Assumptions in Theories of Leadership

1. Assumptions in Theories of Leadership The leader (trait, style, behavior, vision, charisma) The task (from holistic to reductionism, needing discretion or direction) The led (follower) (motivations, readiness, attitudes) The organization (structural, political, moral purpose)

2. Theories of Formal and Material Education (Knowledge and ability) • Formal education (learning Latin and Greek, liberal arts education, GRE general test, graduate school admission, the concept of transfer) • Material education (preparing for life, knowledge is power, lower level of Bloom’s taxonomy) • We need both.

3. Terminology • Perspectives on organization: formal, structural, systems, bureaucratic, rational, and hierarchical • Perspectives on leadership: formal (Bush, 1986) and structural (Bolman & Deal, 1991, 1997, 2003)

4. Formal Perspectives • Formal perspectives view leadership as a function of one’s position in a structural organization.

5. Classical Organization TheoryAs the figure illustrates, all three bodies of theory are represented in contemporary management thinking, although they entered the mainstream of thought at different Industrial Revolution 1930’s 1960’s Present_________ Classical Social System Open System Present Theory Theory Theory Theory_________________________ Division of labor Human relations Input-output Systems thinking? Span of control Informal groups Event cycles Contingency theory? Hierarchy Peer pressures Environmental Chaos theory? Goal definition Intrinsic rewards exchanges Total quality Extrinsic rewards Psychological Information educational Formal rules needs theory management?________ ____________________________________________________________ ANCIENT Catholic Church TRADITIONS Historic Civilization ____________ Military Legions___________________________________

6. Scientific Management principles Formation of a hierarchy with graded levels of authority Scientific measurement of tasks and levels of performance Shape unity of ends (of managers and workers) Define a scientific order of work Establish a division of labor Determine appropriate span of control Adaptation to Education Levels of control: superintendent to assistant superintendent to principals to vice principles to teachers to students. Students thoroughly tested in subject areas, aptitude, and achievement and classified by levels of learning. Conventional wisdom in schools dictates that teachers and administrators have the same objective: doing what is best for kids. Third-grade knowledge is differentiated and preparatory to fourth-grade knowledge, which is differentiated and preparatory to fifth-grade knowledge, and so on. English teachers, history teachers, coaches, teacher aides, janitors, administrators, and so on. Thirty elementary students per teacher, 20 high school students per teacher,four vice principals per principal. Scientific Management Principles Applied to Schools

7. Adhere to the chain of command Define rules of behavior Establish discipline among the employees Recruitment based on ability and technical knowledge Define the one best way of performing a task Teachers must first talk with the principal before going to see the superintendent. Teachers’ handbook: “All teachers will be in their rooms by 8:00 a.m. and are obligated to remain on the school premises until 3:30 p.m. Teachers will stand outside their rooms and monitor the passing of students between periods. A copy of all messages being sent by teachers to parents must be on file at the principal’s office.” Students will abide by the rules of the school and the norms of good conduct. Teachers will adhere to the policies of the district and the norms of the teaching profession. Teaching and/or administrative credentials required for certification to enter the field. Schools continually search for the best way of teaching reading, mathematics, history, and the like. Scientific Management Principles Applied to Schools (Cont.)

8. Max Weber’s Principles of Organization (1964, pp. 333-334) • Hierarchical structure –authority is distributed in a pyramidal configuration • Division of labor • Control by rules—codified rules to assure uniformity and predictability • Impersonal relationship—more efficient if purely personal, emotional, and irrational elements are eliminated

9. Main statements by the formal perspectives • Organization is a pyramidal structure; leadership is associated with positions in the structure of an organization; the person exerting the greatest amount of leadership is at the top of the pyramid, and the leadership role decreases from the top to the bottom. • The person at the apex of the organization sets the tone of the organization and establishes official objectives. The accountability centers on contributing to realization of the official objectives

10. Main statements by the formal perspectives (Cont.) • The leadership process is rational, and personal and emotional elements are eliminated. • Leadership is constrained by the organizational structure, but leadership also largely manifests in determining the organizational structure. • Good leadership is to (a) develop an optimal model of the relationship of structure, strategy, and environment of the organization; (b) implement the organizational design; and (c) continually experiment, evaluate, and adapt.

11. Reframing Leadership

12. Formal perspectives on leadership are ubiquitous • Theory and research --Theory: “Apparent leadership problems are often problems of organizational structure.” (Perrow, 1970, p. 10) --Research: school restructuring and its effect • Practice: --Alfred Sloan Jr. at GM (centralize planning and resource allocation but decentralize operating decisions) --A new superintendent says: “I believe the key to success is to change our organizational structure.” • Reality: Increasing bureaucratization of the school system

13. Superintendent Talking with Principal • I’m studying the problem here and will soon have a decision for you. • You look into the problem and get me the facts. I will then decide what to do. • Study the problem and send me your recommendations, pros and cons with each recommendation, and your preferred recommendation. I will then decide what to do. • Study the problem and advise me on what you intend to do. Hold off until I give you my approval.

14. Indicators of Public School Bureaucratization

15. National Center for Educational Statistics, Digest of Educational Statistics: 2000 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing office, 2000) T= the number of school GDP=Gross Domestic Product --= no data for categoryTable 2.2 Indicators of Public School Bureaucratization (Cont.)

16. An overview of research • Restructuring and its effect (how teachers feel and how students achieve) • SBM and its impact • Summary: no persons here, the structure is the key • A combination of structure and other factors such as leadership style • Summary: there is an interaction between the structure and other factors (moving toward contingency theory)

17. Summary • Formal perspectives on leadership are ubiquitous in practice and can be found frequently in research. • With all the limitations, formal perspectives still offer us some insights on leadership. • We need to inquire into other perspectives to overcome the limitations of the formal perspectives