Introduction
In primary school, the leadership role is in the spotlight due to the impact on stakeholders and overall outcomes. The selected workplace is the primary school, as various stakeholders, including teachers and students, are engaged. Yet, managing the school effectively to improve outcomes is imperative, and therefore, leadership and well-being come into life in the whole context. This study aims to evaluate the workplace of primary school in terms of leadership and well-being. In three different sections, leadership theories, well-being theories, and contextual factors will be evaluated with multiple insights.
Section 1: Leadership Theories
· Conceptualization
Transformational Leadership: Transformational leadership is a process of inspiring or motivating employees and stakeholders to augment innovation and set the foundation for change. In primary school, transformational leadership seems imperative, as leaders have to work or collaborate with employees to identify the need for the difference. It can be said that transformational leadership sets the foundation for growth, and therefore, in this workplace of the primary school, the leadership team has to play its role effectively (Syaifuddin, 2016).
Transactional Leadership: Transactional leadership is different from transformational leadership as it depicts rewards and punishments for good and bad performances, respectively. The focus of this leadership theory is on performance. The leadership team seems directive. In a primary school, transactional leadership seems pertinent, as performance is always a pivotal measure to judge stakeholders (Bertocci, 2009).
Laissez-Faire Leadership: Laissez-Faire leadership is quite impressive, and it can be reflected in the primary school workplace. For instance, when practicing this style of leadership theory, the leader has to delegate the process of decision-making. People working at the bottom-line of the organization or school are empowered to make decisions at their ends. It is different from the participative approach, as the leader is not involved in the decision-making process (Iqbal, 2011).
· Critical Analyze
One of the most significant weaknesses of the transformational theory is that it demonstrates a comprehensive picture, which sometimes looks irrelevant when managing and controlling the primary school’s busy workplace. Critically, this leadership style of theory always leads to employee burnout, as workload increases over time. In the primary school workplace, this leadership style is risky and disruptive, and it puts the current tasks and assignments in jeopardy (Bertocci, 2009). Concerning transactional leadership, it diminishes individuality. The amount of innovation is limited. With a rewards and punishments culture, numbers of followers in the primary school can be increased, as leadership development is always at risk. With zero value on empathy, it looks ineffective in the school workplace. The biggest weakness or drawback of Laissez-Faire leadership is that it may cause delayed decisions, deadlines of different tasks can be missed, and it may increase the cost of the business. Stakeholders in the schools working at the bottom-line do not have guidelines from leaders, resulting in ineffective decisions. Apart from it, it can be asserted that not every individual has the capacity to make decisions without guidelines, and it can lead to poor decision making in many cases (Iqbal, 2011).
· Justification of the link between Theory and Practice
In the school workplace, transformational leadership cannot be executed effectively. For instance, there are many routine tasks in a primary school workplace, which are to be conducted or completed. Therefore, consistent disruptions and changes may lead to some unnecessary shifts, which can divert the focus. Consequently, overall, the intent to change things seems harsh (Syaifuddin, 2016). The whole process can be disrupted. The best leadership strategy to make the change or transformational leadership work is to create urgency. The most important thing is to shape or develop a change team in the school, which has to work on several possible initiatives. Transformational leadership can work effectively if the school workplace evolves with time, as disruption can hit the whole workplace hard. On the other hand, transactional leadership can work effectively if it is linked with some useful strategies. For instance, it has been revealed that this leadership theory approach discourages innovation at all levels, as employees are just looking to improve performance and get rewards. The best strategy to make this leadership theory or approach work is to let employees fail. The performance measures are to be changed. Those employees are to be rewarded who intend to develop something new and unique in the workplace, encouraging employees to identify the needs for the change and streamline solutions that can become a crucial measure. Interestingly, rewards and punishments for good performers should be retained (Iqbal, 2011). Still, the approach to execute the leadership style can be changed to get things in the favor. Apart from it, in terms of Laissez-Faire leadership, the primary school has to identify individuals who have incredible leadership and decision-making capabilities and skills. Delegating the decision-making process at all school workplace levels can be a big blunder due to a lack of decision-making and problem-solving capabilities or abilities. Consequently, developing decision-making teams or groups is a wise strategy to augment the visibility of expected outcomes. When executing this leadership style or approach, the chances of silos can be increased. Team members may not allow other stakeholders to get involved, as they want to live in their comfort zone. The best strategy for the school administration or leadership is to create a culture of togetherness. In a collaborative culture, effective decisions can be made in the school’s best interest (Bertocci, 2009).
Section 2: Well-being Theories
· Conceptualization
Subjective Well Being: Subjective well-being is a prominent theory that depicts their life experience and evaluation. For instance, this theory can help to determine or assess the level of happiness. If an individual in the society or organization is happy, their well-being can be justified, as happiness is a single measure to evaluate people’s lives (Eid & Larsen, 2008).
Relational Well Being: The relational well-being demonstrates who individuals or people interact and connect in society and organizations. For instance, well-being can be justified if people are happy with their connections and relationships. The assertiveness regarding these interactions and connections portrays happiness and intent to build a relationship to enjoy life. From the perspective of the primary school workplace, people’s relationship or interaction depicts strong bonding. People are meeting and collaborating in the workplace, which justifies relational well-being (Wissing, 2014).
Self Determination Theory: The self-determination theory indicates that people are always motivated to grow and change over time. In this context, innate and universal psychological needs are in the limelight. Three main components of the self-determination theory are competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Regarding competence, the individual has to develop him to compete in the environment effectively. On the other hand, regarding autonomy, the individual needs to control the courses of life. Relatedness leads to practical and sustainable relationships and interactions with others (Emery, Heath, & Mills, 2016)
· Critical Analyze
Subjective well-being is triggered by criticism, and it has become a prominent weakness. For instance, judging the individual’s happiness seems interesting by asking questions or conducting surveys. Nonetheless, it is always challenging for an individual to evaluate or assess his well-being. Only other stakeholders can judge each other in primary schools, as happiness may vary in different people in different situations. Penetrations regarding subjective well-being may differ due to favorable or unfavorable circumstances. Therefore, assessing people’s happiness or employees in primary school work can be challenging (Eid & Larsen, 2008). On the other hand, relational well-being seems weak in the primary school workplace because employees will depend on each other despite focusing on their identity. Due to increasing relations and connections in the workplace, problems such as favoritism and nepotism can be improved, and it may not favor the educational institution. In a workplace like primary school, merit is a crucial factor. The execution or application of the relational theory can jeopardize the merit system, as people will start facilitating each other (Strøm, Mccuibbin, & McCubbin, 2013). The self-determination theory can be applied to enhance the self-determination of employees in the primary school workplace. However, the self-determined employees will not work with other team members, as the primary focus will be on personal interests and goals. Motivation to achieve personal goals and objectless seems good. Nevertheless, like primary school, it seems destructive with the organization’s perspective regarding the overall outcomes (Emery, Heath, & Mills, 2016).
· Justification of the link between theory and practice
The subjective well-being is tough to execute because not all employees can maintain the needed or require temperament and meet basic needs. Therefore, the school administration’s best strategy is to create opportunities for employees to develop the ability to meet their basic needs. It is all about the skill and cognitive development process, which can be intensified to make the difference. Relative to relational well-being, people’s interactions and connections are needed in groups and teams. Nevertheless, the best strategy to apply this theory in the primary school workplace is introducing the ethical code of conduct. Moral norms and values must be carried out to justify the successful execution or application in different connections and relationships. Eventually, concerning the self-determination theory, there is a need to create space for employees to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Besides, the school’s management must develop some development strategies for employees to meet their goals and objectives (Bakar, Sulaiman, & Rafaai, 2010).
Section 3: Challenging Contextual Factors
- Regarding transformative leadership, the biggest challenge is the change resistance. For instance, faculty members, especially teachers, want to live in the comfort zone, and they do not want to embrace changes due to fear of the unknown (Appelbaum, Degbe, MacDonald, & Nguyen-Quang, 2015). It seems a tricky situation because the leader is looking to transform the workplace in the organization’s best interest, and employees are restraining. Therefore, the whole workplace can remain backward. Another complicated situation is related to transactional leadership in the primary school workplace. For instance, when intending to improve children’s results, the school’s administration can introduce strict norms or actions for teachers, which are always frustrating. Hence, in this workplace, employee turnover can be increased, and the management must be aware of it. Regarding self-determination theory, the complicated situation emerges when the management shapes different teams of teachers. Due to excessive self-determination, employees prioritize or streamline their perspectives and views instead of building consensus. So, team or group failure chances are high, which justifies the complexity of the situation.
- Change resistance should be managed urgently to ensure the well-being of employees in the workplace. Critically, it has been unveiled that the change resistance can destroy the transformation goal and objectives, as with the stakeholder’s resistance. Strategies cannot be implemented. Hence, change resistance can be eliminated to make the school relevant and lucrative. Secondly, punishing and rewarding is a conventional method to deal with employees, and urgently, it needs to be changed. Of course, it can be changed by changing the performance measure in the workplace. Subsequently, self-determined employees can ruin the process. It can be eliminated urgently by creating a collaborative culture. Self-determination should be triggered by counterstrategies or solutions to evade negative consequences.
- Choosing specific leadership theories is useful in primary school because these can improve outcomes and individual development. The rational regarding preferring these theories over others are that these are related to the workplace and employees. Transformational leaders can evade compelling situations, such as change resistance, as training and development is a part of the transformational leadership process. Employee turnover is a compelling situation, and through changing the performance measures, the effectiveness of the transactional leadership can be justified. Finally, self-determination theory can help the management build positive interactions and connections, as people or employees will be able to listen to and respect in the workplace (Demirtas & Karaca, 2020).
Reflective Summary
- The whole study helped me to understand the role and impact of different leadership and well-being theories. It has been realized that leadership and well-being theories can be used or applied in different circumstances and contexts. Understanding the content in terms of the application, complexity, and impact was an exciting journey. My perception of leadership and well-being theories have changed over time. It was an excellent opportunity for me to learn different insights about these multiple theories. I realized that the theoretical frameworks are always different from practice. When understanding the theory and applying it in the primary school workplace, I have to come up with multiple perspectives. The internalization of knowledge has also been justified, as I realized that I am also a capable individual to become a leader with an exceptional leadership style or approach. The internalization of the knowledge set the foundation for me to identify my strengths and weaknesses. Promptly, I am better in a position to develop my goals and become a prominent stakeholder in any educational institution.
- Reassessing my leadership styles is always imperative, as the new knowledge and perspectives helped to shift thinking. For instance, by predicting my role as a leader in an organization, such as primary school, I evaluated my current leadership or management style. Of course, I have several options, and I have to work on these to groom me as an effective leader. The best thing that I can do is understand how people can become happy and determined to meet their goals and objectives. First, I have to put myself in that position and perceive situations, even complex ones. Based on these insights, I am better positioned to adopt a pertinent leadership style. Be it transformational, transactional, or Laissez-Faire leadership, the most important thing is to create a positive impact on employees, productivity, and overall outcomes. Similarly, when it came to well-being strategies, I found relational well-being more appealing than other theories. Based on identified strengths and weaknesses, I know I have been developed for relational well-being. It is the best time for me to connect me to a social and professional circle.
- Critically, still, there is a gap between practical and understanding when it comes to all leadership and well-being theories. Somehow, I managed to develop different problematic situations, which can be challenging for a leader in the workplace. It can be said that these complex situations seem conventional. To strengthen the internalization of knowledge, I have to bring some moderate examples regarding complex problems. I can improve my understanding and leadership and well-being strength by navigating how modern organizations deal with these complex situations. It is all about observing and gaining experience to become an incredible practical leader in a primary school. It is what I derived from this content, and I am looking forward to building some advanced narratives to enhance my understanding.
Conclusion
In the end, it is to conclude that the leadership and well-being theories can set the ground for an individual to pretend the role as a leader. Yet, positive and consistent assessment is eternally crucial to evolve with time. Leadership and well-being theories and multiple acumens are impersonated to improve the workplace in a primary school.
References
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