School leadership development and learning-centred educational policies EdLead TEMPUS Halász Gábor ELTE University, Budapest Click on pictures in orange frame!

What does „learning-centred education policy” mean? Education policies –focusing on the effective development of competences relevant for life and work, and –„taking this task seriously” Key features Key challenges Key solutions

End of introduction And now we prepare for reflection in small teams

Team 1: The key components of learning-centred education policies (The task of this group is to design an ideal national policy focusing on improving the quality of learning) Team 2: Learning-centred elements in national education policy in Serbia (The task of this group is to identify those elements – concrete policy measures/actions – in the national education policy of Serbia that can be considered as learning-centred) Team 3: How to develop school leadership in a learning-centred education policy context (The task of this group is to design a policy of school leadership development in a learning-centred education policy context and to reflect in the EdLead project from this perspective)

School leadership development and learning- cantered educational policies

Key features One outstanding example: Singapore Competences –defined and re-defined (21 st century skills) –translated into (possibly measurable) learning outcomes The focus of education shifting from teaching to learning

Source: Contact. Issue 03 October Singapore Ministry of Education Thinking Schools will be the cradle of thinking students as well as thinking adults and this spirit of learning should accompany our students even after they leave school.” (Singapore MOE see here)here „Thinking schools will be learning organisations in every sense, constantly challenging assumptions, and seeking better ways of doing things through participation, creativity and innovation.

Source: Contact. Issue 03 October Singapore Ministry of Education

Key challenges Creating „intelligent schools” Moving from complicated to complex Coping with increased complexity –Reaching the micro level, that is, thousands of intelligent schools acting autonomously –Playing with many parallel policy instruments, creating synergies Coping with missing capacities

From complicated to complex SimpleComplicatedComplex Assemble IKEA furniture Building a sky- scraper Creating a happy city Instructions have to be followed, no particular expertise is needed High level analysis and expertise needed Even the best analyse and expertise cannot tell us exactly what to do If instructions are correctly followed the success is guaranteed If analyses and decisions are done correctly the success is almost guaranteed Success can never be guaranteed

Source: Thinking Schools, Learning Nation. A Prezi presentation by Ann Neo October 22 (see here)here

Key solutions Combining the „five instruments” The focus on capacity building – Supporting the development of schools into intelligent learning organisations – Developing school leadership

Using simultaneously the five key complementary instruments School autonomy Feedback Capacity building Incentives/sanctions Interventions

School autonomy and accountability Source: Pisa in Focus 9 - School autonomy and accountability: Are they related to student performance? (

Schools as an intelligent learning organisations Understanding problems of practice Creating contextual knowledge to solve problems in communities of practice Managing knowledge: sharing, storing and applying Operating sophisticated knowledge creation and management techniques (an example: the lesson study)

The Hong Kong learning study model Context: an ambitious curriculum reform The use of a version of the Japanese lesson study –Teachers identify specific learning problems –They apply a specific theory (variation theory”) –They collectively design/deliver model lessons –They observe the model lessons –They collectively analyse the model lessons

HK curriculum reform „The overarching principle is to help students learn how to learn. All students have the ability to learn and in order to do so they should be offered essential learning experiences. A learner-focused approach should be used to make decisions in the best interests of students. Diversified learning, teaching and assessment strategies should be used to suit the different needs of students. Development strategies should be built on the strengths of students, teachers, schools (…) Schools can flexibly draw up their own school-based curriculum to meet the needs of their students...” Source: Report of Survey on the School Curriculum Reform and Implementation of Key Learning Area Curricula in Schools. Education and Manpower Bureau. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. May 2004

Developing school leadership Why the development of school leadership is a key instrument of learning centred education policies? What kind of leadership competences are needed in a context of learning centred education policy?

School leadership and learning outcomes New research evidence: the impact of school leadership on learning outcomes Complexity, context and time –Complex, non-linear, indirect relationship –Contextual and temporal factors are decisive

Non-linear, complex and indirect relationship The impact is realised through other factors (e.g. through teacher collaboration and knowledge sharing) Cyclical effects: input factors are influenced by output factors (the leader creates a collaborative teacher community and then starts behaving differently )

Contextual and time factors Schools operating in different social environments require different leadership approaches (what is good in one environment may be harmful in another) Schools in different phases of development require different leadership approaches (what is good in one phase may be harmful in another)

The time factor Schools in different phases of development require different leadership approaches (what is good in one phase may be harmful in another) Research design implications: –Schools in different phases of their organisational development could not be left in the same sample group –Differential causal relationships had to be looked for in different subsamples based on developmental phases Phases in the NCSL research report

Relevant school leadership competences Understanding the complexity of classroom level pedagogy Supporting the development of relevant teacher competences Organisational development and change management capacities –Nurturing a climate of intellectual stimulation and trust for knowledge creation and sharing –Managing human emotions –Playing with time - using strategic incrementalism

Source: Emotional Intelligence 4 Change (see here)see here

Source: American Express Open Forum (see here)see here