In education, transformational leaders go beyond the implementation of change. They become driving forces, empowering people and generating enthusiasm for a vision and a process that fuels transformation. This course presents the specific knowledge, skills and dispositions needed by educational leaders to transform schools and improve outcomes for the students in their care.
While the research may still not yet be definitive in identifying all of the required traits of a transformational leader in education, it is ongoing and necessary.
Legislation and educational reforms have affected structures and processes within schools and school systems… and parents and teachers also come to the principal with increasingly high expectations and complex problems, compounding an already difficult situation.”
Casavant and Cherkowski (2001)
School principals need guidance and support in both academic press and productive culture as they try to lead a culture of change for continuous school improvement.
The central purpose of transformational leadership (is)… the enhancement of the individual and collective problem-solving capacities of organizational members …in the identification of goals to be achieved and practices to be used in their achievement.”
Leithwood, Begley and Cousins (1994)
Bass (1998) asserts that transformational leaders are judged by their impact on followers in the areas of trust, admiration, and respect.
This course is aligned with Standard 10: School Improvement
Effective educational leaders act as agents of continuous improvement to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.”
(NPBEA, 2015)
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Differentiate between transformation and change, learning the key elements necessary to effect large-scale and significant improvements in systems and processes.
- Define their moral purpose and communicate it to staff and stakeholders.
- Use transformational practices to support continuous school improvement.
- use opportunity identification techniques to create and sustain lasting improvement.
Lessons contain exercises that you will be asked to complete, and resources you can use for continuous learning. Use a personal journal to record your completed exercises and document your learning in this course. This guide can assist you with creating your personal journal. Your school district facilitator may request you submit your personal journal to show proof of course completion. Direction on where to submit your finished journal will be provided by your district facilitator, should they require it.
Select a lesson from the table of contents below to begin your learning. Lessons do not need to be completed in sequence. The pre-test and post-test are optional. If you would like to receive a certificate of completion, you must mark each lesson as complete.