A Comparative Analysis of Leadership Theories in Educational Contexts

This paper provides an overview of leadership theories, focusing on their application within the educational context. It begins by establishing the importance of leadership in managing educational affairs, particularly for superintendents in the U.S. education system. The paper then delves into three key leadership theories: transformational, situational, and constructivist, explaining their historical backgrounds, frameworks, and integrated approaches. The constructivist theory emphasizes that knowledge is constructed in the mind of the learners, and active learning is preferred. The transformational leadership theory focuses on creating positive changes within the social systems. The situational leadership theory discusses how leadership styles should adapt based on the situation and the followers' readiness. The paper concludes by highlighting the implications of these theories for educational leaders, including the need for training and professional development, and the importance of considering the followers' perspectives.

Running head: LEADERSHIP THEORIES
Educational leadership
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Executive summary
This paper is mainly about the usage of theories in the process of learning and also in the field of
leadership. It will be seen in this paper that how the superintendents in the schools of the United
States found it tough to manage and organize the school operations and also found it difficult to
manage the novice superintendents, hence, they used this leadership theories in order to manage
these affairs. It will also be seen that how the three educational theories namely transformational,
situational and constructivism has enabled the leader to develop themselves and their followers
not only in field of education but industries or any other research arenas.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Theory..............................................................................................................................................4
History.............................................................................................................................................5
Framework.......................................................................................................................................6
Theories integrated..........................................................................................................................8
Leadership theories..........................................................................................................................8
Constructivist theory....................................................................................................................8
Transformational leadership theory...........................................................................................10
Situational Leadership................................................................................................................11
Assumptions of Theories...............................................................................................................12
Conflicts.........................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
Reference list.................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
The 21st century is a modern day era and it is filled with several complexities of its own
kind. These complications are present everywhere. It is because of the proper handling of all
these complications that a sound leadership system is required. Leadership is also needed in the
field of education. It is the way by which an effort is made to gather and combine all the
available talents of all the members involved in an educational environment either implicitly or
explicitly. The efforts of the teachers, the students and their guardians are combined and used to
achieve the desired educational goals and objectives (Tyssen, Wald, & Spieth, 2013). This very
concept is termed as educational leadership in the United States. In order to manage all these
affairs, a superintendent or a leader was needed. The history of superintendents in the U.S
education system dates back to the 19th century (1890s). The superintendents acted as managers
or leaders for organizing and managing all the educational affairs. So, it is seen that each and
every educational set up is largely dependent on the essentials of leadership and for the proper
enforcement of the leadership; all the necessary theories are to be followed. This paper is mainly
directed towards the study of three leadership theories namely- transformational, situational and
constructivist.
Theory
The very term theory brings to our mind a set of concepts, rules, and definitions and
propositions that helps us in understanding various situations related to various subjects (Foti et
al., 2014). Theories help in specifying relationships among different variables. The theories are
not really topic specific and it is mainly objected towards building up the understanding and the
knowhow of the readers based on their own personal perception and understanding of the theory

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and it is after developing a proper understanding of the theories that the readers are expected to
use the same in their day to day lives and in the different activities taking place around them.
Theory is something that is perceived by different practitioners in a different way and it also
helps in understanding why and how things happen in various fields of studies and also helps in
understanding the logic behind it (Price & Weiss ,. 2013). These theories also help the
researchers in understanding and framing their ideas and construct their ideas accordingly about
the preexisting norms or framework I their expected field of studies.
There are also theories in the field of education. It is the theory of applications, purpose
and the way one can interpret education and learning (Foti et al., 2014). Theories of education
are a large umbrella term and it has several theories underneath it. There is actually no one single
theory available that can help in understanding how the educational system must proceed but it is
rather a combination of several terms. All the theories have their roots in different
epistemological and psychological background.
History
The emergence of educational theories however can be traced back to the 1900s.
Learning theories does not include the method of passive learning but active learning is a major
part of this (Price & Weiss 2013). In other words, the learners are not only associated with the
bookish learning but they are very much influenced by their own perceptions and
understandings, cognitive, emotional, social, environmental changes taking place in their
surroundings have a major influence on their understanding of the worldview, how they acquire
the knowledge, change it or even retain it in the long run (Price & Weiss., 2013). Historically
speaking it can be said that the concepts theory ranges from high to personal practice. There are

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actually different ways of learning theories in the field of education and some of the major
concepts and theories of learning are
Figure1: major concepts and theories
(Source: learning-theories.com.2016)
Framework
The theoretical framework is the structure or the outline that can hold or support the
theory, of a research or a study (McCleskey, 2014). The work of the framework is to introduce
and also give the description of the theory so as to explain that why the research problem studies
exist. A theoretical framework allows the readers to answer what he or she has learnt from the
data breakdown and as the very name theoretical framework suggests, it acts as the guideline for
the structure of the study. It is based on this outline that the learners get the idea of how to
proceed on the research (Ghasabeh, Soosay & Reaiche 2015). But just as everything have their
own merits and demerits same is the case with a conceptual framework, according to the
viewpoint of some of the researchers, many have failed to understand or progress with their field
of studies in the right manner because they have been following the theoretical framework of
others rather than developing their own ways of understanding and analyzing.

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It is said that each and every researcher must know how to build up their own
understanding and analyzing of their respective field of studies (Foti et al., 2014). It is very much
essential for them to know the components of their line of study and the exact way of how to
proceed on it. Often following the framework of others slows down the way in which the
individual researchers must proceed in their ways of learning and studying the material. The
researchers must know each and every components of their study and must also try to locate and
fulfill any gaps present in the context of their earlier studies.

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Theories integrated
Leadership theories
As the very name suggests, leadership theory is very much needed for the knowing of all
the roles and responsibilities that are associated with a leader (Stefan, 2017). These features of
leadership flow through all types of leadership and must be aware of all types of leadership ideas
and ideologies. The theory or the phenomenon of leadership has undergone several changes in
the past few years. According to the viewpoint of many, leadership does not abide by any
particular definition. But it revolves around some of the attributes like vision, mission and the
belief. It is also said that this conceptual framework highlights the different roles and
responsibilities associated with the position of a leader and this in turn acts as the guideline and
the motivation for the leaders to carry on their roles and responsibilities so that they may be able
to manage and organize their work in the exact manner (McCleskey, 2014). It can be told from
the present scenario that leadership has become one of the major building blocks of today’s
education system. It is also said that the two most important aspects needed for carrying on the
leadership quality in a sound manner is change and growth. Hence, these two qualities are the
basic requirements that that is needed for both the adults and the children.
Constructivist theory
Constructivism is the theory that refers to the belief that knowledge is actually constructed in
mind of the learners (McCleskey, 2014). It is based on this theory that all the learners are
constantly building or creating or constructing knowledge within their minds (Hogg, 2016). They
are always trying to formulate their own meaning and also develop their own understanding of

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things that they witness around them. In short, it can be said that knowledge is not acquired
rather it is made. Several researches have led to this fact that active learning is much more
important and rather helpful than passive learning. In case of active learning, the learners are
able to formulate their own understanding of their research subjects based on their own
experiences (Stefan, 2017). As it is a known fact that different learners belong from different
upbringings, culture and personalities and these are the various factors that forms different
influences on the ways in which people view and perceive the world around them (Price &
Weiss,. 2013). Hence, seeing from the viewpoint of this theory, it can be said that knowledge is
something that must work. In other words knowledge is not something that has to be either true
or false but it is something that must be either working or non working. The one most essential
fact about this is whether the type of knowledge that is constructed functions properly in the
context in which it has arose. Leaders, who are followers of this constructivism theory, must
always find out ways and means of finding out ways that would encourage and improve the
process of learning. Communication is also one of the most important aspects of this type of
learning, but this type of learning again becomes a hindrance for children with special needs that
is children who cannot really communicate and interact with people.
According to several leaders the two most important aspects of this kind of
learning is psychology and education (Doh & Quigley, 2014)
. One of the important well known leaders of this school is, Jean Piaget. His research is mainly
based on the fact that, the way all the individuals look towards and understand the different
situations is mainly based on their exposition to the world around them. That is all the
individuals are greatly affected by the kind of social and cultural environment existing around
them ( McCleskey, 2014).

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Constructivism has two different types of learning or processes of learning, one is the
functional method, where the learner is mainly gaining an understanding from the different
events that are happening around them, and the second is the gaining knowledge from the
performance of all those different activities, which the learners consider to be important and also
contribute to Learning is always much more successful when learnt through active learning that
is when it is based on the learner’s own perceptions, reasoning and critical thinking of the
subjects.
Transformational leadership theory
This is the kind of theory that helps in creating certain changes in the
surroundings of the learners (Hogg, 2016). In other words, it causes some changes in the social
systems of the learners and wants them to learn from all these changes. These changes are done
so that the learners are able to learn some positive things from these changes at the end. While
studying this leadership school, one, must be able to look at relationships since they are vital in
creating and developing perceptions (Hogg,2016).The followers of this school helps in making
wise decisions that would benefit an entire organization as a whole and not only a single
individual. Stimulation, influence, consideration and motivation are stated to be the four main
components of this theory. This transformational leadership theory is closely linked to leadership
in education. Finally, the Transformational Leadership theory has some significant implications.
The significant implications are:
 There is an increased need for organizational leaders to be properly trained. The leadership
skills of organizational leaders can be enhanced by providing them with professional
development opportunities, such as leadership workshops and training sessions with other
leaders that are successful.

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 Transformational leaders should be aware that the process leadership is constantly
changing and will remain to change for many years
Situational Leadership
It is the kind of behavior that the learners inculcate among themselves in order to
adapt to any changes or any situations around them. Life cycle theory has been later on given the
name of situational leadership (Kim et al., 2013). This talk about the behaviors of the leaders and
it is said that the leaders must know how to change their behavior based on the different
situations of their cooperation (Yoders, 2014). Then, the Life Cycle theory was later given the
name Situational Leadership theory. Researchers specify that the Situational Leadership theory is
well known and used in the field of leadership (Santamaría, 2014). This theory emphasizes that
leader adjust their behaviors to situations of the cooperation. Finally, the implications of the
Situational Leadership theory are:
1. Leadership has various results.
2. Changing temperament of the leader as the condition changes.
3. Situational Leadership is known more as a management skill than a leadership style.
4. Situational Leadership requires outside sources.
5. Some view Situational Leadership as managerial and threatening.
There are several points of differences among these theories as well. Constructivism
theory is mainly based towards developing the method of active learning within the
learners (Foti et al., 2014). It is the process by which the learning is mainly incorporated
within an education system. A good example can be the way the teachers develop the

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lesson plan so that the process can be geared towards imparting the education skills
within the learners (Doh & Quigley, 2014)
Transformational skill on the other hand mainly aims at creating a good similarity
between a leader and his follower (Bogotch, 2014). It is mainly projected towards
developing proper leadership skills so that the individuals can develop the apt leadership
qualities (Ghasabeh, Soosay & Reaiche 2015). According to the transformational leaders,
change is perhaps the most essential thing required for the process of learning and
transformational leaders want to bring about several changes within the framework of any
organizational setup so that they can make use of these changers in order to promote
further growth and emphasize towards common goals, objectives, visions and beliefs.
Transformational behavior is a kind of learned behavior that is based on the ethics and
views of the leader (Green, 2017). In order to manage any organization, the leaders
themselves need to know the key roles associated with leadership (Barkema et al., 2015).
A good instance can be the different method of handling different employees, like they
might use a certain set of rules for handling a shy employee whereas they will use totally
another different set of tactics for managing a smart employee. Some of the other
distinctions are
1. Business and educational environments mainly use the elements of the transformational and
Situational Leadership theories (Effelsberg, Solga & Gurt 2014).
2. Educational environments also use the elements of the Constructivist Leadership theory.
3. All three theories emphasizes the behaviors of individual leaders for the success of their
organization.