issues concerning leaders

Issues concerning leaders and leadership practices at three school levels in Iceland

Leadership and diversity in Icelandic schoolsHelgi Þ. Svavarsson with,

Börkur Hansen, Hafdís Guðjónsdóttir, Hanna Ragnarsdóttir & Samuel Lefever

DTDL conference, Glasgow, May 27-30, 2014

The Challenge• Increasing cultural diversity in the last 20 years reflected on all school levels• Two different approaches (Banks, 2008)

– Assimilation – Focus on learning mainstream language, adopt mainstream culture, abandon own language and culture – remove all symbols of culture. Results in marginalization of minority groups.

– Integration (cultural democracy) - Acknowledge and celebrate different culture groups. Cultivate different culture and languages. Strengthen identity groups. Create connections so different culture can experience the perspective of each other.

• Bonding and bridging cultures (Putnam,2007)– Important to distinguish between bonding and bridging.– Bonding is strengthening of a group identity and there by self confidence of individuals

within the group.– Bridging is making connections and understanding between different social groups.

• Who are these leaders and how do they contribute to the success of the immigrant students and to inclusion in their schools? What characterizes their vision and action?


Conceptualizing the challenge: path goal theory

Subordinates Path Goal/challenge

Obstacles

• Main characteristics

• Identifying the goal/challenge• Assessment of subordinate motivation to

complete the challenge• Remove obstacle that prevent the

challenge to be accomplished.

Directive

Supportive

Participative

Achievement- orientated

guidelines, structure, gives orders

Nurtures, motivates

Involves people in decision making

Provides challenges, seting deadlines

STYLE METHODS


An additional angle to leadership

Transactional – reactive. Responding to situations that

arise. Depending on external motivation

factors. Leading with orders, superviser –

subordinate Strong heroic leader. Generally not considered the

proper leadership style for diversity

Transformational – proactive. Foreseeing situations. Thinking

ahead. Depending on internal motivation

factors. Inspirational. Creating leaders and

followers. Leadership as a social process and

distributet. Considered better suited for

leading diversity


Meeting the challenge with differentiating leadership

Who are these leaders and how do they contribute to the success of the immigrant students and to inclusion in their schools? What characterizes their vision and action?• In what sense was the leadership identified as:

– Directive?– Supportive?– Participative?– Achievement orintated?

– Transformational?– Transactional?


Data• Critera for particiation was purposeful

– Successful in implementing ..• ..social justice• ..creating inclusive learningspaces.

• Preschools– 3 preschools– Children and staff of culturally diverse bacground– Interviews with principal, key member of staff (usually head of department) and two to three

teachers, and 2 parents• Compulsory schools

– 3 compulsory schools, one of the schools acting as receptive school for immigrants for the municipialty

– Children of culturally diverse background, – Interview with principals, lead teachers often acting as head of department concerning

immigrant students, teachers and students• Upper secondary schools

– 3 upper - secondary schools, – Students of culturally diverse background, – Interview with principals, heads of department for student of immigrant background, teachers

and students


Background information.

School level Age Number of students

Students with Icelandic as second laguage

Pre-school 18 months – 6 years

19.615 10,5%

Compulsory school 6 years – 16-years 42.734 6,5%

Upper-secondary school

15 years - 24.133 1,6%*

*Students registered in Icelandic as second laguage classes.


Findings


Pre-schools• Who are the leaders?

– Principal is the key person – Teacher (lead teacher) with expertise in cultural diversity

• What did they emphasize?– Creating learning space – Finding experts– Involving parents– Assisting immigrant parents– Enhancing the wellbeing of all children

• What were/are the obstacles?– Communication with parents.– Prejudice towards the school.– Staff perspective towards cultural diversity.


Compulsory schools• Who are the leaders?

– The principals– Head of department (lead teacher) with special expertise in the field of cultural diversity

• What did they emphasize?– Creating learning space (physical)– Finding experts with knoweledge in multicultural teaching– Involving parents– Development of work processes – Promoting diversity within teachers staff with in-service

• What are/were the obstacles?– Reduction in funding– Distribution of funding– Staff perspective towards cultural diversity


Upper secondary schools• Who are the leaders

– The principal: Has a general vision regarding student achievement and well being.– The lead teacher with special expertise in the field of cultural diversity.

• What did they emphasize?– Creating learning space (physical)– Finding experts– Social mingling of students– Focus on achievment.

• What are the obstacles– Reduction in funding– Resistance from teachers– Social Isolation of identity groups– Icelandic language


Path goal leadership styles – looking at the schools

• Directive – Appears in two schools whith strong and clear vision

• Participative/supportive – In all the schools:

• Open access to decision making• Students have a voice with in the school• Organizational and personal support to families and students with immigrant

bacground

• Achievement – orientated– Appears in three schools with history of underachievement and a history

of high dropout levels


Transactional – transformational leadership: looking at the schools

• Transactional leadership – General vision of well being of students– Participative - Supportive– Reactive in leadership – more affected by external change– React to individual needs

• Transformational leadership– Clear vision of inclusion and social justice– Directive in their problem solving.– Coherent in choosing projects– Culture of analyzing and learning– Proactive – less affected by external change


Concluding remarks• Preliminary analysis• Transactional leadership mode.• Transformational leadership mode.• Different organizational structure around

teaching Icelandic as a second laguage.

issues concerning leaders

Education

different culture groups

iceland leadership

leadership practices

differentiating leadership

mainstream culture

different social groups

symbols of culture

proper leadership style