As the 21st century continues to unfold, acim the task of finding competent leaders to occupy positions of leadership in the educational arena continues to be a challenge, not because of a lack of academically qualified leaders; but because of a lack of adaptive -competently qualified candidates.
As such, many schools are under the leadership of leaders who lack the qualifications necessary to operate educational institutions in an era marked by rapid and constant change. If the educational scenery is to realize any meaningful change, educational leadership should be reinvented. This paper identifies some of the challenges currently faced by the education system.
It looks at how these challenges may be addressed by reinventing educational leadership. The paper culminates with brief recommendations of how institutions of higher learning, as well as stakeholders in the educational sector may reinvent the manner in which they prepare educational leaders. The end result should be academically-qualified and adaptive-competently qualified leaders who are able to perform in environments characterized by constant and rapid changes.
The educational environment in contemporary society is one in which change represents one of the very few constants. Cultural, social, political, technological, and economical changes have resulted in a more diverse school populace since the genesis of education. With the advent of these changes, the educational sector is now faced with increased challenges.
Challenges such as: low family literacy, increased poverty margins, a rise in dysfunctional families, and increased access to counter-productive information via internet. These challenges have seemingly created an uneven playing ground where students from all walks of life enter the education system being different. But, by the time they exit, the barriers of differences should fade significantly -at least academically. Unfortunately, this does not always happen.
An article by The National Association of Secondary School Principals “How do you reinvent a principal” highlights a number of effects these challenges have birthed. These include: higher drop out rates, lower academic achievement, and teacher attrition. The impact of the effects of these challenges on society is detrimental. More students exit the educational system without the necessary qualifications to become positively contributing citizens to society.
