Explicit Development of Emotional Intelligence Skills to Improve Special Education Teacher Leadership

As a general construct, emotional intelligence encompasses emotional, personal, and social abilities influential upon one’s overall capability to effectively deal with environmental demands and pressures (McCallum & Piper, 2000). Emotional intelligence was further defined by Schutte, Malouff, Bobik, Coston, Greeson, & Jedlicka (2001) as the ability to adaptively recognize, express, regulate, and harness emotions. Diverse cognitive or emotional intelligence skills vary by age, gender, and developmental level (Gardner, 1995), which thereby impacts one’s level of competency or FLOW (Csikszentmihaly, 2013).

Accountability of teacher preparation and graduate leadership programs remain an ongoing process. Both the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP, 2019) and the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP, 2022) provide standards that expect teacher preparation and graduate leadership program curriculum to address leadership skill development. Emotional intelligence has been linked to effective leadership (Goleman, 2002, 2008b). Unfortunately, within too many accredited programs, emotional intelligence behaviors are implicitly presented rather than explicitly taught and thereby reliably assessed. However, a study by Anderson (2017) indicated a direct correlation between a leader’s demonstrated emotional intelligence behaviors in the workplace and stakeholders’ perceptions of optimal school climate,

Outcomes of Anderson’s (2017) research noted it is not yet known if and to what degree public schools that are led by leaders exhibiting high emotional intelligence (EQ) would have teachers exhibiting high EQ.  Furthermore, would such schools be more likely to then be perceived as intentionally inviting, having students with higher socio-emotional skills, or have comparatively more diverse learners receiving education in an inclusive setting?  These questions invite further research on the impact of typically demonstrated emotional intelligence and effective teacher leadership within special education settings.

 A study by Byron (2001) found institutes of higher education (IHE) that focus upon emotional intelligence behaviors produced successful outcomes. However, Cobb and Meyer (2000) cautioned that any program seeking to develop emotional intelligence skills “should be empirically defensible, measurable, and clear enough to serve as a basis for curriculum development" (18).  For instance, Sanders’ (2010) quantitative study examined the perceptions of professors that focus upon educational leadership in their work within IHE. Specifically, Sanders sought to identify the professors’ understanding of competencies related to emotional intelligence and the extent to which these competencies were being included within their IHE teacher leadership programs. Left unanswered was whether or to what extent the teacher leaders’ demonstrated emotional intelligence related to stakeholders’ perceptions of optimal school climate

Given teaching is considered one of the most stressful occupations (Palomera, Fernandez-Berrocal, & Brackett, 2008), increasing the importance of emotional intelligence skills training is crucial because professional development in emotional intelligence skills can support teachers’ coping skills within a stressful environment. Teacher burnout becomes more predictable in relation to stress. By contrast, teachers exhibiting high emotional intelligence use more positive, well-adapted, coping strategies to deal with different sources of stress at school, thereby feeling greater job satisfaction (Palomera et al., 2008).

Teacher leadership can be present in different forms for varied purposes, including management, instruction, and school reform. Teacher leadership may be structured either formally or informally as it evolves through presented opportunities and explicit needs within schools. Leadership advancing Invitational Education (IE) theory encourages people to tap into their unlimited potential (Purkey & Novak, 2016). Based on her meta-analysis, Billingsley (2007) found support in the literature for the expectation that serving the needs of students with disabilities requires multiple layers of leadership across school-wide and district-wide levels. Therefore, it makes sense that an intentionally inviting leader’s increased ability to effectively interact with diverse stakeholders would mitigate barriers that confront teacher leaders and their ability to support diverse learners.

To leverage the social, structural, and fiscal, resources beneficial for students with disabilities York-Barr, Sommerness, Duke, and Ghere (2005) suggested teacher leaders should provide the vision, direction, and plans for special education and encouraged prospective teacher leaders to collaborate and advocate across multiple levels within their educational systems.  As a result, prospective teacher leaders would learn to project a concrete understanding of the correlation between the degree to which they are connected to stakeholders within the school and the degree to which they can influence diverse learners’ ability to be connected, feel supported, and optimally succeed within the culture of that school.

Through their educator and leadership preparation programs, every IHE can benefit from encouraging teaching practices that require increased competence in emotional awareness as well as cognition. The results of a study by Rojas (2012) asserted three needs for optimal emotional intelligence development among prospective teachers:

1.  Development of emotional intelligence begins with a commitment to change.
2. Application of emotional intelligence learning is optimized within environments favorable to emotional intelligence development.
3. Pursuit of an ideal allows interdependent application of all other emotional intelligence competencies.

Within the context of emotional intelligence, at least two perspectives are possible: maximal emotional intelligence performance and typical emotional intelligence performance (Gignac, 2010). Typical performance is a more reliable indicator of actual behavior (Sackett, Zadeck & Fogli, 1988). Gignac (2010) and Palmer, Stough, Harmer & Gignac (2009) suggest typical emotional intelligence is purely relevant to the actual demonstration of emotional intelligence skills. Therefore, typical emotional intelligence performance perspective grounds the Genos Emotional Intelligence inventories (Palmer et al., 2009).

Five factors that can be influenced by every leader’s demonstrated emotional intelligence provide a specific framework that contributes to school success or failure. The five powerful factors: People, places, policies, programs, and processes (the Five P’s) become highly significant due to their separate and combined influence (Purkey & Siegel, 2013). Interdependently, the Five P’s provide limitless opportunities for evaluation and development of organizational climate. Grounded in Invitational Education theory, the Five P’s “address the total culture or ecosystem of almost any organization” (Purkey & Siegel, 2003, p. 104). Therefore, the Five P’s contribute to the creation of a positive school climate and ultimately a healthy and successful organization (Purkey & Siegel, 2013).

As noted above, various elements produce an effective educational leader. Clearly, emotional intelligence competencies have been correlated with leadership potential (Charbonneau & Nicol, 2002; Dries & Pepermans, 2007). Yet, further examination of the relationship between emotional intelligence and effective educational leadership remains an ongoing need. Increased understanding of emotional intelligence as a concept and development of participants' emotional intelligence will further enhance any IHE’s leadership development programs (Sadri, 2012).

The field of education would benefit from further understanding the correlation between themes such as emotional intelligence, perception of school climate, and effective leadership capable of monitoring and adjusting indicators of success that optimize and sustain educational reform. The awareness and management of emotions, as well as perception of emotions by others, provide critical elements for success as a leader (Cherniss, 2010). Ideally, this article positively influenced your acceptance that our constantly and rapidly evolving society, will benefit from resilient leaders that possess and demonstrate high levels of emotional intelligence.  Therefore, you are intentionally invited to become an advocate for explicit development of emotional development skills as part of every IHE’s teacher preparation and graduate leadership programs.

 

 

To Cite:

Anderson, C. J. (July 30, 2022). Explicit development of emotional intelligence skills to improve special education teacher leadership. [Web log post] Retrieved from http://www.ucan-cja.blogspot.com/

 

References

Anderson, C. J. (2017). Examining demonstrated emotional intelligence and perceptions of inviting schools. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, 23, 35-61.

 

Billingsley, B. S. (2007). Recognizing and supporting the critical roles of teachers in special

            education leadership. Exceptionality, 15(3), 163-176. doi:10.1080/09362830701503503

 

Byron, C. M. (2001). The effects of emotional knowledge education in the training of             novice teachers. (Order No. 3014883, Columbia University Teachers College). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 103-103 p. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/251642822?accountid=7374. (251642822).

 Charbonneau, D., & Nicol, A. M. (2002). Emotional intelligence and leadership in adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1101–1113 doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(01)00216-1

 Cherniss, C. (2010). Emotional intelligence: Toward clarification of a concept. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 3, 110–126. doi:10.1111/j.1754-9434.2010.01231

 Cobb, C.D., & Mayer, J.D. (2000). Emotional Intelligence: What the research says. Educational Leadership. 58(3). 14-18. Retrieved from: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov00/vol58/num03/toc.aspx

Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (2019). CAEP Accreditation Standards.           Retrieved from http://caepnet.org/accreditation/caep-accreditation/spa-standards-and-report-forms

 

Csikszentmihaly, M. (2013). Creativity: The psychology of discovery and invention (Reprint edition.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 9780062283252.

 

Dries, N., & Pepermans, R. (2007). Using emotional intelligence to identify high potential: A metacompetency perspective. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 28(8), 749–770. doi:10.1108/01437730710835470

 

Gardner, H. (1995). Reflections on multiple intelligences: Myths and messages. Phi

            Delta Kappan. 4. 200- 209. Retrieved from:

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Gignac, G. E. (2010). Seven-Factor model of emotional intelligence as measured by

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Palomera, R., Fernandez-Berrocal, P., & Brackett, M. A. (2008). Emotional intelligence

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York-Barr, J., Sommerness, J., Duke, K., & Ghere, G. (2005). Special educators in inclusive

            education programmes: reframing their work as teacher leadership. International Journal

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Demonstrated Leadership and the Pursuit of Ethics in Special Education

When teachers are provided on-going opportunities to learn through experiences, experiment with new ideas, and then creatively implement new programs; they are more likely to become teacher leaders in both their schools and communities.  These opportunities are beneficial by allowing prospective teacher leaders to develop broader perspectives related to the identified needs within schools and across the district.  This encourages reflection about their own practices and provides variety in their work and recognition of their expertise.  These roles and opportunities thereby influence others and serve as critical forms of ethical renewal for the field of special education.

The great divide in education may not be between general and special educators but rather between community ethics compared to professional ethics.  Although values and ethics are frequently used interchangeably, the two terms are not identical. Values pertains to beliefs and attitudes that provide direction to everyday living, whereas ethics pertains to the beliefs we hold about what constitutes right conduct. Ethics are moral principles adopted by an individual or group to provide rules for right conduct. As noted by Remley and Herlihy (2016), ethics are aspirational goals representing the maximum or ideal standards set by the profession, practiced through your professional behavior and interactions.

If you agree that it is essential to place principles before personalities, then as an ethical professional you would seek to integrate virtue ethics and principled ethics to reach better ethical decisions and policies. Let's take this moment to differentiate between principled ethics and virtue ethics. Principled ethics are a set of obligations and a method that focuses on moral issues with the goals of solving a particular dilemma or set of dilemmas and establishing a framework to guide future ethical thinking and behavior (Meara, Schmidt, & Day, 1996). By contrast, virtue ethics focus upon the professional's character traits and nonobligatory ideals to which she or he aspires rather than on solving specific ethical dilemmas.

Reflecting upon principled ethics we tend to ask, ‘Is this unethical?’ By contrast, in the pursuit of virtue ethics we might reflect upon whether one is doing what is best for his or her followers, clients, or students. Crucially, virtue ethics requires consciousness of ethical behavior. Therefore, the virtuous professional would deem it unethical to use approaches or techniques that might not result in the greatest benefit to her or his followers, clients, or students or to use any techniques to which he or she has not been thoroughly trained, even if their use might not be prohibited in practice.

Therefore, virtue ethics focus upon ideals rather than obligations and on the character of the professional rather than on the action itself. Thus, the intentional demonstration of principles before personalities.  Five characteristics of virtuous professionals were described by Meara et al (1996).  These were:

·       Virtuous agents are motivated to do what is right because they judge it to be right, not just because they feel obligated or fear the consequences.

·    Virtuous agents rely on vision and discernment, which involve sensitivity, judgment, and understanding that lead to decisive action.

·      Virtuous agents have compassion and are sensitive to the suffering of others. They are able to take actions to reduce their clients’ pain.

· Virtuous agents are self-aware. They know how their assumptions, convictions, and biases are likely to affect their interactions with others.

·  Virtuous agents are connected with and understand the mores of their community and the importance of community in moral decision making, policy setting, and character development. They understand the ideals and expectations of their community.

So, how can special educators become empowered to always demonstrate principles before personalities? Finding few references to the leadership roles of special educators, Billingsley (2007) explored potential contributions of teacher leadership for special education by reviewing select teacher literature from general education-- including the “emergence of new teacher roles in schools, the roots and meanings of teacher leadership, and potential benefits of teacher leadership” (p. 164).  Analyzed research, drawn conclusions, and provided implications for future practice or research by York-Barr, Sommerness, Duke, and Ghere, (2005); Bays and Crockett (2007); as well as Billingsley (2007) were each grounded within the conceptual framework of special education leadership and the ethical treatment of students with special needs.  While each study’s limited sample certainly restricts the ability to generalize results, the shared references amongst and between the collective researchers served to narrow the focus of each study while expanding the implications of individual results to the field of special education and educational leadership.

Conducting a meta-analysis of nearly 50 articles and studies was conducted in addition to a case-study interview with a special education teacher who possessed nearly thirty- years of experience during which time she reviewed the professional literature to develop the Supports with Imagination and Meaning (SWIM) program, Billingsley (2007) selected and reviewed teacher leadership literature in general education, including the emergence of new teacher roles in schools, roots and meanings of teacher leadership, and possible benefits of teachers as leaders.  After reviewing several examples of teacher leadership in special education, Billingsley investigated barriers to teacher leadership and ways of supporting the work of teacher leaders.  As a result, Billingsley found support in the literature for the belief that serving the needs of students with disabilities requires multiple leaders across school-wide and district-wide levels.  Teacher leadership can be present in different forms for varied purposes, including management, instruction, and school reform.  Therefore, teacher leadership may be structured either formally or informally as it evolves through presented opportunities and explicit needs within schools.

Special educators become leaders by adeptly confronting barriers to the education of students who have disabilities, rather than accepting the norms and values of the status quo (Billingsley, 2007, p. 166).  Through focus group interviews with special educators selected based on documented effectiveness serving students with low-incidence disabilities York-Barr et al. (2005) found it is better to “understand their realities of practice in inclusive education and to identify supports for such practice” (p. 193). Although York-Barr et al did not specifically focus upon teacher leadership, they did discuss how special educators served as “informal leaders” (p. 200) by articulating “a sophisticated understanding of how their schools and districts functioned organizationally and politically” (p. 193). They also suggested that teacher leaders provided the vision, direction, and plans for special education and encouraged prospective teacher leaders to collaborate and advocate across multiple levels within their educational systems, thereby leveraging the social, structural and fiscal resources beneficial for students with disabilities.  In doing so, prospective teacher leaders project a concrete understanding that the degree to which they are connected in a school influences the degree to which students with disabilities are connected, supported, and provided opportunities for success within the culture of the school (p. 211).

The invitational leadership model provides a comprehensive design that is inclusive of many vital elements needed for the success of today’s educational organizations. As cited by Burns and Martin (2010, “Invitational theory is a collection of assumptions that seek to explain phenomena and provide a means of intentionally summoning people to realize their relatively boundless potential in all areas of worthwhile human endeavor” (Purkey, 2016, p.5).  Studies by Purkey & Siegel (2013) as well as Burns and Martin (2010), posited leadership advancing Invitational Education (IE) theory would encourage people to tap into their unlimited potential. IE theory includes vital elements needed for success within today’s educational organizations (Burns & Martin, 2010). Therefore, teacher preparation and graduate programs intending to develop highly qualified teacher leaders are ethically obligated to seek to identify and optimize professional development based on correlates addressing educational leadership (Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, 2022). Optimal educational leadership has been identified as a correlate that promotes sustained school success (Lezotte & Snyder, 2011).

Clearly further research on teacher leadership in special education is required to promote the opportunities for teacher leaders in schools and optimize student learning in the least restrictive environment, which is the clearest indicator of professional ethics. Possible research questions suggested by Billingsley include:

• What is the nature of teacher leaders’ roles at the school (e.g., elementary, secondary) and district levels?
• What factors (e.g., personal, organizational, preparation) influence the exercise of special education leadership by both special and general educators?

o   How does the culture of the district and school influence teacher leaders’ work?

o   How do special education leaders learn to work within the social organization of their schools?” (173)

Additionally, related to previous research by Anderson (2017), it is not yet known if and to what degree public schools that are led by leaders exhibiting high emotional intelligence (EQ) would have teachers exhibiting high EQ.  Are such schools more likely to have students receiving education in an inclusive setting?  These are crucial questions that invite further research on effective teacher leadership in special education.   

To Cite:

Anderson, C.J. (June 30, 2022). Demonstrated leadership and the pursuit of ethics in special education. [Web log post] Retrieved from http://www.ucan-cja.blogspot.com/

 

References

Anderson, C. J. (2017). Examining demonstrated emotional intelligence and perceptions of inviting schools. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, 23, 35-61. 

 

Bagley, S. & Tang, K. (2018) Teacher leadership in special education: Exploring skills, roles,

and perceptions. Journal of Interdisciplinary Teacher Leadership (JoITL) 2  (1) Dec

 

Bays, D. A., & Crockett, J. B. (2007). Investigating instructional leadership for special

            education. Exceptionality, 15(3), 143-161. doi:10.1080/09362830701503495

 

Billingsley, B. S. (2007). Recognizing and supporting the critical roles of teachers in special

            education leadership. Exceptionality, 15(3), 163-176. doi:10.1080/09362830701503503

 

Burns, G., & Martin, B. N. (2010). Examination of the Effectiveness of Male and Female

Educational Leaders Who Made Use of the Invitational Leadership Style of Leadership. Journal of Invitational Theory & Practice, 1629-55. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

 Crockett, J. B. (2007). INTRODUCTION: The Changing Landscape of Special Education             Administration. Exceptionality, 15(3), 139-142. doi:10.1080/09362830701503487

 

Lashley, C. (2007). Principal leadership for special education: An ethical framework.

            Exceptionality, 15(3), 177-187. doi:10.1080/09362830701503511

Lezotte, L. W., & Snyder, K. M. (2011). What effective schools do: Re-envisioning the             Correlates. Solution Tree Press

Meara, N.S. Schmidt, L.D., & Day, J.D. (1996) Principles and virtues: A foundation of ethical decisions, policies, and character; The Counseling Psychologist, 24 (1), 24-31.

Purkey, W. W., & Novak, J.M. (2016). Fundamentals of invitational education (2^nd ed). The International Alliance for Invitational Education. Retrieved from:

https://www.invitationaleducation.net/product-category/books/

Purkey, W. W., & Siegel, B. L. (2013). Becoming an invitational leader: A new approach yo professional and personal success. Humanics. Retrieved from: 

http://invitationaleducation.net/featuredbooks.html

Remley, T.P. & Herlihy, B. (2016). Ethical, legal, and professional issues in counseling (5th ed.). Pearson

 

Shapiro, J., & Stefkovich, J. (2000). Ethical leadership and decision making in education :

            Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,

            Inc. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

 

York-Barr, J., Sommerness, J., Duke, K., & Ghere, G. (2005). Special educators in inclusive

            education programmes: reframing their work as teacher leadership. International Journal

            of Inclusive Education, 9(2), 193-215. doi:10.1080/1360311042000339374

Developing a Learning Organization and Building Resiliency Through Action Research

         In relation to educational reform, a review of the literature addressing the concept of learning organizations will find most themes and theories were developed from 1990-1999.  In addition to Senge’s (1990, 2006) systems model, Steiner's (1998) case study of organizational dilemma as barriers to learning garnered a lot of attention.  As advanced by Senge (2006), the five primary disciplines of a learning organization are:

•          systems thinking,
•          personal mastery,
•          mental models,
•          shared vision and
•          team learning. 

 

By utilizing these disciplines, facilitating the learning of teachers and students, and transforming itself as part of a continuous improvement process, an inviting educational change leader would want the school to exhibit the essential features of a learning organization. In this regard, the educational change leader’s role and additional responsibilities would be to support staff transitions throughout the change process.  This is optimized by helping build resiliency during change. 

To create a learning organization, it may be necessary for the change leader to willingly destabilize the system to promote innovation and provide workplace balance.  While this would shift the educational leader’s focus, the creation of organizational structure that encourages a culture of learning (Senge, Kleinder, Roberts, Ross, and Smith, 1994) requires the right people become part of the organization.  Therefore, the role of an  educational change leader needs to be proactive, but also intentional, inclusive, trusting, trustworthy, and supportive.  Being proactive will mitigate reacting to or worrying about conditions over which there is little or no control. 

Apropos to this endeavor, Lavoie (1989) encouraged mitigating instructional environments that exacerbate frustration, anxiety, and tension (FAT). The intentionally inviting change leader therefore would want to eliminate such FAT from the system  and instead seek to create an optimal learning environment approaching nirvana (LEAN). As just demonstrated, acronyms and mnemonics are two psychological tools utilizing social interactions within an educational environment to effectively reduce neurological overload and increase learning of desired goals.

Learning overload prevents educators from helping students realize progress and achieve stated goals (Reason, 2010).  Crucially, learning overload also adversely impacts professional development. Reiterating previous research by Kennedy (2006) and Franklin (2005), Reason (2010) further noted, “We can’t alter the brain to hold more information, but we can change our approach to learning in ways that reduce overwhelm and prepare us to deal with institutional challenges more effectively” (p. 99).  The educational change leader helps to promote resiliency and the utilization of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) rather than mostly LOTS by seeking to mitigate learning overload. 

An effective approach for becoming a learning organization promoting organizational learning is to encourage action research as a process whereby educators systematically investigate instructional practices and techniques to improve their teaching and student learning.  As part of the action research process, the impact of a specific instructional practice on student learning is measured.  The results become the basis for educational planning, innovation, and effective decision-making.  By utilizing action research, the educational change leader increases development of the disciplines required to promote the learning organization.

Therefore, action research can also be utilized for promoting continual professional development and providing a direct route for systemic teaching and learning improvement (Calhoun, 2002).  Respective of the correlates of Effective Schools Research (Lezotte & Snyder, 2011) and tenets of Invitational Theory and Practice (Shaw, Siegel, & Schoenlein, 2013), using effective leadership to encourage action research with the collection and analysis of data to monitor and adjust programs, policies, people, places, and processes, facilitates school-wide change.  Thus, systemic action research offers the opportunity to transform the school’s climate and level of educational effectiveness. 

When the educational change leader begins to investigate the practicality of implementing action research school-wide, the following questions should be addressed:

• What does the disaggregated classroom data reflect about student and teacher learning?
• What do teachers need to learn in order to impact specific student learning needs?
• How is the school going to support teacher learning to ensure student achievement?
• How will teachers and the school evaluate classroom instruction and professional learning? 
• What evaluation tools will be used?
• How will teachers and the school use the information collected through the evaluation to make specific and targeted decisions regarding research-based instructional strategies?

           As an educational change leader intentionally invites her or his staff to move toward successful implementation, questions will continue to need answers and the level of understanding will continue to improve. To promote resiliency, it is important to support risk-taking and demonstrate the what, why, and how of action research.  In this way, FAT is reduced, learning  overload is mitigated, and action research results in effective professional development that improves student learning.

As a result, the proactive educational change leader is enabled to focus time and energy on what can be controlled.  The importance of allowing problems, challenges, and opportunities to fall into two areas--Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence was detailed by Covey (1989).  Proficiency in this area allows the educational change leader to attend to the appropriate details within his or her sphere (Senge et al., 1994).  Ideally, the result can then be a school that is a learning organization prepared to promote the learning for all mission!

 

To Cite:

Anderson, C.J. (May 30, 2022). Developing a learning organization and building resiliency 

    through action research. [Web log post] Retrieved from http://www.ucan-cja.blogspot.com/

 

References

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Purkey, W. (1992). An invitation to invitational theory. Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice, 1(1), 5-15. 

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