4.1. LEADERS OR MANAGERS

LEADING AND MANAGING

What elements correspond to leadership and which to managing? Where is the emphasis? 

In the document from the IB there are some elements that correspond to managing and some others that are more related to leadership. Nevertheless, they are related and some make reference to both.

The elements that correspond to leadership are:

• Strengthening communication between and among all the stakeholders so that everyone is better informed about the programme.
• Effective use of frequent feedback (as it is the use, it normally involves turning theory into practice)
• Empowering teachers to make decisions regarding the development and implementation of the programme
• Providing a climate that empowers students and teachers to become autonomous learners
• Providing differentiated development for teachers and all members of the leadership team to support and enrich the programme.
• Leadership that promotes an understanding that learning in authentic, real-life situations is transdisciplinary.
• Providing the students with cohesive and coherent learning experiences.

The elements that correspond to managing

• Developing an effective recruitment process to address the needs of the programme (this would be developing policies and procedures)
• Recognising the need for scheduled opportunities to effective collaboration school wide (developing a policy to establish schedules doesn’t necessarily implicate collaboration in practice)
• Defining specific, achievable, time-framed goals for each teacher and each member of the leadership team related to the implementation of the programme.
• Understanding that assessment of student work and performance to improve learning needs to be embedded in, and a direct extension of, the programme.

The elements that correspond to both are

• A model of shared leadership that requires collaboration within the leadership team.
• Supporting long-term continual reflection and change in the school community.
• Broadening opportunities for ongoing professional development.

The emphasis when leading is on practice while the emphasis when managing is more on theory, on policies and written documents. Nevertheless, the IB recognises that both are important because they are interdependent.  All these aspects mentioned, even if they can be classified as leadership or managing elements, have to be developed simultaneously in IB school by all the members of the community and specially by the leadership team (collaboratively).

Managing would never be effective without leadership and vice-versa. They want to integrate both in order to be effective in school communities.