong interdependence towards which the members are committed to. • Authoritative leadership empowers the members to take decisions and act in the light of values and ideals commonly held within the organisation instead of exerting 8

• Authoritarian leadership encompass a sense of control, exerting power over the members in what, when and how they do things • it is rule-bound. People follow rules determined by the people at the helm who are expected to set the tone of the organisation. • individuality is deemphasised while structure and commitment to rules abounds. • structure within these settings tends to be hierarchical and vertical, with staff being accountable to their super ordinates.

• Authoritative leadership style is “goal-bound” that is committed to shared goals and purposes (Sergiovanni, 1992) • Members are empowered by their leaders to follow shared values that define the institution. • Members perceive these shared values as duties and obligations and therefore feel morally bound to put them into practice. • It is more concerned with obligations to agreements as a source of authority instead of submission to rules. • Authority led by reason relying on shared values 9

• People opt to embark on projects and endeavours for intrinsic reasons, finding what they are doing to be personally significant in its own right. What people believe in and what they feel obliged to do because of a moral commitment gets done and it gets done successfully (Sergiovanni, Three rules of Motivation 1992) Rule What gets rewarded gets done Involvement Calculated What is rewarding gets done Intrinsic What is good gets done

Motivation Extrinsic gain Intrinsic gain Duty or obligation

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• Characteristics that enhance intrinsic motivation:  allow for discovery, exploration, variety and challenge  provide high involvement with the task and high identity with the task enabling work to be considered important and significant.  allow for active participation.  emphasize agreement with respect to broad purposes and values that bond people together at work.  permit outcomes within broad purposes to be determined by the members.  encourage autonomy and self-determination.  allow persons to feel like “origins” of their own behaviour rather than “pawns” manipulated from the outside. 11  encourage feelings of competence and enhance

Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation

Self-actualisation

Self-esteem Belonging Safety Physiologic al

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 Meaningfulness  Responsibility  Knowledge of results 3 determining factors for motivating people, helping them experience intrinsic satisfaction at work. (Hackmann and Oldham, 1976) • When people perceive what they are doing as worthwhile and important they engage more fully in their endeavours. • People who experience these feelings do not depend any more on extrinsic forces to motivate them. They get internal satisfaction from their work that eventually induce them to higher levels of13

Transformational leadership • Leaders define organisational reality through the articulation of a vision which is a reflection of how he/she conceptualise the organisation’s mission and the values that support it. • A vision is a possible and desirable future state of the organisation that excels in some way the present one (Bennis and Nanus, 1985). • The task of the leader is to influence the members and secure substantial

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Characteristics of transformational leadership

• Listens carefully for the deeper dreams and desires that the school community holds for the future of the institution. • Respect for differences that motivates the members to contribute more in the running of the institution. • Need to keep the conversation among the members alive through fostering the group’s commitment to common issues, values and goals that allow work to be meaningful. • Role is to guide and nudge the group towards the realisation of these goals. • Often the need to relinquish their personal preferred image of the future of their institution. • Send important messages by how they use their time, whom they reward and how they relate to those around them. 15 • Communicate through words and deeds to the

• Lashway (1996): • The leader has to strike the right balance between “aggressive action” and “watchful waiting”. • For change to take place individuals must change first before the institution can and this happens in different ways and at different rates. • Transformational leaders are aware that change is a process and it happens over time.

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• Leaders have to work with others as a team so as to bring about change. They need to be skilful in social skills of advocacy, inter-group relations, team building and inspiration without domination (Grace 1997). • This calls for ;  The need of dialogue  Participation from all the members  Respect for the individual members and their ideas. • Within this setting all the members need to have the space and opportunities to debate policies and practices together and17

3 psychological states important in motivating people at work • Experience meaningfulness: the extent to which a person perceives work as being worthwhile or important, given her /his system of values. • Experience responsibility: the extent to which a person believes that she/he is personally responsible or accountable for the outcomes of his/her efforts. • Knowledge of results: the extent to which a person is able to determine

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How can we as school leaders bring this to fruition • Use more of their talents and skills (skill variety) • Engage in activities that allow them to see the whole and understand how their contributions fit into the overall purpose or mission (task identity) • View their work as having a substantial and significant impact on the lives or work of other people (task significance) • Experience discretion and independence in scheduling work and in deciding classroom arrangements and instructional procedures (autonomy) • Get firsthand, and also from other sources, clear information about the effects of their performance (feedback) 19

• Intrinsically satisfying work makes sense because it leads to higher levels of commitment and performance (effectiveness aspect) • Intrinsically satisfying work also makes sense because it is right and good for teachers and others to find their jobs satisfying and meaningful (moral aspect)

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