Diversity, Power and Influence: Multiple Perspectives on the Ethics of School Leadership

Abstract

The intersection and clash between prevailing norms of schooling and increasing sensitivity to diversity raises a host of previously ignored ethical considerations for school administrators. These ethical issues remain largely invisible to many school leaders and thus are addressed only minimally or inadequately. This paper explores ethical issues of diversity, power and influence that are embedded in leadership and school practices. Ethical criteria suggested by various perspectives are examined and an argument is presented that ethical issues can be more thoroughly addressed by using criteria from multiple perspectives. It is only when ethical issues of diversity are explicitly addressed that leadership and schools can become moral and empowering.

Integrating Leadership Constructs Into the Schwartz Value Scale: Methodological Implications for Research

“…With the growing attention to ethics in the study of leadership in education (Macneil, Prater, & Busch, ; Reitzug, ; Shapiro & Stefkovich, ) and in the private sector (Brown & Trevino, ), investigation of leaders’ personal values and motivations as well as the moral underpinnings of leading leadership constructs has intensified over the past few years (Groves & LaRocca, ; Sosik, ). The increased attention to the ethical domain, or what can be viewed as an “ethical turn” in leadership studies, can be seen not only as a reaction to certain limitations of managerial types of leadership, which prioritize efficiency, calculability, and measurable outputs (standardization) over “other‐regarding” values and interpersonal relationships (Simkins, ; Tolofari, ), but as a natural progression following what Bauman () called “liquid modernity”: As social values, roles, and institutions become increasingly dynamic and unstable, and as social norms become more fluid, focus on interpersonal values rather than on managerial principles is perceived as indispensable for ensuring ongoing organizational learning and stability (Bauman, ).…”

Educational Leadership

“…Effective school leaders integrate curricular decision making processes and school-based leadership with school organizational structures to promote student achievement (Evans & Teddlie, 1995;Leithwood & Montgomery, 1983). Similarly, the main focus of this integration is a contextual condition that encourages teacher reflective thinking concerning instructional decisions (Reitzug, 1994). The leadership relationships within a school and the way those relationships interact through the micro-, macro-, and unseen structural elements contribute to curricular leadership processes which are guided by any existing school organizational structures (Clement & Vandenberghe, 2001).…”