Being Whole, Becoming Holy: Upholding the Integrity Among Education Leaders

By:  Fr. Roderick C. Salazar Jr.
Director, SVD Mission Philippines, Inc.
First National Assembly of Education Leaders, Sept. 20- 22, 2017, PICC Manila Philippines

There is a philosophical principle first in intention last in execution.  Being and becoming on one side and whole in holy on the other side.  The word paired with being is whole.  The word that is introduced by becoming is holy.  Leaders then or its singular form leader and related words lead and leadership.  Among the many definitions of leadership the one that I like best is what Vance Packard wrote in his book The Pyramid Climbers.  He said, in essence leadership appears to be the art of getting others to want to do something that you are convinced should be done.  Towards, in that phrase, make it stand out from other definitions.  To want.  Take this away and you might indeed still get people to do something that you are convinced should be done but you’ll have exercised may not be leadership anymore.  It could very well be martial law, dictatorship.  But with these two words to want what is revealed is that leadership is really a matter of the heart.  The leader so touches the inner being of so stirs the soul that react of following which follows is a choice made freely motivated from within.

What this notion side by side with the usual of idea of leadership as taking charge and getting things done. Contrast this with the familiar picture of corporate management on the one side and the work force on the other side bargaining with bonuses and incentives, rewards and benefits and listen to these questions of James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner in their book The Leadership Challenge.  If that has been normal, picture of management and leadership in corporate characters.  What of those who have no bonuses to give, no promotions to offer and no performance to write.  What of those who cannot pay any compensation and yet asked us to contribute our time, our resources, our services, our energies, even our lives.  What of those who must rely upon our willingness, our internal motivation, to give ourselves to some just cause.  Do they not lead?  Keep this in mind so that we can be ready to look at transformational leadership. 

The idea and term was first introduced by James MacGregor Burns in his Pulitzer Prize winning book published in 1978.  Bernard M. Bass would later expand his idea and so would a host of other writers.  Putting together the contributions of these individuals we can differentiate between transactional and transformational leadership.  The first is characterized as the exchange of valued things that serve the individual interest.  This turns in contrast to collective efforts focus towards common interest.  Transactional leadership is a process of exchange the root word being Trans meaning between and act or action, Trans act, transactional leadership, the leader in this case clearly specifies what he or she wants.  Determines what the employees want and brokers the contractual exchange of the two.  So the contractual relationship is based on agreed upon goals and minimum acceptable performance levels.  Rewards for satisfactory performance or penalty for unsatisfactory work.  The negotiation that is involved the exchange or transaction that occurs lead to the naming to this kind of leadership transactional. 

Management understood in the traditional sense is equated with it.  By contrast, transformational leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality.  We ask ourselves then, what shall we do?  We ask ourselves who are we dealing with transactions or we transforming people?  What is the kind leadership that we are doing?

In his 1978 work, Burns mentioned the importance of a leader in both imparting and compelling forces and in leveraging his or her charismatic personal qualities in support of the vision.  So when, Bernard Bass took of the pulpit, he said that transformational leadership is comprise of charismatic leadership distances of reasoning and inspiring others to follow the vision.  Individualize consideration which concerns the leader developing the follower and intellectual stimulation, new ways of thinking, problem finding and solving.  To these others would add the importance of visioning, promoting shared values, culture shaping, role modeling, trusting and empowering.  The theory is that these practices inspire followers to exert extra effort, become self-led leaders and enhance commitment to the common purpose of the group and the leader.  

Indeed Burns sees leadership as inducing followers to act to certain goals that represent the values and the motivation.  The wants, the needs, the aspirations and expectations of both leaders and followers.  In other words, leadership is a relationship between leaders and followers who are acting interactively to attain some purpose. 

And this is what Burns, Packard said which I quoted earlier, leadership is the art of getting others to want to do something that you are convinced should be done.  For when a vision is shared and the longing for it has become common to both leader and follower, then the movement towards the goal comes quite naturally.  And one then knows that leadership has been exercise.  Leadership is an art and stirs the followers from the heart.

Taking off from the concepts just presented, two others offer their insights without actually using the terms transformational.  James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, who were also quoted earlier, articulated the idea even more.  And their research on leadership they found out that leader is at their best when they challenge, inspire, enable, model and encourage.  A shorter way of differentiating transactional from transformational leadership is to look at the spelling of the verb to lead.  It starts with an L and end with a D.  L E A D that is transformational.  If you reverse the first letter and the last letter it become D E A L, it becomes transactional.  

How do you deal with your people?  Where are we at this words and goods familiar not to ask that we try to use them from our position in the organization? What do you think ourselves?  Because we are the director and the president and the superintendent and the supervisor, who are we?  

Stories told that once Mohammad Ali boarded a plane and when it was about to take off, the announcement came that everyone should fasten their seatbelts.  And when the stewardess walks the aisle to check everyone complied.  She approached Mohammad Ali and politely said sir, “Please fasten your seatbelt.”  Mohammad Ali arrogantly answered loud enough for everyone to hear.  “I am the greatest.  I don’t need any seatbelt.  I am superman.”  Without missing a deep, the stewardess asked politely replied, “then please superman, get off the plane and fly.” And wordlessly, the greatest just put on his seatbelt.

Are we the greatest because of the title that we have?  In another occasion in an airport, the check-in counter was swarm with people waiting to be served when a man drunk the queue and demanded that he be served first.  The clerk said, “Sir please takes your turn and the queue.”  The man shouted and said, “Don’t you know who I am?”  And the clerk took the public address system and announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, there is a man here at the check-in counter, who does not know who he is.  Anyone who knows him, please come and identify him.”  Amused chuckles of the people, the man who did not know who he was immediately took his place in the queue. 

Do you know who I am?  Do you know who you are?  Are you that kind of leader who will rise only on titles and positions?  Let us now look at where we are supposed to be as leaders in education. 

Integrity also comes from the Latin word which means whole.  Corruption breaks the heart, the core of your value.  That’s the reason why so many problems in our country today because heart has come to do hell.  If you don’t have your heart whole, corruption follows.  

A person of integrity is living rightly not divided.  It is not being a different person in different circumstances.  A person of integrity is the same person in private that he or she is in public.  Integrity is related to the word integrating which means the result of infusing together of different parts into a coherent consistent whole. 

Public and private life is the same for the person of integrity.  Integrity is what we do when you are not aware that your children are looking and listening.  Integrity is who we really are on the inside.  Other descriptions of integrity are what you see is what you get and who you are when nobody is looking.  Integrity is the wholeness which is the first part of my title of this talk.  Being whole.  It is doing what you say you’ll do. 

In the words of Jesus about love and our relationship with God, you shall love the Lord your God with a whole heart.  With a whole soul.  With your whole mind.  With your whole strength.  Love your neighbor as you love yourself.  Whole, entire, complete, not a fraction.  No time in the history of our nation is this world integrity find out for fulfillment.  In the times and by some about elected leaders and the followers, we are besieges with lies and fake news, and killings and insults and tens of lies and more lies.  Where are we going?  Where is the integrity of this beloved nation Philippines? 

At least this assembly is looking at what integrity requires.  What is happening?  It is indeed timely that starting today on the anniversary of the declaration of martial law in our country where different positions on leadership and integrity are raised.  Without integrity, where are we?

This is not easy.  If my leader above me says or does something patently wrong.  Or even evil, what should I do?  If I speak up for the right and true, I may lose my job.  This is an existential situation.  There are no easy answers. 

Genuinely loving those God has placed in our life’s path is the starting point of that influence.  Add to that a commitment to using every ability, God has given us to be the best that we can be regardless of what we do or where we are and you have a recipe for leadership to succeed.  This is really what leading from the heart is all about. 

Leading and leading from the heart as God designed it means our relationships are always central to our actually being the best that we can be.  We make mistakes, we fall.  We sinned but the God who called us to be whole will help us to become holy.  There will be so many temptations in our lives.  We betray our faith, our values, and our loves.  We make compromises but we must rise after every fall.

There is a song that most Filipinos know.  The story behind the song My Way is that after decades of being in the entertainment world, Frank Sinatra felt that he should retire.  He asked a fellow singer who is also a composer Paul Anca to propose a signature song for Sinatra’s farewell concert which is how Paul gave him the song with the catchy first line. “Farewell tour of Frank Sinatra, ladies and gentlemen, Frank Sinatra.”  He goes up on the stage, “And now, the end is near.  And so I face the final curtain.”  You know that song did say in the proud final line, “I did it my way.” 

It is truly great for a leader to do things his or her way.  It is the mark of originality.  But in the moral scheme of things, each ones way is not God’s way.  The life would be a failure.  Jesus would say it.  “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffer the loss of his soul.” 

Back to the Frank Sinatra’s story, so after his farewell tour, telling people to do things his way, he retired but the entertainment body in him refuse to go.  After some years, the world knows that he is on a comeback tour.  “Huh, he already said good bye.”  But he goes to Paul Anca and he said Paul, write me a song.  “I thought that was the lost song for you.”  “Come on Paul, give me a song.”  He did.  “Ladies and gentlemen, Frank Sinatra, in his comeback tour!”

I know I said that I was leaving,

but I just couldn't say good-bye.

It was only self-deceiving

to walk away from someone who

Means everything in life to you.

You learn from every lonely day

I've learned and I've come back to stay.

Let me try again; let me try again.

We must learn to say, Lord, let me try again.  Upholding.  It really means to hold on up.  For everyone to see.  For us not to be ashamed of who we are.  Uphold.  Hold up.  It is not meant to make a ghost of who we are but it is also what Jesus said, “We must be the light of the world.  Who you are.  Stand up for others to see.  Not for your own benefit but for the sharing of the light to this world. 

If God made us body and soul.  Matter and spirit.  He meant for us to do whole, integral.  We cannot be whole or holy unless God holds us up.  Integrity is wholeness.  Wholeness is holiness.  This is what each have all wants try to achieve.  The goal the end must be clear even if the way is not easy.  We need God.  And we need one another.

Many years ago in 1963, there was the popular movie entitled The Cardinal.  It was about a priest who became a cardinal despite his having vouch of unfaithfulness to his vocation.  There is a lovely song connected to the film which of us can learn, priest or not, religious or lay, learn in sing and pray when struggle to uphold our integrity.

Should my heart not be humble, should my eyes fail to see,

Should my feet sometimes stumble on the way, stay with me.

Like the lamb that in springtime wanders far from fold,

Comes the darkness and the frost, I get lost, I grow cold.

I grow cold, I grow weary, and I know I have sinned,

And I go seeking shelter and I cry in the wind,

And though I grope and I blunder and I kneel and I'm wrong,

Though the rose buckles under where I walk, walk along

'Til I find to my wonder every task lead to thee,

Or that I can do is, pray, stay with me.

Stay with me.

God help us.  Hole integrity among education leaders.  Thank you.

How Do You Climb The Mountain Called Success: According to Francis Kong (Part 1)

Written by Mariae Francesca Ramos originally for http://www.imoney.ph

Francis Kong has run his own garment business for 17 years before finding his niche sharing inspiring talks, lectures and seminars on entrepreneurship, leadership, money management and even parenting. His audience, both students and businessmen, started from a small group of six and has now multiplied to thousands.

Francis J. Kong

His own success, he said, did not come overnight, but from years and years of learning and growing through hard work and practice born from the love of his craft. He compels people to listen because of his gentle yet powerful manner, but more so by the truth in his words.

iMoney one morning met with businessman, columnist, broadcaster, book author and inspirational speaker Francis Kong over coffee, hot chocolate and a basket of fries to ponder over the intricacies of success.

In part one of this two-part exclusive interview, Francis Kong gives us a different take on success: why people are fixated to achieve it, what you lack and what you already have that will drive you to succeed and the family’s role in character and confidence building.

How do you define success?

Success for me is something intangible. When people ask me what my success is about, I would always counter by saying, ‘I have never thought about success.’

But what is important for me rather than success is progress. This means it is a continuing journey without having a fixed destination. That way, you can continue to level up.

So, if you want to be technical about it, I think, it’s about meeting goals and then exceeding it. This for me would define success.

True success has to be fully integrative and it has to be holistic in approach. So you cannot be a person who is successful in one highly departmentalized compartment of your life. If you want success, you need to be successful in your business, your career, and in your family. And as far as your own spiritual journey is concerned, you have to be quite successful in that area as well. It has to be holistic.

Why are people driven to succeed?

We are living in a highly competitive economy wherein the population explosion seems very high, especially in our country. So people instinctively know that they have to be competitive and they have to be driven to success.

Now, this is the inherent feeling of every person exacerbated by the fact that parents now really hone their children to be competitive and successful.

And the parenting style over the years have really changed. For example, during the earlier years, parents would value character in their kids. As a matter of fact, parents would tell their kids ‘don’t be proud,’ ‘stay humble,’ ‘be respectful,’ ‘be courteous,’ but do hard work. So if you are successful, you don’t flaunt it.

During the last 20 or 30 years, the parenting styles have really transformed into putting a lot of confidence into your kids. Convincing your kids that ‘you can do anything you want,’ ‘you can be anybody you want to be,’ it’s teaching them that ‘you have to believe in yourself.’

These two factors have driven people to have a very high level of desire to want to succeed or be better than anybody else. So I would say that’s the reason why people are driven today.

In your opinion, is being driven to success good or bad?

Both. This is bad because this fosters a lot of unhealthy competition. Second, this creates disappointment and frustration, especially when young people today see the magazine covers of 19 and 20-year-old billionaires. And parents exacerbate the fact by telling them, ‘you can be like him if you want to.’ So some kids grow up into thinking that having low scores and low grades make them losers.

Another result which bad, is that for some people the end justifies the ‘meanness.’ They can be mean in wanting to arrive at their goals thinking that life is simply one-upping the other. If you’re smarter, you’re more aggressive, then you tend to get the opportunity.

On the other hand, being driven to succeed can be good in the sense that it shakes people out of their lethargy and apathy. It’s telling people that ‘you got to do some work.’ People now will have to learn the fact that the world does not owe them a living. They have to earn their stripes.

And so, the curious thing here is the balance between the two. How do you maintain confidence, yet maintain humility in the process. But not giving out of the traditional value of hard work and honesty.

So how do you strike a balance between character and confidence?

I would start with parenting. That’s the reason why even though I’ve given about 320+ seminars in a year I still give a lot of parenting seminars that are free. And it’s important to start at home.

Rather than just building confidence, which is also important, make sure that you don’t neglect building character in kids.

Character building will balance the whole thing. Making money and being successful does not mean at the expense of other people and that you take advantage.

Doing hard work, earning your stripes and then earning money also gives you a responsibility to learn to give back to others and bless them, too. So that gives you a healthy cycle.

And then with the constant reminder, which is a favorite thing I like to say in my seminars, that ‘you never allow success to get into your head. But you never allow failures to creep into your heart.’

So there must be a balance of the two things.

What do people nowadays lack but need that will propel them to success?

I would rather reduce that question into a more specific boundary.

1. For the young people, what I’m afraid of is this constant living in the moment phenomenon, which they call YOLO (short for you only live once). I had someone in my seminar say, ‘Sir Francis, people our age have this concept of living for the moment, and we want to pour everything right now, what’s your take on that?’

My response is, ‘It’s OK, as long you make sure you pour everything today, and tomorrow you die. What will happen if you continue to live tomorrow? Resources are limited. Pouring in everything now without any regard for the future will make you totally negligent and reckless.

And secondly, life catches up with you. I’ve got news for you, I used to be your age. What if you reach my age now, what resources will you have left? So a wise, successful person is always somebody who studies the lessons from the past, make good of the current moment, and exploit it to the max, not wasting time with a future orientation knowing that the success today may not be working for tomorrow. So you should always be goal-driven, a person who has a vision for tomorrow.

2. As for other people, what stops them from being successful is idleness. There are people who still hold onto their competencies which they have had in the past not knowing that the world has already changed. I find this happening in many organizations wherein senior executives would still hang on their positions and not upgrading and updating their competencies, especially in leadership skills. This tend to cause them to be very irrelevant as far as dealing with the new generation.

And the same kind of idleness and the lack of desire for self-development will also cause them to be technophobic. So rather than learning, and getting out of their comfort zone, they’ll just demonize it.

Some people would even proudly say, ‘You know what, I still don’t have a Facebook account.’ For me, that’s not something to be proud of. Because if you are in business, how can you say you’re not familiar with Facebook, when social media now is THE thing apart from traditional advertising.

If your children are in Facebook now, how can you be so isolated without knowing what’s going on? And so, technology, Facebook is not something that you should ignore. You have to go through the discipline of understanding it — and use it for the good. So that when it’s not being used for the good, you have the right to explain why it should not be done for the bad. If you’re ignorant, then people won’t respect you.

3. Finally, ignorance is dangerous, ‘lethal knowledge’ is even more dangerous. I find a lot of young people mouthing cliches without deeper understanding. When you ask young people, ‘what are your intentions?’ They answer, ‘I want to earn passive income.’ When I say ‘how young are you?’ ‘I’m 19.’

I tell them: You’re so young you don’t have income, yet you want it to be passive, are you crazy? You are the most important income generating machine you could ever be. That’s why rather than thinking of passive income, why don’t you think of generating active income?

And this extends to active study, development, investment in growth, working hard, looking for the vision of the future — not living YOLO, and spend less time playing COC (Clash of Clans).

Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, you and I, we’re all given exactly 24 hours in a day. The question now is how do you use it to your advantage?

So if you’re using one hour doing COC vs one hour reading books, guess who loses? So another hindrance towards achieving success is the typical mentality of our people to favor entertainment over education.

Education may be boring for now. It is hard work, so it’s not fun. But it reaps results. Entertainment gives you pleasure for the moment. But it doesn’t reap any long term results in the future.

So how do people find success?

You find success the same way you do investment. You invest first before you can make a profit. It is impossible for you to have a profit first before investing.

Success is like profit. To earn your success, you invest by pursuing knowledge, educating yourself, developing your character and attitude, continuous improvement, working really hard, networking with people, creating a service mentality and a good attitude.

But the most important factor in order to go up the step ladder of success is making yourself likeable. The likeability quotient required now is very high — almost as high as IQ and EQ.

In the world right now, wherever you go, people just want to do business and give opportunity to people they like, all other things being equal.

If you’re brash, arrogant — because you never knew that there’s a difference between confidence and arrogance — you’re going to be left alone. Opportunities will not go your way.

So likeability quotient now is an essential thing in order to achieve success — without compromising your ethical principles, of course.

Trends and Issues: Roles of School Heads as Instructional Leader, Administrator and Manager

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON

As the Philippine Public Educational System draws near 2015 which is the deadline of meeting Education for All goals (EFA),  it is also marching towards the most demanding ages of the 21st century- ‘behooving all educational leaders to reflect, analyze, plan and take action in order to cope with multifaceted changes in the border-less marketplace’ (Delagoza 1996).  This is regardless of the challenges, threats and internal problems and issues that the educational system is experiencing, and the common orientation that school managers’ position currently implies.

  For this matter, effective school managers are expected to be academically goal oriented and supervise instructional and co-curricular practices accordingly. They motivate and support the teachers, encourage the community and other school stakeholders to be involved in the educational program, and encourage participatory decision making.  They are also faced with the complex task of creating a school wide vision, being an instructional leader- planning for effective professional development, guiding teachers, handling discipline, attending important events and needs, and all the other minute details that come with supervising and managing a school (Richard 2000).  The job of a school principal if not more demanding and difficult than an ordinary teacher, is expected to be equal, hence “the quality of school principals as school managers is a factor in improving the quality of education” (EDCOM 1992).

    Various studies support the idea that ‘it is the leadership of the school that makes a difference between mediocrity and excellence (Hugghes 1991).  One can always point to the principal’s leadership as the key to success of a school that is vibrant and has a reputation of excellence in teaching.  Indeed, the school manager is the keystone in the building of effective schools.  (Licuanan 1994) found that the nine positive outliner schools or outstandingly effective schools in the country do have similarly effective principals.  There is a positively significant correlation between effective principals and effective schools.

    (Clemente 1996) emphasized the need to identify and develop education managers fit to pilot schools into the 21st Century. In this light he gives the characteristics that school managers should possess. The first characteristic is the capacity to contribute to the academic performance, second the capacity to promote culture in a given academic year, third, the capacity to promote sports, fourth, the capacity to manage limited resources and the last, the capacity for innovation in academics, culture, sports and resource management.


Leaders as Learners

    Even when schools are not actively in reform projects, principals and district administrators find themselves confronting issues for which they have not been trained.  This may include demographic shifts, more rigorous academic standards, various teacher’s behaviors, integration of special-needs students into regular classrooms, gang and fraternal trouble, and even sexual harassment and molestation of students.

    But no area better illustrates the challenges of unfamiliar ground than technology.  They find themselves being called to decide complex human and technical issues (Andrew Trotter 1997).  For this matter, they are increasingly defining themselves as learners, not just doers, constantly scanning the environment for new ideas, tools, and solutions.  To do so, they must overcome numerous barriers: lack of time, insufficient rewards, fear that visibly engaging in learning is an admission of imperfection, and negative attitudes from previously poorly conceived professional development activities (Roland Barth 1977).  School systems can help overcome these obstacles by creating learning opportunities that are reflective, collegial, unconventional, and principal centered.

    At the same time, the complexities of change require learning that is more than a solo activity aimed at individual mastery.  Instead, leaders must work to create “learning communities” in which the entire school works together to solve the problems confronting it (Shirley Hord 1997).  Leaders create and sustain learning by sharing decisions, nurturing a common vision, and providing support for staff learning.  They operate colegially, “leading from the center,” placing themselves physically and psychologically among the teachers, stimulating discussion of teaching and learning at every opportunity.


Manager as a Moral Leader

    Leaders require followers, and some observers see signs that school leadership is slowly losing its following.  Administrators seem to get less respect than before.  Due possibly to certain factors as political intervention, leadership styles and practice, level of intelligence and communication abilities, and the rumors on how and where he is able to finish his graduate degree.  In this way, lesser respect and at the outset no more respect plus political attacks are becoming more common.  Moreover, some thoughtful critics argue that traditional public support is eroding, and that the public is “halfway out the schoolhouse door” (David Mathews 1996).  Whereas school leaders of long ago inherited moral authority, today they have to earn it.

    In part, moral authority comes from adherence to basic ethical principles such as honesty, fairness, hard- work and compassion.  For example, periodic reports or rumors of “irregularities” in conducting district and division assessment tests or even national tests such as NEAT and NSAT, corruption and even elicit affairs have raised questions about administrative ethics (Bess Keller 1998); even when unproved, the allegations undermine public faith in education.  While there is no evidence that school leaders are less ethical than other professionals, there is also no reason for complacency.  In a survey of superintendents in the U.S., William Fenstermaker (1996) found that when given an ethical dilemma with a number of proposed solutions, over half chose a response that would be considered unethical by their code of ethics.  Fenstermaker concluded that many administrators were either unaware of the ethical issues involved or did not care.  The same could also be true in the Philipppine setting although there’s no available data or research yet that may disclose this possibility.

    However, moral authority requires more than individual ethical excellence.  Leaders must create a consensus on purpose and practice that serves as the moral standard for everyone in the school (Thomas Sergiovanni 1996) aside from the code of ethics being implemented to all.  By continually raising questions and purpose, institutionalizing shared values, and motivating others by example, school leader establish a “moral voice” that infuses the school community.  Sergiovanni argues that principals go astray when they treat their schools as formal organizations rather than as living communities.  Research by Susan Moore Johnson (1998) similarly suggests that educational leadership be built on virtues such as honesty and respect.  She found that new superintendents established their credibility by initially listening and learning before making judgments or imposing solutions.

Responding to Challenges and other Issues

    So far, school leaders in the first world and in the newly industrialized countries seem to be responding to the new challenges by simply working harder.  Principals in these countries become enslaved to the job’s daily demands, responding to each crisis as it occurs, kept off balance by “the constant bombardment of new tasks and the continual interruptions” (Michael Fullan 1998). As a result, there was a big turn- over.  A study of elementary and middle school principals conducted by the National Association of School Principals in the U.S. in 1998 found that 42 percent turnover that has existed during the last ten years is likely to continue into the next decade (Doud and Keller 1998).  They point to many factors that make the principalship highly stressful: long hours of work- for most, a 60 to 80- hour work a week, workload and complexity of job, supervision of evening activities “unending,” minimal pay difference between the top teacher and administrator, feeling overwhelmed with very high expectations, state and district mandates that require “mountains” of paperwork, and increasingly complex society and social problems.  The increasing demands of the position can cause many principals to feel the stress is not worth it.

    The situation in the Philippines is quite different.  While it is expected that majority of the school principals at present are about to leave their positions, it isn’t because of the stress as a result of increasing demands in their positions as instructional leader and manager but because they are retiring.  At present being a school administrator is still seen as the easiest way out for teachers especially the master teachers to escape the demands and stress of being a classroom teacher even when it will mean a decrease on their monthly pay.  Not to include here is the honor and prestige that goes with being a school leader as well as the unstressful nature of the job as they might think it to be. This is thereby seen as the motivating factor of the relatively higher number of graduate students taking up graduate education in school management and administration.  The 1994- 95 data on graduate enrollment shows that 43.8% of the total enrollment was in teacher education.  The doctoral level is far higher having a share of 62.6% (Garcia 1996). Thus, it is predicted to increase further encouraging the proliferation of ‘diploma mill’ type of institutions and unqualified graduates.  From this vantage, it appears that their ability to respond to new challenges is questionable; hence, “it is preposterous to think of a bureaucracy manned by full-fledged MA’s and Ph.D’s who know little about their disciplines”(Angel Alcala 1996).  Given the fact that the kind of school management being employed by our school managers is far beyond compare with those in progressive countries, it is not surprising that there is still much to be desired when it comes to quality.

    In so doing, DepEd has implemented the merit system for those who will be moving to the administrative and leadership ladder.  However, still quiet a big weight is given to graduate educational qualifications.  But at least, it has equalized the opportunity particularly for those performing school managers viz their not so much performing counterparts who have already completed their graduate studies.

    Along the way there are many efficient leaders who seem to be searching for the right balance between managing and leading. Cascadden found that, these principals recognized and accepted both functions as essential but reported that the reform movement was squeezing them between contradictory demands.  On the one hand, restructuring has pushed more management decisions to the school site; on the other hand, the current management theories emphasized the importance of empowering leadership.  This creates an obvious time crunch, as well as the challenge of being both efficient and collaborative- in a system that retains a top-down orientation.  In the country however, the situations mentioned already support the reason why top-down orientation still remains and quite slow to transform itself on the new principles of leadership and management through empowerment.  But then, it is also good to review and reform the management functions of the present and future breed of school managers to make them more productive, dynamic and efficient like their counterparts in various part of the world.  They should be made ready to meet the challenges of this constantly changing world particularly now in the face of the effective implementation of School Based Management (SBM).

(Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes had his Bachelors Degree and MA in Educational Management (CAR) from the Philippine Normal University.  A campus paper adviser and trainer for 13 years.  Currently, he is a school principal in one of the central schools in the Division of Quezon.)

Resources:

Barsaga, Eligio B., “Assessment of the Multigrade Program in the Philippine Education (MPPE), The Philippine Journal of Education, Vol. LXXIVIII, No., 1998

Clemente, Alejandro W., “Philippine Education into the 21st Century,” Joer Printing Services, Quezon City 1996

Delagoza, Rolando S., “Educational Leadership in Times of Change and Transition,” The Philippine Journal of Education, Vol. LXXIVIII

Forbes, Gilbert M., “The School Management/Administration,” An Unpublished Reaction Paper for the Course Educational Environment at the Graduate College, Philippine Normal University, Manila 1999

Garcia, Ester A., “General Directions for Graduate Education: The CHED Viewpoint,” Sangguni Vol.IX No. 1, Philippine Normal University, Manila 1997

Hertling Elisabeth, “Retaining Principals,” College of Education, University of Oregon U.S.A., Eric Digest 2001

“Modernizing Philippine Education,” Master Plan for Basic Education (1996-2005), Department of Education Culture and Sports, Manila, Philippines

“Trends and Issues: Role of the School Leader,” Clearinghouse on Educational Management, College of Education, University of Oregon, ERIC/CEM 2001

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Making School Leadership Effective

By Gilbert M. Forbes
DepED Quezon
Region IV-A CALABARZON 

Reading different leadership and Management Books from my personal collection of well known authors as Covey, Maxwell, Waitley, Oswald, and the likes of Filipino educators as Franco, Nebres, Gonzales, Sibayan, Trespeces, Nemenzo and Luz, aside from various readings both conventional and novel (through the use of the internet), is simply not enough if school principals really wanted to make a difference particularly in the public school system and of the future thousands of school children.  For if one would just reflect on the thoughts of the first post apartheid president and the first black president South Africa had, Nelson Mandela who said, “Education is the great engine of personal development.   It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mine-worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.  It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”

It is a fact that countries with excellent education like Japan, South Korea and Singapore enjoy significant levels of economic success. A former colonial country like that of the US became of what it is today, the lone super power because of education. US later on, learning from the very power that education can do, used it to further and maintain its interest in various countries of the world through its neo-colonial policies.

To this end, school head plays a very significant role in ensuring that our schools, our next generation of workers and citizens will find their way at least in the fiercely competitive, knowledge-based economy. School principals therefore must be totally sensitive to the expectations of his stakeholders which is actually zeroed in on the demonstration of leadership. It is a leadership which is anchored on bringing a group or institution towards a clear objective. Since, we are principal, instructional leadership is what fits in to us. Other literature called it learning leaders or learning-centered leadership. The demands of 21st century life and work call for principals with a deep understanding of how students learn and at what levels they need to learn. Principals therefore should be able to provide teachers with the leadership and support they need to help students gain the skills and knowledge now identified as important for success in a “flat” world filled with uncertainty and constant changes.

This is the very essence of instructional leadership. To make this happen, as Marsh puts it, as an instructional leader, he is characterized as being a resource provider, an instructional coach, an effective communicator; and has visible presence.Along this line as an instructional leader is that of being a curriculum manager. Since the curriculum is basically what students are expected to learn in the classroom and how the lessons are taught (Farris,1996), the principal must ensure that it is being followed by teachers as the prime basis of their daily teaching.

This is curriculum leadership defined as the exercise of functions that enable the achievement of a school’s goal of providing quality education to learners. It is not only implementation that matters but ensuring curriculum quality and applicability, alignment and integration of the curriculum, regular evaluation, enrichment, update and revitalization of the curriculum.In the public school system, curriculum is developed by curriculum experts and subject specialists and after testing and validation is handed down to all schools for implementation. This doesn’t mean however that the curriculum is absolute for the department encourages localization, enrichment and revitalization considering and understanding local settings, needs, cultural diversity and values. For this reason, principals must really have at least a basic understanding of curriculum development in general and the various models therein like Tyler. Obvious reason is that the given curriculum is not enough to make sure that maximum learning could be achieved. Enrichment and Mastery Curriculum enters and no other person is in the best position to lead in its formulation other than the principal.

In the course of all these, it is very important to know the factors that may affect curriculum implementation success as explained by Parsons (1987, cited in Marsh, 1992) and these are the need for time, technology for change, recognition of the school culture, incentives and rewards, sharing of burden in the workplace, releasing of energy for innovation, collaborative framework, leadership, recognition of the system-level culture, incentives and rewards, the need for political perspective, the need to win allies and the recognition of the role of individuals. Moreover, in monitoring curriculum implementation, it is important to: place more emphasis on mutual accomplishments rather than total fidelity (faithfulness or similarity to the source); strive for the development of a teacher-friendly and change-simple curriculum in the beginning; and promote a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement in the school.When all these are accomplished, we could now gauge the effectiveness of curriculum implementation following the three basic domains: use of curriculum materials, student activities and achievements and teacher activities.

While there could be clear limitations that most principals face in assuming their instructional leadership roles particularly financial resources, this must not discourage them in anyway for instructional leader is tasked to spearhead activities that address the educational shortcomings identified within his/her power. Strengthening one’s emotional quotient EQ will help a lot. Studies say that people with high EQ have the AURA of leadership, meaning they are able to appreciate, understand, respond and adapt to the challenges that face them.Effective school management is observed or measured in many ways. And that some of the indicators of good management in schools are the following: 1) Instructional supplies are ordered and arrive on time (for those schools where MOOE is released directly), 2) Teachers come to school on time, 3)Teacher absenteeism is low, 4) School facilities are in good repair, 5) Teachers have copies of syllabi, 6) Teachers receive instructional supervision, 7) Each school has a functional parent teacher association, and 8) Parents know how their children are progressing in their studies.This time that School Based Management is being emphasized among schools as part of the School First Initiative and Basic Education Reform Agenda, principals need to have leadership qualities in attempting school improvement.

Working towards overall improvement in our school will really requires that we AFFIRM our leadership role in the school’s “domains for improvement.” which includes: curriculum and instruction, performance and development of students, professional-personal performance of teachers and staff, administration/organization, school facilities and supplies and external relations. These could be attained not only by influencing and managing, just a school manager or CEO but an educational LEADER, a transformational leader who act as strong role models (idealized influence), communicate high expectation and provide inspiration (inspirational motivation), encourage creativity and innovation (intellectual stimulation) and provide support to others (individualized consideration).In the absence of continuous flow of knowledge that need to fill a vacuum due to schools which are not effectively organized to support and encourage continuous learning, the quest for coming up with educational research and new information as made stronger and prompted by the changing demands of the society, a principal plays a pivotal role in this regard. He must emphasize the value of research and of lifelong learning and should be the role model of it.

Sound and effective leadership will help a lot and will be the primary key. I am happy to know that effective leadership is characterize by the following indicators (Marsh, 1992): facilitating the development, implementation and monitoring of shared visions and mission; advocating and sustaining a school culture; promoting and sustaining an effective instructional program; Managing operations and resources in the learning environment; collaborating with community stakeholders; involving others and acting with integrity fairness and in an ethical manner.

Reference: Innotech Flexible Learning Management System Learning Modules 1 and 2.