International
Confederation of
Principals
www.icponline.org
Activities in School Leadership
Who are we?
The Global Umbrella Organisation for National
Principal Associations in:
Singapore Australia Iceland
Nigeria
England Ghana
Scotland PR China
Israel
Uganda
Ireland
India
Korea
Kenya
Zambia
Zimbabwe
USA
Canada
Germany New Zealand
Finland
Tanzania Japan
South Africa
Switzerland
Netherlands
ESHA COBISEC
Our Organisation:
President: Kate Griffin (UK)
Executive: Andrew Blair (Australia) Virginia O’Mahony (Ireland) David
Wylde (South Africa) David Vodila (USA) Executive Secretary: Ted Brierley
ICP Council: Up to 3 members from each member association.
Each member association has one vote.
In 2009, the ICP will form 4 Regions to facilitate closer
interaction of member associations. The 4 Regions are:
Africa; Asia/Oceania; America and Europe
What do we do?
ICP aspires to encourage a sense of belonging to the world-wide community
of school leaders by:
• Encouraging closer relationships among principals of all nations.
• Promoting and enhancing the image and professionalism of the
principalship.
• Promoting the exchange of people and professional publications
among the constituent groups and encouraging participation in
meetings and conferences across national boundaries.
• Fostering school curricula that encourage international understanding
and good will and a respect for human rights and dignity across all
races and cultures.
• Promoting the rights and responsibilities of principals and also their
professional organisations and the material and ethical interests of the
education profession.
• Promoting and encouraging equal opportunities for all young persons to
learn and develop to their fullest potential in achieving a respectable
and productive quality of life.
• Developing a program of activities consistent with the purposes of the
organisation.
Current Issues
We are a professional, issues based
organisation. We are currently actively
interested in:• School Resourcing
• Devolution of resources and authority
• Teacher and Principal Recruitment, Retention
(including wellbeing) and Development
• School Accountability and operational flexibility
• Regionalisation and support
What is our interest in this Activity?
• The recruitment, retention and training of
principals is a world-wide issue
• As is the professional and policy context in
which they work
• The ICP has commissioned papers on this
issue: eg: The Challenge of Recruiting and
Retaining School Leaders prepared by the
IPPN in 2006,and has access to others
• We have suspended other research activities,
preferring to collaborate with the OECD Activity
Our involvement
• We have encouraged the relevant national
associations to seek a place on the
National Advisory Committees
• We will be encouraging national
associations to critically review their CBR
• The CBR’s will be a very important
document for national principal
organisations. They will form one of the
foundations for future internal national
discussions on education policy
We believe that the key to improving
student outcomes is improving teaching
We believe that effective school leadership
is focused on creating a school environment
which delivers excellent teaching and
learning
We believe that more research is needed
on the issues which inhibit the achievement
of such an environment
Issues and Tensions:
System Accountability Frameworks:
High Stakes Accountability Vs Intelligent Accountability
High stakes student testing Vs Self assessment and external verification
Data Driven Decision Making:
Data collected for external uses Vs Data collected supporting teaching and
learning
School Resourcing:
School based funding Vs Student needs based funding
Devolution of decision making:
Low local flexibility high central control Vs High operational flexibility and
school self governance
Limited leadership distribution Vs Highly devolved leadership
Highly directed pedagogy Vs Pedagogical professional flexibility
Issues and Tensions:
Building professional capacity and managing performance:
Professional Development of teachers haphazard Vs PD nested within
support structures, linked to appraisal, the identification of school needs, and
within learning networks of peers
Narrow appraisal processes Vs The development of performance and
development culture
Recruitment, skills development and support for school leaders:
Non-existent or low level frameworks Vs Coherent, rigorous, longitudinal, site
based, project oriented, mentored and coached programs of support
The work of school leaders
School management and administration Vs School leadership
School leadership Vs School and community leadership
Resourcing of leadership teams based on yesterdays expectations Vs
Resourcing levels required to meet tomorrows (and today’s) demands
One
approach
to support:
The APAPDC L5 Frame - the
work of leadership
• Leadership starts from within
• Leadership is about influencing others
• Leadership develops a rich learning
environment
• Leadership builds professionalism and
management capability
• Leadership inspires leadership actions and
aspirations in others
Our intentions
• A report of progress in this activity will be
made to the ICP Council in April
(Auckland) and October (Washington DC)
• ICP members would also be interested in
learning more about TALIS
• We will be very interested in forging a
closer relationship with the OECD to
support the implementation of policies
beneficial to the improvement of schools
Thank you for your
attention and interest
www.icponline.org
Ted Brierley
Executive Secretary
International Confederation of Principals
brierted@optusnet.com.au