ERIC Number: ED339099
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1991-Oct
Pages: 28
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Operationalizing Transformational Leadership: The Behavior of Principals in Fostering Teacher Centered School Development.
Sagor, Richard D.
Researchers have found the categories of transformational and transactional leadership to be effective descriptors of administrator behavior. While the direction of the management literature has stressed the value of transformational over transactional leadership, the recent direction of many school reform efforts has, in many cases, emphasized the opposite, at least in regard to the principalship. This study attempts to provide additional empirical support for the value of transformational leadership by building principals. The work of Greenfield (1991) is used as a knowledge base that distinguishes between personal qualities, behaviors, aims, and outcomes of leadership. The paper provides documentation for the thinking and behaviors of three principals who have been leading schools (two elementary, one middle) in a teacher-centered school development process as part of Project LEARN (League of Educational Action Researchers in the Northwest). While the outward styles of those leaders often varied, similarities in the impact of their work were consistently noted in three specific features of their schools: the sharpness of school focus; the sharing of common cultural perspectives; and a constant push for improvement. Descriptive accounts of each principal are given including an examination of patterns in behavior that cut across these three faculties and their leaders. Three stages are identified and described in this process: pre-conditional behavior; development/implementation; and sustaining behaviors. Implications for policy and further research are given. (32 references) (RR)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration (Baltimore, MD, October 1991).