SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND ITS ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTS ON EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT PROCESSES

• Published in: SEECI 2000 Vol. 56; pp. 282 - 301
• Main Authors: Alcaide-Aranda, Lourdes Ivonne del Carmen, Alcaide, Carlos Enrique Aguilar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Madrid Revista de Comunicación de la SEECI (Sociedad Española de Estudios de la Comunicación Iberoamericana) 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Education; Educational leadership; Influence; Interpersonal communication; Learning; Literature; Students; Teacher attitudes; Chile
• ISSN: 1575-9628; 1576-3420
• DOI: 10.15198/seeci.2023.56.e837

INTRODUCTION The specialized literature agrees on defining school leadership as the competence to influence others with the purpose of developing actions that contribute to achieving group goals and objectives that improve school results (Li and Liu, 2020; OECD, 2008; Robinson and Gray, 2019; Robinson, 2007); that is, "Achieving results through others is the essence of leadership" (Hallinger and Heck, 1996, p. 39). In the same sense, a great deal of research has confirmed that the leadership of the school principal influences other educational actors and the school environment; particularly, in variables related to teachers' attitudes in the classroom and those involved in student learning, as well as in improving academic performance and school autonomy (Gümüş et al., 2020; Sepulveda and Volante, 2019). [...]it is affirmed that the influence of educational leadership on student performance is statistically and educationally significant (Goddard et al., 2019); however, this impact can be positive or negative on school achievements. [...]the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute identified three important aspects of educational leadership: 1) providing support to teachers; 2) generating learning through curriculum management; and 3) achieving transformed schools with good teachers and learning experiences (Chabalala and Naidoo, 2021). In this context, the review of existing theoretical and empirical backgrounds in national and international academic literature allows us to identify the leadership style that the director develops when managing as one of the main factors that influence the improvement of processes in educational establishments (EEs) and therefore in the entire education system in general (OECD, 2008). [...]the director becomes the educational leader who professionally assumes the direction of the EE and as such communicates and interacts with others to mainly develop institutional management and make decisions, but seeking to engage other educational actors with their vision and influence them to achieve goals and objectives (Robinson and Gray, 2019; Robinson et al., 2008).