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Servant Leadership: A Powerful Paradigm for Effective Leadership in Africa
Get PDFLack of good leadership is the greatest undoing of African progress. Unfortunately, good leadership for Africans is not just mirroring the western leadership system but adapting to a style of leadership that is attractive to African people’s way of life and effective for African people’s development and wellbeing. Because leadership is a crucial determining factor for the success of all economic, political, and organizational structures, determining an essential leadership style for a nation-state largely depends on how suitable the style can fit into the complex challenges facing such a nation-state. Considering the viability and profitability of the servant leadership style in Africa due to its suitability to the African worldview, this paper examines why the leadership style is preferred in the African context. Toulmin Argumentation Model (TAM) is employed to explain how the servant leadership style is adjudged the best to generate credible leaders that will move Africa forward in terms of catching up with other great economically and politically viable powers
STANDARDS-BASED GRADING AT THE SECONDARY LEVEL: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF DISTRICT LEVEL ADMINISTRATORS AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF TRANSITIONING FROM A TRADITIONAL GRADING SYSTEM
Get PDFTraditional grading practices have been in place for well over a hundred years and grades received served to identify in which subjects a student is “smart” or in which ones they are not (Dewitt, 2017). The problem with traditional grading is that it does not provide qualitative information on the difference between an A, B, C, D, or F (Scriffiny, 2008). Standards-based grading allows the communication of where a student is in relation to well-defined standards. The problem is that many schools do not implement a standards-based grading and reporting system at the secondary level. This is in light of our nation and New York State having made considerable efforts and changes to establish well-defined standards. Although there is a misalignment in our grading practices, an overwhelming majority of our schools continue to use a traditional grading and reporting system to communicate student learning at the secondary level. As movement to a standards-based model has been noted at the primary grades, the purpose of this study is to identify the extent to which district level administrators are willing to change from a traditional grading system to a standards-based grading and reporting method at the secondary level. More specifically, this research attempted to discover the views of superintendents and assistant superintendents in changing from a traditional grading and reporting system to a standards based grading model at the secondary level. Unveiling the perceived impediments to implementing a SBG system at the secondary level was done by focusing on districts that have not implemented SBG at the secondary level and currently have a traditional grading model. To conduct this study, the researcher used a qualitative approach by conducting semi-structured exploratory interviews. Participants in the study were certified public school superintendents and assistant superintendents currently employed in a New York public high school (non-charter) in two suburban New York State counties. The selected population was presented with interview questions aimed at determining general background information as it relates to grading, if it is believed that standards-based grading is important at the secondary level, how district level administrators would make a change from a traditional model to a standards-based model, and what, if any, barriers and challenges exist in making such a change
THE COMMON GOOD IN THE VISION OF JOHN PAUL II AND FRANCIS: FROM SOLIDARITY TO CARE FOR CREATION
Get PDFThis thesis focuses on the evolution of the understanding of the common good in Catholic Social Teaching (CST) from John Paul II to Francis. I demonstrate that while the vision of John Paul II on the common good stressed the principle of solidarity for the good of all people and each individual, Francis made a significant change by expanding the concept of common good beyond the human good to an integral ecology. The principles of common good and solidarity are essentially related in the social vision of John Paul II. Solidarity is “a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are responsible for all.” In other words, for John Paul II, solidarity entails a person’s commitment to the well-being of others and to building up the common good. Among the different principles of CST, John Paul II considers solidarity as essential for achieving the common good or integral human development at every level of society. On the other side, Francis expands the meaning of the common good primarily with a concern of the creation in CST. While John Paul II observes that peoples and nations are increasingly interconnected and interdependent around the world, Francis stresses that “everything is interconnected.” Francis’ expansion of John Paul II’s understanding of the common good, rooted in integral ecology, is an ecclesial response to environmental degradation which constitutes a threat both for the earth and for humanity. In particular, the poorest are the most affected. Ultimately, a practical case illustrates the relevance of the expansion of the common good in CST by Pope Francis in the life of poor rural communities affected by deforestation in Cameroon. I argue that the promotion of the common good in Cameroon requires our commitment to work assiduously to protect the Basin Congo Forest
WHEN EQUITY IS NOT ENOUGH: THE SERIAL MEDIATION OF TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS AND TEACHER JOB SATISFACTION ON EDUCATIONAL EQUITY AND TEACHER PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL CLIMATE
Get PDFThe equity of education for African American students, especially from low-income and economically marginalized (LIEM) communities, has been a major topic of debate prior to the Civil War. The purpose of this study was to determine if educational equity has a positive effect on teacher effectiveness, teacher job satisfaction, and teacher perceptions of the school climate. Participants were educators who teach elementary and secondary level students in the Northeastern region of the United States with at least one year of experience (N = 73). Eligible participants accessed the research prompt and survey via an online link using Qualtrics. The study assessed the serial mediation with Teacher Effectiveness and Teacher Job Satisfaction serially mediating the relationship between Educational Equity and Teacher Perceptions of School Climate. Teacher Job Satisfaction was evaluated on four levels: Teacher Job Satisfaction with Coworkers, Teacher Job Satisfaction with Parents, Teacher Job Satisfaction with Student Behavior, and Overall Teacher Job Satisfaction. Although Educational Equity results were insignificant, findings from this study expand our knowledge and understanding of the impact educational equity may have on teacher effectiveness, teacher job satisfaction, and teacher perceptions of school climate
INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES IMPACTING STRUGGLING EIGHTH GRADERS’ READING ACHIEVEMENT: A NON-EXPERIMENTAL QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
Get PDFDespite ongoing efforts to reform schools, the longstanding racial/ethnic achievement gap still persists, particularly for boys of color; in many cases, the gap is widening, particularly for students transitioning from elementary to middle school. The focus of this study was to examine the impact of effective instructional practices for struggling eighth-grade readers, and how these practices can help bridge the achievement gap among students from diverse backgrounds. This study utilized correlational research methods to determine the relationship between teacher qualities and instructional practices and the reading achievement of struggling eighth-grade students. The study used national data from the 2013 NAEP Eighth Grade Reading Assessment, including test scores. The researcher focused on 80 variables from the teacher and student surveys from 170,600 public schools and 151,777 teachers. Factor analysis was used to create factors; then statistical linear regression models were created to determine whether a significant relationship existed between the variables and the overall sample and subpopulations. Three conclusions were made. First, there is a statistically significant relationship between teachers’ professional and instructional training and student reading achievement at the middle school level. Second, a statistically significant relationship exists between a teacher’s classroom practices and eighth-grade reading achievement. Third, there is a statistically significant relationship between teacher qualities on student reading achievement for the independent variables of race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status
AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN LEADERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: AN EXAMINATION OF JOB SATISFACTION
Get PDFDespite the increase of African American women on college campuses, African American women leaders in higher education administration in the United States are significantly underrepresented and under-retained. This lack of representation has lasting effects on leadership pipelines and how African American women leaders are perceived and valued in the workplace. A contributing factor to this disparity is job satisfaction experienced by African American women leaders in academia. Using Black Feminist Thought and Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Higher Education as theoretical frameworks, this critical narrative study described the experiences of eight African American women in higher education leadership to help us understand how individual experiences in the workplace shape job satisfaction at a doctoral-granting, predominantly White public institution in the northeast United States. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, the study investigated the individual experiences of the participants in their professional positions and the factors that characterized their job satisfaction. The study drew from concepts taken from research on job satisfaction in higher education and the structural and systemic issues affecting African American women leaders who work at postsecondary institutions. The thematic analysis of the data presented participant perceptions about institutional support, agency, and persistence through a CRT lens. By placing African American women leaders in higher education at the center, the study revealed insights into how institutions can further support members of this underrepresented group
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP STYLES AND ITS INFLUENCE/IMPACT ON TEACHER SELF-EMPOWERMENT
Get PDFThis study was an examination of the extent to which a relationship exists between teachers’ perceptions of self-empowerment and teachers’ perceptions of their administrators’ leadership effectiveness. The study focused on human relations theory to explore and describe the leadership styles of administrators through the perceptions of teachers’ self-empowerment. The participants in this study were general education teachers employed at two secondary schools (Grades 6–12) within a public school district located in the northeastern part of the United States, consisting of 150 teachers. A total of 73 general education teachers were part of the study with 12 study participants volunteering to participate in one of two focus groups with six participants in each focus group. Through a series of triangulated analyses and an explanatory mixed-methods approach, the teacher participants were administered a self-empowerment, Likert-scaled survey, the School Participant Empowerment Scale, developed by Paula M. Short, to determine their perceptions of leadership styles. The study explored the subscales of leadership styles researched by Harvard graduate and Happiness Coach, Shawn Achor. Several sources of data, such as the survey answers and the information drawn from the two focus groups, were analyzed into a mixed methods explanatory study. The study also focused on the domains of leadership styles relating to relationships, climate/structure, and task orientation. The teachers’ perceptions of self-empowerment were measured through the subscales of involvement, decision making, and responsibility. This study compared the culture of the school buildings with a focus on change theory to compare transformational leadership styles. Utilizing the framework set forth by Achor, the theory of positive psychology in the workplace determined the correlation between the teachers’ perceptions of self-empowerment and their administrators’ leadership styles