LEADERSHIP IN A
CHANGING SCHOOL
ENVIRONMENT
By: Caswell McLeish & Heather Murray
Principal
Principal
Knox Community College Hampton School
1
Acts of Parliament addressing the
Education Sector in Jamaica
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Financial Administration and Audit Act (1959)
Education Act (December 16, 1965)
Education Code of Regulations (1980)
National Council on Education Act (1993)
Jamaica Intellectual Property Office Act (2002)
Access to Information Act (2002) Regulation 3
Early Childhood Commission Act (2003)
The Child Care and Protection Act (2004)
Sexual Offences Act (2009)
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
2
THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
Marx & Wooley (1999) opine that a school’s
environment is the thread that connects the
multitude of activities on a campus. In many
respects this thread is almost invisible, yet
everyone experiences its influence. Positive
social relationships and attitudes about school
are as important to the environment as are safe
and well-kept buildings and grounds.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
3
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT CONT’D
Marx & Wooley (1999) further state;
A safe, clean, and well-maintained school with a
positive psychosocial climate and culture can
foster school connectedness, which in turn
boosts student and staff health as well as
students’ educational achievement. The
psychosocial school environment
encompasses the attitudes, feelings, and values
of students and staff.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
4
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT CONT’D
Physical and psychological safety, positive
Interpersonal relationships, recognition of the
needs and success of the individual, and support
for learning are all part of the psychosocial
environment.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
5
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT CONT’D
Other factors that can affect a school’s
environment include: the economy; social,
cultural, and religious influences; geography;
socioeconomic status of students’ families; tax
bases; legal, political, and other social
institutions.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
6
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT CONT’D
Mathew (2006) states; School
administrators have the overall
responsibility for a school’s physical and
psychosocial environment. Thus, a school’s
attention to the healthfulness of its
environment will evolve and adapt to
changing circumstances, while never losing sight
of educating their students.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
7
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND
MANAGEMENT
Kotter (1990) states that • “Management is about producing order and
consistency”
– Minimum operating standards?
• “Leadership is about generating constructive
change”
– Raising expectations; improving quality and
effectiveness
Cited by Mathew (2006)
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
8
LEADERSHIP IS NECESSARY TO:
• Ensure focus on the progress and
development of individual students:
• Identify and reduce barriers to learning
• Assure the quality of learning and teaching
• Get the best from teachers:
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
9
LEADERSHIP IS NECESSARY TO:
• Create a learning culture
• Build a relationship with the community
• Provide vision, inspiration and strategic
coherence
• Raise expectations
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
10
Characteristics of outstanding headteachers as
school leaders
Matthews (2006) speaks of the characteristics of the
outstanding headteacher • Clear vision and purpose , very high expectations
• Gets the best out of people Motivating: Providing
opportunity; Promoting professional development;
Encouraging initiative; Showing interest and being
generous with praise; Building teams and
empowering them.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
11
Characteristics of outstanding
headteachers as school leaders
Mathew (2006) Cont’d
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Leading by example
Approachable
Innovative
Enthusiastic
Determination and decisiveness
A focus on quality
Sharing consideration for staff
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
12
A TAXONOMY OF LEADERSHIP
Mathew (2006)
1. Leaders as managers; administering; assuring compliance;
taking responsibility for buildings and day to day
organisation
2. Leaders as leaders of people; the school community
3. Pedagogical leaders, taking responsibility for pedagogy
and shaping the curriculum
4. Accountable leaders, taking responsibility for the
educational performance of the school and standards
reached by students
5. Community leaders, working with and involving parents,
other agencies and the community
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
13
A TAXONOMY OF LEADERSHIP
6. Distributive and developmental leaders, delegating
responsibility and accountability, challenging and supporting,
and developing leadership potential.
7. Leaders of learning, developing the skills of staff and students
and parents as a learning community and networking with
other schools to share best practices.
8. Executive leaders, taking responsibility for more than one
school
9. System leaders; schools leading schools; caring for the
education and well-being of students in other schools as well
as one’s own
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
14
THE THREE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST
IN HIGH PERFORMING SCHOOL SYSTEMS
McKinsey (2007) opines that the three things that matter most in
high performing school systems are:
1) Getting the right people to become teachers
2) Developing them into effective instructors
3) Ensuring that the system is able to deliver the best possible
instruction for every child
The only way to achieve this is through effective and determined
school and system leadership.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
15
THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT ROLES OF THE
PRINCIPAL IN RAISING PUPILS’ ACHIEVEMENT ARE:
Robinson (2007) opine that:
i) Promoting and participating in teacher learning and
development – through leadership that not only promotes, but
directly participates with teachers in, formal or informal
professional learning.
ii) Planning, coordinating and evaluating teaching and the
curriculum – through direct involvement in the support and
evaluation of teaching through regular classroom visits and the
provision of formative and summative feedback to teachers.
Direct oversight of curriculum through school-wide coordination
across classes and year levels and alignment to school goals.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
16
Mathew (2006) Pgs. 17 - 25
Trends in school
leadership
Different
perspectives
Redefinition of roles
and responsibilities
of school leaders
Child-centred
pedagogical
leadership
Portugal: reforms
in primary
education
Standards for
school leaders
Community
leadership
Sweden:
diversity and
chains of schools
National
imperatives
Inter-school
partnerships and
networking
England UK:
leadership of
autonomous
schools
Workforce
reform
Executive
principal system
leadership
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
17
1. CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE FIRST
Trends in school
leadership
Child-centred
pedagogical
leadership
Community
leadership
Inter-school
partnerships
and networking
Executive
principal system
leadership
• Re-professionalising teaching;
– sharing good practice,
– monitoring and evaluation,
– opening classrooms to other teachers
• Personalising learning
– relevant and enriched curriculum
– formative assessment, progress
monitoring, target-setting, support and
intervention
– independent learning
• Linking education and care
– Removing barriers to learning
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
18
2. WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY
Trends in school
leadership
Child-centred
pedagogical
leadership
Community
leadership
Inter-school
partnerships
and networking
Executive
principal system
leadership
• Community representatives on school boards
• Raising parental aspirations and involving
parents in learning
• Reducing barriers to learning
• Co-operating with other services: health,
social, police, community organisations,
religious leaders etc.
• Public accountability for the educational
performance of the school and standards
reached by students
• Using the community as a resource for
learning, e.g. Education-business
partnerships
• Opening the school as a community
resource
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
19
3. THE BENEFITS OF INTER-SCHOOL NETWORKS
Trends in school
leadership
Child-centred
pedagogical
leadership
Community
leadership
Inter-school
partnerships
and networking
• Schools sharing expertise
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Joint planning
Inter-school visits
Across school collaboration
Advanced skills teachers
Joint projects
Broader experience
Peer mentoring
Web-based links
Executive and
system
leadership
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
20
4. EXECUTIVE AND SYSTEM LEADERSHIP
Trends in school
leadership
Child-centred
pedagogical
leadership
Community
leadership
Inter-school
partnerships and
networking
Executive
principals &
system leadership
• Executive principals
– Take responsibility for more than one
school
– Inject effective leadership
– Build leadership capacity
• System leaders
– Feel responsibility for pupils in the
system, not just their own schools
– Use the resources of their school to help
improve less effective schools
– Schools leading schools
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
21
7. ENGLAND: LEADERSHIP OF AUTONOMOUS
SCHOOLS
Different
perspectives
Portugal, reforms
in primary
education
Sweden: diversity
and chains of
schools
England UK:
leadership of
autonomous
schools
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Schools can appoint their own staff
Fully delegated budgets
Powers to innovate
Responsibility and accountability – through
performance tables and published
inspection reports
Leaders set the direction for the school
Leaders leadership capacity and develop
leadership talent
Leaders ensure quality of teaching and
learning
Educators do not do basic administration
Leaders are trained and supported by
National College of School and Children
Leadership
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
22
8. NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR HEADTEACHERS
Redefinition of roles
and responsibilities
of school leaders
Standards for
school
leaders
Leading
learning
Moral
purpose
Six areas:
• Shaping the future (strategic
vision)
• Leading learning and teaching
• Developing self and working with
others
• Managing the organisation
• Securing accountability
• Strengthening community
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
23
9. LEADING LEARNING
Redefinition of roles
and responsibilities
of school leaders
Standards for
school
leaders
Leading
learning
Workforce
reform
Two political aims:
• World class schools
• Raising achievement and closing
the gap
Increase the top
through effective
learning
partnerships –
mainly external
Increased
performance
Reduce disparity
through effective
internal learning
partnerships
Time
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
24
10. WORKFORCE REFORM
Redefinition of roles
and responsibilities
of school leaders
Standards for
school
leaders
Leading
learning
Workforce
reform
Allow educators to educate by:
• Giving planning and preparation
time to class teachers
• Supporting teaching with teaching
assistants
• Removing administration from
teachers
• Identify leaders for learning from
middle managers cohort
• Create school business managers
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
25
CHALLENGES
Mathew (2006) Pg. 27
• Good teachers must be good learners
• Good school leaders must be good teachers
(and lead by example)
• Good school leaders must be good learners
Leaders who are reluctant learners will never
inspire others.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
26
THE EXCITEMENT OF INDEPENDENT LEARNING
1
2
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
3
27
WHAT THE MOST EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS DO
i. To procure high quality teachers
Mathew (2006) Pgs. 28 - 32
• Schools have autonomy to recruit teachers
• They advertise for and appoint the best
• They train their own, where they can, in
partnership with higher education
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
28
WHAT THE MOST EFFECTIVE SCHOOL
ENVIRONMENT PROVIDES
i. High quality teachers
• They induct, mentor and support new
teachers
• They provide professional development
pathways and career opportunities
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
29
ii. Facilitates an improvement instruction,
by..........
• Providing a stimulating learning environment
• Providing rich, well-planned curriculum
• Having high expectations of teaching and
learning
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
30
ii. Facilitate improvement of
instruction, by..........
• Monitoring the quality of learning and
performance of teachers
• Focussing on professional development by
constantly improving teaching
• Seeking the views of students and parents
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
31
iii. The environment ensures that every child
is successful, by.......
• Creating a culture of expecting success
• Personalising learning
• Assessing and tracking the progress of every
child, with targets for learning and providing
support or intervention where needed
• Continuously evaluating the quality and
effectiveness of everything the school does
• Working as a consistent team
• Learning from others
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
32
Aesthetics of the Learning
Environment
•
•
•
•
•
Science Laboratory
Computer Laboratory
Library
Administrative Block
Classrooms
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
33
Interconnectivity of Campuses at Knox
Community College to Facilitate Learning
• The administration of Knox Community
College sees it necessary to refocus on skills.
• With e-Learning we can overcome the twin
challenges of time management and
geography in order to reach our dispersed
audience at our four locations – (Spalding,
Cobbla, Mandeville and May Pen).
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
34
Interconnectivity of Campuses at Knox
Community College to Facilitate Learning
• Whether staff, stakeholders, students, clients, or
potential clients – with important training;
education or information, can be available online,
at the point of need.
LEGEND
o
b
Spalding Campus (blue)
Cobbla Campus (green)
Mandeville Campus (red)
May Pen Campus (purple)
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
35
CONCLUSION
School is a very important element of society.
Students and teachers learn many lessons,
academic and otherwise, that influence their
personal well-being and academic success.
Often, however, school does not provide the
positive learning or working environment that is
most beneficial for our students , teachers or
administrators.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
36
Conclusion Cont’d.
A transformational leader will have a more
positive effect on the learning and working
environment. A change in leadership style and
guidance, with input from teachers, staff,
students, parents, and community members,
will result in the school becoming a more
positive, caring place to learn and work for
everyone involved.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
37
White Marl Primary & Junior High
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
38
References
Hopkins, David (2008). Every school a great
school: Realizing the potential of system
leadership. Journal of Educational Change,
9(2),
Kotter, J. P. (1990). A force for change: How
leadership differs from management. NY: Free
Press.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
39
References
McKinsey & Company (2007), How the world’s
best-performing School Systems come out on
top. Retrieved from
http://www.mckinsey.com/App_Media/Repor
ts/SSO/Worlds_School_Systems_Final.pdf
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
40
References
Robinson, Viviane (2007). School Leadership and
Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and
Why. Draft Findings from Best Evidence
Synthesis Iteration: Educational LeadershipSchooling, New Zealand Ministry of Education.
Marx, E. & Wooley, S. F. (Eds.) (1999). Health Is
Academic: A Guide to Coordinated School Health
Programs. New York: Teachers College Press.,
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
41
References
Matthews, Peter (2006). Trends, Perspectives
and Changing Roles in School Leadership
petermatthewsassociates@googlemail.com.
reginald_ja@yahoo.com
42