This essay is a statement of your personal philosophy of educational leadership, which should focus on the purpose of leadership, which is WHY leadership is carried out and not so much how it is carried out. Your purpose of leadership is to emphasize the long-range impact you believe leadership should have on stakeholders and on the communitythe outcome of leadership. As you convey your philosophy, you are to focus on its outcome rather than on methods and practices. Those are tools of carrying out your philosophy; therefore, a simple discussion of leadership strategies does not make up your philosophy of leadership. As an academic paper, it is to be supported by the body of knowledge in the field, which is to include references to the literature from educational philosophy, psychology, curriculum, and learning theory. Treat this as a position statement, a persuasive paper. Make declarative statements of ought and should. Length requirement: 1,000-1,200 words, use current APA format, and include a minimum of 4 references. Abstract The abstract should be what you would write on an employment application or what you would say verbally in an interview if asked directly about your philosophy of educational leadership. First Sentence: Write your thesis statement first. It should state what you believe the long-range impact leadership should have on stakeholders and on the community. Paragraph: Subsequent sentences should practically explain what you will do in your leadership to carry out the philosophy you stated in the first sentence. HEADINGS: To ensure the paper meets the requirements of the rubric, you are to include the elements listed below. Note the required headings that are to be placed in the same order in your paper as they appear in the outline below. Philosophy of Educational Leadership (first heading, after intro) This section should flow smoothly from the introduction and should continue to focus on the why of educational leadershipthe long-range impact you believe leadership should have on stakeholders and on the community. Save the how of education for the next section. This is the core part of the paper where you expound more specifically on your thesis statement. State what you believe. Dont feel obligated to embrace a particularly established philosophy. However, you are to situate your beliefs among others by citing ideas that illustrate yours or are in opposition to yours. Refer to the knowledge base in educational leadership that includes psychology, philosophy, and theory. Dont try to cover everything; just identify one or two key theories that might illustrate your own beliefs about the purpose of leadership. Be cautious about assigning to yourself a label that you do not fully understand. If you dont understand all that the label entails, you could unknowingly convey inconsistent ideas throughout your paper. Leadership Practice (second heading) This section should flow smoothly from the previous one. Address what you will implement in your leadership practice, which is the how part of leadership. What practices, strategies, or methods will you tend to use most frequently? Why? What do you hope to accomplish by using these strategies? Now would be a good time to go back to the introduction and ask yourself, Did I address leadership practices in the introduction instead of the purpose/impact of leadership? If you did, revise the introduction so that it addresses the purpose of leadership. Come back to this section to focus on the process of leadership. Relationships (third heading) (The questions listed in this guide are only to stimulate thought. You are not required to answer them systematically. Doing so might make your paper too rigid.) What is the role of the follower/faculty? What is the role of the leader/administrator? How should they relate to each other and why? What other relationships are important in educational leadership and why? Diversity (fourth heading) What diversity factors need to be taken into account by the leader? How do factors of diversity impact leadership? Your Choice of Heading (optional) You may insert optional headings here to address issues that are important to your philosophy of leadership. One idea you might want to consider: Current critical issues in leadership Conclusion (final required heading) Your conclusion should tie in with the introduction somehow so that your paper displays coherence. If your introduction included a metaphor, quote, theme, etc., it would be appropriate to tie back into that. Both the introduction and conclusion should focus on the thesis of the paper, which is to address the purpose/outcome/impact of leadership (not the processes of leadership).
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