The Influence Of Effective Leadership On Teaching

THE INFLUENCE OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP ON TEACHING AND LEARNING AUTHORS: CATHERINE BARRET AND ROBERT BREYER DATE OF PUBLICATION: NOVEMBER 17TH, 2014 Article Summary Educators and principals are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the demands of learning and teaching, especially because of teacher satisfaction, poverty, instructions, and salary. In the face of these issues, it is important that administrators motivate teachers to ensure they influence their students to perform well. The article sought to establish how principals can remain relevant and be able to instill passion and show good leadership that is capable of motivating teachers even in the face of challenges. Additionally, the study sought to establish how school administrators could establish a stable environment where teachers would appreciate the competence of their principals and consider them as their cooperation partners in ensuring the success of education through modeling effective “pedagogical” tools and strategies. Primarily, the purpose of the study was to “explore administrator modeling of engaging, engaging, energizing methods during staff development and meetings to determine whether principals could inspire, further develop, and retain effective classroom teachers and contribute to academic achievement in rural school settings.” The research was conducted at an elementary school within a rural set up. The student population was 654 from pre-K to 5th Grade. The school had 41 classroom teachers, 1 literary teacher, 1 assistant principal, 1 principal and 12 teacher assistants. The student population was diverse. Additionally, 605 of the students in the school did qualify for free and reduced lunch. The principal and the assistant did agree to implement strategies of active “active engagement” to create an environment of active, productive learning whenever they have staff meetings over a duration of six weeks. During that period, they modeled for teachers how they could effectively implement “active engagement” strategies in their classrooms. Additionally, the school administrators also consented to adding an additional technology skill that could enable teachers to further capture the interests of students and enhance their interest and engagement when they are learning. The school administrators therefore implemented pedagogical training for the teachers. Over the six week period, data was collected through observation and documentation of frequency of implementing new strategies within the classrooms during scheduled “administrative teacher observations”. Surveys were also used to collect data where teachers were asked to indicate the value of presentations and activities, perceptions of leadership, frequency of implementing new activities and strategies. The results of the study established that when administrators use modeling, there would be a positive effect on the motivation of teachers and would help in implementing more effective teaching strategies in classrooms. Critique of the Article The article, “The Influence of Effective Leadership on Teaching and Learning”, by Catherine Barrett and Robert Breyer seek to determine how “modeling instructional strategies by principals influence teachers’ implementation of strategies that promote greater student engagement and learning”. From the abstract, it is clear that the issue at hand is of high significance. In fact, it is clear from the first statement in the abstract that the issue is of great significance. However, it would have been better if the authors started the abstract with the objective of the study before giving a little background information. The purpose statement looks a little complicated and may not be easy for an average reader to comprehend. According to (Langford, 2014, n.p), the abstract is supposed to provide a succinct summary of all things that an article contains. Therefore, the standard structure of an abstract according to the authors should objective, background information, methodology, findings, and conclusions. In the article, there is no mentioning of the methodology and the findings within the abstract. The abstract can be said to be incomplete. According to Coughlan, Cronin and Ryan(2007, p660), an introduction should serve as an orientation for the readers, giving them a firm sense of the important things that were done in the study. The researchers also hold that the introduction should acquaint the readers with the problem. The authors of the article have developed a good background for the study, especially highlighting on the problems that have bedeviled education in the 21st century. Within the introduction, the researchers have given information on what studies have been done in relation to the study. They have also given examples of what has been done to done by the relevant bodies to remedy the situation. On the research questions, they are too broad and performing research on them would be difficult. Consider the question: “Can administrators achieve a positive stable environment where teachers view the principals as competent leaders and cooperative partners in the education process through modeling effective pedagogical strategies and tools?” On the outside, it looks as a simple yes or no answer. Which, perhaps, the researchers could have framed their questions in a better way that allows for collecting quantitative data. The problem covered in the study is important and warrants researching especially because it touches on how leadership in schools can improve the efficiency of teachers because this can translate to good performance by the students. It is a critical issue given the current unhappiness among teachers, especially those in the public schools. Therefore, the researchers have ensured that the background information they have provided is relevant to their research questions and guides one to understand what the purpose of the study is. The introduction of the study was through and provided all the relevant information that could be capable of acquainting the readers with all the information that they might expect to find from a standard introduction. The literature review is normally expected to provide a brief overview of the literature that is available concerning the problem under study, and it should not only focus on the similarities between the literatures, it should also focus on the differences (Shunda. 2007, p2). As expected, the researchers have given a very broad literature review that is focused on the issue. And throughout the literature review, the researchers have supported their arguments with several references. However, some of the references used are dated as back to 2000. It is possible that a lot of changes might have taken place during that time duration. Therefore, the information might not be consistent with the current state affairs. A better reflection would have been achieved if the authors used articles written not more than 3 years ago. However, the evidence presented is convincing enough and support the every assertion that is made. On the other hand, the literature review never covers any opposing views. This raises doubts whether it was exhaustive enough because a good literature review must give opposing views to have broader grounds of arguments. Importantly, the review does not address any knowledge gaps that the study will address. On the whole, it met its primary purpose of providing convincing evidence that can support the assertions that were made was met. Besides, the review was comprehensive enough with multiple references that provided supportive information. The addresses the research questions and meet the purpose of the study, the researchers required the principal and the assistant principal at the school to implement strategies that could ensure active engagement and move the brain into “active productive learning” during the meetings with the teachers over the a six week period. The strategies were supposed to model for teachers the methods they use to ensure students are actively engaged in their classrooms. The researchers also required the administrators to ensure that their staff learnt a technology...