Leadership for Learning:Leadership for Learning:A Leadership Development Program for Middle Level 

Leaders in International Schools

Dr. Philip HallingerDr. Allan Walker

Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and ChangeHong Kong Institute of EducationHong Kong Institute of Education

Leadership for Learning in International Schools:

A Program for Middle Level Leaders

Background

The increasingly competitive environment of International schools has raised the stakes in

meeting parental and student expectations for quality, especially in teaching and learning. In

recent years, a diverse global literature highlights the important contribution that leadership

makes towards both teacher innovation and successful student learning. This research finds that

the distribution of leadership is especially important in international schools, which often operate

with multiple units and programs (e.g., 2 or more school units and IB programs within the same

school). Thus, strengthening the capacity for middle level leadership can be viewed as an

essential for sustainable excellence both today and in the future. This proposal presents an

introductory program in leadership development designed explicitly for middle level leaders in

international schools.

Proposal

This proposal outlines a 2 day leadership development program aimed at middle level leaders of

international schools in Asia Pacific. The program has two main foci:

1. Development of leadership perspectives for application in international schools

2. Capacity-building specifically aimed at building skills in leading learning in international

schools

Topics

Leading Learning in International Schools

Participants will email us three middle leadership issues/problems they are currently

facing in school: relational issue; learning issue, capacity issue.

Perspectives on Leadership through Metaphor. This session discusses different

approaches to middle leadership using a set of metaphors. Participants nominate preferred

approach/es and are asked to: 1., locate this in context; 2. nominate ‘ideal’ connective

leadership pathways and 3., discuss strategies /action for making these work.

Leadership for Learning: A Framework for Practice

Introduces a globally validated framework for enacting leadership for learning.

Presents up-to-date research drawn from public and international schools.

Provides an opportunity for self-assessment on key leadership functions that impact

learning

Creating Time and Capacity to Lead Learning

Instructor will present common obstacles to exercising leadership for learning in schools.

Highlights the importance of time management and capacity development as strategies

for overcoming these obstacles

Challenges middle level leaders to work collaboratively in order to identify their own

obstacles and then develop solutions that will enable them to enact a leadership role in

their daily practice.

Leadership Effectiveness Simulation

An active learning simulation in which participants must solve a problem in teams

The simulation highlights the role of leadership in achieving high performance in teams,

and attunes participants to the importance of maintaining a balanced focus on

performance and satisfaction in order to achieve sustainable results.

The simulation provides memorable lessons in the importance of communication,

leadership and team decision-making.

Speed Leadership

Drawing on real issues/problems participants will have the opportunity to share discuss

leadership issues with a number of colleagues on an important leadership problem facing

them in the workplace.

These rapid-fire discussions with a large number of colleagues will be generate a wide

range of specific strategies/actions that they can bring back to work.

Details

In order to ensure active participation we recommend between 20 and 40 participants

Length is two 6 hour days in length

Dates can be suggested by the school. Thursday/Friday or Friday/Saturday are preferred

Costs

The cost of the two-day program is $8,000 USD.

This fee includes:

o Curriculum design

o Instruction

o All travel expenses

The sponsoring organization is responsible for all on-site expenses and reproduction of

materials.

Workshop Leaders

Dr. Philip Hallinger and Dr. Allan Walker are Co-Directors of the Asia Pacific Centre for

Leadership and Change at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Experienced teachers, trainers

and researchers, they have, over the past two decades, been among the leading scholars in

educational leadership and management in Asia Pacific. They currently serve as co-editors of the

Journal of Educational Administration, and recently completed a multi-year, international study

of leadership and program transition in IB World Schools. Both are frequent keynote speakers

and workshop leaders in the region.

Professor Philip Hallinger graduated with his doctorate in administration and policy analysis

from Stanford University (USA). From 1987-2000, he was Professor of Leadership and

Organizations at Vanderbilt University, the top-rated College of Education in the USA. He also

served for eight years as the Executive Director and Chief Academic Officer of the College of

Management at Mahidol University in Thailand. Professor Hallinger came to Hong Kong

Institute of Education in 2008 where he founded the Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and

Change. He has conducted training for more than 10,000 school leaders throughout Asia since

1990 (e.g., Thailand, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Laos, Hong Kong, Philippines, China, Taiwan).

Dr. Hallinger is also an active corporate trainer in leadership development, whose clients include

IBM, Nestle, Thai Airways, Biersdorff, Merck, Chevron, Siam Cement Group, Unocal, and Sun

Microsystems.

Professor Allan Walker is the Joseph Lau Professor of International Educational Leadership at

HKIEd. Professor Walker graduated with his Ph.D. in educational administration from the

University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in the USA. He came to HKIEd in 2010 after 15 years

as a Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr. Walker has been, over the past

decade, the most active trainer of school leaders in Hong Kong. He has designed innovative

leadership development programs for school leaders at every level, which have consistently

won competitive tenders. Currently, he is conducting a three-year long leadership development

program for middle level leaders from the English Schools Foundation in Hong Kong.