Developing School Leaders through the Arts: New Directions for Teaching and Research

Three independently developed educational leadership courses used the arts to depart from lecture and passive learning, prime students to solve school problems creatively, and build social justice awareness. Photo captioning was used to promote intrapersonal leadership development around professional identity formation and social justice awareness (Case 1). Arts-based activities, such as sculpture making from found objects, were used to illustrate school visions and hone interpersonal skills (Case 2). Lastly, improvisational theater role-playing was used to develop organizational goals around effective teamwork, collaboration and a positive school culture (Case 3). The cases are compared, and students' dispositional responses are discussed with implications for arts-based leadership research.