Meaning-Full Leadership: A Deweyan Approach to School Leadership

• In Event: The Relevance of Humanities-Based Approaches to Teacher Education

Abstract

The overall aim of my presentation is to discuss the philosophical dimension of school leadership as an often-overlooked aspect of the role of educational leaders in K-12 schools. To this end I will enlist John Dewey’s philosophy of education, especially as articulated in Democracy and Education. I argue that a Deweyan view of education provides the theoretical ground to properly define the role of school leaders and thus to inform an education that empowers teachers and leaders to educate for active social participation in the current cultural, economic, and political landscape.

The current prominence of the learning sciences promotes an understanding of successful school leadership that is frequently defined and studied around efficiency, goal-achievement, and other readily measurable benchmarks. This approach risks neglecting a holistic view that encompasses concerns inherent to leadership that are philosophical in nature. Given the widely documented impact of school leadership, both on instructional quality and on teacher development (Leithwood et. al., 2020; Bier, 2021), such a narrow view has substantial educational and pedagogical implications (ranging from the design of professional development programs to the criteria for evaluating schools as a whole). Bringing to the forefront the philosophical dimension of leadership in educational settings by using rich theoretical language is therefore of the utmost importance to empower educators in the full range and depth of their task.

Methodologically, the inquiry is structured around an analytical discussion of John Dewey’s concepts of communication, meaning, environment, and education. Based on this analysis, I propose a theoretical framework that vindicates the communication of meaning (Dewey, 1929, p. 185) as a fundamental aspect of K-12 school leadership. With this purpose I will further analyze recent literature on school leadership and current educational challenges through the lens of John Dewey’s thought.

This process will allow me to argue that shared meaning is a necessary condition for the school environment to have an educative effect on all its members, including the faculty. I further argue that, in order to support teacher development and fulfill richly conceived educational goals, an environment in which the fundamental aims of education are made explicit, openly criticized, and effectively pursued (in short, held in common) is a necessary condition for teachers to grow both professionally and personally. School leaders can therefore be conceived, first and foremost, as providers of meaning. Their roles will be defined by an obligation to ensure effective communication within the school, so that it can function as an educative community (Dewey, 1980, p. 7).

Author

• Juan Antonio Casas, Teachers College, Columbia University