An Educational Workplace Challenge Essay

â€Å"It is our deep faith that God is compassionate and merciful, and mercy is what he bestows upon His subjects. He is generous and beautiful, and beauty is what he gives. That is how we should see the world, beautiful, with all its resources and contents, known to us or unknown. Qatar, our beloved, is also rich in natural resources. Be it human buds or wild flowers. All are blossoms, all are natural, all are beautiful bearing Qatar’s name. Let us all work together, caring for our little buds. Lets us plant them deep in the consciousness of our land. Let us nurture them with love and care to help them blossom into flowers filled with beautiful scents and filling their surroundings with beauty. † Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser Bin Abdullah Al-Missned. (Shafallah 2007) â€Å"A picture says more than a thousand words. † For an educational institution, the vision statement shows the picture of what the school will be at its best. On the one hand, the vision is the very basis for everything that the school, the management, the teachers, the students, their parents and the community, all work for. On the other hand, the mission is the means to achieve this vision. The mission determines the strategies that will be implemented by the school management to achieve its goals and vision. Leadership takes a significant role in the achievement of this mission. This paper discusses workplace challenges and the influence of leadership in the achievement of successful school reforms. The Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs and its efforts to solve its major problems and improve the implementation of its educational programs will be discussed using the concepts on leadership. Specifically, the paper will focus on the concept of parallel leadership and the roles of the school management and teaching professionals as leaders in influencing the school’s needed reforms. The Workplace The School The Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs is a non-profit private school located in Doha City, Qatar, providing comprehensive services and care to individuals with departmental learning challenges, their families and the community. It was established in 1998 through the efforts of community leaders who believe in the vitality and importance of the family and the child’s role in the society particularly those children with special needs. They want to provide the children with the best care, services and educational facilities that will enable them to adapt to the surrounding environment in order to live among others in the community, and eventually secure their future. The center provides diagnosis, evaluation, school programs, training and development services for all children with all forms of disabilities from ages three to twenty-one years old. The goals and objectives of the school are: To provide comprehensive educational, instructional, rehabilitation, social, vocational and recreational services for children with special needs. To provide support and family counseling services to families of children with special needs, including individual and group therapy. To provide community awareness on dealing with children with special needs, as well as fostering acceptance and understanding of the nature of disabilities. To provide training opportunities through Shafallah Center and establishing an international entity specializing in this field. To serve as an advocate for public policy and legislative support of appropriate educational and vocational programs for children with special needs. (Shafallah 2007) School funds are generated from local and international grants and from regular tuition and matriculation of the students. The school offers five (5) programs aligned for students depending on age and learning concentration. These are the Pre-school and kindergarten which enrolls students ages 3-5. The school unit 2 is for students aging 6-21 with mild and moderate challenges, its coursework are in pre-academic, academic and pre-vocational and emphasizes on social and daily life skills. Unit 3 caters to students with mild and severe intellectual and developmental disabilities from ages 6-21; its programs are aimed to increase independence and activities are centered on daily living, self care and basic communication including socialization and leisure education. Unit 4 is designed for those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, ages ranging from 6-21. The program uses the model TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic Related Communication Handicapped Children) and other models tailored for these children.