0.4 The art of successful school-based management  (Page 6/36)

When one begins to recognize that leadership is inseparable from human interaction, then one begins tounderstand that leadership is more about listening to and understanding each other rather than devising a checklist ofbehaviors. Leadership is engagement, not detachment or mere observation. The benefit is that one begins to appreciate thenuances and subtleties that come with managing and leading people. Being able to engage in this critique of human interaction andmotivation allows one to view leadership as an art rather than a formula. It is interpretative, relative, and sophisticated. Assuch, it requires a comparable methodology for understanding: aesthetics, critical theory, and leadership as art. Following theguidance of aesthetics and critical theory, one can begin to view the art of leadership through the lenses of the elements of art.Just as the elements provide art observers with a language for critique, those same elements can help frame the critique ofleadership.

Borrowing this notion from the world of art, the author will use the elements to describe specific, observableattributes of the art of leadership. As mentioned above, the elements are line, shape, form, space, color, value, and texture.In terms of understanding leadership, the author suggests that the elements will offer building blocks for understanding basicleadership skills. The author takes each of the elements as discrete parts of the leadership function. As the reader becomesmore skilled at describing leadership, then he or she will also notice that it is difficult and artificial to see the elements as“stand alone”skills of leadership. Rather, the reality is more about one element playing a primary role while other elementsfunction in a supportive capacity. Together, they support the leader’s ability to work through a given situation.

As one begins to rely on elements, one begins to come to terms with what is seen, felt, and sensed. Understandingleadership becomes an aesthetic process. One not only knows it cognitively and conceptually, but also emotionally and personally.And leadership is skill, emotion, and personal. Leadership, when it is done well, is an art and applying the standards of the sevenelements of art might help one to begin to know what leadership does, what it looks like, what it feels like, what makes it work.Just as with art, school leadership is not about finding a“magic formula.”Given the complexity of people and situations that leaders confront, it is no small wonder that no prescriptionexists. But, when one sees something work at this school or that system, one may often try to assign the success to a singlestrategy or individual. The reality is, however, that the success comes from the interdependence and interaction of severalleadership functions­­in much the same way that the elements might contribute to the interpretation of an artwork.

Effective School Building Management: A Way for Learning

The elements of art are the basic visual symbols in the language of art. They provide a specific, and oftenconcrete, vocabulary for describing art. The elements are line, shape, form, space, color, and texture. The elements of art helpcreate a view, a perception and a vision of effective management in the school building. Within each school, all seven elements may be present. The relative perceptivity of the various elements in aschool, however, can be very different depending on changing needs, varying times of the year, or changes within the district. Theconstant, however, is that in effective schools, and by association in effective leadership, the seven elements provide a specificmechanism for reflecting on practice and for navigating the often difficult choices that come with educating our children forsuccessful citizenship.