As educational leaders attend to the three principles of moral leadership – authenticity,
balance, and systems thinking – they are teaching lessons to all within the community, especially
the students. The principal is developing a community in which the “[a]dults exemplify positive
moral values in their work with one another and with the students…model[ing] behavior by
developing codes of conduct for [their] own work” and their interactions with one another
(Berreth & Berman, 1997, p. 25). This task cannot be overstated, as it is the very foundation of a
vital education. Frequently, educational leaders focus on curriculum, policy-making and other
bureaucratic functions to the exclusion of the truly vital function of education, assisting students
in becoming the very best people that they can be. This must be understood in a holistic context.
That is to say that each individual is a thinking, feeling and acting being attempting to make
meaning of his/her life. Education, therefore, must focus on the shaping of the whole child and
the learning community must be structured in such a way that all of the actions of the school
demonstrate the values that the community espouses; for the students will follow the example
that the adults on campus set. Supporting this notion, Sizer and Sizer (1999) state that,