Ready to lead? Shifting thinking about leadership of our schools AIS Executive Conference May 2007 Helen Wildy Murdoch University

H Wildy Overview 1. Shifts in thinking about leadership 2. Delegation 3. Leading or managing? 4. Standards-based reform 5. WA Leadership Framework 6. Summary

H Wildy Shifts in thinking about leadership Trait theory Leadership style 1960s Situational theories 1970s Transformational leadership 1980s Distributed leadership 1990s Sustainable leadership 2000s

H Wildy Trait theory Assumed leaders were born, not made Leaders were different from non leaders  Physical traits  Abilities  Personality Challenge: find the person for the job

H Wildy Leadership style 1960s Background research: Hawthorne studies Ohio State University studies 2 dimensions of leadership  Consideration (people)  Structure (task) Example: Blake and Mouton 1964 (authority, team, country club, impoverished)

H Wildy Blake and Mouton 1964 Country Club Team Impoverished Authority High Low People Task

H Wildy Hersey and Blanchard 1970s SupportCoach Delegate Direct High Low People Task

H Wildy Delegation I delegate what? to whom? how? when? with what effect?

H Wildy Three big concepts behind effective delegation Authority Responsibility Accountability

H Wildy Authority Give authority by ensuring sufficient  Resources esp time, motivation  Skill  Knowledge of context and importance  Understanding of rationale  Discretion Involve delegatee in making these decisions Giving appropriate authority shows you value  the work and  the person Giving authority says I trust you

H Wildy Responsibility Be clear about responsibilities: the buck stops with the delegator but the delegatee has responsibilities eg outcome, timeline, quality Delegators are responsible for informing others Delegatees are responsible for seeking clarification Sharing responsibility shows you value  the work and  the person Sharing responsibility says We’re professionals

H Wildy Accountability Decide on accountability processes in advance  meeting targets  being on time  staying within budget  achieving quality  reporting achievement (when and how) Accountability relationships show you value  the work and  the person Accountability says You, and your work, matter

H Wildy Transformational leadership 1980s In contrast with transactional leadership (power, position, politics and perks), Transformational leadership assumes people are motivated by intrinsic factors: shared goals, sense of belonging, identity by being part of a vision, mission, values Highly popular today as the path to organisational change Deeply embedded in the rhetoric of organisations Based on the concept of heroic, charismatic, singular, visionary leadership But can one person do it all?

H Wildy Distributed leadership 1990s Terms also used  Networked leadership  Collaborative leadership  Shared leadership  Team leadership Assumes  Flatter structures  Decentralised control  Increased ownership  Expanded responsibility

H Wildy Sustainable leadership 2000s Leading for sustainability based on three key concepts Personal resilience Embedded organisational change Future orientation

H Wildy Leading or Managing What is the relationship between leading and managing?  Is one a subset of the other?  Or are they different processes?  Do they involve different skills? Draw a diagram to represent the relationship

H Wildy Leading Establishing direction Aligning people Motivating and inspiring Producing growth, improvement, change Managing Planning, budgeting Organising and staffing Controlling and problem solving Producing order, predictability, stability

H Wildy Standards-based reform Argument Student performance improves when outcomes of learning are made explicit Teachers’ performance improves when practices of teaching are made explicit School performance improves when practices of leaders are made explicit

H Wildy Standards for leaders: UK NSH (National Standards for Headteachers) developed for National College for School Leadership 6 categories, each with 4 subcategories, each with between 3 and 13 subcategories plus invitation to add your own to reflect their contexts Total 159 elements (at least)

H Wildy UK - NSH: 6 main categories Shaping the future Leading learning and teaching Developing self and working with others Managing the organisation Securing accountability Strengthening community (compare with WADET Leadership Framework)

H Wildy UK - NSH : subcategories Knowledge  Knows about Professional qualities  Is committed to  Is able to Actions

H Wildy NSH example Leading learning and teaching Knowledge Knows about:  Strategies for raising achievement and achieving excellence  The development of a personalised learning culture within the school  Models of learning and teaching  The use of new and emerging technologies to support learning and teaching  Principles of effective teaching and assessment for learning  Models of behaviour and attendance management  Strategies for ensuring inclusion, diversity and access  Curriculum design and management  Tools for data collection and analysis  Using research evidence to inform teaching and learning  Monitoring and evaluating performance  School self evaluation  Strategies for developing effective teachers

H Wildy NSH example (Cont) Leading learning and teaching Professional qualities Is committed to  The raising of standards for all in the pursuit of excellence  The continuing learning of all members of the school community  The entitlement of all pupils to effective teaching and learning  Choice and flexibility in learning to meet the personalised learning needs of every child Is able to  Demonstrate personal enthusiasm for and commitment to the learning process  Demonstrate the principles and practices of effective teaching and learning  Access, analyse and interpret information  Initiate and support research and debate about effective learning and teaching and develop relevant strategies for performance improvement  Acknowledge excellence and challenge poor performance across the school

H Wildy NSH example (Cont) Leading learning and teaching Actions  Ensures a consistent and continuous school-wide focus on pupils’ achievement, using data and benchmarks to monitor progress in every child’s learning  Ensures that learning is at the centre of strategic planning and resource management  Establishes creative, responsive and effective approaches to learning and teaching  Ensures a culture and ethos of challenge and support where all pupils can achieve success and become engaged in their own learning  Demonstrates and articulates high expectations and sets stretching targets for the whole school community  Implements strategies which secure high standards of behaviour and attendance  Determines, organises and implements a diverse, flexible curriculum and implements an effective assessment framework  Takes a strategic role in the development of new and emerging technologies to enhance and extend the learning experience of pupils  Monitors, evaluates and reviews classroom practice and promotes improvement strategies  Challenges underperformance at all levels and ensures effective corrective action and follow up  Add your own context specific actions

H Wildy Standards and accountability To what extent are such ‘standards’ helpful to school leaders in rendering an account to their line managers and the public at large? What counts as evidence of meeting these ‘standards’?

H Wildy Problems with ‘standards as lists’ fragmented leads to checklist false dichotomies decontextualised A fulsome list of duties, but where are the standards?

H Wildy Short shrift to long lists which only show Fragmentation, not interrelationships Reduction, not complexity Dichotomous, not variable Duties, not essential qualities Descriptions, not standards

H Wildy Alternative approach Research , funding by ARC and WA DET (Wildy, Louden, Andrich) Judgements about the quality of performance depicted in 200 narrative accounts of school leaders at work More than ratings and descriptions

H Wildy Leadership Framework (WA) Developed over 9 years Grounded in leaders’ practice Based in rigorous research Funded by commonwealth and state grants Developed collaboratively

H Wildy Rasch analysis Narratives arrayed on continua Narratives clustered High, middle, low performance Three levels of performance i.e. standards

H Wildy Qualitative data Attributes that distinguish quality of performance of leaders  Fair  Decisive  Collaborative  Flexible  Innovative  Supportive  Tactful  Persistence

H Wildy Not what but how Factors that differentiate performance relate not to what leaders do but how they do what they do

H Wildy Attributes of leaders Attributes are how leaders do what they do (competencies) in particular contexts And we use attributes for  reflection  professional development  selection

H Wildy WA Leadership Framework

H Wildy Summary Thinking about leadership has shifted dramatically over the past century. This approach to standards Based on a few easily remembered attributes Provides richly illustrated levels Takes account of variation in context Acknowledges complexity Recognises dilemmas Identifies balance between competing pressures To what extent are you ready to lead and to develop others to lead in your school?