Empowering the school leaders of tomorrow: what lessons can we learn from the decision-making of today’s school leaders?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines how school leaders understand their decision-making, its impact on their school community and whether there is evidence of ‘wise’ decision-making derived from Aristotle’s concept of phronesis. A questionnaire was completed by 13 school leaders with between 2 and 25 years of experience. The first section examined patterns of decision-making related to three areas: the categories of decisions made; staff involvement and factors that influenced decision-making. The second section presents a thematic analysis of open questions related to individual experiences of ‘wise’ decision-making. Three personal attributes have been identified together with five emergent themes. The three personal attributes of a flexibility of mind, the capacity for reflexivity and the adoption of an ethical standpoint which is focused on the common good, underpin the themes providing a basis for decision-making. The themes comprise clarity and confidence in what constitutes a wise decision, acknowledging the impact of poor decision-making, values-driven leadership, time as a factor, and finally, the relationship between intuition versus experience. The personal attributes and themes offer a valuable insight into school leaders’ decision-making, of interest to both aspirant and experienced school leaders, enabling them to reflect on, and interrogate the decisions they make in leading their school.