To lead or not to leadthat is the question
Dr Susan Lovett
University of Canterbury,
Marie Cameron
New Zealand Council for Educational Research, New Zealand
International Symposium on Leadership, Learning & Change, Griffith University,
Brisbane, 13-14 September 2012
Why explore career trajectories?
 Worldwide concerns about teacher supply, quality and high
attrition rates;
Bayer, Brinkkjaer, Plauborg & Rolls, 2009; Darling- Hammond, 2003; Day & Gu, 2010;
 Need to know why teachers are leaving their jobs and
consider what actions might change this trend;
 Need to identify and nurture those with potential readiness
for leadership roles;
Rolls & Plauborg, 2009; Johnson, Birkeland, Donaldson, Kardos, Kauffman, Liu & Peske, 2004
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Teachers of Promise Study
 Longitudinal study 57 primary & secondary teachers in NZ
 Opportunity to track
- career progressions;
- working conditions;
- satisfactions and challenges; and
- conceptions and experiences of leadership.
Questions
Do early career teachers view leadership as an attractive option?
How are others nurturing those with leadership potential?
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Data collection
 4 interviews (2005 x 2, 2007, 2011)
 3 surveys in the same years
 2 workshops
 Data for this presentation: on-line surveys (48 of original 57
responded and interviews with 20 of those teachers who
were still teaching.
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Status of teachers in 2011
 At each data gathering point we established changes in roles
and moves in and out of the profession for travel, parenting
and other careers.
 In 2011
- 73% of teachers still teaching in NZ schools in full or part-time capacity;
- 38 of the teachers gave classroom teaching as best description of their roles;
- 28 teachers had changed schools since 2008 survey with 5 indicating moves were for
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career advancement;
12 teachers had moved for personal reasons eg relocating to a new town;
10 teachers had changed because not satisfied with their school’s leadership &
management;
6 teachers moved because of unsatisfactory working conditions;
3 teachers wanted less challenging students to teach.
Six typical reasons for remaining in
teaching jobs
 Stimulation of continually learning new things;
 Expanded roles supporting colleagues;
Being able to work alongside teachers and mentor them. My liaison with the university for student
teachers is also rewarding (Robert, 30-39 assistant principal, middle school)
 Enjoyment of teaching subject;
 Encouragement to be innovative;
 Collegial cultures;
 Member of an effective team.
I am supported at all levels and encouraged to lead others with their learning (Tan, 30-39,
primary)
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Professional supported for roles
 A management unit or release time was generally the only
form of support provided
 Little sign of specific mentoring for expanded roles
14 teachers could get general advice when needed
14 teachers gained support due to own professional reading or talking to
colleagues with similar responsibilities
5 teachers received significant mentoring for leadership roles
Primary teachers most likely to have received formal mentoring , usually from
their principals
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Future career intentions (1)
 Seeking variety;
 30% increasing leadership responsibilities;
I used to have ambitions to eventually seek a senior leadership role, at AP or DP level. However as my
career has progressed that desire has died in the face of 1) a belief that I’m of greater value to the
education system doing what I’m already doing, 2) a crisis of confidence that I could actually ever
undertake such roles, and 3) a realisation that it’s not what you know. It’s who you know if one
wishes to ‘get on’ (Steven, 30-39 HOD secondary)
 54% in-school coach or curriculum leader;
 30% contemplating government educational work;
 18% considering private educational work;
 38% considering leaving teaching for non-educational
career.
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Future intentions (2)
 Move into leadership seen as leaving the classroom behind
I can tell you now that Assistant Principal, senior leadership doesn’t appeal to me. I’ve had a couple
of opportunities and I’ve just said, no I’ve done with management. I got into teaching because I love
working with kids and I can see myself in the next couple of years stepping straight back from where
I am at the moment and saying I don’t want to be in middle management anymore (Otautahi,
secondary, later entrant into teaching)
- Satisfiers from direct involvement with students as class teacher and
extra-curricular involvement;
- Management roles seen as diversion from real purpose;
- Performed roles out of loyalty to school, not about interest or
challenge;
- Drawing on transferable skills from previous career in business.
Those who were appreciated were more likely to put their hands up
for expanded roles
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Negative conceptions of leadership
(1)
 Whether teachers stay or leave for alternative careers is often
determined from the way they observe leadership enacted
around them
 Disagreeing with school policies
Steven (Secondary HOD) posed two dilemmas
What do you do if intellectually and professionally you disagree with it [school
decisions] and you think it is the wrong path?
Could I stand up as a leader and be part of that?
His response was to retreat to what’s happening within the four walls of his
classroom.
When a principal prioritises promotional activities at the expense of curriculum
development (Degz,secondary)
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Negative conceptions of leadership
(2)
 School’s leadership “hierarchical and autocratic” and
“philosophically different”
Jane’s experience prior to staff meeting with associate principal
saying:
You need to tell people… I want you to give them planning formats. .. No they’re not far
on enough in their understanding of education to cope with that… It’s a very nice idea
but no you can’t, and this is how you have to do it.You have to give them deadlines and
you’ll have to go in and do observations and if they aren’t doing this then you have to
basically make them
Kate (primary) had worked with two principals who she described
as being “wrapped up in the political, mandatory things” rather
than driven by the best interests of children
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Positive conceptions of leadership
 Principals who made the link between leadership and
learning explicit:
- sharing research findings with staff;
- encouraging staff to extend their pedagogical horizons;
Ruby’s (secondary) own conception of leadership was not one of solving other
people’s problems but
… leadership through practice and leadership through learning rather than leadership
through directing… that’s been a challenge, because sometimes it is a lot easier just to
tell people what to do.
Specialist classroom teacher role was about having dialogue about what was
happening in classrooms as learners rather than monitoring or appraising roles
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Academic leadership learning
 Recognising the value of study
Ruby used postgraduate study as a benchmark and way to
extend her repertoires
It’s been a real eye opener and made me realise that teaching is a
continually moving, challenging and changing occupation
Study involving a deep exploration of teacher learning
strategies, particularly in the areas of coaching and mentoring
One thing that came out of that [study] was the value of listening
and using questioning effectively. Being an active listener is much
more challenging than I appreciated before and I think now I’m
much better at.
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Expectation of further learning
opportunities to support extended roles
 Learning about leadership from curriculum leadership
responsibilities in Ministry of Education contracts
 Leading a team of six established teachers with little support
to do so (Inga, primary)
 Needing to move to another school to improve practice and
take on leadership roles
Kate (primary) took 2 years at new school before winning a literacy leadership
role.
In order to make a real difference in children’s lives I feel I need to be part of leadership
I appreciate the importance of professional dialogue about classroom practice.
I can model literacy practices to colleagues and by doing so my expertise is recognised
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Wanting leadership roles (1)
 Broadening experience by taking up long term relieving
positions in a range of schools to advance career
(Ross, primary)
- Enrolling in postgraduate studies in educational leadership;
- Opting out when not appointed as principal;
- Reconsidering work-life balance when became a father;
- More flexibility with teaching related role in a numeracy coaching
franchise
Relentless nature of leadership in a rural school where there was little, if any, support and
an untenable workload as a teaching principal. All aspects of the job were new and
challenging with a change of teaching level and a tough group of children
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Advancing careers
 Tan(primary) had worked in well led schools
- Her principal had told her she needed to know all levels of teaching in order
to support teachers effectively;
- Reluctant to keep changing class levels but later realised it was a turning point;
- Strong staff support through professional learning communities.
The first few years of teaching are the most crucial as without adequate support good
teachers just leave
 Gary(intermediate) head hunted for advancement in third
year as tutor with initial teacher education provider
- now senior leadership role as head of middle school
Learning on the job. It’s deep end stuff.
- three years into the job he is still dependent on helpful colleagues within and
beyond school as main source of learning
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Learning on the job
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Gary: I’ve always been good at thinking on my feet and responding creatively and problem
solving … I did not have the bank of and wealth of experience and the frameworks to
refer back to and that could have helped me a lot more.
 No systematic support for leadership work;
 Only as good as the professional learning he can draw on from previous
professional development eg conference on formative assessment and working
alongside another professional developer
 Not modelling own learning enough to add value to others
Jack: Our headmaster is very good at taking the time to talk over specific incidents and how
you might deal with them… Here’s what you might do when you’re in my shoes, sitting at
my desk down the track.
Collegial networks with others in similar roles (AP/DP conferences and
meetings each term)
Leadership as pastoral care of staff and students at expense of pedagogical
leadership
We encountered teachers
 With ambition
 Whose potential was recognised by others
 Left to their own devices
 Reacting to others’ agendas rather than their own
 Who had lost earlier ambition
 Not attracted to leadership
 Disadvantaged because of workplace cultures
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To lead or not to lead. Who can
help the leadership crisis?
Employing schools – build and retain capacity and capability to
mentor staff at all levels
Q: Mentor skill learning and support? Adult and teacher learning theories
evident in practice
Professional Associations – networking, learning agendas from
members
Q: Frequency? Funding?
Ministry of Education – Career long leadership learning and
support programmes
Q: Cost? Mandatory or optional for particular leadership roles
Universities – qualification programmes in educational leadership
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Individuals aspiring to leadership
 Annual career planning support from school management;
 Financial incentive to engage in formal leadership learning;
 Encouragement to join professional associations as additional
learning networks;
 Structured on-the-job mentoring for leadership roles;
 Access to leadership libraries and web links for personal
study
Challenges:
Knowing how to identify personal learning needs and how best to
address them.
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