Introduction

            The results of a successful strategic plan require that all stakeholders are moving in a constructive direction.  Many school leaders fail in this important task. Parental involvement is one of the key areas where most schools face challenge. Facing this challenge, leaders of the school must strategically plan towards enhancement of the holistic educational system by knowing and understanding each component of the realms of meaning written by Dr. Kritsonis. For us to fix today’s educational problems, we must deeply analyze the problems of the past system and implement a postmodern theory into today’s educational system. Educational leaders must escape from their fear to bring change and take it as a challenge to fix the educational system but it does require the passion for change, meetings the needs of all stakeholders of the school.

Purpose of the Article

 The purpose of this article is to discuss how school leaders’ understanding of the six realms of meaning (Kritsonis, 2007) can be strategically integrated in solving the educational problems of today and improving the schools of tomorrow. Dr. Fenwick W. English (2003) has described how postmodernism can change the educational system today. School administrators must believe in postmodernism theory to bring change in the educational system.

Values of Educational Leader

 What are values and where do they come from? How do our values make a difference in the educational system today? In the Ways of Knowing Through the Realms of Meaning (2007), Dr. Kritsonis highlights traits for developing a person holistically. According to him,

 A person should be skilled in the use of speech, symbol, and gesture (symbolics), factually well informed (empirics), capable of creating and appreciating objects of esthetic significance (esthetics), endowed with a rich and disciplined life in relation to self and others (synnoetics), able to make wise decisions and to judge between right and wrong (ethics), and possessed of integral outlook (synoptics). (Kritsonis, 2007, p.15)

 Educational leaders have an enormous responsibility to carry on the vision of the school. According to Haydon (2007), Educational leadership today promotes critical thought and constructive analysis about underlying values that involve aims and moral purpose in education; individual qualities in educational leadership, vision in education, school ethos and culture, and schools as an educational communities. (p.1)

 Creating a road map of the school’s strategic plan helps educational leaders increase parental  involvement.  A  lack of strategic  planning can  cause financial  loss for  the scfool. Brain and Reid (2003), stated: “The more expansive the view of parental involvement, the greater the costs in running such projects and, hence, particularly in poor areas, the less chance of them is being sustainable” (p. 293). Parents are expected to take ownership of different programs in schools. Parents are responsible for the children’s attendance, behavior and willingness to learn in schools and provide support to schools.

Brain and Reid stated, “Parental involvement is seen as a mechanism for simultaneously raising standards, developing new partnerships between schools and parents in the local community and promoting social inclusion” (2003, p. 291). Parents and teachers are full partners in raising the children today.  McNamara (2000) mentioned that the current labor government has placed a renewed emphasis involving parents as active partners in the production of educated children (McNamara, Hustler, Stronach, Rodrigo, Bresford, & Botcherby, 2000, p. 474). Postmodernism guides educational leaders to use innovative and creative ways to improve the educational system. Educational leaders with the postmodernistic approach can take the school so many years a head, where all students are successful and schools are technologically advanced.  According to English (2003),

 Postmodernism is about constructing a way of looking at the world of ideas, concepts and systems of thought through the historicity of context and the shifting nature of linguistic meaning and symbols as they are manifested in discursive practices which run through educational administration and related fields. (p.3)

 Educational leaders that are the true role models of the stakeholders of the school enforce epistemological and axiological framework; they believe in the positive change of the school’s educational system.

 Strategic Planning for Educational Leaders              For educational leaders to be successful at creating effective schools where all stakeholders are highly involved in attainment of the school’s vision, the educational leader needs to know how to apply steps of strategic planning in enforcing the vision of the school to all stakeholders.  According to the Center of Organizational Development and Leadership (2007), there are six planning phases:

 Mission, Vision, and Values,

Environmental Scan, Goals, Strategies and Action Plans, Plan Creation, and Outcomes and Achievements.  (pp. 3-4)

 Each step of strategic planning relates directly and indirectly to the six realms of meaning. Educational leaders usually get in their comfort zone and never think beyond changing the system of the school. They have a fear to align everyone’s vision and as they see obstacles, educational  leaders stop and continue operating in their comfort zone.

 English (2003) states, “The mental baggage of modernism is represented in the way conceives of itself as a compelling singularity: total, final and absolute” (p. 62). School administrators’ tunnel vision directs them to never think beyond modernism, they find everything absolute and seldom make any changes. English (2003) said, “Postmodernism is not so much interested in the answers as the questions” (p. 4). We have to ask questions such as where we went wrong, and seek solutions instead of continuing to play the blame game.

 The First Realm: Symbolics

             Symbolics play a major role in the development and improvement of the educational programs. Dr. Kritsonis states: “The first realm, symbolics, comprises ordinary language, mathematics and various types of nondiscursive symbolic forms, such as gestures, rituals, rhythmic patterns, and the like” (Kritsonis, 2007, p.11). This realm focuses on the key component that creates a successful organization. One of the areas that it focuses on is communication. Effective communication is one of the areas that are also highly emphasized in the strategic planning. According to the Center for Organizational Development and Leadership (2007), “Without careful communication, planning organizational change is likely to meet with resistance by colleagues. Successful communication requires attention to each group likely to be affected by the planning process and the plan’s goals” (p.5). This realm is the essential component of the educational system. Leaders of the school must know how to effectively communicate with all stakeholders of the school. Symbolics addresses communication instruments, which can be utilized for conferences and professional development for educators. Educational leaders with the vision of involving parents and stakeholders of the school must know the power of communication effectively through different sources and how it can bring people towards the mission of the school. Electronic communication through electronically such as websites, emails, automated phone messages, text messages and newsletters are excellent forms of communication.  Leaders also need to know the power of written and oral communication and how it impacts people differently. Kritsonis stated, “Ordinary language is the forms of discourse employed in every day speech and writing” (2007, p.111).  Educational leaders need to know the significance of using ordinary language defined by him.  Dr. Kritsonis defined ordinary language, “It allows humans to communicate on a personal level. Many like to take a break from “shop talk” from time to time and become comfortable with associates” (2007, p.114). Educational leaders should learn to communicate effectively knowing when and where to use ordinary language. Dr. Kritsonis said, “The objective of using language is communication (2007, p. 114).

Language is a binding force in society. It is a means of establishing human relationship” (Kritsonis, 2007, p.116).  Building,  maintaining and  sustaining relationship with people are highly important for educational leaders and meaningful relationships can be established with effective communication. Kritsonis said, “Perhaps the deepest of all human needs is to be understood and accepted by others” (2007, p.116).  One of the biggest challenges of educational leaders is to gain parental support. To overcome such a challenge, strategic planning of an organization must be planned where the idea is to empower parents and gain their trust by involving them in the campus improvement meetings.  According to Fisher (1994),

 To increase parental involvement, Mount Cammel High School has adopted strategic-planning change model. Successful strategic plans are connected to school mission and core values, gain staff support, remain open to input from all parties, build trust and rapport among participants, ensure open communication with stakeholders, ensure high principal visibility and feedback systems, and consider successful efforts elsewhere. (pp. 69-74)

 The Second Realm: Empirics  “The second realm empirics, includes the sciences of the…

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It is very true that the science is nothing without the study of technology. In other words, it is not wrong to say that the combination is just like soul without the body. Interestingly, major accomplishments in science are always accompanied by right usage and applications of technology. As a result, for getting a complete science education, a person needs to be committed towards gaining the right knowledge, content and processes of the subject.

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Very often, due to changes in the work environment, or just through the desire to learn more about a particular aspect of their field, people who have completed an undergraduate education, perhaps many years before, seek the opportunity to continue their formal education, thereby obtaining a higher level credential. This holds true, particularly for people in education and business, where new knowledge, new methods, and new opportunities for advancement are constantly emerging.

For example, teachers, who want to become department heads or qualify for positions as vice-principals and principals, need to obtain a graduate-level diploma in order to be considered for promotion. Similarly, managers and junior executives in the business world, with their eyes set on controlling large corporate interests, want to ensure that they acquire a broad and yet solid knowledge base to complement the skills and experience they have accumulated in the so-called real world.

In these instances, obtaining a masters degree tends to be based on the completion of set number of courses, and thus these programs can be readily offered through a distance learning format. At the same time however, graduate education can also serve to enhance and build upon an individual’s knowledge of a particular academic subject area.

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In fact, as the popularity of obtaining a graduate education in this way increases, many distinguished universities and specialized institutions are beginning to offer masters degree programs through distance learning. They know that students from around the world, who would easily qualify for admission into their regular full-time graduate programs, might not be able to study on site. However, they recognize that these students would greatly benefit from the opportunity to learn from internationally renowned faculty, and obtain an internationally recognized credential.

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As I reflect on Barnett’s book and statements, I realise that a participatory approach manifested in a collaborative form of internal government is generally an excellent principle to guide the management of higher education institutions. Indeed there are benefits to employing a participatory approach to higher education governance. Doing so aids in establishing a balance between administrative and scholastic interests and also maintains the feeling of “community” in an institution.  Additionally, if the faculty is allowed to participate in the development of policies and the governing body implements these policies harmony will be the result.  

What I am advocating is a process of amalgamation of faculty and staff involvement, faculty resources and managerial techniques in the governance of an institution.  Specifically, this requires four things: firstly, staff and faculty commenting on areas such as the use and distribution of funds and the effective use of resources; secondly, the development of a process of soliciting their opinions and comments; thirdly, ensuring that opinions and comments are taken into account when implementing policies and making decisions which affect the entire academic community; fourthly, if a collaborative form of internal government is to be truly successful, it requires the use of appraisal schemes aimed at balancing managerial techniques with faculty and staff involvement in governance.  This appraisal scheme will also serve the purpose of determining the extent to which the views of the academic community are being considered.

Globally, there are many issues facing those who lead higher education institutions. These include the need to receive government and research funding in order to operate effectively and to show that the institution is not an ivory tower but is relevant and responsive to the needs of the local community. The need to provide training and expertise in developing a knowledgeable labour force that is equipped to participate in the development of local and national goals is also important. Another issue that is real to any institution of higher education, especially in the developing world, is that of resources and the growing demands placed on those institutions to be self-sufficient, accountable and produce more with less.

These and other issues faced by institutions of higher education might encourage boards of governors to focus on the financial status and essentials of operating. However, to successfully navigate these issues requires a tempering of the control exhibited by boards with staff involvement. In other words, there is a need for a collaborative form of internal government in higher education institutions. For indeed, more wisdom can be garnered from a group of people than from a single individual armed only with managerial techniques.

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