Exploring teacher’s innovative leadership roles in small rural schools P. Koulouris, S. Sotiriou, Ellinogermaniki Agogi Athens, Greece

Our focus here: New leadership roles teachers can play in small rural schools and beyond

Inviting the teacher to become a change agent in the community We believe that an informed, adequately prepared teacher of a small rural school can: –Catalyse innovation and development in the school and the local community –Turn the school into a lively node supporting lifelong learning for everyone –Make the school more responsive to the growth and survival needs of its community –Develop responsible citizens and create opportunities for tomorrow's rural leaders to emerge

Rural schools promoting personal and community development A skilful and devoted teacher may turn known and emerging opportunities into an advantage for his students, himself/herself, the school, as well as the wider local community. Diverse roles that the remote rural school can play are recorded in the literature.

Diverse school roles Non-educational impact of schools on rural communities ( Salant & Waller, 1998 ) –multi-faceted school-community relationship positive economic and social impacts a resource for community development offering a delivery point for social services.

Links between education and rural development Educational attainment as a rural development strategy ( Barkley, Henry, & Haizhen, 2005; Beaulieu & Gibbs, 2005 ) –a better educated rural population leads to greater economic growth Recent studies in the USA: –more rapid earnings and income growth in rural counties with high educational levels –improving local schools can reverse the tendency of loss of young adults through outmigration (‘rural brain drain’)

Community development: not only economic Economic, social & environmental well-being Miller (1995) on rural schools: –Working in partnership with local leaders and residents –Giving students, working alongside adults, meaningful opportunities to engage in community-based learning that serves the needs of both the community and the students.

Social capital: a crucial concept ‘Social capital’: –social organization and resources embedded in the social structure of the rural communities, which can facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit, and thus community development. Social capital exerts a positive causal influence on economic development (Woodhouse, 2006). The school is an important element in the creation of community’s social capital (Miller, 1995) –We should build and sustain strong linkages between the community and the school –Rural communities may have a head start in developing these linkages: schools have traditionally played a central role in the life of the communities

Yes, but how?

This remains a challenge A strong school-community partnership remains a major challenge: –this is not generally viewed as a traditional element of schooling Approaches are needed that cross the boundaries traditionally separating the community as a place of learning from the school

Three approaches ( Miller, 1995 ) The school as a community centre –a resource for lifelong learning, a vehicle for the delivery of a wide range of services –school resources (facilities, technology, well-educated staff) can provide educational and retraining opportunities for the community. The community as curriculum –Study of the community in its various dimensions. –Students generate information for community development by conducting needs assessments, studying and monitoring environmental and land-use patterns, and by documenting local history through interviews and photo essays. School-based enterprise –Developing entrepreneurial skills –Students not only identify potential service needs in their rural communities, but actually establish a business to address those needs.

The case of satellite broadband internet Let’s imagine that satellite broadband connectivity is made available to the school The teacher should be encouraged to: –turn it into advantage and opportunity for all –promote the development of a new culture among local citizens

The teacher can turn the school into a “Learning Hub”, a gateway to knowledge and lifelong learning which will be open to everyone in the community. Contact us to give you examples and ideas! Contact us

So, teacher’s multiple roles Typically, the teacher is already: –Struggling daily in a demanding school setting –Maybe acting as the head of the small school –Considered by the local people as a prominent member of the isolated community

Additional leadership roles The teacher can also become: The manager of change in an informal local ‘reform’ An instructional leader exploring new ways to improve the quality of teaching and learning A developer of links and synergies between the school, the community and other schools in the area A facilitator of communities of learning in, around, and outside, the school The former and implementer of innovation matching local needs

Questions arising Obvious need for corresponding professional development: –Which form? What content precisely? Which competences? solutions and opportunities of the Information Society pedagogies specifically adaptable to the ‘unusual’ settings of the small rural school Innovation change management local and rural community development, etc.

Questions arising Possible conflicts with the highly centralized educational system? –the teacher in this context is encouraged to initiate and implement an informal local ‘educational reform’ –What if decentralisation and autonomy of school units is not encouraged by the system? –Can this discrepancy be a source of tension? –What can we practically do to convince the others and overcome such obstacles?