Define Leadership

Introduction

What is leadership? Is there a difference between leadership and management? To be an effective technology specialist you must be able to answer these and other questions related to leadership.

Your Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

Define leadership;
Discuss the difference between "leadership" and "management" or "administration."

Your Task(s)

To complete this lesson, complete the following task(s):

Go to the discussion forum titled Defining Leadership and respond to the short posting from the instructor.
Be sure you have read and given some thought to Chapters 1 and 2, Pages 1-54 in the course text.
Read the Definition of Leadership offered by the Leadership Development Center, University of Buffalo.
Read "So You Want to Be a Leader" by Richard M. Ayres, being sure to come away with a clear understanding of the difference between leadership and management.
Read the Fortune Magazine article, "How Tomorrow's Leaders Are Learning Their Stuff" to stimulate your thinking on how the definition of leadership in complex organizations is changing, and what they mean by the "soft stuff" of leadership. You can find the full text of this article online by entering the title into the search form for ABI/Inform, through Penn State Libraries "LIAS" Web site. (Want to learn more about how to find articles through LIAS? Check out the World Campus instructional module on "Searching for a Journal Article in LIAS."
Explore the leadership resources offered in a University of Texas course, as they relate to our professional lives.
Read the articles listed on technology leadership offered by the Southwest Education Development Lab.
Read About Collaborative Leadership from the The University of Richmond's Pew Partnership. Great discussion of the term collaborative leadership.
Consult any other resources you like about leadership. (You might want to consult some of the other resources listed at the bottom of this page.)
Now, after reading and thinking about "leadership," go to the discussion forum titled Defining Leadership and Post your personal definition of leadership.
In the discussion forum on Defining Leadership, React to the definitions posted by at least two other students. That is, read their posting and react to what they've said. This is the part of the course that replaces face to face discussion in a regular classroom. You get a chance to think and react. It's really quite interesting.

Lesson Wrap-up

Leadership is changing, especially in complex organizations like schools and school districts. Leadership is NOT the same thing as "management," and it is a cross between skill, science, and art. As you work to become an effective technology coordinator, reflect on your growing skill as an educational leader. It's a process you'll be engaged in throughout your career.

Related Resources

Here are some resources that you may wish to draw upon as you complete your tasks:

Standards for School Leaders - Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium
- Type of resource: Web site
- Source: http://www.ccsso.org/content/pdfs/isllcstd.pdf
- Description: These standards are presented with two goals in mind. The first is to stimulate vigorous thought and dialogue about quality educational leadership among stakeholders in the area of school administration. A second intent is to provide raw material that will help stakeholders across the education landscape (e.g., state agencies, professional associations, institutions of higher education) enhance the quality of educational leadership throughout the nation's schools.
The Delaware Administrator Standards
- Type of resource: Web site
- Source: http://www.doe.k12.de.us/programs/pcs/adminstandards.shtml
- Description: The Delaware Administrator Standards have been influenced by the Standards for School Leaders, prepared by the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC). The Delaware Administrator Standards apply to all educational administrators requiring state licensure to practice. While actual leadership roles and contexts vary throughout the State, the Advisory Committee believes that these Standards reflect what educational administrators need to know and be able to do regardless of specific job responsibilities. The performances described in these standards reflect active, focused leaders who apply leadership skills to build learning communities on behalf of students.
A chapter on planning good change from eSchool news.
- Type of resource: Web site
- Source: http://www.fno.org/jun00/goodchange.html
- Description: This article introduces the concept of "binary leadership" as an alternative to the multiple views of leadership that exist today.
Leadership in instructional technology. Mauer, Mathew M. & Davidson, George S.
- Type of resource: Book (hard copy)
- Source: Upper Saddle River, N.J. Merrill, c1998.
- Description: Constructivist and developmentally appropriate learning theories are the underpinnings of this engaging book. After reading this book, principals, teachers, and technology specialists cannot help but to "step out of the box" and view teaching and technology in a new light. Issues covered: planning, funding, leadership, staff development, shared goals, censorship, and software evaluation.
Educational leadership in the age of technology: The new skills. Kearsley, Greg & Lynch, William
- Type of resource: Article (hard copy)
- Source: Journal of Research on Computing in Education; v25 n1 p50-60 Fall 1992. Eric No. EJ454701
- Description: Analyzes the concept of educational technology leadership and how it differs from leadership in general.
Educational technology, leadership perspectives. Kearsley, Greg & Lynch, William, editors.
- Type of resource: Book (hard copy)
- Source: Englewood Cliff, NJ. Educational Technology Publications, 1994.
- Description: Chapter one of this book provides an excellent review of leadership issues.
Handbook for effective department leadership, concepts, and practices in today's secondary schools. 2nd edition.
- Type of resource: Book (hard copy)
- Source: Sergiovanni, Thomas J. Boston, Allyn and Bacon, Publishers 1984.
- Description: Technology Specialist will find many useful resources in this handbook. The first chapter covers leadership issues related to this competency. In addition, there are worksheets and guidelines for evaluating instructional materials with respect to gender and cultural issues.
Providing technology leadership for restructured schools.
- Type of resource: Article (hard copy)
- Source: "Thomas, Lajeane G.; Knezek, Don"; "Journal of Research on Computing in Education; v24 n2 p265-79 Win 1991"
- Description: Leaders in professional education and technology were invited to envision the role of technology in restructuring schools and to suggest experiences designed to prepare educational administrators for technology leadership.
The principal: creative leadership for effective schools. Ubben, Gerald C. & Hughes, Larry W. 2nd edition.
- Type of resource: Book (hard copy)
- Source: Boston, Allyn and Bacon, 1992.
- Description: Chapter one introduces many different perspectives on leadership and how they relate to education.
The essence of leadership: the four keys to leading successfully. Locke, Edwin A.; with Shelley Kirkpatrick ... [et al.].
- Type of resource: Book (hard copy)
- Source: New York. New York: Lexington Books, 1991.
- Description: While written for business organizations, this book offers an excellent introduction to leadership concepts that can benefit anyone. Chapter one discusses the nature of leadership, and chapter two, the motives and traits of leadership. Chapter four relates to competency 4.05, and discusses vision.
Leadership for the schoolhouse
- Type of resource: Book (hard copy)
- Source: Sergiovanni, Thomas J. 1996. Josey-Bass Inc. Publishers, 350m Sansome Street, San Francisco, California 94104.
- Description: This book provides an alternative to traditional school leadership theories. Leadership expert, Thomas Sergiovanni, writes in his latest book, "Leadership for the Schoolhouse," that leadership theories developed for corporations may not be good leadership for social enterprises such as schools. In this book, existing theories of leadership are explained and examples of how they are not appropriate for schools are given.