You are free to reproduce, distribute and transmit this article, provided you attribute the author(s), Education Canada Vol. 45 (4), and
a link to the Canadian Education Association (www.cea-ace.ca) 2010. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. You may not alter,
transform, or build upon this work. Publication ISSN 0013-1253.
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
A Servant-Leadership Perspective
CAROLYN CRIPPEN
“A SERVANT-LEADER IS SERVANT FIRST. IT BEGINS WITH THE NATURAL FEELING THAT ONE WANTS TO SERVE. THEN CONSCIOUS
CHOICE BRINGS ONE TO ASPIRE TO LEAD. THE DIFFERENCE MANIFESTS ITSELF IN THE CARE TAKEN BY THE SERVANT – FIRST,
TO MAKE SURE THAT OTHER PEOPLE’S HIGHEST PRIORITY NEEDS ARE BEING SERVED. THE BEST TEST IS: DO THOSE SERVED
GROW AS PERSONS; DO THEY WHILE BEING SERVED, BECOME HEALTHIER, WISER, FREER, MORE AUTONOMOUS, MORE LIKELY
THEMSELVES TO BECOME SERVANTS? AND WHAT OF THE LEAST PRIVILEGED IN SOCIETY: WILL THEY BENEFIT, OR AT LEAST,
NOT BE FURTHER DEPRIVED?”1
THE CONCEPT OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IS COMMON TO THE CANADIAN EDUCATIONAL SYStem and involves service to our students. According to Young and Levin, “The provision of appropriate education to meet the needs of each student is increasingly accepted as a right in Canadian education. Most provincial legislation now reflects this requirement”2 Bloom, Perlmutter & Burnell define
inclusion as “a philosophy that brings diverse students, families, educators, and community members
together to create schools and other social institutions based on acceptance, belonging, and community.”3 This suggests that all children, regardless of their ability level or special needs, could be included
and accommodated in the regular school classroom. Tall orders indeed – but orders that are widely
supported by the Canadian public:
The polls and research studies suggest that Canadians support inclusion, but individuals who must fulfill these
expectations, whether they are employers or teachers, report that they need guidance and support. They
repeatedly express that while they want to treat everyone fairly, they simply don’t know enough about disabilities and about changes that must be made in schools, workplaces, and the rest of society.4
C A N A D I A N E D U C AT I O N A S S O C I AT I O N
I
E D U C AT I O N C A N A D A
19
Teacher training and an understanding of exceptional
learners are critical, of course. Strategies for differentiation
are also necessary to meet the needs of individual learners.
But, it seems logical that a positive mindset toward service
in education would be the starting point in making any
program work. How does one approach the service to our
exceptional students and to all students? The concept of
servant-leadership, as introduced by Robert Greenleaf,
may provide the seeds for developing effective, supportive,
learning environments for all learners.
This particular modus operandi was first introduced to
special education resource teachers, classroom teachers,
teacher assistants, and school administrators in Manitoba
as part of a university course in education called Strategies
for Organizing Inclusive Classrooms and Schools. The course
examined the organization and implementation of schoolwide support for access, learning, socialization, behavior,
family liaison, clinical engagement, and community services. These learning objectives, along with the definition of
inclusion and the description of a servant-leader, form the
basis for my argument that the servant leadership philosophy provides a solid basis for inclusive education.
IT SEEMS LOGICAL THAT A POSITIVE MINDSET TOWARD SERVICE
IN EDUCATION WOULD BE THE STARTING POINT IN MAKING ANY
PROGRAM WORK… THE CONCEPT OF SERVANT-LEADERSHIP, AS
INTRODUCED BY ROBERT GREENLEAF, MAY PROVIDE THE SEEDS FOR
DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE, SUPPORTIVE, LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
FOR ALL LEARNERS.
SERVANT-LEADERSHIP
The term “servant-leadership” was introduced by Robert
Kiefner Greenleaf in his first essay entitled, The Servant as
Leader. He tells of discovering the concept of servant-leadership through reading Journey to the East, by Herman
Hesse,5 the story of a band of men who set out on a long
journey. Accompanying the men was a fellow named Leo
whose job was to care for the band of men by doing all of
the menial chores and providing for their comfort. The
journey progressed well until Leo disappeared. At this point,
the men fell into disarray and the journey was aborted.
Many years later, the narrator of the story encountered
Leo and discovered that Leo was, in fact, the titular head of
the religious order that had sponsored the journey many
years ago. He was the leader, but his nature was that of a
servant. His leadership was bestowed upon him, and could
be taken away, by the band of men. His desire to serve the
group came from his heart. Greenleaf saw in this story the
message that one must first serve society, and through that
service, regardless of position, a person will be recognized
as a leader. “Effective servant-leaders can be so subtle
about it that all anybody is likely to see is the result. They
don’t see the cause.”6
Working with educational, business and industrial
organizations, Greenleaf’s goal was to develop strong,
effective, caring communities in all segments of society – a
goal that is consistent with a commitment to inclusive
20
E D U C AT I O N C A N A D A
I
C A N A D I A N E D U C AT I O N A S S O C I AT I O N
schools, but one that requires time to develop the necessary qualities of servant-leadership.
TEN CHARACTERISTICS
Spears, the Executive Director of the Robert K. Greenleaf
Center in Indianapolis, describes ten characteristics of servant-leadership.
Listening. Effective educational leaders are great communicators and must be good listeners, to themselves
(through their inner voice), as well as to others. This refers
to a deep commitment to listening to others. Proponents
of the servant-leadership model emphasize the need for
silence, reflection, meditation, active listening, and actually
“hearing” both what is said and what is unsaid. The best
communication forces you to listen.7 It is critical that during
case conferences, parent meetings, telephone conversations, etc., there is careful listening and “accurate” hearing
in these conversations.
Empathy. A good servant-leader strives to understand and
empathizes with others. But this understanding should be
supportive as opposed to patronizing: “It is a misuse of our
power (as leaders) to take responsibility for solving problems that belong to others.”8 I have always found that parents of students with special needs appreciate a caring and
sensitive attitude from the school or resource teacher. The
parental responsibilities for a special needs child are often
considerable, and any compassion and empathy from school
personnel can develop a positive home-school relationship.
Greenleaf wrote that trust could be developed through
the use of empathy:
Individuals grow taller when those who lead them empathize
and when they are accepted for what they are, even though
their performance may be judged critically in terms of what
they are capable of doing. Leaders who empathize and who
fully accept those who go with them on this basis are more likely to be trusted.9
Healing. Servant-leaders have the potential to heal both
themselves and others. While healthy leaders cannot
always find followers, “sick organizations really do contaminate.”10 Greenleaf, a lifelong meditator, views meditation
as a service because one is taking time to think about
things, to reflect: “I prefer to meditate; I have come to view
my meditating as serving.”11
A happy, positive school environment, where staff, students, and parents feel welcome, creates a sense of wellness.
Awareness. Servant-leaders develop general awareness,
especially self-awareness, through self reflection, by listening to what others say about them, by being continually
open to learning, and by making the connection between
what they know and believe and what they say or do.
Opportunities for reflection and dialogue on educational practice are critical in dealing with the needs of students.
Effective and supportive programs require ongoing checks
that provide opportunities for revisions or redirection
when needed. The Individual Education Plan (IEP) is one
major vehicle to ensure appropriate action is documented,
especially when and if a child moves to another location.
Persuasion. The servant-leader seeks to convince others,
rather then coerce compliance. Ongoing and consistent
dialogue with parents, support people, and schoolleaders
are necessary to the well being of individual learners.
One is persuaded upon arriving at a feeling of rightness about a
belief or action through one’s own intuitive sense, persuasion is
usually too undramatic to be newsworthy.…..Significant
instances of persuasion may be known to only one or a few, and
they are rarely noted in history. Simply put, consensus is a
method of using persuasion in a group.12
Conceptualization. Servant-leaders seek to nurture their
own abilities to dream great dreams. Greenleaf describes
conceptual talent as:
The ability to see the whole in the perspective of history – past
and future – to state and adjust goals, to evaluate, to analyze,
and to foresee contingencies a long way ahead. Leadership, in
the sense of going out ahead to show the way, is more conceptual than operating. The conceptualizer, at his or her best, is a
persuader and a relation builder.”13
Foresight. Greenleaf refers to this ability to foresee or know
the likely outcome of a situation as a better than average
guess about “what’ is going to happen “when” in the future.
Experience plays the greatest part in the development of
foresight when working with special needs students and
answering questions such as: How can the student be
accommodated in a sensible and realistic way? What barriers could exist to prevent success? What necessary supports must be in place? Greenleaf says foresight is “the lead
that a leader has” and goes on to state:
EN BREF Quelle est la meilleure façon d’approcher les questions liées à
l’engagement reconnu des Canadiens et des Canadiennes à l’égard de
l’éducation inclusive ? Le concept du « leader-serviteur » lancé par Robert
Greenleaf peut servir de base à la mise en place de milieux d’instruction
efficaces et fondés sur le soutien de tous les apprenants. Le leader-serviteur
se distingue par son écoute, son empathie, ses aptitudes à panser les
blessures, sa sensibilité, sa capacité de persuasion et de conceptualisation,
sa prévoyance, sa bonne intendance et son engagement à susciter
l’épanouissement des individus et de la communauté. Chacune de ces qualités favorise l’inclusion en encourageant l’acceptation de tous les élèves.
Des cours de perfectionnement professionnel fondés sur les concepts de
Greenleaf ont été offerts aux éducateurs et aux éducatrices du Manitoba. Il
va sans dire qu’une telle formation est propice au développement d’une
attitude constructive à l’endroit de l’éducation inclusive au Canada.
GREENLEAF’S GOAL WAS TO DEVELOP STRONG, EFFECTIVE,
CARING COMMUNITIES IN ALL SEGMENTS OF SOCIETY – A GOAL
THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH A COMMITMENT TO INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS.
Foresight means regarding the events of the instant moment
and constantly comparing them with a series of projections
made in the past and at the same time projecting future events
– with diminishing certainty as projected time runs out into the
indefinite future.14
Stewardship. Greenleaf believed all members of an institution or organization play significant roles in caring for the
wellbeing of the institution and serving the needs of others
in the institution, for the greater good of society. Sergiovanni explains that stewardship, “involves the leader’s personal responsibility to manage her or his life and affairs
with proper regard for the rights of other people and for
the common welfare.”15 Inclusive schools provide an environment for “the common good of all students”, regardless
of their particular needs.
Commitment to the growth of people. Servant-leaders are
committed to the individual growth of human beings and
will do everything they can to nurture others. “The signs of
outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their potential? Are they
learning? Serving?”16 The purpose of our schools is simply
that: promotion of the growth of others.
Building community. The servant-leader seeks to identify
some means for building community. Sergiovanni states
that caring is an integral part of shared community.17
Wheatley and Kellner-Rogers emphasize the sense of
belonging defined by a shared sense of purpose that does
not eliminate individuality, but focuses all energies into a
resilient community.18 We want all our children to feel
wanted and treated as valuable, capable, and responsible
within the inclusive school community.
C A N A D I A N E D U C AT I O N A S S O C I AT I O N
I
E D U C AT I O N C A N A D A
21
CONNECTING WITH EDUCATIONAL
PARTNERS
In 1997 the concept of servant-leadership was introduced
to a group of administrators in central Manitoba at the
Parkland Leadership Academy. Over the past seven years,
well over 1200 people in Manitoba have been exposed to
and /or studied the writings of Greenleaf and the philosophy of servant-leadership. Comments from Greenleaf
seem relevant to inclusive education in Canadian schools:
This is not a bandwagon idea; it is not a best-seller kind of thing;
but nevertheless, these people (servant-leaders) do exist, and
some of them have become very important to me.
And,
The difference between organizations is how people relate and
how they actually function, which may not bear a whole lot of
relationship to how the thing is sketched out on paper.19
The Manitoba Association of School Trustees (MAST)
brought servant-leadership to the attention of over 400
trustees at their annual fall conference (2002). During
summer 2003, the annual Canadian School Board Association Congress was held in Winnipeg, and two sessions
were presented on servant-leadership to sixty trustees and
superintendents from across Canada.
In addition, several education courses at the University
of Manitoba, Faculty of Education, included books by
Greenleaf to form part of the required reading, reflection,
and analysis. These university courses have been repeated
several times. Networks of teachers and administrators are
now pondering the prospect of “Greenleaf study groups”;
several have/will attend conferences at the Robert K.
Greenleaf Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
CONCLUSION
Possibilities within the servant-leadership paradigm to create a strong foundation of inclusivity for our students seem
real. In-service to educational stakeholders could provide a
constructive mindset and approach to serving the needs of
all our students and the issue of inclusive education in
Canada. I
is an assistant professor of educational administration in the Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba, a former resource teacher and instructor
for special education certification, and has a MEd in Special
Education. Carolyn was a school teacher and administrator
in Ontario and a Superintendent of Schools in Manitoba.
Her doctoral research was in the area of servant-leadership, and she has recently presented papers at the Universities of Oxford and Iceland.
DR. CAROLYN CRIPPEN
Notes
1 R. Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader (Indianapolis: The Robert K. Greenleaf
Center,1970/1991), 7.
2 J. Young and B. Levin, Understanding Canadian Schools: An Introduction to
Educational Administration, 3rd ed. (Scarborough, Ontario: Nelson,
2002), 136.
3 As quoted in S. Salend, Creating Inclusive Classrooms, 5th ed. (Toronto:
Pearson Education Canada, Ltd., 2005), 6.
4 N. Hutchinson, Inclusion of Exceptional Learners in Canadian schools: A
Practical Handbook for Teachers. (Toronto: Prentice Hall, 2002), xix.
5 L. Spears., ed., Insights on Leadership: Service, Stewardship, Spirit, and
Servant-leadership (Toronto: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1998), 16.
Ridley College
6 R. Greenleaf, Teacher as Servant: A Parable (Indianapolis: The Robert K.
Greenleaf Center, 2002), 151.
7 M. De Pree, Leadership is an Art (New York: Dell Publishing Group, 1989),
12-13, 102.
• 600 students enrolled from across Canada, and
over 30 countries worldwide
• outstanding facilities for academics, arts, athletics
• caring and dedicated faculty
• campus-wide wireless internet access
• Macintosh laptop computer integration
• over 50 sports and extra-curricular activities
• distinguished university placement rate
• $1.7 million financial assistance programme
• Post Graduate Year (PG) • SAT Prep • AP courses
Since 1889
8 P. Block, Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-interest (San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1993/1996), 72.
9 Spears, p. 81.
10 J. Sturnick, “Healing Leadership,” in L. Spears, 191.
11 J. Gardiner, “Quiet Presence: The Holy Ground of Leadership,” in Spears,
123.
12 Greenleaf, as quoted in D. Frick, and L. Spears (eds.), The Private Writings
of Robert K. Greenleaf: On Becoming a Servant Leader (San Francisco: JosseyBass, 1996), 139-40.
13 Ibid, 217.
14 R. Greenleaf, Advices to Servants (Indianapolis: The Robert K. Greenleaf
SCHOLARSHIP DAY, JANUARY 21, 2006
RSVP to the Admission Office
905-684-1889 x 2207
Email: [email protected]
2 Ridley Road, St. Catharines Ontario
L2R 7C3 www.ridley.on.ca
CO-EDUCATIONAL • BOARDING & DAY
GRADES 5- 12/PG
We Inspire Sucess!
22
E D U C AT I O N C A N A D A
I
C A N A D I A N E D U C AT I O N A S S O C I AT I O N
Center, 1991), 18.
15 T. Sergiovanni, Moral Leadership (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992), 139.
16 De Pree, 12.
17 T. Sergiovanni, Building Community in Schools (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
1994), 146.
18 In F. Hesselbein, M. Goldsmith, R. Beckhard and R. Schubert (eds.), The
Community for the Future (New York: The Peter F. Drucker Foundation,
1998), 13.
19 Greenleaf, as quoted in Frick and Spears, 343, 347.