The Virtue of School Leadership: Three Paths to Fulfilling Value Forms

Nai-Ying Whang

doi:10.1177/21582440211006136

Abstract

This study discusses the fulfillment of value forms by examining the virtue of school leadership. The virtue of school leadership stresses character traits in leaders that focus on the pursuit of excellence, appear as a value form, comprise paths to fulfilling values, reinforce leaders’ positive motivation, and foster reform in schools. To investigate this phenomenon, a qualitative method was adopted to interview 18 leaders from schools in northern Taiwan. The analysis of the findings suggests that staff who exhibit the virtue of school leadership focus on leading by example, satisfying others, surmounting failures, and adhering to ideals, which involve three paths to fulfilling value forms.

Highlights

School leaders typically strive for excellence, which is vital to the success of their leadership (Hackett & Wang, 2012)
Exploring the positive effects of the fulfillment of different value forms and the relationships between these value forms to determine the different paths of value fulfillment through the virtue of school leadership and the positive effects of these paths can facilitate the systematic assessment of school development
Interviews were conducted with participants working for junior high schools in Taipei City, New Taipei City, and Keelung City in northern Taiwan to explore the virtue of school leadership across these cities

Summary

Introduction

School leaders typically strive for excellence, which is vital to the success of their leadership (Hackett & Wang, 2012). Discussing the virtue of school leadership in different cultural contexts may elucidate the personalities underlying school leaders’ pursuit of excellence, facilitating school improvement. When the virtue of school leadership is essential to leadership, it involves value forms (Macallister, 2012) and induces positive motivation in a leader, thereby causing positive changes (Whetstone, 2005). The virtue of school leadership helps to improve the quality of educational policies; research into the virtue of school leadership can alleviate the disagreements over education reforms. Based on this argument, the researcher conducted interviews with 18 school leaders from six junior high schools in three cities in northern Taiwan to address the following objectives:

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion