EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

IN EDUCATION

Fr. Alan Scerri

M.Ed (Educational Leadership)

University of Malta

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 CULTURE
• What is Culture?
• Basic Assumptions
• Bonding and Commitment among the
members
• Manifestation of Culture
• Culture: result of social interactions
• The complexity of the issue
• Tony’s Bush 6 types of models
• Need for interpretation.
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• “The socially transmitted pattern of human
behaviour that includes thought, speech,
action, institutions and artefacts.” (New
Penguin English Dictionary)
• Culture refers to:
– Shared basic assumptions and ways of doing
things that a group has learned during the
course of its history that has worked well
enough to be considered valid and therefore to
be taught to new members as the correct way
to perceive, think and act.
– Culture has at its foundation a value structure
that is communicated, shared and enhanced
by the members (G. Morgan ,1978)
– Values are the dominant idea of the business.
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(A. Campbell, 1990)
 How do members adapt to a new
culture?
• “Culture must be understood not as
something static and unchangeable
but as an active living phenomenon
through which people interpret and
give meaning to the world in which
they live” (Morgan 1978).
Slowly giving way
Safeguarding the balanc to new interpretations
organisation’s e due to time
core values
and circumstances

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• Engagement among the members entail
both diversity as well as homogeneity
• People of different age groups, different
backgrounds with different personal
aspirations come together to engage in a
particular practice within an organisation
(Wenger, 1998).
• It is the stage on which the old and the
new, the known and the unknown…… act
out their differences and discover their
commonalities (Lave and Wenger, 2002)
• This gives rise to conflicts and fear of one
another and the need to discover what is
common that will eventually lead to a 5
 Moving from periphery to full
participation
• this entails not just greater commitment of
time, effort and broader responsibilities
but a deeper familiarisation with the
culture – an increased sense of identity
(lave and Wenger, 2002).

a set of basic
assumptions
• As new members move towards full
participation they undergo a process of
identification with the culture of the
organisation collaborating in their own
way in the enhancement of the group’s
culture. They interact with the more
experienced members, negotiate new 6
• identification with the culture of the
organisation does not preclude
differences among the members;
nonetheless it may give to the
members “the will to work through
their differences” (Wenger 1998)
• the more the members accept the
core values and the greater their
commitment towards those values
the stronger the culture is. It
becomes a device against which the
members can confront themselves
with regards to what is appropriate
or not, an organisational philosophy 7
 Bonding and commitment among the
members.
• as people within an organisation construct
their history they come to share common
values, beliefs, understanding and
learning.
• “reality is not something separate from
the knowledge of its members but it is the
result of the active effort and involvement
of every individual in collectively trying to
make sense of it” (Lave and Wenger,
2002; Scott, 2004)
• moving from the periphery to full
membership is more than just a process of
learning or greater commitment of time
and responsibility on the part of the new 8
• if the members know what their
company stands for, if they know
which standards they are to uphold,
then they are more likely to feel a
stronger sense of belonging as if
they are an important part of the
organisation.
• technology and economic resources,
organisational structure, innovation
and timing weigh heavily in the
success of the basic philosophy,
spirit and drive of an organisation.
But they are transcended by how 9
How does culture manifest itself?
• manifestation of culture within
organisations highlight certain patterns of
behaviour that intrigue the members in
eventually embracing them……. This
comes about through traditions,
ceremonies, customs and rituals that are
meaningful to the members.
• in moving towards full participation
newcomers are given access to mutual
engagement with other members within
the organisation, the opportunity to
participate in their actions and
negotiations of the enterprise and access
to the language in use.
• by the progressive induction of the
individual, newcomers are integrated into 10
 Culture: result of social
interactions
• Culture is an active, living phenomenon through
which people jointly participate in the creation
and recreation of the realities in which they live –
the process of enactment (Morgan, 1997).
• Members coming into an organisation bring with
them their own patterns of understanding reality
as a result of their prior experience….. As the new
group is assembled a novel cultural identity is
formed adopting modified or brand new
assumptions in its critical areas of its experience.
• Culture is not an objective, independent
existence that imposes itself on human beings. It
is an active living phenomenon through which
people create and recreate their world…… the
“Proactive Process” (Morgan 1998)
• This leads us in questioning taken-for-granted
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assumptions, raising issues of context and
 The complexity of the issue
• “Any realistic approach to organisational
analysis must start from the premise that
organisations can be many things at one
and the same time” (T. Bush, 1995)
• Organisational culture is made up of a
multiple of patterns which vary according
to the:
 size
 Structure
 Technology
 Leadership
 the external and internal environment
 the members within the organisation.
• If reality changes as a consequence the
frame through which that realty is being 12
• each member within the organisation
approaches events with values and
assumptions that constitute their
conceptual modes. It is through these
mindsets that reality is analysed and
interpreted.
• the competing spirit among the different
models brings about the culture which is
eventually adopted by the organisation.
• The multiplicity of competing models
means that no single model is sufficient to
understand and interpret reality within an
organisation.
• therefore the need of a multiplicity of
models that will allow us to get as much as
possible a comprehensive picture of
reality……. “CONCEPTUAL PLURALISM”
(Bolman and Deal, 1997) 13
 T. Bush six models of
culture
• Formal model • Ambiguity model
 Structure  Aims and
 Set objectives; objectives are
individuals opaque and vague
accorded a place in  Fragmentation and
the structure loose coupling
 Leadership at the characterise the
helm groups within the
 Power shared organisation.
among the
professional 14
• Political model • Subjective model
 Goals of subunits;  Organisations are
conflict arise as each social constructions –
group promotes its the result of the
goals interaction of
 Groups (internal and members
external) may form  Organisations are
alliances to press for manifestation of the
the adoption of certain values and beliefs of
policies individuals rather than
 Leaders are active an established
participants in the framework
process of negotiation constraining the
for decision-making. behaviour of its
members
 Leader exerts control
over the members by
enunciating 15
• Collegial model • Cultural model
 All members agree on  Goals and values are
the goals and the hub of the whole
decisions taken discourse
collegially  Core values determine
 Power shared among the vision which is
the members expressed in a mission
 A common set of statement – an
values held by the achievable goal to
members work towards
 Aims not imposed but  Leader has the
emerge as a result of responsibility for
a participation process sustaining the culture
and communicating its
core values and
beliefs both to the
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members and the
 Type of models
Elements Formal Collegial Political Subjecti Ambiguit Cultural
of
manageme
ve y
nt

Levels at Institutio Institutio Subunit Individu Unclear Institutio

which nal nal al nal or
goals subnit
are
determi
Relation Set by Agreem Conflict Problem Unpredic Based
ned
ship leader ent atic. table on
between May be collectiv
goals imposed e values
and
Nature Rational Collegial Political by
Personal Garbage Rational
decision
of leader can within a
s
decision framewo
process rk of
Nature Objectiv Objectiv Setting Construc Problem values
Physical
of e reality e reality for ted atic manifest
structur hierarchi Lateral subunit through ation of
e cal conflict human culture17
interacti
Links May be Account Unstable Source Source Source
with ‘closed’ ability external of of of
environ or ‘open’ blurred bodies individu uncertai values
ment Head by portraye al nty and
account shared d as meaning beliefs
able decision interest s
Style of Head making
Head groups
Head is Problem May be Symboli
leadersh establish seeks to both atic. tactical c
ip es goals promote participa May be or
and consens nt and perceive unobtrus
initiates us mediato d as a ive
policy r form of
control

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An overarching approach
• Though each frame offer a different
way and a particular perspective of
understanding the structure within
the organisation, they offer a partial
view of reality.
• Each model highlights particular
aspects while others are pushed into
the background. To acquire a
thorough picture one needs to make
the most informed selection of the
multiple truths available. 19
• G. Morgan:
• Create a “story line” through a
diagnostic reading of the situation
that cast light on the key features
of the situation. (an open, all-
embracing approach)
• Make a critical evaluation of the
different interpretations resulting
from the diagnosis.
• As we read reality through different
frames at the same time we
become attracted to one line of
interpretation rather than another
eventually moving towards a 20