Students--here is the blog assignment for Module 7 (see previous blog posting). Please have it completed by Sunday night, midnight. Use this original posting to begin your comments. Remember to follow the rubric!
Chapter 12 contains much information concerning power…theoretical concepts, processes of implementation, how power is used in the context of educational leadership. Your discussion should center on the types of power and how each could legitimately be used in the principalship. Use examples from your own experience, from the additional resources listed at the end of this lesson, or from the case studies on pages 292-296. Please review the rubric carefully to see how this assignment will be assessed. The requirements are more stringent than some blog assignments have been in the past. There is no assigned number of original posts; use this opportunity to show your knowledge and put forth thoughtful opinions backed by evidence. In the real world of administration, you will be the judge of what length you should talk and when you have said enough. A good rule of thumb is to measure your output against what others are doing.
The book talks about three categories of power, coercion, persuasion, and rationality. The book states that, “Coercion. One form of power is a leader’s ability to force another individual or group of individuals into doing the leader’s will, even if against the subject’s will or to the detriment of the subject’s personal well-being.” In a principalship this type of power could be shown by the principal, when the principal wants to get his or her way. If a principal wants a teacher to leave because they do not get along, and the principal threatens the teacher to get him or her to do what he or she wants, this could be an example of coercion. I read recently in an article that there was a superintendant who tried to coerce a principal into moving from one school to another by using veiled threats. Personally, I have not seen this happened in my actual field, but that does not mean that it does not happen around me frequently, maybe I just do not see it.
ReplyDeleteAnother form of power mentioned in the book is persuasion. The book goes on to say that this is the principal source of power for most of the educational leaders. In order for leaders to be good persuasive leaders, it is important that the leader has the needed skills to conduct this type of power over their constituents. The leader should know how to motivate individuals to want to do what he or she is asking. In my personal experience I have seen this happen when my principal wanted her staff to get involved with mentoring students around the campus. In order to persuade her staff, my principal did role playing with a student and tried to win the hearts of her staff members by playing in the drama factor. She made the student tell her situation and why it is important that she needed someone in her life to mentor her. This really tugged on the hearts of the staff members and caused each and every staff member to want to get involved. This is just on example. I also read in an article that Dr. Owen gave us, that this principal persuaded his staff members to do what he wanted them to by establishing job-embedded learning, building relationships with teacher support staff, modeling hope and optimism, life long learning, and caring, providing needed resources, seizing opportunities to consistently communicate and stay the course, investing in and participating in capacity-building in relation to literacy and numeracy, and celebrating and building on success. These are all ways to persuade people to do what is wanted and needed and this principal who did these things really did a great job turning around his school.
The third form of power is rationality. It is important to be rational in one’s decisions to complete a task. The book says that an effective education leader should strive to have a rational reason for his or her decisions. The book also gives a seven-step rational decision-making paradigm that should be followed by educational leaders everywhere. The first step is to define the issue or problem. Next, specify characteristics or boundaries of acceptable solutions. Afterwards, assemble relevant information. Then, construct and appraise alternative paths to solution. Select the most favorable decision path consistent with what is known. Implement the decision. Last, evaluate progress or outcomes and, if permitted, undertake midcourse corrections. This is a good process for educational leaders, but it can often be unfavorable. An example of this from my personal experience is when Tim Powers came to talk to my campus about the new Special Education program. He did not just come in and tell us that there would no longer be a pullout program for special education students, he came in an explained the reasoning behind why it would be better for the students and the teachers. Teachers are still a little hesitant to accept the new process, but Dr. Powers did explain why it is the most rational thing to do now days.
Overall, I feel to be a good leader one has to use both the rational and persuasive in his or her ways.
I am against the use of coercion by the principalship. I think that the use of coercion can easily create an atmosphere of fear and resentment. Such an atmosphere is not what we as educators should strive for. I believe that coercion may have a place in international relations and military operations, but I do believe that community leaders should employ such strategies to gain power or to influence others. Case 7 on page 292 of our text represents situation in which coercion of University Charter Schools educators is taking place. As the text states coercion can take place by the "manipulation of incentives" (p303). In this case study the school board president, Harry, decided to force merit pay bonuses on school educators without allowing them the opportunity to voice their concerns. Harry also neglected to consult with the principal of the school, Vince, thus undermining Vince's authority at the school. In this situation Harry also lost some of his authority with educators, by not seeming to care about their concerns.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts:
I believe if an individual works hard they should be rewarded. I realize that bonuses are offered in the business world for many things, and I do not think all bonuses can be considered coercion. The main problem in education is that educators work as a team. For example, two teachers are teaching eighth grade at a school with an individual merit pay system. The first teacher, a social studies teacher, may have successfully encouraged her students to read, while the second, an English teacher, gets the bonus because the same students did much better on the reading portion of a standardized test. If the way to earn a bonus is vague and possibly unfair, I consider it to be coercion. In the case of most merit pay systems educators know they could get a bonus, but there is no clear way for them to earn one as an individual.
No matter how hard we try to simulate the business world in public education I believe we will fail, and for good reason; we cannot, and should not, be selective of the material (students) we use to produce our product (educated students).
Persuasion and rationality are partners when it comes to developing a leader's power. As a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln states; "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." The point is, persuasion skills will only go so far in the development of authority. If a leaders persuasions are not backed by rational (or vice versa), that leader could easily lose respect and authority.
Rationality is used to understand problems and create solutions for those problems. Not all solutions will be agreeable to all parties and some solutions will not be agreeable to very many people. An example of this today would be the budget cuts that are necessary to balance our state's budget. I doubt anyone wants cut out funding for the things Texas really needs, but if there is no money it must be done. It will be up to the members of legislature to persuade their constituents that they cut what needed to be cut: they must now defend their rational.
Going back to case 7 it can be seen that Harry neglected to use persuasion or rationality when informing his staff the board's decision to implement merit pay. First, Harry does not attempt to persuade educators that merit pay is good for them and the school. Second, Harry has not thought ahead about the educator's opinions on merit pay. (In this case Harry shows that he is a transactional leader with authoritarian tendencies). Vince, however, is in now in a position in which he must carefully use his skills in persuasion and rationality to recover from the situation that Harry has created.
Willis- I agree with you that coersion is not the ideal source of power, and it certainly could create fear and resentment as you said. However, I think it may be extreme to say that all coersion is so bad it never has an appropriate place in school leadership. The text defines coersion as a leader forcing an individual or group to do the leader's will, even if it against the subject's will. At face value that does sound bad, but you also have to think that change initiatives fail unless all the staff are working together toward a goal. What would you do as an educational leader if you had one veteren staff member who disagreed with a new policy because they have always done it the original way? Teachers who have been teaching in a set way for many years can be very stubborn, and resistant to change. For example, I can vividly remember a veteran teacher telling Dr. Powers that she would not use CSCOPE in her classroom because she already knew how to teach kids and this was a stupid waste of time. I think everyone's jaw dropped at her insubordination. Just because an individual does not want to change according to the supervisor's will that does not mean the change desired is bad, however, the supervisor needs full cooperation and participation for success. So, sometimes the educational leader must make it perfectly clear that the teacher has to perform according to this policy, whether they want to or not. That may be coersion, but it could also lead to better student instruction. What do you think?
ReplyDelete-Mika
Mika,
ReplyDeleteI agree. While coersion is not the ideal way to lead, it is sometimes neccessary. I have witnessed many occassions in which teachers refuse to implement directives at the detrement of their students simply because they are lazy or too set in their ways. When it comes to the well-being of students, if coersion is the only way to get a staff member to respond, then it is certainly appropriate.
The text mentions three types of power: coersion, persuasion, and rationality. As a principal and school leader, I believe all three should have their place and can each be applied appropriately in any given situation.
ReplyDeleteThe text seems to imply coersion as being completely negative. While there is no doubt that coersion has been used many times throughout history with evil intentions and consequences, mentioning only the example of kamkize pilots is unfair. The text fails to mention how coersion can be appropriately applied in an educational setting. In my opinion, the well-being of students and academic achievement should be the primary goals of a school leader. With that said, it has been my experience that while many, if not most, teachers are committed to this goal, there is a small minority who refuse to change ineffective teaching methods for whatever reason, as well as some whose interactions with students are purely negative and completely inappropriate. In these situations, coersion should not only be an option, but should be the action taken by the principal because it produces immediate results.
I agree with the text that persuasion should be the primary type of power used by educational leaders, especially when it comes to overall school goals and curriculum instruction. In order for teachers to be effective, they must buy into the goals set forth by the administration, and by choosing to take personal responsibility for the achievement of such goals, teachers will undoubtebly be more likely to use the methods and pedagogy that have been proven to show student learning and achievement. By contrast, if teachers have to be forced to accept goals, they may not be as likely to do all they can to achieve the goals. As a result, it is critical that the principal or primary administrator communicate goals and expectations effectively and in such a way that empowers staff and makes them want to be part of team that can have a positive impact on their students. Furthermore, I believe that teachers should be shown why certain techniques are outdated and why certain techniques are effective in the classroom today. Additionally, to add to the persuassiveness of effective instruction, I believe teachers deserve to be shown how to implement new methods into their classrooms.
Rationality should go along with and be the natural by-product of persuasiveness. When trying to persuade staff to adopt goals and implement new instructional methods, teachers deserve to know the rational behind such decisions. Not only does this aid in the effectiveness of persusiveness, but it also gives a sense of empowerment and worth to teachers by showing them they deserve explanations because they are important. Furthermore, the use of rationality shows that decisions have no been made out of spite, eagerness for power, fear, etc., but out of a well-thought out process that attempts to solve a meaningful problem
Hello everyone, I just wanted you guys to know that my post about power was originally submitted right after my comment to Willis. I checked the page and saw the post and everything was fine. When I just logged in again to check for responses my post was gone. Thank God I had copied it before submission! Just a heads up you might want to copy posts and check later that they stayed on the page even after you logged out. I have no idea why mine showed up and then later disappeared.
ReplyDeleteMika and Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from on the subject of coercion. If I were to use this method it would only be issues where the law or district policy is clearly on my side; it would mean that a staff member's job was on the line. In the case of the veteran teacher, I might have personally have agreed with her on the issue of CSCOPE. If a teacher could back up their argument by years of experience and well educated students I would find a compromise. If the staff member could not back up their argument, then could I have a potential trouble maker. I would not make threats, or attempt to manipulate them. I would sit them down and tell them how it is going to be. Then I would go over district policy to ensure they understand the consequences of their behavior. I guess to put it shortly. I will enforce the law, I will not be the law.
Posted for Mika:
ReplyDeleteCoercion is described as a leader's ability to force another individual or group into doing the leader's will, even if they do not want to. I believe the only time it would be appropriate to try and force an individual to something against their will would be if they were engaging in professionaly inappropriate behavior or if there was a mandated policy that the individual was not practicing. For example, a principal might give a verbal warning to a teacher that showed up to work 15 minutes late, and try to use rationality and persuasion to motivate the teacher not to be late again. If it continued to be a routine problem the principal would need to use coercion to force a change in the behavior; writing a developmental note or threatening more serious consequences if the behavior continues. In any case, coercion should be used as a last resort, and only when students are being negatively affected by not requiring the desired behavior.
Persuasion is described in the text as a leader's ability to motivate followers to do the desired action because they want to. This category is a much more positive one, and I would think a more effective way to influence teacher behavior. Ultimately, the teacher has control of what they do behind closed classroom doors. Surely they are more likely to instruct a certain way because they believe in the method and are internally motivated than out of fear or force. If a leader is serious about making a positive change, they must be able to convince all staff it is best for the students, and best for the staff themselves. When new instructional policies are implemented, teachers are doing the actual work of changing the way they teach. Principal must be persuasive enough to convince teachers they should change to begin with, and provide adequate resources to carry out the change. Schein's 1985 comment in the 'School Context: Bridge or Barrier to Change' article stated this strongly, "The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture." Teachers actually carry out the action, principals persuade them to do it.
The textbook does not explicitly define the rationality category of power, but logically I think it means "do this because it makes sense, and here is evidence to support it." I agree with Willis that persuasion and rationality correlate with each other. Principals persuade teachers to do an action because it is a rational and supported action. I think that almost all of my personal experience with power in education has been persuasion and rationality. In most required meetings data has been discussed, and leaders have tried to make decisions and persuade action based on data. I think that is rational power because they made deductions based on evidence.
The six types of social power (reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, expert, and information) are interesting because these are the same types of power discussed in classroom management courses for teachers. Reward power, positive and negative consequences, and having authority based simply on a role in the organization all characterize teacher power as well as teacher leader power. The ideas of expert and information powers seemed particularly suited to both teachers and their leaders. A teacher has authority because they possess distinct knowledge, ability, and skills that students need to learn and understand. The same is true of teacher leaders, and that is why principals are often seen as the instructional leaders of the campus, even with so many other responsibilities.
Willis,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Harry acted in a more coersive manner by using his position to simply tell the teachers how it is going to be done. An interesting point also is that Harry is not even in education by profession and is probably unaware of the challenges presented in a merit-pay system. It almost seems to me that by not even attempting to use the power of persuassion and rationality, Harry shows he really does not have much respect for the teachers and what they do. I also agree that this puts Vince in a difficult situation: does he use his own powers of persuassion and rationality to try to justify this decision to the teachers, does he implement the system despite teacher concerns, or does he leave the situation and find another job? It seems Vince has a relationship with Harry, so if I were in his position, I would try to talk to Harry about the decision and see exactly what his rational for the system is and perhaps even help guide Harry in a way of thinking that the teachers can relate to. What would you guys do?
Danielle- I really like your personal example on persuasion. I know Principal Menswagger (is that right?) from subbing in the Scotland Park library on numerous occasions, I would imagine that she is a great motivator. One thing I would like to comment about the article you referenced- Michael Fullan wrote about the principles of success for school change you mentioned in 'The Awesome Power of the Principal' article. Fullan is an expert and his recommendations are based on research, however, a book I read in a previous class made an interesting point about defining characteristics for school success. The book ("It's Being Done") talked about how thousands of people have written characteristics to copy for successful schools, models and methods for turning a school around, and lists of what great schools do that other schools can copy for improvement, and about how these lists are not realistic. There is not a set list of actions that leaders, or schools, can do to garauntee success- otherwise everyone in America would do it and there would not be failing schools! I had never thought about this before, but it made sense. Now every time I read a report or text that lists steps for an action I remember, "These are guidelines. Every school and situation is unique. The list is research based and tested, but it is not garaunteed to work." Your list of things a principal can do to bring about effective school change made me remember the insight and point of view I had learned from that book.
ReplyDeleteIn the book, Guthrie mentions 3 categories of power: coercion, persuasion, and rationality. I believe that all 3 categories of power could be beneficial if used in the appropriate manner.
ReplyDeleteCoercion seems to me to be a difficult category for power to be portrayed positively. I think that in order for a group of people to be successful members of a team, their leader should be positive and willing to generate different solutions based on the teams needs and wants. Coercion is described in the book as "a leader's ability to force another individual or group of individuals into doing the leader's will, even if it is against the subject's will or to the detriment of the subject's personal well-being." I think that all leaders should take into consideration the thoughts of their teams and try to reach a mutual solution to an issue. Leaders should be able to work collaboratively with their team and I feel that in no way with coercion could this happen since it is basically saying it is the leader's way or the highway.
There also can be times when the coercion form of power could be for the best. What comes to mind when I think of coercion being for the best is the TAKS procedure. I have seen in the school that I am in teachers not wanting to follow all of the rules of TAKS testing. Even minuscule rules such as not reading a book at their desk or not walking around the room during testing have been broken, and the principal has had the use the coercion form of power to instill the values of the school and testing. Overall, it is the principal's responsibility to make sure that every teacher is following TAKS instruction as best as possible. I feel like this is a prime example of forcing individuals to do the leader's will because ultimately, the principal has the power to say what happens with TAKS testing for teachers in their school.
"There may be no other skill, ability, or condition that more forcefully separates effective leaders from the run of the mill than the ability to persuade followers." This quote from the text is very powerful in itself. The principal of a school should be the power house, the encourager, an influencing power, and an alignment for the school. With this comes persuasion. When I think of persuasion, I think of the last module, module 6. By looking at statistics of testing, a change needs to be made, goals need to be set, and strategies need to be implemented in order to create the change and accomplish goals. As a principal, one should encourage and persuade teachers and students into achieving the desired outcomes. Persuasion is a more positive category of power. A principal should have the persuasive power to influence teachers and convince them with enough knowledge and power that they can make a change. Ultimately, it is a teacher's responsibility if the change, goals, and strategies are actually positive. But, it is the principal's job to persuade and inspire their team to achieve what is possible.
The text states 7 steps for rational decision making: define the issue or problem, specify characteristics of acceptable solutions, assemble relevant information, construct and appraise alternative paths to solutions, select the most favorable decision path consistent with what is known, implement the decision, and evaluate progress or outcomes. A leader makes rational decisions based on data that is received. Therefore, rationality is completely positive and it represents truth in a situation, which I think is very important for educational leaders. The decision making process can sometimes be a difficult one. When a leader makes decisions based on rationality, then they have the power to influence and persuade their team.
I think that rationality and persuasion go hand in hand within the categories of power. I think that coercion could possibly be considered a positive form of power if and when it is based in the rational context of decision making.
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI agree that supporting persuasion with facts or data can be very helpful in motivating staff to participate in developing strategies and meeting goals. Principals need to develop their knowledge of the school environment to back up their persuasions and spark curiosity in staff members.
To all,
To avoid losing my work when I write a long blog or email I type it up in word, and then copy an paste in to my email or blog. Doing this has saved me on many occasions.
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteThe TAKS test is a great example of forcing individuals into doing one’s will. That is a prime example, because the principal does have all the power to say what happens to the teacher who does not follow the rules. Principals do need to make changes, set goals, and implement strategies in order to create the changes that need to be made and to accomplish goals. You are right, it is the teacher’s responsibility to determine whether or not the goals, change, and strategies are positive or not. You did a great job on this discussion.
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI like your thought that all three types of power can have their place and can be applied in the different situations that arise in school settings. I am not sure how I feel about coercion in a school setting, because I do not fee that anyone should be forced to do anything against their own will. I guess when I really sit back and think about it, if coercion was not a type of power that is in place in our schools today, not everyone would do their job. I guess in a way we do have to have all types of power whether good or not.
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteIf I were Vince I would definitely have a talk with Harry about the situation. In the business world bonus pay systems can be very productive, so can I understand why Harry would like to use a merit pay system. I would bring up a few points and before I talked with Harry I'd research them to back up my opinions with facts. Most bonus pay systems are designed to inspire competition or encourage staff to meet quotas. Essentially, merit pay is derived from capitalism philosophy. Capitalism places more value on extrinsic motivators encouraging productivity than intrinsic motivators.
Here is a situation that illustrates the flaw in this philosophy: some become doctors for money and prestige and others simply because they enjoy saving lives. What kind of doctor would you choose to save your loved one?
In my opinion most educators do not choose to become educators for extrinsic reasons, rather they are motivated intrinsically. The good teachers already have their rewards, and would probably rather not deal with the controversy a merit pay system would bring. (Though I doubt many would turn down more money).
From a business stand point merit pay does not compute. Good teachers do not always bring in more money for the school, so how can a merit pay system sustain itself? (and sustainability is pretty big in business). In the business world staff are typically given a bonus for earning a company more money, or saving a company money; either way the company has more money and hands the employee a piece of its larger pie. It is pretty much impossible to replicate this (bonuses) in education, unless the community or parents agree to fund the bonuses as teachers earn them.
Danielle, I really like how you provided examples of each of the forms of power in the principalship. I think the example about persuasion that you used about your principal role playing for mentoring is awesome. This shows that the principal took the time to think about the students in the school and also encouraged the staff to get involved as well. This idea of persuasion portrays a positive effect, and I really enjoyed reading about this example. I also like how you covered the step process for the rational form of power. These steps provide leaders with a clear explanation for how to be an effective, yet rational leader.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Kyle's 3/12 5:04 post: I agree that coercion has its place in the educational setting; especially when you have teachers that do not want to change their methods of teaching. I also agree that teachers who have bought into programs for students are probably more effective than teachers who do not hold any stock in certain programs. I can say, from experience, that I am more likely to give 110% when I really believe something is going to benefit a student. When I feel like a program is a waste of time, against my philosophy of learning, etc., I don't put forth the effort needed in order to maximize the potential of what the principal is trying to achieve.
ReplyDelete