Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Servant Leadership
Thomas McCann
EDUW 691
Wisconsin Teacher Standard (WTS) 1: Teachers know the subjects they are teaching.
Knowledge. The teacher relates his/her disciplinary knowledge to other subject areas.
Dispositions. The teacher realizes that subject matter knowledge is not a fixed body of
facts but is complex and ever-evolving. S/he seeks to keep abreast of new ideas and
Performances. The teacher can represent and use differing viewpoints, theories, ways
Knowledge. The teacher understands that students physical, social, emotional, moral,
and cognitive development influence learning and knows how to address these factors when
Dispositions. The teacher is disposed to use students strengths as a basis for growth,
Performances. The teacher stimulates student reflection on prior knowledge and links
new ideas to already familiar ideas, making connections to students experiences, providing
opportunities for active engagement, manipulation, and testing of ideas and materials, and
Danielson Domains
Pre-assessments
For Wisconsin Teacher Standards (WTS) 1 and 2 I want to use the Servant Leadership
model with my teachers in order to lead them to become better educators. Based on what I
understand of Servant Leadership I believe that that model fits my personal beliefs and values of
leadership. I am currently the principal of two small rural Catholic elementary schools. I have
one teacher who has been resistant to change who needs help with improving math instruction
for 3rd and 4th grade students using the Saxon math curriculum. She teaches in a combined
classroom consisting of grades 3 and 4. I have been unsuccessful as of late in convincing her to
make needed changes to her instruction. With limited time remaining in the current school year
to effect substantive change in her teaching, I intend to research and then use Servant Leadership
techniques in order to guide her in making the needed improvements to her instruction during the
The knowledge descriptors I chose to focus on were the teacher relates his/her
disciplinary knowledge to other subject areas and the teacher understands that students
physical, social, emotional, moral, and cognitive development influence learning and knows how
to address these factors when making instructional decisions. I have been unable up to now to
help the teacher make the necessary change to her instruction in order to see improvement in
students math scores. I understand that my methods of leadership have not been effective in
assisting her and I have to apply a different approach to leadership in order to help her make the
I chose two disposition descriptors. The first is, The teacher realizes that the subject
matter knowledge is not a fixed body of facts but is complex and ever evolving. S/he seeks to
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keep abreast of new ideas and understandings in the field. This descriptor is critical in that I
need to learn a different leadership approach in order to help my teacher grow. Researching a
different leadership style and being open to a new idea such as Servant Leadership is what will
hopefully make the difference that will enable me to help her improve. The second disposition
descriptor I chose is, the teacher is disposed to use students strengths as a basis for growth, and
their errors as an opportunity for learning. I need to be aware of her strengths as I plan to lead
her to improve instruction in order to build off of what she does well. I also must present her
struggles as an opportunity to learn something new and see that a new approach may be what
The following performance descriptor, the teacher can represent and use differing
viewpoints, theories, ways of knowing, and methods of inquiry in his/her teaching of subject
matter concepts, was chosen because I must be able to present a different viewpoint on how
best to instruct 3rd and 4th graders in Saxon math than what she has been doing and do so using a
new method of leadership. I also chose the teacher stimulates student reflection on prior
knowledge and links new ideas to already familiar ideas, making connections to students
experiences, providing opportunities for active engagement, manipulation, and testing of ideas
and materials, and encouraging students to assume responsibility for shaping their learning
tasks because it is imperative that I guide her to reflect on her prior knowledge of her
performance in order to help her realize that a change is needed. I believe it is important that she
take ownership of the change and evaluate its effectiveness. A method of leadership, such as
Servant Leadership, is what I think will allow me to be a more effective leader of my teachers.
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Students in the 3rd/4th grade classroom are having a difficult time with the Saxon math
curriculum. Using standardized test data over the last four years (the time from which the
current Saxon math alignment was implemented) students on average are about 20 percentage
points lower in 3rd grade than they were at 2nd grade. There is also an uptick is scores beginning
in 4th grade showing substantial improvement by the time students graduate in 8th grade. The dip
is clearly and consistently showing up in the 3/4 classroom. In addition, parents and students
both have expressed concern about how math is being taught. My own observations have
While observing the teacher I noticed that the method of instruction intended was typically not
being used. For example, students are to be given direct instruction along with skill practice.
The skill practice is to be accompanied by individual coaching. Students are not to advance to
the next lesson without attaining 80% mastery or better using formal and informal assessments.
Although students were given a small amount of direct instruction, their practice time took up
most of the remaining class time and occurred with little or no coaching. Students worked
frequently alone at their desk and were told to seek each others help before approaching the
teacher. The next class period was for a new lesson regardless of the score the students received
In observing over the course of two school years I noticed that students who were
typically the top math students in 2nd grade would start out quite strong in 3rd grade and most of
the other students would do rather well in the beginning also. Since Saxon math spends a large
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amount of time reviewing the previous years material in the opening lessons of the next level
most students do start rather well. Once new material is introduced in the 3rd grade, however, the
students tended to struggle rather quickly except maybe for the mathematically gifted, but even
provided by the 3rd/4th grade teacher as well as my overall assessment of the situation I believe
that it is necessary for me to employ a better leadership strategy in order to reach my goal of
improving math learning for the 3rd grade students. My essential research question is: What are
the key qualities of a servant leader that can assist me as principal in leading effectively?
Research Summary
Servant leadership is being considered as a viable leadership model for Catholic schools
because of its strong connection to the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Research is quite limited,
schools. The availability of research has probably been reduced because of the lack of a clear
consensus as to the definition of servant leadership. Most research in this field seems to be
focused on trying to operationalize the concept of servant leadership, in other words, how does
the theory work in practice? This direction in the research does not bode well in the near future
for providing any clear, definitive answer to the part of my research question about effecting
change, however, the important qualities that a servant leader should possess are relatively clear
Although a common definition of the theory of servant leadership has not been uniformly
agreed upon, there are some consistent elements across my research. All of my references
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the term servant leadership. As Parris & Peachey (2013) stated, The majority of research in
servant leadership has streamed from Greenleafs (1977) foundational texts and the Greenleaf
Center (p. 379). Greenleaf (1977) described servant leadership thusly, The servant-leader is
servant firstIt begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then
conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead (p. 27). Greenleafs statement also appears, or
parts of it, in all of my references. It is important to clarify that to serve, as Greenleaf uses the
term, does not mean doing someone elses job for them, but instead helping one to do their job
better and thereby serve the organization more effectively. It is from Greenleafs description, as
well as reviewing Greenleafs writings and the work of others on servant leadership, that Larry
C. Spears, former CEO of the Greenleaf Center, was able to synthesize 10 characteristics of a
The 10 characteristics that Spears (2009) articulates are also addressed in Black (2010);
Crippen (2005); and Stueber (2000). Each of these sources point to these 10 characteristics as
commitment to the growth of people, and building community. Some have focused on a
different set of traits. The systematic literature review (SLR) conducted by Parris & Peachey
(2013) looked at how researchers have organized the complexity of Greenleafs concepts on
servant leadership by identifying different characteristics (p. 380). Of the three reviews Parris
& Peachey studied, one can see great similarity between Spearss list and the lists identified in
(2000), for example, lists them differently. Using the order that Spears (2009) himself provides
and using his description of each trait as the overall benchmark, Ive synthesized a brief
explanation of each characteristic based on the information provided in Black (2010); Crippen
The first trait of a servant leader is listening. A servant leader responds to situations by
listening first and then reflecting on what is being said. The servant leader encourages
thoughtful silence. He or she tries to remove bias while listening and he or she seeks to clarify
and identify the needs of either the individual or the group (Spears, 2009, p. 20).
Empathy expresses unlimited liability for others it never rejects others. Servant leaders
repairs damage to relationships and seeks to make each other whole (Spears, 2009, p. 20).
begins inside first and then extends outward; servant leaders know themselves.
Persuasion is the opposite of coercion. The position of authority that a servant leader
may possess does not play into effecting change. The servant leader uses reason to enlighten
The trait of conceptualization means that you can see beyond the routine. A servant
Foresight is similar in that it sees the future direction of the organization and directs
Peter Block (as quoted in Spears, 2009, p. 20) defines stewardship as holding something
in trust for another. Servant leaders are stewards for the greater good of the organization and
Commitment to the growth of people intimates that people are more important than
things, more important than organizations. There is a vested interest in seeing that people
succeed. Power is always ethically used. The success of people will lead to the success of the
organization.
The last characteristic is building community. Servant leaders make a conscious effort to
build community among stakeholders. Servant leaders know that, by nature, human beings are
serving. If I wish to effect change at my school, and particularly with my staff, as a servant
Research Implications
My research question was, What are the key qualities of a servant leader that can assist
characteristics of servant leadership one can effectively and ethically lead others as a servant
leadership method is lacking, I should be able to use the 10 traits and gauge my own success as I
attempt to help my 3rd/4th grade teacher make the needed changes to her math instruction.
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helping my 3rd/4th grade teacher make changes to her math instruction. Create a plan to use those
key characteristics.
2. Envision the implementation of the plan with my 3rd/4th grade teacher over the
summer.
3. Assess the envisioned plan and make necessary improvements. Implement the revised
1. Standardized goal: Improve teacher performance using the Servant Leadership model.
2. Targeted learning objective: Effect change to the math instruction given by the 3rd/4th
1. Task: The 3rd/4th grade teacher will implement needed changes to her math
instruction.
b. Students in 3rd/4th grade will not advance to the next lesson in Saxon
Post-assessments
My first task was to identify the most critical servant leadership traits to accomplish my
objective. I identified listening, empathy, persuasion, and stewardship. I realized that I needed
to begin by listening to her concerns so as to identify her needs. If her needs were not addressed,
I believed little would change. She needed to know that I truly cared for her and her needs,
which is why empathy was chosen. By my listening and my actual attention to what she needed,
I would be able to help her understand that my intentions were honorable and integral to her and
her students success. Persuasion, I believed, was most important. Through reasoned
explanation I had to convince her of the changes I wished her to make to her instruction and the
methods of evaluation I would be using. I also wanted her to be completely involved in the
changes, hence stewardship. She needed to know that I held her in high regard as well as
The greatest insight I gained was that my failure to initiate change before was because of
my approach. Before, all I did was tell her what I wanted her to do. I realized that I needed to
guide her to what was needed. The process I learned through my research was more involved,
but in the long run potentially more effective. It was also a process that truly fit my beliefs and
values. If I were in her shoes, I would want my principal to listen to me and understand my
concerns and needs. I also would want my principal to convince me that his or her method to
Next school year begins with a meeting between my 3rd/4th grade teacher and myself.
She is already aware of my concerns with her math instruction, but what will be different will be
my approach. I envision her sharing her concerns about having to teach two levels of Saxon
math. I also believe that she will articulate the difficulties involving the transition from Saxon
level three in second grade to level 5/4 in third grade. Both of those are valid concerns and I will
After spending whatever time is needed to listen to her concerns, I will ask her for her
suggestions as to how improvements can be made. There will be no need to convince her of the
problem since she has acknowledged the problem already. What I envision her doing is not
having a clear answer to my query, that will give me an opportunity to make my case. I will
have an answer for her concerns regarding the issues mentioned above as well as additional steps
I would like her to understand and take. I will end our meeting by asking her to consider what I
have proposed.
After a reasonable time to think about my proposal, I anticipate that she will be willing to
try it. I will inquire of her if she needs any help with understanding the method of instruction to
be used. If necessary, I will arrange for her to see the method in action within our school or at
another school. I will also offer to provide instruction to her myself if needed. I will then let her
know that I will be observing her progress and that we will meet periodically to discuss that
progress. I will also indicate that she may let me know at any time if she has additional
suggestions or questions.
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As I observe her progress I envision that she may need reinforcement regarding the
method of instruction I expect her to employ. I do not expect that she will need help in
understanding the method as much as she will need reminders as to what is expected. I also
expect that I will observe that students are not moving on to the next math lesson before
In the final analysis I expect to see improved student performance in math on the
standardized test.
I began this entire process with the intention of understanding servant leadership and how
it can be used by me to effect change in my school. I learned a lot about the theory of servant
leadership and the traits needed for a servant leader. I was disappointed, however, to discover
that there is little research on the effectiveness of servant leadership. That discovery did not stop
me from taking what I learned about servant leadership and employing it in a practical way
1. I learned that my own methods of leadership were lacking. I needed to be able to use
1. My greatest struggle was trying to design a method of action research using servant
leadership ideals. Measuring the success or failure of a method of leadership that did not have
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professionally agreed upon, clear practically defined criteria was challenging. I am not
2. The timing did not work either. Because of my workload as principal is extensive, it
allowed me little time for this course. I did not make an adequate judgment as to what was
expected of me prior to registering. As a result I was not able to carryout the research process in
reasonable timeframe. It would have been more effective if I had actually implemented my
My Next Steps
the 3rd/4th grade need to be made, so I will carryout what I have planned.
2. If the implementation proves at least moderately successful, it will have done a lot
toward confirming my belief in servant leadership and I will be inclined to study it further.
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References
Black, G. (2010). Correlational analysis of servant leadership and school climate. Catholic
Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, 13(4), 437-466. Retrieved from ERIC
database. (EJ914879)
Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and
Parris, D., & Peachey, J. (2013). A systematic literature review of servant leadership theory in
doi: 10.1007/s10551-012-1322-6