TEACH Journal

In this brief article I seek not to canvass or decry

the latest theories of management, but to draw

together the strands of what seem to me, after 44

years, to be the essence of practical leadership.

Principalship in the twenty-first century is complex and diverse. A principal is responsible across the domains of educational leadership, curriculum development, teaching and learning theory and classroom practice, spirituality / values education, student welfare and discipline, including reporting to agencies, school finances and budget, property management, risk mitigation, litigation management, staff welfare and industrial relations, marketing, selection and dismissal of staff and students, strategic planning and vision, outdoor education, and depending, on the governance of the school, reporting to statutory authorities, School Council, Church or denominational hierarchy.

Significant change is occurring in the education systems in most countries around the world. This article, based on a larger educational change study, examines perceptions of Australian primary teachers employed within the Seventh-day Adventist Church education system (Adventist Schools Australia, ASA) regarding the impact of change. Teachers indicated that an increase in parent expectations is having a significant impact on their ability to manage change, both functionally and emotionally. It was found that the leaders in this system are perceived to be relatively effective across nine leadership characteristics. Modelling, based on linear regression, suggests that teachers perceived that different leadership constructs are needed to enable teachers to successfully deal with change functionally, emotionally and with a positive view of future change. In addition, teachers perceived that leaders are best able to support the change process when they are Relators and Collegial Managers. However, the Adaptor, which was the highest significantly significant construct, has a negative impact on the change process as the teachers perceived it.

Life in the modern world is fast, complex,

uncertain and compressed. This presents new

problems and challenges for school systems

and the teachers who work in them (Fullan,

2005). The compression of time and space

create accelerated change; evidenced by

growing innovation, overload and intensification

in teachers’ work. It is undeniable that

teachers and principals in Australian schools,

increasingly, are expected to address an array of

social issues and societal problems previously

external to their professional domain (Mitchell

et al., 2002, p. 19). Furthermore, government

safety and welfare concerns have resulted in

new legislation and regulations, culminating in

additional levels of accountability for educators.

The image is striking. A business man dressed

in his suit is sitting on a wooden chair that

has been placed on the pebbles very close

to the water’s edge. He has his legs crossed,

hands in his lap, shoulders back and with

an air of authority he is staring out across

the lake. In the background one can see the

mountains on the other side of the lake, giving

way to the expansive sky overhead. Words

have been overprinted in the sky which simply

read, ‘Now I invent instead of Predict. I am a

Visionary’. Underneath the image the rest of

the advertisement begins by proclaiming, ‘The

Advanced Management Program—Creating

Innovators.’

The article challenges school leaders in Christian faith-based (CFB) schools to live Jesus’ kingdom values and virtues in their daily professional working and personal lives. To further this, the writer proposes an ethics, moral and spiritual purpose lens to ‘refract’ distinctive leadership profiles ─ complementary to the published Australian Professional Standard for Principals (APSP) ─ to encourage principals to engage in reflection and renewal, and bridge the gap between leadership rhetoric and practice.