exploring professional leadership (shareversion)
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Exploring Professional Leadership
Concepts and evidence of leadership
Objectives
• To provide an avenue for articulation of what we have learnt and experienced about educational leadership
• To share empirical observations of how different types of leadership function in real school contexts
• To enrich our understanding of the key concepts of leadership discussed in recent research
• To enrich our vocabulary for discourse on leadership
Mean anything to U?
• The pessimist complains about the direction of the wind, the optimist expects the direction to change, but the leader simply adjusts the sails. Anonymous
• Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the
ladder is leaning against the right wall. Stephen Covey
References
• School Leadership: Concepts and Evidence (http://www.ncsl.org.uk/mediastore/image2/bush-school-leadership-full.pdf)
• Distributed Leadership
(http://newportal.ncsl.org.uk/media/F7A/87/bennett-distributed-leadership-full.pdf)
• Ten questions for school leaders
(http://www.ncsl.org.uk/mediastore/image2/kpool-evidence-green.pdf)
Defining leadership
30 words in 3 minutes
Leadership
is …
Defining leadership
LeadershipLeadership
InfluenceInfluencevaluesvalues visionvision
Working definitionWorking definition
Leadership is a process of influence leading to the achievement of desired purposes. Successful leaders develop a vision for their
schools based on their personal and professional values. They articulate this vision at every opportunity and influence their staff
and other stakeholders to share the vision. The philosophy, structures and activities of the school are geared towards the
achievement of this shared vision.
Word of caution
• The current emphasis on vision in leadership can be misleading. Vision can blind leaders in a number of ways… The high-powered, charismatic principal who “radically transforms the school” in four or five years can… be blinding and misleading as a role model… my hypothesis would be that most such schools would decline after the leader leaves… Principals are blinded by their own vision when they feel they must manipulate the teachers and the school culture to conform to it. (Fullan, 1992, p. 19)
Leadership & Management
Administration Management Leadership
Maintenance Development
- Maintaining current organisational arrangement
- Related to implementation and technical issues
linked with change
influencing others’ action in achieving desirable goals
What if?
Over-managed Under-led
Under-managed Over-led
Which is more important? Management or Leadership?
Brainstorming about types of leadership
MoralParticipative
Contingent
Post-modern
Transform-ational
Managerial Inter-personal
Instructional
Sharpening the focus
Leadership in action
Instructional Transforma-tional Participative Moral
Practicalising theories
Instructional leadership
Research findings
Practice
Effective instructional leadership comprises:• A sharp focus on learning and teaching• Talking with teachers • Promoting teachers’ professional growth • Fostering teacher reflection
Effective instructional leadership comprises:• A sharp focus on learning and teaching• Talking with teachers • Promoting teachers’ professional growth • Fostering teacher reflection
Some effective strategies:
• Modelling
• Monitoring
• Professional dialogue and discussion
Some effective strategies:
• Modelling
• Monitoring
• Professional dialogue and discussion
Practicalising theories
Transformational leadership
Research findings
Practice Higher level of commitment +
Greater capacities = extra effort + greater productivity
Higher level of commitment +
Greater capacities = extra effort + greater productivity
• Transformational leadership occurs when one or more teachers engage with others in such a way that administrators and teachers raise one another to higher levels of commitment and dedication, motivation and morality.
• Successful principals are both transactional and transformative
• Transformational leadership occurs when one or more teachers engage with others in such a way that administrators and teachers raise one another to higher levels of commitment and dedication, motivation and morality.
• Successful principals are both transactional and transformative
Practicalising theories
Participative leadership
Research findings
Practice • Collaborative decision making• Collaborative decision making
• People are more likely to implement decisions which they have participated in making
• Evidence of successful implementation of participative leadership in schools is sparse
• People are more likely to implement decisions which they have participated in making
• Evidence of successful implementation of participative leadership in schools is sparse
Practicalising theories
Moral leadership
Research findings
Practice Outstanding heads demonstrate the following values and beliefs through their words and deeds: inclusivity, equal opportunities, equity or justice, high expectations, engagement with stakeholders, co-operation, teamwork, commitment and understanding
Outstanding heads demonstrate the following values and beliefs through their words and deeds: inclusivity, equal opportunities, equity or justice, high expectations, engagement with stakeholders, co-operation, teamwork, commitment and understanding
• Similar to transformational leadership but with a stronger emphasis on values and beliefs
• Providing schools with a clear sense of purpose• The metaphors – the heart, the head and the hand
of leadership
• Similar to transformational leadership but with a stronger emphasis on values and beliefs
• Providing schools with a clear sense of purpose• The metaphors – the heart, the head and the hand
of leadership
Making judgements
Moral
Instructional
Participative
ContingentPost-
modern
Transform-ational
Managerial
Inter-personal
Making judgements
• Most successful leaders are – likely to embody most or all of these
approaches in their work.– Able to carry out effective situational analysis
and adapt their approaches to the specific context.
Triangulation - DOD
Document StudyDocument Study ObservationObservation DiscussionDiscussion
Study of SHS results, SSA, KPM and other relevant school documents to inform drafting of enquiry points and to guide the review
Daily meetings with Principal
Triangulation processes - meetings and interviews with different levels of school personnel (SMC, SIT, MM, LASW and basic rank Ts) and stakeholders (parents and students)
Principal's presentation
Evaluation of the delivered curriculum
school effectiveness is a key indicator of quality leadership
Exploring further …
• What questions would you ask to guide your onsite inquiry about school leadership?
• Which type of school leadership is more likely to be successful at this stage of education reform?
• How does a school leader strike a balance between his/her leadership and manager’s role in enhancing school development and performance?
To cope with a demanding reform agenda and avoid burn-out…
Sustainable Leadership @ http://www2.bc.edu/~hargrean/docs/seven_principles.pdf
What have we learnt?
• Concepts and evidence of leadership
• Evaluating leadership in the course of school review
In a nutshell, …
• Leadership and management are both important
• No single leadership style can reign supreme better adopt an eclectic approach to leading and managing educational change
• Quality of leadership represents itself in the day-to-day running of the school
• …
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