JAh 5P)nei 1p at £o.Md at ~ImAd f(VIRGIL E. HERRICK

This article, by Virgil E. Herrick, professor, School of Education, Uni-versity of Chicago, is addressed to the principal, but could have beenaddressed to the supervisor, the critic teacher, the educational con-sultant, and the superintendent. The principal, in this process of self-evaluation, therefore, serves as a symbol for all persons concerned aboutgiving leadership to the improvement of educational programs.

LEADERSHIP IS A FUNCIMON-not a position or person. Leadership isconcerned with how people can bebrought to work together for commonends effectively and happily., Leader-ship is the ability to contribute to theachievement of those ends eitherthrough ideas or through ways ofworking to accomplish them, or both.Leadership is often confused with com-mand but command is concerned withpower over people, while leadership isconcerned with power over problems.

Kimball Young says,

There is always temptation to make useof power, but power always weakensleadership. Power that ultimately restson force is not real, but only seemingpower. Real power, so far as a leader isconcemed, arises through an integrationof the desires of several people so thatthere is a group loyalty to the collectiveobjective or desire; and any person orany symbol which represents this ob-jective or desire has the power of thecollective support....2

Mary P. Follett perhaps expresses thismore simply,

When you and I decide on a course of

1 Ordway Tead, The Art of Leadership (NewYork: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1935), P. 12.

2 Kimball Young, An Introductory Sociology(New York: American Book Co., 1934), P. ao.

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action together and do that thing, youhave no power over me nor I over you,but we have power over ourselves to-gether. We have, however, no authorityover John Smith. We could try to get'power' over him in a number of ways

. . but the only legitimate power wecould have in connection with JohnSmith is what you and John Smith andI could develop together over our threeselves.... Genuine power is power-with; pseudo power, power-over.s

The implication of this definition forthe principal is that he is not a leadermerely because he is a principal. He doeshave the power of command, but, moreimportant, he has a great opportunityfor leadership. He becomes a leaderwhen he aids the staff in seeing com-mon problems and in making a con-tribution to their solution. He becomesa leader by what he does, not by theright of his title and office. His title tothe office of leadership is his construc-tive contribution to an educational pro-gram.

To say that leadership is a function-not a person-that it is an opportunityto make educational contributions, ishelpful in placing emphasis upon the im-portance of contributing, but it is notparticularly helpful in suggesting toprincipals the important elements to

3 Mary P. Follett, Crenaive Experience (New York:Longmans Green & Co., 1928), p. 199.

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consider in going about making thatcontribution. Five abilities are sug-gested, therefore, which any principalwho is at all concerned about leader-ship should consider carefully--(I)the ability to accept individual teach-ers as worthwhile members of thestaff, (2) a willingness and a desire forlearning, (3) the ability to lead groupdiscussions and give direction to groupwork, (4) the ability to carry on in-dividual counseling, and (5) the abilityto develop and use a personal and pro-fessional philosophy of life and edu-cation.

Is Each Individual Important?Every person must have a feeling of

worthwhileness-an assurance that oneis someone-as a first condition beforethat person is going to be willing toconsider and make contributions to thecommon educational problems of a staff.This is a factor in the basic nature ofbehavior that no principal should everforget. Teachers on the staff will besuccessful in interpreting policies andobjectives to the degree to which theycan discover that in them the interestsand desires close to their lives are beinggiven adequate consideration. One mustattend to his own feelings and concernsfirst before he is free in any degree toattend to the concerns of the group.

In the staff of the school this feelingof importance is directly related to theprestige one feels he has in the eyes ofhis fellow-workers. The principal hasan opportunity to lay the foundationfor that prestige by accepting the mem-bers of the staff as worthwhile persons.As a person, one will like some personsmore than others, one will feel that someteachers are doing better work than

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others, and one will feel that otherseither like you or are antagonistic toyou. That is a part of all human livingand it is not suggested here that oneshould love all his fellow men or be-lieve all teachers to be equally com-petent and interested before he can bea leader. Far from it. What is suggestedis that these differences of feeling andcompetence take on quite a differentconnotation to the individual when hefeels that he is accepted by another per-son or by his group.

For the principal, the acceptance ofthe staff has to be based on somethingmore fundamental than calling them allby their first names, having them sitaround in a circle in faculty meeting,having picnics together, or havingteachers do administrative odd jobs. Ithas to be based on such things as theconsideration he gives them as persons,his willingness to consider their prob-lems, the opportunities he provides forthem to participate in important things,their feeling that he feels they canlearn, that he has not made up his mindabout them on an absolute basis, andthat he is not so concerned about hisown ego that he cannot pay attentionto theirs. To a principal the acceptanceof the staff as worthwhile individuals isof primary importance, for without itthe rest of his leadership contributioncannot be built.

Is he a big enough person to includeothers in important projects withouthaving it be a threat to his own security?

Is Learning a Two-Way Affair?In giving leadership to a staff trying

to improve its educational program, itis very easy to urge learning for othersand not for oneself. It is easy to mis-

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take verbalism and ability to quotebooks and authorities for real under-standing. Leadership in the sense ofmeeting this ability is shown by havinga concern for problems, in wanting tofind out not only better solutions tothese problems, but also better ways ofattacking them. The principal mustknow what real learning is and what itmeans for his own behavior as well asfor others. He must be willing to facethe discipline of facts, logic, and valuesin the same way he expects the childrenand the teachers to face and developsuch discipline. He should expect hisdecisions to be open to the same scrutinyand on the same bases that he expectsthe staff to use in examining its owndecisions or that children will use inexamining their own.

Leadership, then, in respect to thiswillingness and desire for learning, willcause the principal to demonstrate hisdesire for and skill in learning by work-ing with the staff or with individualteachers on projects where this skill andunderstanding can demonstrate itself.All the degrees, courses with learnedprofessors, or number of books read cannever substitute for the demonstrationof this competence in situations thatmake some sense to teachers. Such ademonstration will also bring somehumility and appreciation of what learn-ing means and the cost one must payfor its treasures.

Is the principal interested in learningfor himself? Is he willing to move fromthe authority of persons to the authorityof problems, ideas, and values?

Do Group Discussions Have Direction?Group discussion by the staff or by

small groups within the staff is not

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meant to supplant individual confer-ences, carefully prepared talks, reading,or research. Group discussion is impor-tant because it provides the major op-portunity for cooperative intellectualactivity. Group discussion is concernedwith the creative contributions of allconcerned to a problem which the in-dividuals of the group hold in com-mon. It is one of the major proceduresthrough which the staff identifies andanalyzes its problems, taps the ideas andexperiences of the group in formulatingplans and in carrying them out, eval-uates present accomplishments, andplans next steps. It is also of majorimportance because it is an importanttechnique in all teaching whereverthere is concern for improvement incapacity to recognize and think outmeaningful connections. Thus, if theleadership of the school is interested inhaving children increase in their capac-ity to think through problems, the bestinsurance that this will actually takeplace is to have teachers become moreskilled in this same process in dealingwith their own problems.

The first ability mentioned, that ofaccepting teachers as worthwhile per-sons, is pertinent at this point becausesince the value of group discussion isbased on the assumption that the totalexperience and intelligence of the groupwill be brought to bear on the problembeing discussed, it is extremely impor-tant that all members of the group feelsufficiently secure to be willing toreveal their ideas. Unless they do, thefull power of the group will be lost.The difficult problem of leadership ingroup discussion is just at this point,however. It is the problem of how tokeep tapping the ideas of the group

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while at the same time making sure thaterrors, unrelated ideas, key ideas, andfundamental relationships are being rec-ognized and appropriate selection anduse of them is being made. The diffi-culty as well as the importance of thistwo-headed problem in group discussioncan probably be brought out by thefollowing example.

A principal and a staff are discussingthe problems of an individual child-in small closely knit staffs-a situationfrequently highly charged emotionally.The staff has agreed that their discus-sion might be clearer and move a littlemore rapidly if they would make adistinction between what might be con-sidered as facts about the child or whatthe child actually did, and the factorsor motives which the faculty inferredfrom that behavior to explain it. Themaking of this distinction is an act ofleadership on the part of some memberof the group because it accomplishestwo things immediately-it points outan important distinction which clarifiestwo basic elements in the problem-thatof fact and the one of interpretation offact, and it provides the staff with aworking sequence which they can usein attacking the problem as well assettling the limits within which they areto work. This important contributiondoes not, however, eliminate the prob-lem of how to keep all the avenues ofcommunication open and at the sametime make sure suitable evaluation ofthe ideas contributed is being made.

At this point, some principals havestifled their natural impulse to have eachfact or interpretation critically eval-uated and reviewed by themselves orthe staff while everyone is able to at-tach such contributions to individuals.

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They see their behavior as leaders con-sisting of two major steps: first, to getall the facts or ideas about the child onthe blackboard without any attempt toevaluate them or attach them to in-dividuals; and second, after the grouphas become acquainted with all the ideascontributed, to proceed to evaluatethem on the basis of criteria developedby the group as a whole,

The problem of evaluation in groupwork is usually handled by having vari-ous members of the group make per-sonal judgments about the value ofcertain ideas using frames of referencefor this judgment which are unknownto every other member. Where thistakes place there cannot be a meetingof the minds in testing ideas becausethe basis for making judgments is un-known. The function of the leader atthis point, therefore, is to make surethat the group is able to define andplace on the blackboard the criteria orgeneralizations about behavior whichthey will want to use in interpretingthe behavior of this child. When allmembers of the group have access toboth the ideas and bases to be used forevaluation there is greater security andwillingness on the part of each individ-ual teacher to attempt to actually makethe evaluation and to understand thechild.

When group discussion is carried onunder the above conditions, errors are.valuable in that they may lead into con-structive inquiry by the group or pointout areas that need clarification andfurther understanding. When a teachercan find this out for herself in a situa-tion where the tools and techniques forimprovement are being used, there ismuch greater reason to believe that her

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incentives for continued learning willbe correspondingly great. Good leader-ship makes sure that this kind of ex-perience is possible for every memberof the staff.

The final point which might be madein discussing the place of leadership ingroup discussion is the function of thesummary as a means of closing thisactivity. The summary should makesure that the loose ideas are tied to-gether, that the group receives a per-spective of the course the thinking ofthe group has taken in order to knowwhere it is and how it got there, thatthe conclusions reached are pointed out,and that the responsibilities and topicsfor next meetings are known.

The summary may be made by oneperson or by the group and may be leftuntil the end of the discussion periodor interlarded at appropriate points inthe course of the discussion. The sum-mary of the thinking is an importantpreface to the decisions of what to do,who is to do it, and when and how todo it. Such decisions cannot be madewithout first considering the nature ofthe problem, the nature of the groupand its leadership, and the place theyhave reached in thinking about theirproblem. The responsibility of theleader is to see that summaries are madeand that the group becomes increasinglyskilled in facing and making decisions.The principal has an opportunity forleadership in actually making suchsummaries and in pointing up the di-rection in which the thinking of thestaff is going.

Is the principal willing to thinkthrough problems with teachers? Is hetrying to develop the skills necessary ingroup discussion? Is he able to pullgroup thinking together and actually

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use it in making decisions and in seeingnext steps?

Are Opportunities for IndividualCounseling Provided?

As has been said before, the principalmust deal with the problems and anxie-ties of individual children, teachers, andparents. He is in the key position formaking some contributions to the de-velopment of the individuals with whomhe works. Skill in individual counselingis an important attribute in his beingable to give some leadership in this areaof his educational responsibilities.

The chief purpose of this kind ofcounseling is to enable those personswho are emotionally disturbed andanxious to talk the matter out, to ex-press their feelings and emotions, and,with the aid of sympathetic and dis-cerning help, to map out and worktoward a solution of their own prob-lems. The person seeking counsel setshis own goals and works out his ownadjustments. Such counseling is not forthe purpose of providing the principalwith an opportunity to admonish orpersuade or tell the teacher what shouldbe done. The assumption is that most·

adults who face problems are able toremap their own lives if they are givenan opportunity to bring their feelingsand systems of values out into the openwhere they can be examined. Anotherassumption is that the teacher whoworks through to a solution of his ownemotional problems develops a feelingof security as well as independence andresourcefulness that will stand him ingood stead under a wide variety ofother circumstances.'

4 Stephen M. Corey and Virgil E. Herrick, "Ad-justmnent Counseling with Teachers," EducationalAdministration and Supervision, March 1944, PP.87-96.

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Some of the rules which have beenworked out for such counseling are:

The counselor should listen to theteacher in a patient and friendly, butintelligently critical manner.The counselor should not display anykind of authority.The counselor should not give adviceor moral admonition.The counselor should not argue withthe teacher.The counselor should talk or ask ques-tions only under conditions such as:

to help the teacher talk.to relieve any fears or anxieties on thepart of the teacher which may beaffecting his relation to the counselor.to praise the teacher for reporting histhoughts and feelings accurately.to veer the discussion to some topicwhich has been omitted or neglected.to discuss implicit assumptions, if thisis advisable. 5 ,

From the point of view of the writer,group work provides a basis for goodindividual counseling. It completes asystem of counseling opportunities andprovides experience from which sug-gestions for help can be inferred. In-dividual counseling growing out ofgroup work is more likely to deal withthe problems of the individual thanwould be the case in individual coun-seling alone where the personal associa-tions are limited to a conference room.With group work as a background, thecounselor has the advantage of a com-mon language, common experience, andcommon scales of values to be used ininterpreting the behavior and motivesof the individual teacher asking help.Here, both the teacher and counselor

5F. i. Roethlisberger and W. J. Dickson, Manage-ment and the Worker (Cambridge, Massachusetts:Harvard University Press, 1941), p. 287.

6 Carl R. Rogers, Counseling & Psychotherapy(Boston: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1942), pp. xi-45o.

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are able to come to the problems ofadjustment with an understandingwhich is usually lacking in the individ-ual counseling realtionships. The coun-selor becomes a fellow worker. Judg-ments are not made in terms of thecounselor's omniscience, but in terms ofthe teacher's growing ability to see andinterpret his own feelings and needs.Words take on common meanings be-cause they are understood in the sensethat both participants have taken partin situations where these values havebeen clarified through application anduse. 7

Is the principal sufficiently relaxedin his own egos so he can help otherpeople attend to their own feelings andproblems and become more competentin dealing with them?

What About Personal and ProfessionalValues?

The discussion of leadership up tothis point seems to show the importanceof the fifth ability as a capstone for allthe others. The principal to be a leadermust not only have some special area ofcompetence which gives vertebratecharacter to his thinking and acting buthe also must have some concept of im-portant values of life and education andhow all these things go together togive direction and scope to his thinkingand writing. After all is said and done,the important element in the kind ofleadership which is now being discussedis the integrity of the person and thesincerity of his purpose. It is the corearound which the consistency of hisbehavior as a principal and as a persontakes on form and direction.

T Virgil E. Herrick and Stephen M. Corey, "GroupCounseling with Teachers," Educational Adminisr-tion and Supervision, September 1944, p. 330o.

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This fifth responsibility of the prin-cipal is the most difficult and mostimportant of all because a philosophyhas meaning and reality to the extentit is reflected in his thinking and action.A philosophy grows out of one's work,study, and thinking. Working with thestaff to improve educational programsfor children can be the testing andannealing experience out of which im-proved and more vital philosophies cangrow.

Does the principal have a consistentset of educational and personal valueswhich he consciously uses in dealing

with personal and professional prob-lems? Is be willing and able to let otherpeople examine it with him?

Leadership is the helping of a groupof people achieve their common endseffectively and happily. The principalof the elementary school has an unusualopportunity to provide such leadershipto his staff. The five factors of impor-tance in the development of such leader-ship which have been discussed maybe used as the starting point in the prin-cipal's personal evaluation of his ownclaim to leadership as he works withthe personnel of his school.

99,z on't Wat Bz -J. B. SCHOOLLAND AND MARJORIE SIMPSON

Why the unmarried woman teacher is often forced to become a socialisolate is an enigma to many people. This frank discussion by J. B.Schoolland, director, Student Counseling and associate professor ofPsychology, University of Colorado; and Marjorie Simpson, graduatestudent, University of Colorado, and counselor, University Hill JuniorHigh School, Boulder, highlights important factors existing in schooladministration and in the community which militate against the teacher'sgaining acceptance as a normal member of society; and also offers somesuggestions to the teacher herself in solving her personal and profes-sional difficulties which bar the way to balanced living.

"ARE YOU A TEACHER? You don'tlook like a teacher. You don't act likeone." Now, just how is a teacher sup-posed to look and act? When remarkslike this are still being tossed around bythe general public, shouldn't the teacherand society disillusion each other con-cerning these antiquated ideas?

In this day of psychology, psychiatry,and psychoanalysis, when the adjust-ment of the veteran to civilian life is

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uppermost in the minds of the public,when the "problem" child is dissected,diagnosed, and prescribed for by theschools and professionals, there is onegroup of individuals long ignored bythe public and kindly humored by theprofessionals that needs the attentionof society as a whole. Those individualsare too often the ridiculed, harassed,thwarted, and unhappy unmarriedschool teachers. One has only to ob-

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Copyright © 1947 by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. All rights reserved.