Impact of Leadership Styles in Education

This assignment examines the impact of different leadership styles within educational settings. It requires students to analyze scholarly articles and real-world examples to understand how leadership approaches influence employee attitudes, student performance, and overall school effectiveness. The analysis should encompass various leadership theories and their practical applications in education.

Education changing in times

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
Leadership theory............................................................................................................................2
Comparison of debate......................................................................................................................4
Conclusion and Recommendations..................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
In a debate conducted at Beaumont public school in Australia students were asked to
compare different leadership styles. The data was collected through interview process. In this it
was identified that many students said that leader play a significant role in changing the
education system (Bowe, Ball and Gold, 2017). By leading in proper way, they make changes
in education. Principal of school also contributes in it. In present era of technological change, it
is very necessary to transform way of education by converting old class into smart one. There are
different types of leadership theory which is applied by leader. Sometimes, it depends on leader
traits, skills and characteristics that how they apply leadership style and make changes in
education system. It is necessary to overview leader working life so an insight can be gained on
which type of leadership style is mostly followed by him or her. Each theory has its own features
that differ to a great extent. A student is highly influenced by a leader. This is because they
follow leader instructions and attain goals which is been set by leader. A leader is the one who is
able to guide people in right direction so that goals are achieved. He or she works in creative way
and develops plan that how change can be implemented (Leadership styles. 2018). This is done
by applying different styles. From interview various types of leadership are described and
comparison is done as below:-
Leadership theory
Transformational
It is said by Downs and Pacion, 2016, that this theory focuses on some relevant change
to bring by working with team. Here, a leader set goals and create a vision. He or she inspires
team to attain those goals that will be beneficial for them. Generally, this is done to bring overall
change. The leader is having ability to inspire individual. Basically, there are four aspect in this
which are influence, motivate, stimulate and consideration. In this way leader is able to create
change. Moreover, as elucidated by Bharucha, 2018 employees are highly motivated and
satisfied in this. Here, specific steps or process is developed which allows employees to work in
effective manner. However, leader properly motivates employees which create a positive
working environment. It is necessary to build a positive environment so that change can be
implemented. By becoming an idol of employee’s leader shows his or her leadership capability.
Transactional
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According to Darling-Hammond, 2015., this theory focuses on overall organization rather
than on one thing. Here, leaders promote change by both giving rewards and punishments. Due
to this employee are highly influenced as they develop a feeling of fear among them. Leaders
generally follow this style when there is urgent need for change. Moreover, it has been said that
there are many things which is taken into consideration. In this, strict and proper rules and
regulations are set which has to be followed by employees failing to which results in punishment.
in view of Bowe, Ball and Gold, 2017, in addition to this leader highly focuses on performance
of employees so that goals can be modified. They also evaluate it on basis of employee behavior
and culture. Usually, by giving rewards it becomes easy for leader to motivate others.
Furthermore, employees are automatically encouraged when they see others are getting rewards.
So, in order to attain those, they put more efforts in achieving their goals and objectives. In
contrary Downs and Pacion, 2016, said that employee performance is also enhanced due to
punishment. The feeling of fear forces them in positive way. It motivated them to attain goals in
specified time manner.
Great man
It is a historic concept in which leader explains or tells story about hero’s, their traits,
features, etc. due to which individual are highly influenced. The individual inherits traits, skills,
etc. or are influenced by their way of taking decisions. According to Jordan, 2015, the leader is
able to manage and solve all issues that exists. This makes it easy in creating a positive
environment. By applying new concept and styles leader is able to motivate employees. great
man theory is very complex as it requires frequent change in leadership styles in order to manage
and encourage people. In the opinion of Makel and Plucker, 2014, there has been not very high
influence on employees due to this theory. It may be due to inconsistency in leadership style
employee may not able to understand what basic motive of leader is.
In a study conducted by Jordan, 2015, leadership style is applied according to the
situation. But in most cases, it depends on traits of leader that which style is suitable. If leader
traits are highly developed it will be easy for him or her to motivate employees by applying any
style. So, overall it generally depends on leader skills and abilities. A leader is developed when
they are able to handle critical situation in easily. This becomes an idol if change is implemented
within given time. Also, a leader must identify and analyze overall situation so that appropriate
style can be applied. This also gives an insight to leader that what style will be suitable.
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Similarly, in education sector changes can be implemented. The Beaumont public school
principal with help of a leader can convert old classes into smart one. Thus, it will be easy to
make change in systematic way. With this, leader can influence students to accept change. They
can become their idol. If leader is engaged with student he or she can motivate them to get
involve in implementing change. By developing policies and procedure, smart class rooms can
be built. The leader should follow transformational style. This is because it will be suitable with
condition.
Instructional leader - in this style of leadership the leader only gives instruction to employees
that what task they have to perform. Here, leader set clear goals and objectives and allocate
resources. generally, this style is followed by school principal where instructions are given by
him or her.
Distributed leader – it is a style in which leader understand that how leadership takes place
among people. it was highly followed in primary education where leader specified how students
are able to learn and lead a team.
Comparison of debate
It is analyzed from the above discussion that it is essential for Beaumont public school to
choose a suitable leadership style. The leadership style will have great impact on the
performance of its employees and thus its selection becomes a critical matter of choice.
According to Herrmann and Felfe 2014, the leadership style can have both positive and negative
impact on the performance of individuals. This influence must be considered by the school
before directly adopting any leadership style. The leaders also hold the capacity to change the
learning environment of the school or organization.
The highly skilled and dominating leaders motivate their subordinates so that they can
execute their functions on time and with accuracy. On the other hand if leaders fail to influence
their subordinate then it is also possible that team efficiency can be decline which is not
beneficial for the Beaumont public school. It is also argued by Renko and et.al., 2015, that the
learning atmosphere is also dependent upon the leadership style followed. If leaders demand the
requirement of particular type of skill set then their influence and type of leadership can also
encourage the learning. For instance if Beaumont public school adopts transactional leadership
style then most of its employees will be motivated for learning the new skill set so that they can
explore the benefits.
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On the other hand if great man leadership style is followed then it is not possible that the
leadership theory will create same impact on every individual. The staff members who are highly
motivated and for whom sufficient inspiration can be given by such experience sharing can
easily influenced by this theory. There are employees who do not consider this as a source of
motivation. For them some kind of transaction is the necessity for the execution of their roles.
Different types of leadership style has their own set of pros, cons and suitability criteria which
must be followed so that desired goals can be reached.
Asrar-ul-Haq and Kuchinke, 2016 said that the motivation is one of the strongest tool to
encourage people for executing specific tasks. When it becomes necessary for the leaders to
implement some advancement and they follow transformational leadership then motivation
theories can be used by the leaders. It also observed from the interview that when time limit is
there and in such case of urgency if team members make some mistakes then transactional
leadership has less efficiency in punishing faulty members. However the motivation in terms of
rewards can enhance the performance and work efficiency.
Contrary to this Al-Husseini and Elbeltagi, 2016, stated that though punishments are not
part of the transactional form of leadership style but still this leadership style can help teams to
excel. It is explained that for the team members who have limited experience motivation can
serve as the sufficient tool to sustain their quality and there is minimum need of punishment
while for the experienced team members there is an opportunity which allows them to compete
with each other and to give their best part. This healthy competition is beneficial for the team
performance.
According to Vermeeren, Kuipers and Steijn, 2014, transactional leadership style also
promotes advantage of controlling irrespective of team size. In order to bring the transformation
the leaders can get an opportunity to control the actions of teams even with big size. Thus leaders
may not get any difficulty in managing the huge number of team members. The team of
Beaumont public school mainly consist of teachers for executing tasks but in various aspects
they also require participation and support of children and their parents which increases their
team size.
Leaders can lead their team members through both aspect of positive and negative
leadership. The positive leadership is embraced by the example. If leaders are highly influential
and are good example in terms of integrity, skill, capabilities and moral values then it is also
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possible that the people will easily follow them. On the other hand in negative leadership style
the leaders can provide only directions and guidelines which must be followed by the team
members. However it requires enough trust and confidence so that people are comfortable to
follow the directions.
In Beaumont public school both these types of leadership are required. For instance in the
school pupils need positive leadership but after the age of puberty when they undergo into
several changes in their physical and psychological perspective then it is required that negative
leadership must be followed.
As per the view of Downs and Pacion, 2016, transformational leadership can be
considered as the most influencing and dominating leadership style. This style essentially
contains charismatic factors in the leaders which makes this style highly effective. It is also
assumed that for short term goals transactional leadership style can lead to more effective
outcomes. It is strictly in accordance with the regulations and predefined procedures so that
expected outcome can be reached in the same form as desired. Thus it can be said that this type
of leadership style is inflexible and does not support changes.
Though it is not suitable for the team structures where initiatives are not encouraged but
it is highly suitable for achieving short term goals in desired span of time. With this leadership
style Beaumont public school will have clear definition of the penalties as well rewards against
the good or bad performance of its employees. However one of the most common disadvantages
which occur with this type of leadership is that it gives rewards only at a practical level through
means of money or attractive perks. It is also possible that few team members may believe that
their work is not recognised and they are getting low appreciation. It can cause adverse impact
on the long term goal achievement process of the team.
It is also argued by Bowe, Ball and Gold, 2017, that transactional leadership does not
favour initiatives because there is predefined guidelines for the goals, methodologies and as well
as rewards and punishments. Due to this approach it is possible that talented and innovative
human resources of Beaumont public school may find this leadership style less convenient. One
of the advantages of these transactional leaders is that they are able to influence the team
members so easily that they can easily integrate with the diverse culture of the teams. The team
members at school have great diversity and the same is also analysed among students and their
parents. In situation of crisis each of the members is well aware about their actions and
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responsibilities. Thus in such situations without providing any training transactional leadership
can be applied (Bharucha, 2018).
One of the key differences between transactional and transformational is that the former
can be considered as suitable for the settled environment while the latter is preferred more for the
turbulent environment.
 With the transactional approach the leaders of Beaumont public school puts more
emphasis on their relations with the team members or followers.
 This can be less suitable for achieving the long term benefits. Instead with
transformational style leaders can pay more attention to needs and ideas of their
followers.
 It is believed that transactional leaders aim at developing and improving the current
structure and culture of the school while the transformational pattern will bring changes
in the school culture. Contrary to the transactional style of leadership the transformational
can also allow more than one leader in group (A Review of Leadership Theories,
Principles and Styles and Their Relevance to Educational Management, 2015).
The multiple leaders can have both positive and negative side. The internal conflicts
between the leaders cannot be considered as the beneficial for the growth but a high level of
understanding and coordination can help school to reach new levels of growth through effective
implementation of strategies and strict control and monitoring of the actions of team members.
The key strength of the transactional leadership is that it generates the self interest in team
members for achieving the group objectives which leads to desired results.
Conclusion and Recommendations
From the report it can be concluded that leadership plays a crucial role in determining the
success of working teams. The leaders can adopt to choose any of the leadership but it is
recommended that that leadership style must be chosen in a way that it helps to achieve goals
effectively. The report has discussed various types of leadership styles. It can be analyzed from
the report that each type of leadership have different traits and thus can lead to different
outcomes and risks. It is essential for the leaders to analyze these risks in prior so that they can
be eliminated.
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In order to achieve the successful outcomes it is also recommended that leaders must
evaluate at first that which leadership style suits their team work as well as target goals. It can
also be concluded from the report that irrespective of the leadership style chosen by the leaders
the probability of achieving desired outcomes depends upon the efficiency of the leaders and
how effectively they influences the team members. Thus it can also be recommended that leaders
must also evaluate the impact of their leadership styles so that they can measure the effectiveness
of their leadership style.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Al-Husseini, S. and Elbeltagi, I., 2016. Transformational leadership and innovation: a
comparison study between Iraq's public and private higher education. Studies in Higher
Education. 41(1). pp.159-181.
Asrar-ul-Haq, M. and Kuchinke, K.P., 2016. Impact of leadership styles on employees’
attitude towards their leader and performance: Empirical evidence from Pakistani banks. Future
Business Journal. 2(1). pp.54-64.
Bharucha, J., 2018. Exploring education-related use of social media: business students
perspectives in a changing India. Education+ Training. 60(2). pp.198-212.
Bowe, R., Ball, S.J. and Gold, A., 2017. Reforming education and changing schools: Case
studies in policy sociology. Routledge.
Darling-Hammond, L., 2015. The flat world and education: How America's commitment to
equity will determine our future. Teachers College Press.
Downs, A.L. and Pacion, K., 2016. Employing field research to shape the library’s
direction: The changing needs of the liaison. College & Research Libraries News. 77(7). pp.326-
346.
Herrmann, D. and Felfe, J., 2014. Effects of leadership style, creativity technique and
personal initiative on employee creativity. British Journal of Management. 25(2). pp.209-227.
Jordan, K., 2015. Massive open online course completion rates revisited: Assessment, length
and attrition. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(3).
Makel, M.C. and Plucker, J.A., 2014. Facts are more important than novelty: Replication in
the education sciences. Educational Researcher. 43(6) pp.304-316.
Renko, M., El Tarabishy, A., and et.al., 2015. Understanding and measuring entrepreneurial
leadership style. Journal of Small Business Management. 53(1). pp.54-74.
Vermeeren, B., Kuipers, B. and Steijn, B., 2014. Does leadership style make a difference?
Linking HRM, job satisfaction, and organizational performance. Review of Public Personnel
Administration. 34(2). pp.174-195.
Online
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A Review of Leadership Theories, Principles and Styles and Their Relevance to Educational
Management, 2015 [Online] Available Through <
http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.mm.20150501.02.html>
Leadership styles. 2018. [online] Available Through : < https://smallbusiness.chron.com/5-
different-types-leadership-styles-17584.html >
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