Who's leading here? Leading within partnerships and collaboration Ann R J Briggs Emeritus Professor of Educational Leadership Newcastle University, UK

Leadership for learning The primary purpose of leadership within educational settings is that the individual participant – child, adolescent or adult – develops and learns. Educational leaders are responsible for providing the curriculum, resources and learning environments within which their learners can best develop and succeed.

Single organisation leadership

Distributed leadership within the single organisation expands the available span of knowledge and expertise within the organisation creates networks of mutual accountability for successful learning involves a range of people in the processes of decision-making, potentially increasing the effectiveness of implementing those decisions encourages the development of leadership expertise, enabling career development and succession planning Distributed leadership

Accountability and responsibility dispersed outwards from senior leaders Multiple aspects of leadership focused upon the individual learner

Collaborative provision Just as no one person in an educational organisation has the knowledge and expertise to provide for every learner, it may be beyond the capacity of a single educational organisation to meet effectively all the needs of all its learners. Collaboration with external partners may focus upon the needs of learners within a single central organisation or the upon the range of needs of learners across the partnership.

Collaborative leadership External partnerships and collaborative contexts expand the range of accessible resource and expertise Accountability and responsibility are shared among partners

Potential range of school partners School Other schools Early years providers Tertiary providers Vocational education / training providers Employers Community leaders Health professionals Social service professionals Careers consultants Police

Benefits of partnership Partnership offers economies of scale and range, enabling  organisations to learn from each other and share best practice  opportunities for collective planning, enhancing the strengths and leadership capacity of each partner  individual learning pathways across the providers to meet a range of learner needs and aspirations  shared staffing and staff development, and a wider career structure across the partnership  further partnerships with other providers

Potential benefits for learners Variety of types of provision Specialist facilities Mix with other learners Individualised provision Difference of learning culture Increased autonomy Increased curriculum range Focus on the learner not the organisation

System leadership Multi-organisation leadership is inherently different from single-organisation leadership, mainly because of the issues of shared responsibility and accountability across organisations. Senior leaders involved in substantial partnership working are realising that their previous understanding of the purposes and practice of leadership may not ‘fit’ the new situation, and that a new kind of leadership is needed. The term ‘system leadership’ (Higham et al, 2009) is emerging to describe this practice.

Barriers to system leadership Single-organisational models of thinking Fear of risk, or of revealing weaknesses Contrasting cultures Levels of trust Power issues Resource to carry out partnership work Logistical issues

Tensions barriers ambiguities Ambivalence and fear of risk Resource issues Level of workforce development Time to build partnership activity Power issues Contradictory Government policies Level of trust between partners Multiple agendasDiffering cultures Logistical issues Communication issues Single-institution models of strategy and operation

Successful system leadership Willingness and capacity to plan strategically for the needs of partnership as a whole Establishment of a partnership identity within which the identities of constituent organisations will fit Creation of effective organisational collaborative structures, supporting significant professional collaborative activity Networks of leadership across the partner organisations below senior management levels Capacity for strategic innovation to support learning Collaborative leadership seen as the norm, within and across the organisations

System leadership in action System leadership works through reciprocal adaptation and a strong focus on common purpose - creating successful environments for learning. Leaders at all levels work in mutual trust, accepting the leadership of partnership members and sharing expertise about learning and learning contexts. Organisational systems across the partnership enable collective inclusive decision-making and the achievement of aligned organisational goals. Partnership energy is directed upon collective achievement for learners.

Successful system leadership If single-organisation leadership is sometimes seen in terms of hierarchy, power and position, system leadership offers a fundamental conceptual shift to a focus upon equity, mutuality and shared educational purpose. Despite its inherent difficulties, the strength of system leadership in an educational context is its co-operative focus on achieving successful and supportive environments for learning.