Successful Principals in Times of Change Christopher Day, University of Nottingham, UK

The Standards Agenda

i)Shaping the Future ii)Leading Learning and Teaching iii)Developing Self and Working with Others iv)Managing the Organisation v)Securing Accountability vi)Strengthening Community (DfES, 2004)

Social Trends

Australia - Bill Mulford (Tasmania) and David Gurr & Lawrie Drysdale (Melbourne) Canada (Toronto) - Kenneth Leithwood Denmark (Copenhagen) - Lejf Moos England (Nottingham) - Christopher Day China (Hong Kong) - Kam-Cheung Wong Norway (Oslo) - Jorunn Moller Sweden (UMEA) - Olof Johansson USA (SUNY, Buffalo) - Stephen Jacobson and Lauri Johnson ISSLP Participants

Identify the values, knowledge, skills and dispositions which successful school leaders use in implementing leadership practices across a range of successful schools in different countries. Identity those leadership practices that are uniquely important in large v. small schools, urban v. suburban v. rural schools, schools with homogeneous and diverse student populations and high v. low poverty schools. Explore the relationship between successful leadership values, practices, broader social and school specific conditions, and student outcomes in different countries. ISSLP Objectives

Produce the first international database on successful school leadership based upon the largest empirical study, thus providing a unique contribution to knowledge. Produce digital case studies, organise national and international dissemination conferences and produce and disseminate a book and several academic conference papers. ISSLP Objectives (ctd)

Literature review and design of interview protocol (April July 2002) Multi-site case studies conducted, analysed, comparative data produced (September August 2004) Questionnaire survey of principals in each country (January September 2005) In-depth observational case studies (October July 2006) Production of digital case studies (September March 2007) ISSLP Project Phases

Interview and questionnaire based study Principals complete biographical and career questionnaires Intervies, over 2-3 days (min), on school principal’s “success” with: –Principal (3 occasions) –2-3 teachers –2-3 support staff –2-3 parents –2-3 school governors –2 groups of pupils (3-4 in each group) ISSLP Methods

Interviews based on semi-structured schedules covering: –Pupil population and challenges presented –School Ethos –School success and principal’s contribution –Professional relationships with government inspectors, LEA officers, teachers, governors, parents and pupils And for principals only: –Non-professional sources of support –Work/Life boundaries –Narratives of histories and critical incidents/phases ISSLP Methods (ctd)

Schools of different sizes operating within different phases of education (i.e. the early years of primary schooling through to upper-secondary and including special schools) Schools located within a range of economic and socio- cultural settings (i.e. including rural, suburban and inner- urban schools as well as those with mixed catchment areas) Schools in which headteachers who were widely acknowledged as being “effective leaders had spent different amounts of time (i.e. ranging from relatively new to well- established headteachers with many years of experience) Selection of Schools

Questions

Beyond transformational leadership Values-led, achievement-oriented, people centred Contingency driven: managing tensions and dilemmas Reflection Training and Development What successful leaders look like

Were clear in their vision for the school and communicated it to all its constituents; Focused upon care and achievement simultaneously; Created, maintained and constantly monitored relationships recognising them as key to the cultures of learning; Were reflective in a variety of internal and external social and organisational contexts, using a variety of problem-solving approaches; Sought, synthesised, and evaluated internal and external data, applying these to the school within their values framework; persisted with apparently intractable issues in their drive for higher standards Effective Headteachers: Values led

Were prepared to take risks in order to achieve these; Were not afraid to ask difficult questions of themselves and others; Were entrepreneurial; Were “networkers” inside and outside the school; Were not afraid to acknowledge failure but did not give up and learnt from it; Were aware of a range of sources to help solve problems; Managed ongoing tensions and dilemmas through principled, values-led contingency leadership. Effective Headteachers: Values led (ctd)

Seven Tensions Leadership v. Management Maintenance v. Development Internal v. External Change Autonomy v. Autocracy Personal Time v. Professional Tasks Personal Values v. Institutional Imperatives Leadership in Small v. Large Schools Three Dilemmas Development v. Dismissal Power with v. Power over Subcontracting v. Mediation Origins UK

Vision and resilience Articulating and upholding values and beliefs: the ethical dimension Focussing upon moral purpose Fostering an inclusive community Creating expectation and achievement Building internal capital and capacity Leading the learning Defining and maintaining identity Renewing trust Being passionate through commitment Ten Areas For Success

1.Moral purpose and social justice 2.Organisational expectation and learning 3.Identity, trust and passionate commitment Three Key Themes

Moral purpose and social justice

Organisational expectation andlearning

Identity, trust and passionatecommitment