What is Educational Leadership?

For upon |Those with a passion for shaping and forming young minds are attracted, quite obviously, to the professional field of education. For the committed teacher (or professor) who has knowledge and wisdom to share, the classroom is a venue for leaving a valuable legacy, a place where educators can find supreme gratification. Yet–the memory of the one-room schoolhouse notwithstanding–modern classrooms do not exist in isolation. In fact, they are pedagogical cells of larger organisms. Directing such institutions; and conveying a unifying vision; and managing an infrastructure so that teachers can follow their calling effectively is the task of the educational leader.

What Is the Substance of Educational Leadership?

Those who occupy positions of educational leadership–superintendents, principals, curriculum directors, e.g.–are most often referred to as administrators. In one sense, this is an accurate description: they draw up budgets, evaluate faculty, execute disciplinary actions, and manage properties. However, the core of educational leadership is facilitating learning. The nuts and bolts of management are all directed toward sharpening the intellectual skills of young people while moving them from ignorance to enlightenment. Many school officials pursue a PHD in educational leadership to gain cutting edge knowledge of the latest research in the field.

How Does a Doctorate Benefit a Leader?

The discovery of what works best for student development and intellectual growth is an eternal work in progress. Frequently, changes in state and federal laws force public school districts (and even private schools, at times) to switch things up regarding practice and procedure. From No Child Left Behind to Common Core, testing and data collection have gained more weight on the educational scales, and school leaders must follow suit. In the same way, cultural changes like the proliferation of personal devices; widespread opioid abuse; and shifts in social mores all affect the way teachers must prepare children and youth for the world that awaits them.

What Composes Graduate Work in Educational Leadership?

For aspiring administrators seeking a PHD in educational leadership (or an Ed.D. in the same), certain primary areas of study are required:

• Pedagogy — i.e. advanced study in the art and science of teaching (and learning)
• Organizational management — where budgets, personnel and facilities meet
• Policy and political processes — understanding how schools relate to government
• Practicums — employing theory in actual educational settings

Electives in such a program include communications, finances and special education considerations.

Post-Doctoral Takeaways

A doctoral graduate in educational leadership should go back out into the field remembering that he or she–regardless of greater time behind a desk–is still a teacher. More than that, the equipping of teachers is now the principal (pardon the pun!) vocation of pursuit. Schools and districts are rated on a variety of criteria. Still, with the expertise instilled by a PHD and hard experience, an educational leader will know how to respond to these evaluations with competence and confidence in their own abilities to motivate excellence.