Becoming a school principal isn’t the only way to achieve change and improve a school environment for teachers, students and communities. This is why schools and communities need trained leaders who understand the styles, best practices and different levels of leadership.
Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s online Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Educational Leadership – Academic Track program equips professionals with in-demand educational leadership knowledge and has a particular focus on servant and situational leadership approaches. Graduates of this program will understand the difference between the two styles and how to use them in future educational leadership roles.
Why Is Educational Leadership Important?
According to HIGH5, “Educational leaders have a unique perspective on growing, leading, and uniting those around them. In general, an educational leader is someone who organizes a group to serve the needs of all parties involved.
Schools ranging from elementary to higher education face challenges like insufficient budgets, teacher shortages and poor mental health. Educational leadership is critical for professionals to assess different leadership styles to overcome challenges with a solutions-based approach.
Graduates of Southeastern’s program may pursue roles like instructional coordinator, school district administrator, university registrar professional, lead teacher and more. Both servant and situational leadership skills can be used throughout these roles in school settings to move through challenges with innovation, inclusion and diverse thoughts.
What Is Servant Leadership?
According to Investopedia, servant leadership is a leadership style in which an individual leads with authority rather than power. In other words, this leader creates a collaborative work environment that builds their team up. Servant leaders focus on helping their co-workers achieve work and personal development goals rather than focusing on their success.
When educational leaders use the servant leadership style, they set the stage to accomplish more while maintaining peak team morale. In this environment, employee growth and performance benefit everyone.
For example, this leadership style is important to a school district administrator because boosting morale is proven to help with employee retention. As one study from the Journal of Further and Higher Education found, morale and a sense of belonging is critical: “students with a higher sense of belonging reported higher motivation and enjoyment in their studies whereas students who reported lower levels of belonging reported lower levels of motivation and enjoyment.”
Considering the impact of teacher and school staff shortages on students and communities, you’ll want to try everything possible to keep employees satisfied. Putting your co-workers before yourself can help.
What Is Situational Leadership?
Situational leadership is when an individual alters their leadership approach to best suit a task or situation. Indeed lists the four types of situational leadership: telling, selling, participating and delegating. This style of leadership is effective in an education setting because it allows leaders to respond to changing needs and demands — something that is often the case in schools.
For example, an instructional coordinator, also known as a curriculum specialist, evaluates the effectiveness of a curriculum and oversees the implementation of a new curriculum. When they conduct teacher trainings, conferences or workshops, they may lead a team of teachers who are skilled and motivated but face challenges when learning new information.
The instructional coordinator who uses a situational leadership style can use the participating type to facilitate and collaborate with the teachers, provide praise and recognition and empower them to make decisions and solve problems.
Become a Skilled Leader in Education and Beyond
Educational leadership is essential to address and overcome challenges in the classroom and the wider school community. It takes passion, commitment and communication to unify teachers and staff so they may reach their full potential together and help all students learn.
Southeastern’s online M.Ed. in Educational Leadership – Academic Track program is specifically designed for those interested in leadership but not in becoming a school principal. Therefore, it doesn’t lead to initial teaching certification or principal certification in Oklahoma.
Learn more about Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s online Master of Education in Educational Leadership – Academic Track online program.