Practice 7: Supportive Leaders

Superintendent and principal involvement and providing supportive conditions are key factors in a school’s efforts to become a professional learning community (Huffman & Hipp, 2003). The role of the administrator is to build capacity for learning communities by communicating support for democratic efforts, personally participating in such efforts, and providing time for discussing the school’s movement toward professional learning communities. Newmann and Associates (1996) find that the most effective leaders delegate authority, advance collaborative decision-making, and refrain from being the central problem solver. They emphasize that leaders did not resolve differences, but rather encourage and support an environment that builds the potential of staff to lead. In effective learning communities, administrators view each individual as a learner and leader in the quest for the shared vision.

Research by Marzano, Waters, and McNulty (2005) emphasizes the importance of the principal as a leader of educational reform, understanding the changes that impact student learning and what these changes require of the teachers. Principal leadership continues to be identified as the key factor in the success of professional learning communities (Dufour & Eaker, 1998; Huffman & Hipp, 2003; Sergiovanni, 2001), yet the principal’s role has changed dramatically. Recent studies on school restructuring clarify the evolution of educational leadership from the isolated role of bureaucratic manager, then to instructional leader, and finally to the current highly interactive transformational leader of the school learning community (Sergiovanni, 2001).
Action Plan Example for Practice 7: