If we didn’t have a principal running with this picture [vision] of excellence all of the time, then who knows what we’d being doing. I think we’d be working hard, but we’d be going in all different directions…trying to survive daily but putting out fires. And proficiency is too low of a standard for us here…we aim for excellence! This picture of where we want to be really allows us to focus on excellence-and keep the other stuff out! And our principal does a great job reminding us about the vision and using it for making decisions and solving problems.
Discussion
Schools are very complex institutions and as such, the job of leading schools to high levels of academic achievement for students is a difficult and challenging job for a principal. Nowhere is this more evident than in urban schools. The job of the principal in such schools is considerably more difficult, as these principals often face fewer resources than their suburban counterparts, traditionally lower expectations for student achievement, and ever-increasing number of mandates and policies aimed at having their students only reach a level of proficiency. Despite these overwhelming odds, examples of urban principals leading their schools to excellence and success beyond test scores are being found throughout urban districts across America.
In this study, visionary leadership was found to be a significant practice of principals in high achieving, high poverty schools. In fact, the results of this research suggest strongly that visionary leadership can be the foundation for success of principals serving in this environment, as it provides the principal, staff, students and parents with a solid picture of what excellence can be. As one principal stated,
This was one of the first things we started when I arrived. Early on, I noticed some staff were disinterested, or just wanted to be left alone. But I felt strongly, that if we could imagine and define excellence, define excellence, we could use this as our foundation for excellence. Once we did, we used it for everything-and I mean everything! And from that, we as a school had a common ground for discussion and decision-making, all centered on the picture of excellence.
However, these findings do not imply that visionary leadership is the “magic bullet” for urban principal success. The other exemplary leadership practices are critically important as well. But, without the development, articulation and stewardship of a vision for school success, it would be most difficult to challenge the status quo, enable others to act, model the way, and encourage the heart of teachers and students. Without the visionary leadership, the other practices may suffer, and thus so will the school.
Further studies of visionary leadership contribute to the understanding of successful principal leadership in urban settings. In particular, school districts and schools of education might consider visionary leadership as an initial strand for the leadership development for current and aspiring school principals. Having visionary leadership as a focal point of leadership development will encourage the urban school leaders of the future to contextualize this critical leadership practice into application at the school level.
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