Chapter 26 begins with a quote from Albert Einstein which I believe is incredibly important an fitting ending to all we have studied in our leadership class. The quote is "We cannot solve the problems that we have created with the same thinking that created them." I'm optomistic when considering the future of leadership in education. The study of leadership theory reveals that leadership continues to change and transform. This occures due to the changing and transforming nature of education. As new leaders arise, new ideas come into play. It reminds me of "survival of the fittest." Those who are able to adapt to the everchanging environment are the ones who will find the most success in the field. Not only does it seem to requires adaptation but also risk and foresight. Leaders of education need to be able to foresee challenges and will need to take risks. Part of of readings including a section on depleting resources. Convenience in the long term often means using far greater resources than necessary. For example, the convenience of being able to travel at a moments notice with vehicles comes at a great price of pollution and depletion of fossil fuels. Those who succeed in leading education institutions will be the ones who use the least amount of resources to positively impact the greatest number of people. One of my interests in education relates to this very idea. Reducing educational costs and inputs to provide a more efficient, accessible educational system for those who seek is a goal which I believe is attainable. The way to do this will require leadership who are willing to take risks and think outside the box.
On a more personal note, this class has been beneficial, especially in the beginning of the doctoral program. My background is in business. After graduating with an MBA I worked as a financial management consultant for IBM. Since taking this EDL course, I have been challenged to think in ways that are uncommon to me. Of course, I have a great journey ahead of me but I look forward to taking what I have learned, asking further questions and applying it to practice.

women and minorities

Our recent readings concerning gender and race as factors in educational leadership particularly peeked my interest. Women and minorities in education are part of my topics of interests. I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised to learn that researchers assumed that their research could be applied to women and minorities mainly because women and minorities were not offered the same considerations. Role theory perhaps fits perfectly here. It is based on the idea that a role defines how individuals are expected to behave, how individuals occupying roles perceive what they are supposed to do and the actual behavior of individuals. Much of the text focuses on the leaders’ influence on others and leader behaviors. I believe it is also important to study the influence of followers’ behavior on the leader also. When considering role theory a follower may behave in a certain manner based on what they believe the leader role should be. For instance, I have worked in a situation where followers believed the role of the leader was to control every aspect of work. Also, many often thought of the role as women leaders as more as nurturers instead of leaders. This role often seemed to limit the upward mobility of women leaders. Perhaps higher level managers were seen as aggressive, cut throat, go getters and not nurturers. Role socialization is mentioned as important when considering women and minorities. It mentions that leaders learn to accept and adopt appropriate values, rules, and policies through their socialization into the profession and participation in professional organizations. Women and minorities have the potential to change the institution in which they work and colleagues. In this situation I believe the ability to change the organization and it workers has much to do with the culture. Many organizations may not be open to change at that time. Either way, the nature of the organization and the followers may have great influence over the leader. Maybe even more than the leader has over them.