With respect to the prevailing conditions at Willow Elementary School, I would advice Martha to observe high quality professional development, develop and implement appropriate leadership strategies and exercise shared instructional leadership in order to be able to successfully introduce the desired changes into the school with least resistance.
First and foremost, I would advice Martha to create a conducive and favorable environment that would allow members of staff to grow and develop professionally. For instance, Martha would encourage staff members to seek additional trainings in order to develop professionally. Martha can also encourage high quality professional development by providing scholarships and financial aids to staff members in order to enable them increase their levels of education. Moreover, staff members should also be encouraged to join professional organizations where they can learn new skills, knowledge and expertise. In my view, such professional organizations would facilitate sharing of information, skills, ideas and experiences between staff members and other professionals, hence promote high quality professional development amongst the teachers.
Secondly, I would advice Martha to adequately utilize suitable strategic leadership styles in order to ensure that appropriate changes are made in the school. Through appropriate strategic leadership, Martha would be able to provide suitable vision and direction to the teachers, hence promote growth and development of the school. In my view, Martha should formulate and implement appropriate strategies for the school. Through strategic leadership, Martha would also be able to introduce appropriate changes in the school that would promote organizational transformation. For my part, this would entail utilizing the situational theory of strategic leadership which proposes that organizational leaders should select the best courses of action based on the situational factors. Thus, decisions to make changes in the school would require detailed analysis of the current situation or environment at the school. Moreover, Martha would use appropriate strategic leadership styles to build a team of loyal, hardworking and cooperative staff. This would facilitate adoption of changes in the school.
Thirdly, Martha would also utilize shared instructional leadership to create strong interpersonal relationships amongst the teachers, thus facilitate clear and open communication and sharing of ideas, skills and knowledge between staff members. As Brouwer and Sherri asserts, the most critical resources of an organization are the skills, insights, energy and commitment of workers. In my view, these resources can be effectively utilized through appropriate shared instructional leadership. Moreover, shared instructional leadership also encourages creation of productive and mutually rewarding relationships. This would also provide an environment conducive for attainment of goals and objectives of the school.
In addition, I would advice Martha to adopt appropriate change management strategies that would enable her fully implement the desired changes to transform the school. Last but not least, Martha should promote a high quality of professional practice in the school by ensuring that all teachers and staff members strictly adhere to professional standards and values. For example, Martha should ensure that teachers abide by the code of conduct and code of ethics stipulated by various legislations governing teaching profession and the education sector.