Navigating the leadership tensions in creating collective responsibility

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deidre Le Fevre ◽  
Frauke Meyer ◽  
Linda Bendikson
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Achievement Goals ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Qualitative Case Studies ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to use a collective responsibility theoretical lens to examine the work of three school principals as they focussed on school-wide goal-setting processes to achieve valued student achievement goals. The tensions principals face in creating collective responsibility are examined so that these might be intentionally navigated.Design/methodology/approachQualitative case studies of three New Zealand schools include data from interviews with principals, middle leaders and teachers. An inductive and deductive thematic analysis approach was employed.FindingsPrincipals face four key tensions: (1) whether to promote self or centrally directed and voluntary or mandatory professional learning; (2) how to balance a top-down versus a middle-up process for accountability; (3) ways to integrate both educator and student voice and (4) the complexity of both challenging teachers' beliefs and providing support. These challenges seemed inherent in the work of developing collective responsibility and leaders tended to move along response continuum.Research limitations/implicationsThis research highlights the importance of being intentional and transparent with staff members about both the nature of these tensions and their navigation, and opens up further questions in relation to leader, and teacher perceptions of tensions in creating collective responsibility for achieving school-improvement goals.Practical implicationsAn understanding of the tensions that need to be navigated can help leaders and other educators to take effective action, scrutinize the reasoning behind decisions, and understand the inherent challenges faced.Originality/valueLeadership tensions in creating collective responsibility are explored and implications for leadership practice and learning considered.

Leading school improvement through goal-setting: Evidence from New Zealand schools

2020 ◽  
pp. 174114322097971
Author(s):  
Frauke Meyer ◽  
Linda Bendikson ◽  
Deidre M Le Fevre
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Goal Setting ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
School Achievement ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Teacher Interview ◽  
Achievement Data ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Successful School

Many studies claim the importance of goal-setting for school improvement but few outline specific practices. This study highlights specific goal-setting practices associated with successful school improvement efforts. It reports on a 2-year collaborative research project, which closely examined three principals’ goal-setting practices in the context of their schools. It documents principals’ and staffs’ efforts to improve equity in outcomes through detailed case studies. Case studies drew on principal and teacher interview data, workshop artifacts and discussion recordings, observations, school reports and school achievement data. The in-depth case and cross-case analyses focused on micro-level leadership practices and their impact on school-wide practices. This study highlights four key leadership drivers for improvement. These include: justifying goals in ways that challenge teachers’ beliefs about current achievement to raise commitment; embedding tight and rigourous monitoring practices with a focus on problem-solving and improvement; distributing responsibility and leadership; and developing the capability and collective responsibility of middle leaders. Our discussion highlights how leaders’ belief systems can enable or constrain their ability to influence their schools’ cultures.

School culture and leadership of professional learning communities

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 682-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
School Culture ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Shared Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policies And Procedures

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore supportive and shared leadership structures at schools as a function of school culture policies and procedures. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study was conducted at three secondary schools in the Midwestern USA. Administrators and teachers were interviewed, professional learning communities observed and artifacts collected to explore school culture policies, procedures and leadership in the implementation of professional learning community practice. Findings – This study concludes that school leaders must provide supportive and shared leadership structures for teachers in order to ensure a positive school culture and effective professional learning communities that impact school improvement. Leaders in schools must work directly with teachers to create policies and procedures that provide teachers the leadership structure to directly impact school improvement through professional learning community collaborative efforts. Originality/value – This study builds on the school culture and professional learning communities literature by exploring existent policies and practices in schools as unique cases. Much of the literature calls for specific case studies to identify issues in the implementation of effective practice. This study is important to the community as specific cases that may inform educational leaders on mechanisms that may be leveraged to ensure successful implementation of policies and procedures outline in school culture and professional learning community literature.

Broadening borders to build better schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 296-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Carpenter ◽  
Paul Munshower
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Rural Teachers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how rural teachers provided a PLC by leveraging virtual technologies to connect educators of like subject disciplines from several schools, foreign and domestic. Design/methodology/approach A phenomenological case study-based approach was leveraged to investigate established vPLCs at schools (Creswell, 2013; Stake, 2010). Qualitative data were collected from multiple sources to obtain rural teacher perceptions on the impact vPLCs had on their practice (Creswell, 2013). Findings Teacher collaborative teams build relationships comparable to teams that met face to face as part of a similar PLC and PD experience. Participant reflections in this investigation showed that rural educators favored face-to-face meetings; however, vPLCs provided similar teacher experiences to that of the face-to-face PBL model. Results indicated that educators recognized virtual collaboration just as valuable a tool for enabling PLCs than face-to-face collaborations while still offering similarities to improved teacher practice. Research limitations/implications The research was limited to teachers in rural settings in the USA (Texas) and in the Dominican Republic. The research was limited to teacher perceptions of change, and observed changes as part of their participation in a research-based virtual PLC model. The research was limited to the school setting over an academic year. Practical implications The findings from this study have practical implications for rural teachers and school implementation of a professional learning community model. Originality/value The promise provided by this study is that vPLCs may provide opportunity for rural schools to provide a job-embedded professional development model (Croft et al., 2010) for otherwise isolated teachers (Barrett et al., 2015).

Sustaining school improvement in a high-need school

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathern Okilwa ◽  
Bruce Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
State Level ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how Robbins ES has sustained high academic performance over almost 20 years despite several changes in principals. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyzed longitudinal data based on: state-level academic and demographic data; two earlier studies of the school; and recent interviews with teachers, the principal, and parent leaders. Findings The analyses of these longitudinal data revealed four ongoing factors were responsible for sustained academic performance: high expectations, distributed leadership, collective responsibility for student performance, and data-based decision making. However, challenges that persistently confront Robbins staff include limited resources (e.g. technology and library materials), high mobility rate, and some cases of unsupportive parents. Originality/value This study adds to understanding how high-need urban schools can sustain high academic performance in spite of changes in principals, shifting community demographics, and high student mobility.

scholarly journals External mentoring for new teachers: mentor learning for a change agenda

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 178-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Daly ◽  
Emmajane Milton
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
New Teachers ◽  
Early Career ◽  
First Year ◽  
Early Career Teachers ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Career Teachers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on a qualitative study of the learning and development of 70 external mentors during the first year of their deployment to support early career teachers’ professional learning as part of a national initiative aimed at school improvement in Wales. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a narrative methodology that elicited accounts of external mentors’ learning experiences that were captured as textual data and analysed using an inductive approach to identify: first, the manifest themes that appeared at declarative level, and second, the latent (sub-textual) themes of external mentor learning and development. Findings Four key themes emerged that indicate the complexity of transition to the role of external mentor in high-stakes contexts. From these, eight theoretically-informed principles were derived which support mentors to embrace uncertainty as essential to their learning and development, and to harness the potential they bring as boundary-crossers to support the development of new teachers. Research limitations/implications The study investigated the first year of a three-year programme and worked with one form of qualitative data collection. The research results may lack generalisability and a longitudinal study is necessary to further explore the validity of the findings. Practical implications The eight principles provide a foundation for mentor development programmes that can support ambitious goals for mentoring early career teachers. Originality/value The study addresses the under-researched area of the learning and development of external mentors at a national scale.

The emotional ecology of school improvement culture

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 488-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Demerath
Keyword(s):  
School Culture ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Essential Feature ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Feedback Loops ◽  
High Performing Schools ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Staff Members

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how high-performing schools develop and sustain improvement culture. While school culture has consistently been identified as an essential feature of high-performing schools, many of the ways in which culture shapes specific improvement efforts remain unclear. The paper draws on new research from social cognitive neuroscience and the anthropology and sociology of emotion to account for the relative impact of various meanings within school culture and how school commitment is enacted. Design/methodology/approach The analysis here draws on three years of ethnographic data collected in Harrison High School (HHS) in an urban public school district in River City, a large metropolitan area in the Midwestern USA. Though the school’s surrounding community had been socioeconomically depressed for many years, Harrison was selected for the study largely because of its steady improvement trajectory: in December, 2013, it was deemed a “Celebration” school under the state’s Multiple Measurement Rating system. The paper focuses on a period of time between 2013 and 2015, when the school was struggling to implement and localize a district-mandated push-in inclusion policy. Findings Study data suggest that the school’s eventual success in localizing the new inclusion policy was due in large part to a set of core interlocking feedback loops that generated specific emotionally charged meanings which guided its priorities, practices and direction. Specifically, the feedback loops explain how staff members and leaders generated and sustained empathy for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, optimism in their capabilities and motivation to help them learn and flourish. Furthermore they show how school leaders and staff members generated and sustained confidence and trust in their colleagues’ abilities to collaboratively learn and solve problems. Originality/value The model of the school’s emotional ecology presented here connects two domains of educational practice that are frequently analyzed separately: teaching and learning, and organization and leadership. The paper shows how several key features of high-performing schools are actually made and re-made through the everyday practices of leaders and staff members, including relational trust, academic optimism and collective efficacy. In sum, the charged meanings described here contributed to leaders’ and staff members’ commitment to the school, its students and each other – and what Florek (2016) has referred to as their “common moral purpose.”

Collaboration with private companies as a vehicle for school improvement

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Sahlin
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Depth Information ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Field Notes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine principals’ experience and sensemaking of collaboration with private companies, focussing on leadership and school improvement. Design/methodology/approach This paper is set against the backdrop of a project where three public Swedish schools collaborated with private companies within their communities. Data were collected over three years and consisted of semi-structured interviews, meeting notes, field observations, field notes and document analysis. A qualitative content analysis was performed using the Atlas.ti 6.2 software tool. Findings The study shows that important sensemaking for the principals in this collaboration between schools and private companies is related to the sense of collective responsibility and involvement, development of improvement culture and trust between key actors, and common improvement initiatives based on mutual interest. Challenges in the collaboration are related to principal changes, a lack of implementation of the collaboration, and that there was no clear vision of external collaboration in two out of three schools. In terms of possibilities, the collaboration was based on the needs of the school, a collaborative culture was developed, and the development/activities were undertaken between involved schools and private companies during the collaboration. Research limitations/implications Inevitably, there are limitations that need to be identified and recognised in this study. First, the small number of cases in this multiple case study, as well as the specific social context, limits the possibility of generalising the findings. Second, the study was not independently selected, and the findings and analyses are linked to national and local contexts, which can be seen as a limitation and strength. Notwithstanding, this study contributes with in-depth information about how a beyond-school collaboration with private companies is practised as well as how involved principals made sense of the collaboration from the perspective of school improvement. Originality/value The originality is the collaboration between schools and private companies. The paper contributes with new knowledge about how principals experience and make sense of this collaboration as a vehicle for school improvement.

Looking for learning in teacher learning networks in Kenya

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Anderson ◽  
Caroline Manion ◽  
Mary Drinkwater ◽  
Rupen Chande ◽  
Wesley Galt
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Network Activity ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Student Misbehavior

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the findings from a study of teacher professional learning networks in Kenya. Specific areas of focus included network participation, network activities, network leadership, and professional impact on network members and their schools. Design/methodology/approach The research was grounded in the literature on education networks and teacher learning. The research employed a qualitative design and was implemented from September 2015–March 2017, including three two-week field trips to Kenya. Data included network records, 83 personal interviews, 4 focus group interviews, 19 observations of network meetings, and classroom observation of network and non-network teachers in 12 schools. Findings Network participation had positive effects on teachers’ sense of professionalism and commitment to teaching and on their attitudes toward ongoing professional learning and improvement in student learning. Teachers also highlighted network benefits for learning to use new teaching strategies and materials, responding to student misbehavior and misunderstanding, and lesson preparation. Research limitations/implications Research constraints did not permit longitudinal investigation of network activities and outcomes. Practical implications The paper identifies challenges and potential focuses for strengthening the learning potential of network activities, network leadership, and the links between network activity and school improvement. Originality/value Prior research has investigated education networks mostly in North American and similar high income settings. This paper highlights the benefits and challenges for networks as a strategy for continuous teacher development in a low income low resource capacity context.

scholarly journals Contextual coaching: levering and leading school improvement through collaborative professionalism

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trista Hollweck ◽  
Rachel M. Lofthouse
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Joint Work ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeThe research examines how contextual coaching (Gorrell and Hoover, 2009; Valentine, 2019) can act as a lever to build collaborative professionalism (Hargreaves and O'Connor, 2018) and lead to school improvement.Design/methodology/approachThe multi-case study (Stake, 2013) draws on two bespoke examples of contextual coaching in education and uses the ten tenets of collaborative professionalism as a conceptual framework for its abductive analysis. Data from both cases were collected through interviews, focus groups and documentation.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that effective contextual coaching leads to conditions underpinning school improvement. Specifically, there are patterns of alignment with the ten tenets of collaborative professionalism. Whereas contextual coaching is found on four of these tenets (mutual dialogue, joint work, collective responsibility and collaborative inquiry), in more mature coaching programmes, three others (collective autonomy, initiative and efficacy) emerge. There is also evidence that opportunities exist for contextual coaching to be further aligned with the remaining three tenets. The study offers insight into how school improvement can be realized by the development of staff capacity for teacher leadership through contextual coaching.Research limitations/implicationsThe impact of coaching in education is enhanced by recognizing the importance of context and the value of iterative design and co-construction.Practical implicationsThe principles of contextual coaching are generalizable, but models must be developed to be bespoke and to align with each setting. Collaborative professionalism offers a useful framework to better design and implement contextual coaching programmes.Originality/valueThe research introduces contextual coaching in education, and how coaching can enhance collaborative professionalism in schools.

The emergence of professional learning networks in Spain

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Azorín
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Spanish Literature ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Character ◽  
Educational Paradigm ◽  
School Classification

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to construct a policy map of professional learning networks (PLNs) in Spain. It includes initiatives prompted in Spanish schools in which social, political, cultural and educational elements are integrated. At the same time, it analyses which organization promotes each of the networks, the objectives pursued and the scope of the network in the territory in which it is created. Design/methodology/approach The methodology followed is essentially descriptive and incorporates the first experiences with school networks which have been disseminated in the Spanish literature. It stimulates reflection on the role networks are expected to play in relation to local developments in this specific school system. Findings The cases described (Castellon, Catalonia, Malaga and Seville) suggest a way forward for practitioners to advance toward an educational paradigm based on greater collaboration. This includes a partnership approach among professionals within and across classrooms, schools, communities, districts and education systems. In particular, the results place the focus of the network on the prevalence of the following school classification, included schools (community networks linking to the territory), extended schools (socio-educational networks), equity schools (equity fostering networks) and partnership schools (school-to-school support networks), whose objectives and scopes are reviewed. Research limitations/implications With the Spanish context in mind, it is essential to recognize that more empirical evidence is still needed to make a significant contribution toward building knowledge in this research line. Indeed, sustainability seems to be an important point to consider in a short-term world where quick-fix solutions are required. However, PLNs need time to know how beneficial they really are, for example, in terms of student outcomes and school improvement. Practical implications The argument developed assumes networks as a mirror wherein the present and future of education takes place. In this sense, the scientific and educational communities have both a challenge and an opportunity to rethink the potential of networking and collaboration in education. The article tries to be attractive to a specialized reader or one simply interested in the problem of networks in education and the reality of PLNs in Spain. Social implications The network society demands a network school environment where communities are part of a local character strategy. Originality/value This document offers an interesting view on networks that not only focus on education but on social and welfare issues and it aims to target education from a broader perspective; so resulting in opening schools to the community, which is not a widely covered topic in education research. In summary, the paper can be considered as a pioneer study in the Spanish context, which contains valuable information about PLNs, their origin and current status in this part of the world.

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