Improving School Leadership: Contexts and Success For them, conventional wisdom is not convenient truth. Keynote for OECD Workshop Brussels, February 1-2, 2007

Key questions in leadership improvement What do we do which is good for the children in our schools? What do we do which is good for the society we would like to have?

Improving school leadership: a common objective To align intentions to develop and support leaders who combine excellence and equity with policies and policy implementation strategies which work At present, in many countries, there is a focus on policy and systems development but not enough attention to the management of implementation processes

Improving school leadership: a common objective To develop benchmarks/national leadership standards (functional and personal) which reflect the realities of policy objectives and leadership contexts

Declining birth rate Greater mix of students, greater range of needs Increased external accountabilities (the new institutional paradigm) Alienation of students Increased range and intensity of tasks and relationships Results driven Teacher turnover in some schools Problems with teacher morale in many others Fewer career teachers Fewer who wish to become principals Little or no succession planning Improving school leadership: contexts of change

Acknowledge that contexts in which many principals work mean that achieving success on several fronts (personal, social, academic, vocational) is becoming a more complex task. Acknowledge that whilst principal preparation is important, sustained and targeted support for principals in service is crucial. Acknowledge that in many countries where the largest cohort of principals is over 50 years old, for reasons of life and work change, this is likely to be at risk of under-performing and needs to be designated as high priority. Reciprocal Accountability

School leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning Almost all successful leaders draw on the same repertoire of basic leadership practices The ways in which leaders apply these basic leadership practices – not practices themselves – demonstrate responsiveness to, rather than dictation by, the contexts in which they work School leaders improve teaching and learning indirectly and most powerfully through their influence on staff motivation, commitment and working conditions What we know (from research) about successful leadership

School leadership has a greater influence on schools and students when it is widely distributed Some patterns of distribution are more effective than others A small handful of personal traits explains a high proportion of the variation in leadership effectiveness What we know (from research) about successful leadership

Managing knowledge creation, dissemination and use: what we know about successful principals in action

All have ambitions for both the achievement and welfare of staff and students, they promote individual and collective efficacy All focus on the functional for the sake of the personal All work in contexts of forms of contractual accountability but some require more resilience, courage and strengths of values than others What ISSPP tells us about successful principals at work – pedagogical and transformational (1)

All exercise core sets of qualities, skills, strategies which are differentiated according to context All have high levels of diagnostic and problem solving skills All combine clusters of interpersonal skills and organisational strategies to achieve their ends All have clear moral and ethical purposes All manage conflicting expectations What ISSPP tells us about successful principals at work – pedagogical and transformational (1)

What ISSPP tells us about successful principals at work – pedagogical and transformational (2) All are strongly learner focused and their schools are data rich All have a strong appreciation of the importance of emotional understanding and have high levels of self knowledge All manage a number of tensions and dilemmas; All have CPD and professional learning at the centre of their improvement strategies All prioritize genuine care for all in the community All recalibrate contextualised conditions and constraints to create conditions for improvement

All have a strong sense of agency and a lot of hope; All have a vision of their school as a learning organisation and microcosm of a democratic society (though democracy has different meanings); All are at different stages of their own development; All work in schools which are in different improvement phases; All exercise embryonic or advanced forms of distributed leadership All are passionate about their work. What ISSPP tells us about successful principals at work – pedagogical and transformational (3)

Problems of sustainability, resilience and succession – building intrinsic motivation Leadership of complexity and ambiguity – capacity building Embedding organizational commitment and trust Raising standards whilst promoting equity Creating work conditions which support both the emotional health/well-being and measurable attainments of staff and students A mandate for leading the learning National performance standards for all leaders (an holistic perspective) Application of strategies appropriate to local need and reflective of centralist effective agendas Preparation, training and development for quality retention Celebrating success Policy Implementation Challenges

Internal core training agendas –Pedagogical leadership –Personal values (self knowledge) –Combining the functional and personal –Emotions leadership –Combination of skills and strategies (for restructuring and re-culturing) –Inter and intra personal skills –Vision/values in changing contexts –Data and belief driven decisions –Capacity building: distributing authority with responsibility –Futures training Leadership for learning: training and development (1)

External core training agendas –Systems leadership –Knowledge of leadership in different contexts –Knowledge of teachers in different professional life phases –Knowledge of organizational life phases –Knowledge of change processes –Knowledge of change leadership Training and development (2)

Key changes in social, economic and policy contexts Implications for schools (purposes, working conditions, professionalism) The role of leaders: excellence with equity Leading for learning and achievement: successful practices –Country case studies –Training and development: forms and functions Future directions and possibilities Framing the report: the issues