SCHOOL LEADERSHIPWednesday, November 28, 2012

DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE TEACHERS AND SCHOOL LEADERS (STEWART) “High performing countries build their human resource

system by investing energy up front to attract, prepare, and support good teachers, rather than using energy on the back end to reduce teacher attrition and fire weak teachers.”

Developing teachers (“single biggest in-school influence on student achievement”)

Attracting and recruiting Developing 21st Century teachers Professional development Evaluation and compensation: “working conditions… seem more

important to teachers in most countries than salary per se” p.111 Teacher distribution Career paths and leadership roles

STEWART (CONT.)

Developing Effective School Leaders “When an education system’s performance is weak, strong

government intervention is usually needed.” But going from good to great, requires moving away from top-down approaches and building capacity and creativity at the school-level.

Provide training that is different from traditional administrator programs

England: training with 2-year peer support

China: differentiated training for primary and secondary schools

Finland: principals are former teachers and act as lead teachers rather than managers

Singapore: modeled on corporations. Teachers are continually assessed for leadership potential: “select then train” model

STEWART (CONT.)

“Educational practices cannot simply be copied wholesale from one country to another; they need to be adapted to different cultural and political settings.” But all high-performing countries: Invest seriously in human capital Focus on instructional core and student outcomes Have created talent identification and development practices Have established universal systems for continuous improvement

IMPROVING SCHOOL LEADERSHIP PRACTICE (PONT) Why it matters

Contributes to improved student learning Bridges educational policy and practice Links schools to their environments

Challenges Context matters Small workforce with high responsibility Ageing workforce Unequal gender distribution An increasingly unattractive job

PONT (CONT.)

(Re)define responsibilities: More autonomy with greater support Focus on student learning outcomes through goal setting and assessment;

supporting, evaluating and developing teacher quality; strategic financial and human resource management; and collaboration with other schools.

Develop school leadership frameworks by defining characteristics and responsibilities of school leaders and developing recruitment, training, and appraisal of these leaders. Should allow room for contextualization.

Distribute school leadership Encourage and support distribution: broaden concept of school leadership

“leadership teams”. Create incentives for team development and participation, extend training and development to middle-level management, and modify accountability mechanisms.

Support school boards: clarify roles/responsibilities, ensure skills/experience of members fit objectives, provide guidelines for recruitment and selection of members, develop support structures

PONT (CONT.)

Develop skills Leadership development as a continuum: initial training, induction programs, in-

service training – consider both formal and informal processes Consistency of provision across institutions: standards, evaluations, and other

mechanisms to monitor and regulate training program quality Appropriate variety of training: experience in real contexts, cohort grouping,

mentoring, coaching, peer learning, collaboration between program and schools

Make school leadership an attractive profession Professionalize recruitment: procedures and criteria should be effective,

transparent and consistent and should attract younger candidates with different backgrounds

Provide attractive salaries: competitive with private sector, differentiated from teacher scales

Acknowledge professional organizations of school leaders: dialogue, knowledge sharing, dissemination of best practices

Provide options and support for career development: more flexible and mobile,

EXERCISE 1: 10 MINUTES

Choose a context (a particular country or region/sector within that country) and develop a job description for the ideal principal. Consider: The specific challenges facing schools in this particular

context The qualities and qualifications an effective leader must

have to produce a successful school environment The resources the school district will provide to support the

success of the new principal

EXERCISE 2: 10 MINUTES

For the same context/sector used in Exercise 1, design a recruiting campaign to attract a new generation of school leaders that fit your ideal qualities outlined in Exercise 1. Things to consider: Your target audience The message(s) you want to convey The media you intend to use

As part of your consultant role on this campaign, you are able to make recommendations to the local/regional school board or national ministry on changes that should be implemented to ensure successful recruitment and retainment of these candidates (salary recommendations, training programs, etc.)

INTERESTING LINKS

The Principal Story documentary: http://youtu.be/kVBep8tcvBI The Do’s and Don’ts of Educational Leadership:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upT0oy-kKz4&feature=relmfu How a Great Leader Motivates: http://youtu.be/KZ3FhXsvOOs The 10 Differences Between Managers and Leaders: http://youtu.be/

8ubRzzirRKs Singapore’s 21st Century Teaching Strategies: http://youtu.be/M_pIK7ghGw4 Principal Mentoring: http://youtu.be/AXv5AkJ75Wc Recruiting and retaining effective principals:

http://www.edutopia.org/freshman-principal Principal recruitment in DC:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/15/AR2008031502083.html

INTERESTING LINKS

The Wallace Foundation: http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/school-leadership/Pages/default.aspx

New Leaders: http://www.newleaders.org SEDL: http://www.sedl.org/change/leadership/

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