School Leadership Preparation and Development in England

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip A. Woods ◽  
Joy Jarvis ◽  
Amanda Roberts ◽  
Suzanne Culshaw
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School System ◽  
Leadership Preparation ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Independent State ◽  
21St Century Leadership ◽  
National Leaders ◽  
State Schools

School leadership preparation and development in England has to be understood in the context of England’s radically changing school system. Local democratic accountability of schools has been reduced and a range of new actors have entered the state school system to sponsor and govern schools. Since 2010, the numbers of such “independent” state schools have increased rapidly. As the role of local authorities has diminished, the middle tier of governance has been transformed and continues to evolve, with new forms of grouping schools emerging, such as multi-academy trusts (MATs) and teaching school alliances (TSAs). This and the influential idea in England of the school system as a school-led, self-improving system have implications for leadership and its preparation and development. System leadership, by national leaders of education for example, is seen as an essential layer of support for and a catalyst to school improvement, in addition to leadership of and within schools. In the first decade of the 21st century, leadership preparation and development became more like a “nationalized” service, with the creation of the National College for School Leadership (later the National College for Teaching and Leadership). With the abolition of the National College in 2013, the direction of travel was towards more plural and diverse providers of school leadership and preparation—some would say a privatized model of provision—including MATs, TSAs, schools and other providers. There are both potential strengths and weaknesses in this model. More autonomy is promised for providers and participants in preparing for and developing leadership, which could foster creativity in modes of provision. There are also tensions. Policy aims that promote the quantitative measurement of education on the basis of instrumental and economistic goals sit uneasily with other policy aims that appear to value education as the nurturing of human development as a good in itself; yet different educational purposes have different implications for the practice of school leadership and hence its preparation and development. A further tension is that between a positive recognition in the leadership discourse of the distributed nature of leadership and a tendency to revert to a more familiar focus on positional leadership roles and traditional, hierarchical leadership. Other issues include the practical consequences of a system of plural and diverse providers. The system may increase opportunities for innovation and local responsiveness, but it is not clear how it will ensure sufficiently consistent high-quality leadership preparation and development across the system. There are questions to do with power and inequalities—for example, whether greater autonomy works well for some providers and participants in leadership preparation and development, whilst others are much more constrained and less able to find or create opportunities to develop their leadership practice. Space for critical and questioning research and professional enquiry, independent of the interests and priorities of providers and government, is essential. Such research and enquiry are needed to illuminate how leadership preparation and development practice actually evolves in this more plural system, and who shapes that practice in the differing local contexts across England.

Performing and challenging gendered walls in leadership spaces in single sex schools: Lessons from a male-led girls’ basic school in Ghana

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322199869
Author(s):  
Raymond Chegedua Tangonyire
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Leadership Preparation ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Gender Inequity ◽  
Single Sex ◽  
Leadership Competence ◽  
Girls School

Women and men are capable of effectively discharging school leadership roles. However, in Ghana, people are socialised to expect females to lead girls’ schools and vice versa. Appointing a female or male to lead a single sex school that is opposite to their gender elicits gender stereotyping, protests and exclusion. While researchers have explored these dynamics in co-educational basic schools, they have not extended them to single sex schools. This case study investigated how the leadership practice of a male-led girls’ school in the Central Region of Ghana has challenged gendered walls. The study engaged 23 multiple stakeholders and gathered data through semi-structured interviews, observations and document analysis. Intra- and cross-case analyses of data revealed that loyalty to gender walls in single sex schools reflects the desire to respect and maintain the tradition of female headteachers in girls’ schools and male headteachers in boys’ schools. Overall, Ghana is still a traditional and patriarchal society that is characterised by gender inequity in leadership spaces. However, men and women who exhibit professional integrity and leadership competence could convert critics to supporters in a range of school settings. The Ghana Education Service should provide leadership preparation for practitioners to improve their leadership competence.

scholarly journals Educational Leadership Preparation: What Supervisors, Candidates, And Mentors Said

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Eric Tubbs ◽  
H. E. Holliday
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Real World ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Leadership Preparation ◽  
University Supervisors ◽  
Leadership Experiences ◽  
Regular Work ◽  
Practicum Experiences

The findings of this study identified practicum areas that meet the educational demands of candidates while highlighting practicum areas that need improvement. The study contributes to the knowledge base of the field by drawing upon feedback from university supervisors, school mentors and program candidates to evaluate and improve the practicum experience in the educational leadership program. Program candidates are in the best position to discuss their recent experiences of exposure to the real world. Supervisors and mentors can witness from their first hand experience how effective practicum activities work. Responses from supervisors, mentors and candidates regarding leadership practicum experiences are valuable to program developers in their future program redesign effort. Practicum experiences expose candidates to real-world school leadership experiences. Unfortunately, because of all kinds of conditional limitations, such practicum experiences can only be offered in conjunction with candidates' regular work in school. However, leadership practicum experiences can be well planned with a high collaboration of supervisors, mentors and candidates who have an invested interest in school improvement. In this study, what we learn from the differences of perceptions among supervisors, mentors and candidates is a caution to all stakeholders that we need to do a better job to prepare the next generation of school leaders. Supervisors, mentors and candidates need to form a coalition to explore other options, especially out-of-the-box strategies, to deliver a highly effective practicum program for potential educational leaders. 

Bringing context out of the shadows of leadership

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Hallinger
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
School Contexts ◽  
Successful Leadership ◽  
Generic Set ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Impact

Research on educational leadership and management has resulted in the accumulation of increasingly persuasive findings concerning the impact school leadership can have on school performance. Indeed, there is a growing consensus that there exists a generic set of leadership practices (e.g. goal setting, developing people) which must be adapted to meet the needs and constraints that describe different school contexts. However, to date, researchers have yet to develop a theory or report comprehensive findings on this challenge. This paper explores several types of school contexts (institutional, community, socio-cultural, political, economic, school improvement) and what we have learned about how they shape school leadership practice. The analysis leads to several conclusions and recommendations. First, it affirms, elaborates and extends the assertion made by scholars of the importance of examining leadership in context. Second, the need to contextualize leadership highlights deficiencies in modal research methods that focus on mean effects and either ignore context effects or relegate them to the shadows. Finally, the field needs to refine current research methods and explore new approaches that enable us to better study how successful leadership responds and adapts to different contexts.

scholarly journals Potential of Positive Leadership for School Improvement

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 165-180
Author(s):  
Karen Seashore Louis ◽  
Joseph F. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Organizational Theory ◽  
Narrative Research ◽  
Leadership Preparation ◽  
Positive Leadership ◽  
Teachers And Students

In this paper, we undertake four formative assignments: (1) We introduce the idea of positive school leadership (PSL) based largely on theory and research conducted outside the educational sector and introduce four orientations that anchor PSL; (2) we develop ideas about how asset-grounded concepts of leadership can be incorporated into schooling; (3) we examine how concepts underlying PSL may affect schools, classrooms, teachers, and students; and (4) using narrative research and grounded theory we introduce an overview of empirical evidence linking PSL and valued outcomes. We conclude by discussing the significance of PSL for organizational theory and leadership preparation and professional development.

scholarly journals Collaborative school leadership in a global society: A critical perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 663-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip A Woods ◽  
Amanda Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Critical Reflexivity ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
International Teacher

In the context of evolving global challenges and opportunities, this article explores the kind of leadership that moves beyond the philosophy of dependence which pervades many of the everyday assumptions of educational leadership practice. The article argues for educational leadership that places relational freedom, self-determination, and critical reflexivity as the driving aim of distributed leadership by teachers, students and others in non-positional leadership roles. A project arising from the International Teacher Leadership initiative is examined in order to offer practical illustration.

Principal leadership preparation towards high-performing school leadership in Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-439
Author(s):  
Donnie Adams ◽  
Ashley Ng Yoon Mooi ◽  
Vasu Muniandy
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Principal Leadership ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Leadership Preparation ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Professional Qualification ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Comprehensive Plan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the Malaysian National Professional Qualification for Educational Leaders (NPQEL), a principal leadership preparation programme and the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013–2025, a comprehensive plan for a rapid and sustainable transformation of our education system through to 2025 to ensure high-performing school leaders in every school.Design/methodology/approachIn understanding how the NPQEL operates and its effectiveness in preparing high performing school leaders, a research instrument of open-ended questions were administered to 102 principals from government-funded secondary schools, to establish how they were prepared for their leadership roles and their views of their leadership practices.FindingsThe NPQEL programme provides evidence of strong outcomes in preparing school leaders towards high-performing school leadership in Malaysia in combination of a variety of approaches with respect to its designs and competency standards. Findings indicate that the NPQEL contributes towards the development of the school leaders' attributes or skills for their leadership roles; and the NPQEL fulfils the aspirations set out in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013–2025.Originality/valueThis paper explores the potential influence of Malaysian NPQEL and the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013–2025 on preparing high-performing school leaders in every school.

Leadership practices of school principal through a distributed leadership lens: a case study of a secondary school in urban Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-422
Author(s):  
Ali Nawab ◽  
Muhammad Mujtaba Asad
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Original Data ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Content Type

PurposeUnless the expertise of multiple teachers is availed, it is very unlikely for an individual leader to bring improvement especially at classroom level. This realization had led to the emergence of distributed leadership which is about engaging multiple individuals in leadership roles. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of school leadership in distributing leadership to teachers in a private secondary school in an urban context of Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachUsing qualitative approach and case study method, the research collects data from school leaders and teachers involved in leadership roles through interviews.FindingsIt was found that leadership facilitates distributed leadership through formulating a vision to develop teachers, enhancing the capacity of individuals involved in leadership roles, establishing a culture of trust, and creating opportunities for interaction and collaboration among teachers.Practical implicationsSchool leadership should distribute leadership to teachers in order to utilize the potential of multiple individuals which will ultimately lead to school improvement through initiatives from within. Educational reformers should incorporate the concept of distributed leadership in the professional development programmes designed for school leaders and teachers.Originality/valueThe study is first of its nature which reports on distributed leadership from a private sector school of Pakistan based on original data.

scholarly journals Exploring causal relationships qualitatively: An empirical illustration of how causal relationships become visible across episodes and contexts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Causal Relationships ◽  
Process Data ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
School Leadership Development ◽  
Cultural Historical Activity ◽  
Empirical Illustration

AbstractCausal relationships are traditionally examined in quantitative research. However, this article informs the discussion surrounding the potential use of qualitative data to explore causal relationships qualitatively through an empirical illustration of a school leadership development team. As school leadership development is supposed to offer continuing development to practicing school leaders, it brings into question the issue of causal relationships. This study analyzes audio and video recordings from 10 workshops involving a team of principals, municipality leaders, and researchers who met over two years to support the principals in leading a local school improvement program. The process data are organized into episodes and analyzed in three layers of causation an interpretative layer, a contradictory layer, and an agentive layer grounded in cultural-historical activity theory. When tracing a problem statement across episodes and relating the processes to events in a principal’s practice, causal relationships became visible across the episodes and contexts. The argument, then, is that the results are achieved in the processes. As such, process data can reveal causal relationships that quantitative data cannot.

scholarly journals University professors as academic leaders

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Evans
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Leadership Preparation ◽  
Academic Leadership ◽  
Anecdotal Evidence ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
University Professors ◽  
Academic Leaders ◽  
Intellectual Capacity ◽  
The Uk

In the UK the title ‘professor’ is generally applied only to the most senior academics – equivalent to North American full professors – and whom anecdotal evidence indicates to be often unprepared for the increasingly expansive academic leadership roles that they are expected to fulfil. The study reported in this paper was directed at exploring the reliability of such evidence, and the ways in which professors develop or prepare themselves, or are developed or prepared by others, for what are generally considered their professorial academic leadership roles. Data were gathered by questionnaires and interviews, revealing that excessive professorial workloads often result from confusion about what constitutes academic leadership and precisely what and how much is expected of professors. Yet despite an evident dearth of ‘official’, designated, academic leadership preparation and/or development provision, professors were resourceful in drawing upon their experience, networks and intellectual capacity to develop ways of becoming and being effective members of the professoriate.

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