Education Leaders Forum 09 July 2009 – Pasteur Institute – Paris

Education Leaders Forum Professor Geoff Scott University of Western Sydney, Australia

‘Good ideas with no ideas on how to implement them are wasted ideas’  Never waste a crisis.  More focus on implementation and building change capable systems & universities  Change doesn’t just happen it must be led, deftly

Broad  World-wide, ‘tectonic’ stresses  Globalisation  Loss of talent & experience  ICT revolution  Fractious divisions Higher Education  Opening up access  Funding pressures & new sources of income  Growing competition  User pays & changing patterns of participation  Changing expectations, increased scrutiny, maintaining ‘standards’ Change forces feeding into and off each other

 What + How = productive investment  What - How = failed investment

1. Right Vision & Priorities 2. Aligned Infrastructure & Support 3. Consistent & Effective Delivery 4. Effective Performance & Impact

1. Right focus – clear & ‘owned’ priorities  Relevant, feasible & evidence based  Listen, link & lead  Steered engagement 2. Aligned support & infrastructure  Responsive and agile  Targeted staff learning  Peer support  Focused leadership 3. Effective implementation  Targeted benchmarking  ‘Learn by doing’  On-going review 4. Focus on impact  Ensure those intended to benefit have done so In combination, these attributes characterise a change capable higher education institution (TLHE pgs 76-77)

Evaluation = making judgements of quality Evaluating inputs 1.Quality of the vision, plan – e.g. its relevance & feasibility 2.Alignment and quality of infrastructure & support Evaluating outcomes 3. Consistency and effectiveness of implementation 4.Quality of impact on those intended to benefit All four levels count but level 4 is the key

Key tests  Relevant  Desirable  Clear  Feasible Dilemmas  Access vs quality  Higher Education - investment or cost?  Mission vs market  Compete vs collaborate  University - virtual vs physical?  Addressing digital divides

 Brute logic myth  Consensual myth  Academic independence myth  “Knight on the white charger” myth  “Single disciplinary structures suit a trans-disciplinary world” myth  Linear myth  Restructure myth  Strategic plan myth

Funded by the Australian Learning & Teaching Council  Experienced leaders identified as being effective  512 from Provost to Head of Program  National & international scrutiny of the results for veracity and implications (n=1500 leaders)  Countries involved: Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, USA and the UK

Personal Capabilities Interpersonal Capabilities Cognitive Capabilities Role-specific Competencies Generic Competencies Capability Competency

Personal capabilities  Being true to personal values & ethics (2)  Remaining calm under pressure (3)  Understanding personal strengths & limitations (5)  Energy & passion for learning & teaching (7)  Admitting to & learning from errors (10) Interpersonal capabilities  Being transparent & honest in dealings with others (1)  Being able to empathise and work productively with diversity (4) Cognitive capabilities  Being able to identify the core issue or opportunity in any situation (8)  Making sense of and learning from experience (9)  Thinking creatively & laterally (11)  Diagnosing the underlying causes of a problem & taking appropriate action to address it (12) Key competencies  Being able to organise work & manage time effectively (6) These capabilities closely parallel the attributes of a change capable institution – leader as model

 Learn from each other  Focus on implementation  Build change capable leaders for change capable systems  Note change capable leaders = change capable professionals, teachers and Higher Education cultures  What engages students in productive change (learning) is what engages staff and leaders  Turn inquiry inward on to Higher Education itself – new ways to grow, share and link knowledge  Does a turnaround university have be a place? ‘Good ideas with no ideas on how to implement them are wasted ideas’

 Fullan, M & Scott, G (2009) : Turnaround Leadership for Higher Education, Wiley/Jossey-Bass, San Francisco  Scott, G., Coates, H., & Anderson, M (2008): Learning Leaders in Times of Change, ALTC, Sydney  Scott, G (2006): Accessing the student voice, Australian Government, Canberra