Schools As Community Action Centres : A Powerful Role That Generates The Leaders of The Future

A wider definition of the role of school leader, which situates their schools at the centre of their communities , can have transformative ripple effects on their students and communities

School leaders make a difference within and beyond the school. They impact not only the learning of students, but their character and aspirations, their vision for who they want to be in the world. New models of leadership are about empowering staff and students to become the leaders of the future, it is a model that moves students from leader: follower when they join the school, to leader:leader when they graduate.

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      string(416) "The schools sector is facing serious recruitment and retention problems for teaching and leadership posts. More than half of teachers are over 45 years of age and less than 20 per cent under 30. This report from the HayGroup has been written to capture and summarise how other organisations are tackling this problem and also to highlight good practice within the schools sector. By HayGroup - 2003"
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      string(5885) "developmental work.It is in this context that the development of the concept of distributedleadership has taken root. Research has shown that schools can sustainimprovement through capacity building and equipping teachers to leadinnovation and development. The clear message is that to sustain improvementrequires the leadership capability of the many rather than the few and thatimprovements in learning are more likely to be achieved when leadership islocated closest to the classroom and distributed throughout the school.Everybody is a leaderThe group for which most change is envisaged is in the ‘middle tier’ ofschools, i.e. heads of department in secondary schools; subject leader/keystage co-ordinators in primary schools.Growing Tomorrow’s School Leaders © Hay Group 2006 page 21 of 78In primary schools, most teachers lead one or more curricular areas, as subjectand specialist leaders. These roles play a very significant part in theimplementation of school policy. For example, the introduction ofperformance management, literacy and numeracy strategies and workforcetransformation are dependent upon the middle managers’ ability to bring thesechanges into the day-to-day working of the school. There are an estimated250,000 teachers who have middle leadership roles. These emergent leaderswill have to combine a strategic role with a heavy teaching commitment. Thedevelopment of this middle tier presents a critical challenge to policy-makersand current school leaders. Equally it provides an opportunity to secure thelonger-term supply of future senior school leaders.The concept of school leadership is now being applied to the teacher level –the ‘teacher as leader’ in the classroom. Harris and Muijs (2002) have definedteacher leadership as being primarily concerned with developing high qualitylearning and teaching in school. It has at its core a focus upon improvinglearning and is a mode of leadership premised upon the principles ofprofessional collaboration, development and growth. Teachers lead within andbeyond the classroom, they identify with and contribute to a community ofteachers and influence others towards improved educational practice.Harris and Muijs identify three main activities associated with teacherleadership:leadership of other teachers through coaching, mentoring, leading workinggroupsleadership of developmental tasks that are central to improved learning andteachingleadership of pedagogy through the development and modelling of effectiveforms of teachingTeacher leaders can be curriculum developers, bid writers, leaders of a schoolimprovement team, mentors and action researchers with a strong link to theclassroom. The important point is that teacher leaders are, first and foremost,expert teachers, who spend the majority of their time in the classroom but takeon leadership roles at times when development and innovation are needed.To generate and sustain teacher leadership will require:empowerment and encouragement of teachers to become leaders and toprovide opportunities for teachers to develop their leadership skillstime to be set aside for teachers’ leadership work including time forprofessional development and collaborative work, planning together,building teacher networks, and visiting classroomsGrowing Tomorrow’s School Leaders © Hay Group 2006 page 22 of 78opportunities for continuous professional development that focus not juston the development of teachers’ skills and knowledge but on aspectsspecific to their leadership role, such as leading groups and workshops,collaborative work, mentoring, teaching adults and action researchAt a policy level, teacher leadership points towards a ‘new professionalism’based upon mutual trust, recognition, empowerment and support.5.3 Learning-centred leadershipSchool leadership is essentially concerned with teaching and learning. Muchof the late 20th century educational thinking was preoccupied with teaching. Itis now recognised that we should pay more attention to pupils’ learning. Agrowing body of research indicates that, to implement the change in teachingand learning that we require in order to improve, schools need to adoptlearning-centred leadership. Southworth (2003) suggests that such changes inclassrooms rests upon leaders focusing on five levels of learning:teacher learningcollaborative group learningorganisational learningleadership learninglearning networksBy developing these levels of learning school leaders will create the conditionsin their schools that will enable the workplace to be a positive, professionallearning environment for adults as well as for students.Stoll, Fink and Earl (2003) set out the seven inter-related learnings for ‘leadersfor learning’:understanding learningmaking connectionsfutures thinkingcontextual knowledgecritical thinkingpolitical acumenemotional understandingGrowing Tomorrow’s School Leaders © Hay Group 2006 page 23 of 78This is a very different set of qualities from those which are found in theNational Standards for Headteachers. These seven learnings present schoolleadership in a holistic rather than reductionist way. In so doing they present apossible leadership journey for 21st century school leaders. A key point – froma developmental perspective – is that leaders of learning have to enhance theirown learning as well as enhancing others’ learning. This links to the conceptof leaders as lead learners.5.4 Leaders as lead learnersIf we are to fully prepare and equip our school leaders for their roleswe must concentrate on the individual growth of leaders"
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Leadership

Growing Tomorrows School Leaders: The Challenge

6 Jul 2017

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      string(379) "... needs and priorities in line with the national strategy.  Colleges as anchor institutions within the wider local and regional ecosystem. Colleges must have a recognised role as key anchor institutions in the local community, supporting wider community action and services as well as providing education and learning.  A statutory right ..."
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      string(5724) "This final report by the Commission on the College of the Future sets out key areas for college reform calls for every adult to have the right to lifetime education and training, with colleges better supported to deliver this in every community across the UK.Colleges transform lives and are at the heart of communities across the UK’s four nations. They are a fundamental piece of the education and skills system as centres of lifelong learning and as anchor institutions within their communities. Despite all of this, all too often, college resources and expertise can be poorly understood, under-utilised and insufficiently funded in relation to other parts of the education and skills system.The Commission has set out how colleges can be supported across the four nations of the UK to deliver the lifelong learning and business support needed for people, employers and communities to survive and thrive in the future. The vision and recommendations are endorsed by leaders from across business, academia, unions, colleges, and the student body from all four nations.The UK-wide report sets out eleven recommendations for reform and renewal of the college systems, with three key recommendations.Key Recommendations:Upskilling people across the UK by making it possible for everyone to learn throughout their lives, whatever route they choose to take – with a statutory right to lifelong learning. This must be supported by (1) equity across student finance and maintenance support for further and higher education to ensure everyone can live well whilst gaining the skills they need, and (2) a statutory entitlement in each nation to all English-NI-Welsh Level 3/ Scottish Level 6 qualifications, unlocking the opportunity for more people to progress to gaining more advanced levels of vocational education and thus the skills needed for the economy of the future. Backing business, driving innovation and addressing skills gaps by establishing a unique service for employers at their local colleges for training and upskilling future and current employees and innovation support. The development of new ways for employers to make the education and skills system work for their needs should include sector specialist “employer hubs”. Creating an impactful post-16 education and skills system that addresses unproductive competition between institutions so that everyone can access high-quality education and learning that works for them. Each nation must affirm a 10-year strategy that will deliver on national priorities for the economy and society and clearly sets out the transformational role that colleges play for people, businesses, and communities.All Recommendations:National strategies for education and skills to support economic growth, industrial change and lifelong learning. Governments need to articulate a ten-year vision for education and training, from schools through to adult skills. College network strategies to meet local priorities across the tertiary education system. Governments must introduce a duty on colleges to develop strategies across appropriate economic geographies that identify local and regional needs and priorities in line with the national strategy.  Colleges as anchor institutions within the wider local and regional ecosystem. Colleges must have a recognised role as key anchor institutions in the local community, supporting wider community action and services as well as providing education and learning.  A statutory right to lifelong learning. For people to fulfil their potential, there should be a statutory right for people to be able to upskill and retrain throughout their lives through access to affordable and relevant lifelong learning opportunities. Skills guarantee for a post-COVID economy and future labour market changes. COVID-19 has had a major impact on a range of sectors, causing largescale dislocation, accelerating radical wider long-term changes taking place in the labour market.  A new strategic partnership with employers. Colleges need close strategic partnerships with employers, nationally and locally/regionally to ensure that the new national and network strategies (recommendations 1, 2 and 3) meet the needs of employers as well as people and their communities. A new support service to employers. Colleges have an expanded role to play in providing a business support and brokerage service to employers.  Stable funding and accountability frameworks for colleges. Ensuring that colleges can take a longterm strategic focus and reinforcing strategic investment in colleges, the sector must be funded on the basis of three-year, block grant funding settlements, reflecting a trust-based strategic partnership between colleges and governments.  A strategic relationship with governments and simplified processes. Oversight systems across the four nations must be simplified, driving efficiency, engendering greater trust and enabling better strategic coordination to deliver for systems outcomes across people, productivity and place.  An ambitious future college workforce strategy. Colleges need the best people who are fully empowered to deliver on this vision. Ensuring this must see colleges working with governments across the four nations to develop ambitious college workforce strategies, based on a comprehensive review within each of the four nations.  Diverse and representative systems leaders. Colleges must be led by systems’ leaders who reflect the communities within which they are based and the students they serve.Link: College of the Future"
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Leadership

College of the Future

2 Nov 2020

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      string(5723) "performed this role have generally lost the capacity to do so.  There is no better internal broker than the headteacher, as she/he has significant authority in authorizing resources, aligning EPBL with current school priorities, signaling the importance of the innovation or sanctioning the time and energy needed to sustain it.  I recently experienced a meeting in a middle school, embarking on extended outward projects for the first time, where one of the subject leaders questioned what subject knowledge might be missed and whether they might be called to account.  In a very supportive fashion the headteacher replied immediately that the senior leadership were the ‘curriculum police’ and it was fine – they had curriculum priorities beyond covering subject knowledge.  Such brokerage is extremely powerful and although it is unusual for headteachers to be so hands on, their weight can make all the difference.Summary of brokerage tasks inside the schoolProvides the key link between the outside parties and school leadership team;Orientates EPBL work to school development priorities;Takes the lead on finding, making, booking resources inside the school (such as booking spaces, ordering material, sorting additional IT requirements);Planning the work in a format in line with school templates and requirements;Supporting planning of any other staff involved;Organising ancillary/support staff and/or volunteers;Doing/checking risk assessmentsDiscussing/negotiating with outside partners the goals, roles, responsibilities and expectations of all outside parties;Deciding on the product of the project and where and when it will reach fruition (e.g. a presentation to the local city councilor at the library, or a themed meal for the over 60s in the school hall).Summary of brokerage tasks outside the schoolAccessing significant resources, such as IT, collections, sites and eventsPutting the school in touch with, or arranging a contribution from a specialist in a topic area, a geneticist, a prisoner of conscience or human rights activist, a local historian, a civil engineer, a computer programmer, a radio journalist, a beauticianSmoothing the ground for school visits, by doing preparation and risk assessments;Identifying or developing activities for visits and planning timetables;Leading the visit or event.Professional learning task: Brokerage activityMost teachers and school leaders will have some experience of individual brokerage tasks exemplified by the lists above for inside and outside activity.  In small groups of staff see how many you can tick off (even if they were one-off events).  Then share experiences – selecting examples which have a good story behind them – perhaps to do with the motivation to do something, the interesting and unplanned outcomes, the characters involved, the trials and tribulations, etc.  Use loose narrative interviews with each other to share some of these stories; ask each other questions which start with “Tell me about a time when you (insert pre-identified task here)….”.  Encourage colleagues to reflect on the details that are easily overlooked and let their story come alive.  Listen to each other and help the wider group to draw on these stories to build confidence, spark ideas for future action and recognise gaps.  Don’t let the stories be forgotten – but use them to make plans for future action. Building local capacity for EPBLThere are competing forces at work in local relationships between schools.  One is competition – developing a distinctive offer to schools backed by a creditable Ofsted rating.  The other is co-operation, partly fueled by collaborative instinct, partly by the idea of safety in numbers and partly by the need for economies of scale.   If we assume that individual teachers and schools continue to innovate against the odds, are there any reasons for optimism in an era of shrinking budgets?  The best hope lies in policy decentralization where regional authorities have the ambition to create a distinctive educational offer and greater coherence between phases (see Hodgson & Spours, 2012).  To achieved this action is required on the following fronts:A policy vision from most regional players – e.g. schools, academy chains, FE, HE and employers, giving a greater emphasis to vocational education (not just for lower achievers);Some brokerage capacity developed across the region;An assessment framework which acknowledges wider learning outcomes – such as collaborative skills, practical skills, engagement and identity.Brokerage is a concept which really challenges the current model of school improvement and ‘raising standards’.  It sees education as much more than being about what you know and much as being about who you know, where you have been and what you can do, and how this influences student identity and agency.References for all four HOW TO pieces:  Anderson, R. (2014) Making Education Work – A Report from an Independent Advisory Group, Chaired by Professor Sir Roy Anderson, London: Pearson. ν Brown, P, Lauder, H. & Ashton, D. (2011) The Global Auction: The Broken Promises of Education, Jobs, and Incomes, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ν Anderson-Butcher, D., Lawson, H. A., Iachini, A., Flashpohler, P., Bean, G., & Zullig, K. (2010). Capacity-building innovations developed by pilot schools and districts implementing a community collaboration model for school improvement. Journal of Educational and Psychological"
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'How to do it' Guides

How to .. develop brokerage for EPDL

20 May 2019

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      string(425) "... a child”Create professional learning communitiesA learning community has a fundamentally differentmeaning than “a learning organisation”. The focus ison content, not on structure.Teachers and leaders must realise and comprehendthe notion that future schools should be transformedinto 24-hour, all- age learning and community centreswith the full range of pedagogical ..."
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      string(5698) "related to the respectof and interest in others.4. “Transporting or moving learners?”Understand, bring into play andcommunicate the learning processesTeachers and leaders must be experts in learningprocesses, equivalent to professionals in other highlyadvanced professions, and be obliged to understand,bring into play and communicate these. The networkrecommends that education ensures that teachersand leaders have the ability to fully address and carryout the cycle of conceptualising > understanding> transferring > advancing > mentoring learning.Through this capability fixed teaching ‘transportation’patterns are to be replaced by the mentored respectfor each individual’s learning and knowledge-building,where knowledge and skills also are transferable for usein other contexts. Furthermore, professionals shouldbe required to verbalise their professional knowledgeand skills to users and the public, and feed research andnew pedagogical findings back into education.5. “It takes a village to raise a child”Create professional learning communitiesA learning community has a fundamentally differentmeaning than “a learning organisation”. The focus ison content, not on structure.Teachers and leaders must realise and comprehendthe notion that future schools should be transformedinto 24-hour, all- age learning and community centreswith the full range of pedagogical skills (competences)available. Professionals must recognise that formaleducation will no longer be a place for informationand obtaining factual knowledge, but replacedby a meeting point with the following four maincharacteristics and tasks:– helping the students to understand, filter andmake structure of the flow of information inthe modern society,– providing a venue for socialisation andinteraction in learning with others,– challenging beliefs and biases,– ensuring a learning platform for ALL, with fullinclusion and with respect to special needs.This recommendation stresses the ability of individualsand teams to contribute to a shared vivid mental imageof a desired future condition. Such joint school staffaction is to be based on a contextual approach andshared vision.6. “We form the future”Ensure the values, form the vision andrespond to the missionWith consciousness and awareness teachers and leadersmust embrace, include and ensure the democratic andethical values of society, in order to protect, discussand transmit fundamental principles of solidarity,freedom and human rights. Additionally, theymust respond to and acknowledge that the missionrepresents the articulated, professional undertakingsto meet objectives and expectations, and on thispath recognise change, understanding and sharing.Professionals themselves must form and express ashared vision, without which there will be no clearand united direction for action, change and desiredimprovement.■■■ Four recommendations forEuropean initiatives7. Create a holistic view on educationThe Learning Teacher Network insists on the creationof a holistic view on education. European, nationaland local policy-makers must immediately initiatethe necessary reforms in curricula and policies toaccomplish the following:13Practice andpolicy– “an interdisciplinary revolution”; take steps foreducation to get away from the tradition frommedieval monasteries of dividing the world up insubjects; instead, ensure a holistic view on all mattersand the surrounding world;– “cross-phase perspectives”; to ensure unbrokenand comparable learning and assessment overschool years, based on the true acceptance of apupil’s long-term, individual development,knowledge and social growth;– “a merging reform”; in a true sense, and as toorganisation, in reality interweave theory,teacher training, daily practice and continuousprofessional development.8. Assure professional competence and CPDSupported by European initiatives, all national,regional and local authorities must initiate a systemof annual programmes for continuous professionaldevelopment of educationalists and practitioners,within which each and every professional should betrained for regular capacity building and continuouslearning within a professional culture and knowledgebase.Within such a programme, primarily the understandingof learning processes and school-based researchcompetence must be provided for all teachers andleaders, being a compulsory ingredient in all trainingand continuous professional development.9. Undertake European research onteachers’, leaders’ and learners’ self-esteemOne of the critical elements for successful learning iscreating conditions where everyone is able to reachsuccess, and inject the feelings that come with it.Performance is highly related to self confidence, whichdue to many reasons is lacking for many professionalsand learners today. Consequently, European researchneeds to be undertaken, surveying teachers’, leaders’and learners’ self-esteem/self confidence, addressingthe crucial objective of performance: ‘Have you everworked in a winning team?’10. Develop scenarios which embracenew learning venuesFinally we ask for a European initiative in developingscenarios which embrace new learning venues. As aconsequence of the change of society, in ten yearseducational institutions will no longer be what theyhave been; school as a traditional institution will bean outdated concept. Instead, the concept of schoolas a 24-hour learning and community resourcecentre, and these centres performing as professionallearning communities, will need"
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Professional Development

The New Role of the Teacher

16 Mar 2008