Introduction
This paper’s aim is to describe and explore the representation of a school principle as portrayed in the film ‘Toy soldiers’. It will explain, in depth, what the film is all about and critically analyze the principle/ headmaster of the Regis high school in this film. We will explore his leadership styles in heading a school full of renegade teenagers who have been rejected by other learning institutions. We shall also analyze his crisis management skills when the school is taken hostage by hostile terrorist. This film is an action drama film directed by Daniel Petrie, Jr. It was released in the year nineteen ninety one. There are different types of leadership styles depicted in the film. The principle in this film is a transformational leader who will do anything to ensure that the students graduate even if they are not willing. The principle is also an instructional leader who delegates mandates to other teachers and students in the school.
Storyline
Sean Austin stars in this film as William “Billy” Tepper. He is the ring leader of a rebellious faction of boys from the prestigious Regis High School. He has previously been expelled from three other prestigious private schools. The Regis School is a boy’s only boarding school where prominent people in the society dump their delinquent sons. Joey Trotta is Billy’s best friend. He is Don Trotta’s son, a New York mafia boss. Unlike Don Trotta most of the other parents are law abiding citizens. Such is the federal judge Donoghue, Phil’s father. The Regis School is managed by the headmaster Dr. Robert Gould with the help of the stern Dean Parker .
In Colombia, Luis Cali is a terrorist who is trying to get his father, Enrique Cali, released from custody. Enrique is a Colombian drug lord. Luis kills a woman and throws a magistrate of the palace of justice out of a helicopter to make a point. He then learns that his father was extradited to the United States to stand trial. Luis Cali and his group of mercenaries then head to the Regis School with the aim of kidnapping Phil Donoghue. They hope to manipulate Phil’s father, who is presiding over Enrique’s case, to release the drug lord .
Unknown to Luis, Phil and his other family members had been taken to a safe house as their father presided over the Enrique case as a precautionary measure. When Luis gets to the school and can’t find Phil, he decided to take hostage the rest of the students after realizing their parents were prominent people. He figured that the bad public relations that could be created by the killing of teenage sons of influential people were a better bargaining chip. The authorities were bound to listen to his demands .
With an edge in the situation, Cali sets up explosives every wherein the school and threatens to blow it up if his father is not released. The local sheriff, oblivious of the threat posed by Luis Cali, tries to intervene. He is overwhelmed by Luis Cali’s fire power and has to retreat. The United States Army and the F.B.I are called in to deal with the situation. Luis releases the teachers except the headmaster Dr. Robert Gould and proceeds to conduct a headcount of the boys every hour.
Billy Tepper leads the rest of the students in collecting tactical information about the terrorist with the intention of passing it onto the authorities. With his familiarity to all the school’s secret passage ways and drainage systems, Billy sneaks out to pass the information they gathered to the authorities. The authorities refuse to let Billy go back in but he sneaks back just in time to be counted. Joey’s father, Don Trotta, arranges for the liberation of Joey through Enrique Cali and his connections to the Colombian drug cartels. Joey, who despises his father, refuses to go and instead steals a gun and opens fire on one of the terrorist. The terrorist returns fire and Joey is killed in the exchange .
Luis tells Dean Parker, who is sent to collect the body, that Joey’s killing was an accident but Don Trotta the Mob boss organizes for Enrique Cali to be killed in revenge for his son. Now the authorities have to act swiftly to save the students before Cali realizes that his father has been killed. A special tactical team infiltrates the school in the company of Dean Parker in an attempt to save the students. They start incapacitating the terrorist one after the other .
Meanwhile, Billy and his friends disable the remote detonator for the explosives by switching the detonation chip. They then proceed to debilitate a few of the terrorists by surprise attacks. Billy then lead the headmaster and other students into a hidden basement chamber. Overpowered by the commandos, Cali takes Billy at gunpoint and waits in the headmaster’s office. The commandos and Dean Parker kill Cali and save Billy. Parker is hurt in the process but the rest of the terrorists are apprehended and everyone is saved .
Analysis of the leader
The headmaster of Regis High School is Dr. Robert Gould. His character in the film is rather minor since the lead characters are the troublesome students of the school thus he is rarely seen in the film. Considering the type of students he heads, Dr. Gould is a very patient character as he does not lose patience even when a prank is played on him by the students . He knows that expelling the students will not help reform them since they have been expelled by all other schools. He then prefers to push the students all the way till they graduate. To be able to handle these rejects until they graduate, indicates that Dr. Ground is a very competent principle . Also considering the fact that all his students have influential parents who are capable of causing him trouble any time they wish. This shows that he is a transformational leader because he makes sure that students, who would never have graduated, have graduated
Dr. Gould is portrayed as a stern and strict headmaster since in his office there are canes for disciplining the naughty students. We see the terrorist using one of the canes to try and scare the headmaster when he enquires about Phil. We later see the same terrorist using a cane to punish Billy Tepper for coming in late for the hourly headcount. The presence of these canes shows that the Headmaster was determined to produce results out of these rejects that wealthy parents dumped on him.
Leadership wise, Dr. Gould is a disciplinarian in that he believes in punishing the wrong doers . This is portrayed when Billy is made to wash pans and pots as penalty for selling alcohol in school and tapping into the school’s main phone line. He is also a delegative leader as he delegates power and authority to his subordinates. This is seen when Dean Parker catches Billy’s gang drinking alcohol disguised as mouthwash in the basement of the school. He punishes Billy by making him wash dishes after every meal. He tells Billy ‘I'm not going to expel you. Three schools have done that and it's obviously done nothing for your character I'm going to do much worse . “I am going to keep you here until you graduate. It'll probably take years at this rate” . The exercise of authority is shown by Dr. Ground while dealing with students such as Billy.
The headmaster is also somewhat sarcastic and appears to have profound knowledge of a teenagers mind setup. This is demonstrated when he insinuates that the students don’t know what a book is and those who have an idea probably saw it on television. ‘Now this object I'm holding here is call well some of you may have seen one before, it's called a book. You may have seen one on television’ . He knows that most teens, especially his education hating students, would prefer watching TV more willingly than reading a book. They’d have probably seen books on television and not in real life. Dr. Ground is not the students’ all time favorite as he pushes them hard to achieve what they actually are not interested in achieving .
Dr. Gould’s leadership style may be considered as situational since his attitude towards the student seems to change a little when the terrorist invaded the school . He is seen to be stern on the students before Cali and his men invade. He then changes to a more supportive role to his student when the terrorist take them hostage. He becomes more supportive to his students and even shows more care for their safety in the times of crisis. This is revealed when he is sent by Cali to fetch young Trotta so they can release him after his father negotiated his release. He says ‘I don’t think they mean any harm but I will go with you’. When Joey refuses to leave without his friends the guard pushes him and the Headmaster is heard urging him to leave so as to avoid harsh treatment.
When Cali arrives at the school looking for Phil, he threatens to kill the Headmaster if he doesn’t produce Phil. Dr. Gould shows no far of the terrorist and instead shows confidence as a leader. He says to Cali, ‘you may threaten me all you want but the fact is young Donoghue was picked by two federal agent and they didn’t say where they were taking him’. This show of control in a crisis situation is great leadership and crisis control skills . He also tries to cooperate with the terrorist to avoid vexing them. He knows that cooperation eliminates misunderstanding ensuring no one gets hurt. This shows that a principle should show competence while handling crises .
The Headmaster also shows care for his students. This is witnessed when one of the students fake an asthma attack so as to get Cali out of the headmaster’s office. This was a decoy to give Billy a chance to switch the detonating chip of the bomb with the toy aircraft flying chip. The Headmaster is seen leaning over the student trying to help him. This shows that he cared about his students. The student is heard telling Dr. Gould that he feels much better after he uses his inhaler.
While Billy’s friends fly the remote controlled plane around to catch the attention of guard and allow Billy to sneak out, the Headmaster is seen sitting amongst his students. This display indicates that he was a participative leader and he took time to be with the students . It is also evident that He and the Dean were sometimes appreciative of the student’s ingenious pranks. They also had a lot of confidence in the boys. The Headmaster portrays this confidence toward the end when he follows Billy as he led them to a hideout in the basement of the school building.
In this film the principle comes out as a situational leader who understands the potential implications of the situation at hand. Prior to this situation the principle he is portrayed as a stern principle who has to deal with rejects and notorious students. However, when the school is taken over by terrorists, he is seen to be very caring person who stands up to the terrorist to protect his students. He uses his leadership skills to handle the situation and the terrorists. His leadership skills help the students to cooperate and they escaped from the terrorists.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this article has described the film ‘Toy Soldiers’ and analyze the character and the leadership style of the Headmaster. His leadership style is Laissez-Faire since we see most of the punishing and monitoring of the students being done by Dean Parker. Non-the-less, he is caring and protective of his students. He also appreciates his student’s ingenuity secretly although their hostility is aimed towards his administration. He is composed and unruffled in times of crisis thereby demonstrating good crisis management skills. He is heard asking the Dean not to laugh at him when the students play a prank on him thus depicting a casual relationship with his staff.
Avolio, B. J. (2004). Leadership Development In Balance: Made/born. Chicago: L. Erlbaum.
Lawson, K. (2009). Leadership Development Basics. New York: American Society for Training and Development.
Petrie, D. (Director). (1991). Toy Soldiers [Motion Picture].
Robinson, V., Lloyd, C., & Rowe, K. (2008). Impact of leadership on student outcomes. Aducation administration quaterly , 44-63.
Russell, L. (2005). Leadership Development. New York: American Society for Training and Development.
Shinn, G., & Shinn, G. C. (1986). Leadership Development. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Sindell, M., & Hoang, T. (2001). Leadership Development: Management Development. New York: American Society for Training and Development.
Thomas, R. (1998). As they are portrayed Principles in films. International Journal of educationl management , 90-100.
