A Comparative Evaluation of Leadership and Management Models: The Community Education Foundation, Pakistan, and Kauri Grove School, New Zealand

Abstract

Educational leadership is among the key determinants of the efficiency of the educational process, teachers’ performance and students’ achievements. This paper provides a comparison between the two leadership and management styles in The Community Education Foundation (CEF) in Pakistan, managed by the immediate former President and Senior Executive A, and Kauri Grove School in New Zealand, run by the School Principal B. The study is grounded in the theoretical framework offered by Michael Fullan (2002) in relation to the theory of change and Carbery and Garavan (2012) in relation to the leadership development theory showing the effects of the different national contexts (one dealing with systemic inequity and access; the other one seeking for pedagogical transformation) on the organizational design, strategic challenges and the form of leadership. The results show that Senior Executive A used the strategic systems leadership style aiming at creating scalable and standardized solutions to ensure equitable access to education for all people in Pakistan. In turn, School Principal B used the transformational leadership style building up the collaborative learning environment and developing personal pedagogy. In summary, both the models perform quite effectively within their settings, illustrating an important concept of modern-day educational leadership where it is imperative that there is no panacea of one size fits all model. Sustainable success hinges on identifying critical issues, setting up a moral purpose, and developing a collaborative institutional culture among others.