Evolution of the School Superintendent as Communicator

Abstract

Normative communicative behavior for school superintendents appears to have evolved as a set of role-related and context-dependent skills. The efficacy of this situational perspective, however, is questionable in relation to current conditions in society and public schools. The superintendency has evolved through four traditional conceptualizations: superintendent as a teacher of teachers, as manager, as statesman, or as applied social scientist. Experience arising from the current school reform movement demonstrates that relationship-enhancing communication rather than top-down dicta are necessary for advancing educational agendas. National standards documents governing the training and qualifications of school superintendents do allude to communication competence, but provide inadequate foundation or elaboration. In particular, movement toward improving superintendent communication competence is attenuated by three deficiencies: (1) the failure to define competency in relation to this position, (2) the absence of curricular guidelines for achieving competency, and (3) the absence of criteria for assessing competency. Current theory and research provide avenues for elevating the value placed on communication in professional preparation for school superintendents.

Attaining and Sustaining the Superintendency: The Perspectives of Four Successful Retirees

“…A review of the literature on the superintendency referenced Kowalski (2005) and his assertion that the current role of the superintendent is that of communicator, while others posited that the current conceptualization is as instructional leader. Glass and Franceschini (2007) found that half of superintendents nationally reported instructional leadership as the primary reason their boards of education hired them, representing a sharp increase from previous national studies.…”

Superintendent Beliefs About the Assessment and Use of School Climate Data for Continuous Improvement

“…Early leaders were selected for their teaching expertise. Over the years, the desire for teacher expert leaders has waxed and waned as other perspectives and skills were needed, including the democratic negotiator, the evidence-based practitioner, the business expert, and the master communicator (Kowalski, 2005;Kowalski & Brunner, 2011;Moody, 2011;Sharp, Malone, Walter, & Supley, 2004).…”

“…In the current leadership landscape, there appears to be a split between leaders who lead for organizational transformation and those who lead to manage. According to education leadership scholars, the communication expertise that is required for the modern superintendent demands an ability to communicate openly, learn from the community, think about schools from a complex systems perspective, and facilitate the transformation of schools to improve education outcomes (Kowalski, 2005 (2013). At the heart of the practice of humble inquiry is the ability of leaders to both help and to be helped (Schein, 2013).…”

“…The ethos championed by the Broad Academy espouses that education leaders need capacities in business management, rather than knowledge and experience in teaching and learning. The Broad Academy has emphasized competition and school choice, the weakening of teacher unions, and a shift in the professionalization of superintendents from education leaders to business managers (Kowalski, 2005;Miller, 2012). The foundation for this argument was both the failure of US public schools to curb social ills (Labaree, 2012;Miller, 2012) and the notion that school improvements can be actualized through an improved management of funds and increased competition.…”

“…Additionally, the superintendency remains a predominantly white male profession. In fact, about 85% of superintendents in the nation are white males (Kowalski, 2005;Kowalski & Brunner, 2011;Sharp, Malone, Walter, & Supley, 2004). Cognitive processes and perspectives are undeniably influenced by life experiences and white males in the US are arguably interacting with the world differently than women and people of color.…”