| To optimize performance inside the classroom, teachers must utilize both leadership and management skills (Bowman, 2004; Coyle, 1997; Forster, 1997; Hatch, White, & Faigenbaum, 2005; Odell, 1997; Sugar & Warren, 2003; Wilmore, 2007). Presently, most preservice training programs focus on management skills but not leadership skills. It is possible that leadership skills are significantly and positively correlated with management skills. However, it is equally reasonable to believe the possibility that leadership and management skills are independent of each other. If empirical evidence demonstrates that leadership and management skills are largely independent of each other in preservice teachers, this may possibly imply that preservice teacher training programs may choose to consider including leadership training to supplement training in management skills. However, the relationship between leadership and management skills in elementary and secondary preservice teachers remains unclear.; In the present study, preservice teachers (N = 84) in the third phase of their university program were assessed in leadership and management skills. To foster representativeness of the sample, both elementary (n = 33) and secondary (n = 51) preservice teachers were included. Leadership skills were assessed by the Leadership Practices Inventory Self (LPI-Self) (Kouzes & Posner, 2002), a self-report of five leadership practices: Modeling, Inspiring, Challenging, Enabling, and Encouraging. Classroom management skills were measured by university supervisors of the preservice teachers using a novel scale which included ten classroom management practices: Organization, Trust, Praise, Expectations, Communication, Listening, Meaningful, Respect, Discipline, and Prediction. Differences between groups were assessed using ANOVA. Relationships between leadership skills and management skills were assessed using Pearson Correlation. Differences and relationships were considered statistically significant at a threshold of p < .05.; Findings revealed that leadership scores were significantly higher in participating preservice teachers than the norm group (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). The highest leadership ratings were Enabling and Encouraging and the highest classroom management rating was Expectations. On a scale of 1 to 5, preservice teachers' classroom management scores were generally towards the top of the scale, with mostly 4 and 5s. The elementary group scored significantly higher than the secondary group on their leadership practice of Modeling and on the classroom management practice of Respect. In the secondary group, the leadership practice of Encouraging positively correlated with the management practice of Expectations. In the elementary group, there were no statistically significant correlations between the leadership and management items. Also, when both groups were combined, there was no statistically significant correlations between the leadership and management items. The limited range of classroom management scores may have possibly created limited variance and deviation from normal distribution. This limited variance within the items may have limited the ability to detect significant correlations between the leadership scales and the classroom management scales in the present study, so the present findings should be interpreted with caution.; Overall, there were few correlations between the leadership and management items in the present study. This empirical evidence suggests that leadership and management skills may be treated separately in elementary and secondary preservice teachers. Although far from definitive, the present findings imply that separate teacher training in leadership and classroom management may possibly be necessary for optimal teacher performance inside the classroom. |
