LDS/RTU SUMMER SCHOOL 2008Leading Learning in Diverse Contexts

Learning-centred Leadership

Leadership which really makes a difference

August 2008

Geoff Southworth

Learning-centred Leadership

• Growing amount of research and evidence to support this thinking

• My work began in small schools and then large ones

• NCSL’s research took the ideas forward in primary and secondary schools

• International studies also provide support

Geoff Southworth

How leaders influence what happens in classrooms

• Direct effects• Indirect effects• Reciprocal effects• Indirect effects are the largest and

most common• Effective leaders work directly on

their indirect influence

Geoff Southworth

How leaders influence what happens

in classrooms

3 strategies

1. Modelling2. Monitoring3. Dialogue

Geoff Southworth

Modelling

Geoff Southworth

25 years of research

• School-based• Interviewing and observing leaders

at work• Found 2 things:

1. Never found a teacher with nothing to say about her headteacher!

2. When they talk about school leaders they usually talk about what they do

Geoff Southworth

Modelling

• Leading by example• Walk the talk• Actions speak louder than words• The walk is the talk• Behaviour really matters… it’s what

we do• Every action is a chance to lead• You are closely observed – you are

watched

Geoff Southworth

Modelling

Example is not the main thing in influencing others,

it is the only thing.

Albert Schweizer

Geoff Southworth

Monitoring

• Knowing what is going on• Using data• Observing classrooms• Using leaders’ classroom practice

as an example for other teachers• Action research

Geoff Southworth

Monitoring – what it is not

Not surveillance

And it is important to establish what it is and isn’t to avoid mis-understanding, defensiveness or even threat.

Geoff Southworth

Monitoring – Reflections [1]Monitoring is a challenge in your

schools

Q1 - What data do you or might you use?

Q2 - Are there ways of observing teaching

and learning?Q3 - What is the place and role of self- evaluation?

Geoff Southworth

Modelling and monitoring pedagogy

What we know about high performing school systems and those that close the achievement gap.

1. They get the right people to become teachers

2. They develop them into effective instructors3. They ensure the system is able to deliver the

best possible instruction for every child

Geoff Southworth

The quality of a school system cannot exceed the quality of its

teachers (Michael Barber & Mona Mourshed

2007)

Geoff Southworth

The quality of a school cannot exceed the quality of its

teachers

Therefore the task of learning-centred leaders is to improve the quality of teaching in their schools.

Geoff Southworth

Monitoring

Monitoring should therefore include identifying teachers’ pedagogic strengths and

development needs.

– Who could mentor whom?– Who could coach whom?

Subject knowledge Teaching strategies and tactics – open questions; group work; AfL; plenary sessions

Geoff Southworth

Monitoring – Reflections [2]

Q1. How is teachers’ craft knowledge shared and transferred in your schools?

Q2. How might this be strengthened and improved?

Q3. What are the obstacles to teachers sharing and developing their pedagogy?

Q4. Which of these can you do something about and will you?

Geoff Southworth

Dialogue

Opportunities to talk about learning and

teaching

Sharing craft knowledge

Transferring - reinvesting intellectual capital

Geoff Southworth

Dialogue

• Describing

• Analysing

• Reflecting

• Articulating

Geoff Southworth

Dialogue

Conversation

Co-construction of professional knowledge

Constructivist professional learning

Geoff Southworth

Reflections and questions [3]

• What do staff in your school talk about?

• How much professional conversation is there?

• Who provides stimulus to these conversations?

Geoff Southworth

3 strategies = one powerful effect

Geoff Southworth

Modelling Monitoring Dialogue

Geoff Southworth

What do leaders in high performing schools with lots of disadvantaged pupils do?

#1. They focus on what they can do, rather than what they can’t.

Geoff Southworth

#2. They don’t leave anything about teaching and learning to chance

An awful lot of our teachers – even brand new ones – are left to figure out on their own what to teach and what constitutes ‘good enough’ work.

[US Study]

Geoff Southworth

#3. They set their goals high.

Expectations matter – behaviour, attendance, effort, attainment

Geoff Southworth

#4. Higher performing secondary schools put all pupils – not just some – in a demanding, high core curriculum

Geoff Southworth

#5. Principals are hugely important,

ever present, but NOT

the only leaders in the school

Geoff Southworth

High performing schools…• Teachers regularly observe other

teachers;• Teachers have time to plan and

work collaboratively;• New teachers get generous and

careful support & acculturation;• Teachers take on many other

leadership tasks at the school

Geoff Southworth

#6. In good schools, leaders know how much teachers matter and

they act on that knowledge

Geoff Southworth

Good teachers matter a lot

But some don’t get their fair share of quality teachers

Low-performing students of all races mostlikely to be assigned to least effective teachers.

Leaders in high performing schools don’t let this happen

Geoff Southworth

Nearly there…!!

Good schools are nice places to be – both for students and for

teachers.

Geoff Southworth

Saying that they are nice doesn’t mean they are easy places to

work.

Principals and teachers work hard.

But there is also a kind of shared sense

of mission and camaraderie.