| Abstract [eng] |
School principal’s leadership characteristics in creating school as learning organization are revealed in this master’s thesis. The aim of the study: to define the qualities of a manager - leader who creates a learning organization. The object of the study: manager’s leadership. The following objectives have been set to achieve the aim: (1) to define the major differences between manager’s and leader’s operations; (2) to reveal the characteristics of manager’s leadership manifestation; (3) to define the leadership qualities of a principal as a creator of learning organization; (4) to reveal the peculiarities of school principal’s leadership in creating a learning organization. The study consists of three parts: theoretical, methodological and empirical. The differences between manager’s and leader’s operations and personal qualities are defined in the theoretical part of the paper. The alternations of the conception of leadership are revealed, the characteristics of a learning organization are discussed, the characteristic qualities of a learning school are defined as well as the goals needed to be achieved by a principal, who wants to become a leader of such organization are defined according to the leadership theories. The author of the study is a team member of the third longitudinal research of the “Time for Leaders” project operated by Education Supply Center of Ministry of Education and Science, the research advisor is Dr. J. Valuckienė. The secondary analysis of the empirical data of this research was carried out to answer the research questions of the master’s thesis. The author of the master’s thesis used the research data from different aspect than „Time for Leaders“ researchers did, i.e. school principal’s leadership features helping to create a learning organization were analyzed. Researches on manager’s leadership in Lithuanian educational system and the study of the project „Time for Leaders“ are described in the methodological part of the paper. In addition, the design of the research, based on the quantitative research strategy, in which the questionnaire method is applied is presented. The data systematization methods and the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data are described. The data (N = 1846 ) of pedagogues’ questionnaire, related to principals’ leadership in a learning organization are analyzed in the empirical part of the paper. The study reveals that the initiator of a learning organization has got a clear vision and operating direction, the skills of human recourses development, learning and teaching, cooperation, team work and sociality. The study discovered that the best-expressed qualities of a principal as a leader are teaching and learning skills, sense of sociality, a clear vision of an organization; all together help in creation process of a learning organization. In addition, it was found out that the biggest impact of a leader’s personal qualities is made on personal excellence, systemic thinking, teamwork, and learning disciplines, which determine and affect the general objectives of an organization and organizational culture. The conclusions and recommendations on how to strengthen the manager’s leadership characteristics in creating a learning organization are presented in the final part of the paper. Principals are recommended to create a learning organization based on the evaluation of expressed school community’s learning, organizational culture and vocational development priorities, to demonstrate the following leader’s features: cooperation, teamwork skills, learning and development promotion and others. 26 tables, 11 illustrations and 10 annexes are included in the paper. The volume of the paper is 76 (103) pages. The total number of references used: 136. The number of the used references in a foreign language – 93. |
