Instructor leadership in Higher Education: An investigation of transformational leadership in teaching

Abstract

Instructor Leadership in Higher Education: An investigation of how transformative leadership works in teaching practice Abstract The study investigates how transformative instructor leadership works in the Faculties of Health and Sciences of Higher Education Institutions in New Zealand by looking into how academics describe, develop, and assess themselves as transformative instructor leaders. Extended Summary Over the past two decades, with transformational leadership taking a dominant position in leadership research, it has also become the driver of the HE instructor leadership research (Bass 1985) and the notion of how HE instructors apply the dimensions of transformational leadership theory into course teaching has become a topic for research (Balwant, 2016). According to Bass (1985, p.14), transformational leaders “recognise the needs of the potential followers but tend to go further, seeking to arouse and satisfy higher needs, to engage the full person of the follower”. Leadership in Higher Education courses/classrooms has similarities with leadership in an organisation (Pounder, 2088). As in an organisational setting, the instructor-leader communicates (what is to be learned, learning goals, and outcomes), coordinates (learning activities towards learning goals), and controls (evaluates student performance) the learning activities. Effective instructor leadership improves student motivation and learning, which, aligned with the visions of the higher education institutions (HEIs) visons, directly increases student satisfaction and graduation rates. Balwant (2016, p.21) defines instructor leadership as “a process whereby instructors exert intentional influence over students to guide, structure, and facilitate activities and relationships”. The influence of the instructor on the student extends beyond class to out-of-class course-related interactions such as office hours or informal discussions and has a lifelong effect on students. Extensive research supports the positive impacts of effective instructor leadership on desirable student outcomes in HEIs (Balwant, 2016). However, since transformational leadership in classroom settings has begun to be investigated, the focus has been on associations between ratings of transformational leadership and positive instructional outcomes. An in-depth description of instructors’ behaviours and the tools they use to exhibit transformational leadership in HE courses/classrooms still needs further investigation (Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009). The project investigates how transformative instructor leadership works in the Faculties of Health and Sciences of HEIs. The research questions are: -What behaviours do transformative instructor-leaders employ in and out of the class to improve student motivation, satisfaction, academic performance, affective and cognitive learning, and instructor credibility?-How do the teaching staff describe themselves as transformative instructor leaders-What tools and strategies have instructor-leaders used, and what support have they received to become transformative instructor-leader?-What are the supports and barriers behind successful transformative instructor leadership?The study investigates transformative instructor leadership from the perception of the academic staff in three Faculties of Health in New Zealand. Qualitative descriptive study methods are employed in the project to investigate how academics describe, develop, and assess themselves as leaders of teaching and learning. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Where necessary, a follow-up interview was conducted with the participants.2 A combination of recruitment methods (direct recruitment and snowballing) was used to recruit 12 academics who exhibited strong transformative teaching leadership in their teaching practice. In the first step, teaching staff who had received recognition for their teaching practices by getting teaching excellence, innovation and leadership awards by their department, university, and national boards and institutions in the last five years were identified and shortlisted. The identified potential participants were contacted and invited to participate in the study. Then, snowball sampling was used to reach other potential participants. Participants were selected to promote diversity in gender and teaching cohorts (undergraduate and postgraduate). Faculty/School of Health of the three universities in New Zealand (University of Auckland, AUT, Otago University) constituted the scope of the participants. The interview questions focused on six dimensions of transformational leadership adapted in the HE teaching context: (1) students motivation, (2) perceived instructor-leader credibility, (3) satisfaction with leader/instructor, (4) academic performance, (5) affective learning, (6) cognitive learning. How does your contribution on higher education generate an impact in the field?’ One limitation of this approach is that there might be discrepancies between participants’ actual feedback practices and what they reported. The study can benefit both the faculty and the wider University staff to increase the quality of teaching and learning and invest in teaching excellence. The research findings will provide context-specific strategies, tools and behaviours of transformational leadership in practice to share in workshops and peer reviews of teaching with the staff.References Balwant, P. T. (2016). Transformational instructor leadership in higher education teaching: A meta-analytic review and research agenda. Journal of Leadership Studies, 9(4), p.20-42. Bass, B.M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York, NY; London, England: Free Press. Bolkan, S., & Goodboy, A.K. ( 2009). Transformational leadership in the classroom: Fostering student learning, student participation, and teacher credibility. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 36(4), 296– 306. Ritchie, J., J. Lewis, C. McNaughton Nicholls, and R. Ormston. 2014. Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications Inc.