Title: Every School a Great School Realising the Potential of System Leadership Keynote Presentation RTU Bu
1Every School a Great School Realising the
Potential of System Leadership Keynote
Presentation RTU Building Leadership Capacity
Co-Constructed Leadership Project Belfast,
Northern Ireland, Tuesday 2nd October 2007
Professor David HopkinsHSBC iNet Chair of
International Leadership
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4Moral Purpose of Schooling
I get to learn lots of interesting and different
subjects
I know what my learning objectives are and feel
in control of my learning
I can get a level 4 in English and Maths before I
go to secondary school
I know what good work looks like and can help
myself to learn
I know if I need extra help or to be challenged
to do better I will get the right support
My parents are involved with the school and I
feel I belong here
I can work well with and learn from many others
as well as my teacher
I know how I am being assessed and what I need to
do to improve my work
I can get the job that I want
I enjoy using ICT and know how it can help my
learning
All these . whatever my background, whatever my
abilities, wherever I start from
5The G100 Communique
- A group of 100 principals from fourteen
countries (G100) met at the National Academy of
Education Administration (NAEA) in Beijing, China
16-19 October 2006 to discuss the transformation
of and innovation in the worlds education
systems. - They concluded their communique in this way -
- We need to ensure that moral purpose is at the
fore of all educational debates with our parents,
our students, our teachers, our partners, our
policy makers and our wider community. - We define moral purpose as a compelling drive to
do right for and by students, serving them
through professional behaviors that raise the
bar and narrow the gap and through so doing
demonstrate an intent, to learn with and from
each other as we live together in this world.
6The need for a systemic response
- We aspire to a society that is not merely civil
but is good. A good society is one in which
people treat one another as ends in themselves.
And not merely as instruments as whole persons
rather than as fragments as members of a
community, bonded by ties of affection and
commitment, rather than only as employees,
traders, consumers or even as fellow citizens. - The vision of a good society is a tableau on
which we project our aspirations, not a full
checklist of all that deserves our dedication.
And the vision is often reformulated as the world
around us changes, and as we change. - The Third Way is a road that leads us toward the
good society. However, it should be acknowledged
at the outset that the Third Way is indeed fuzzy
at the edges, not fully etched. - Amitai Etzioni The third way to a good society
7Every School a Great Schoolas an expression of
moral purpose
- What parents want is for their local school to be
a great school. - (National Association of School Governors
Education and Skills Select Committee 2004). -
- Test of resolve
- An educational system that enables every
individual to achieve their potential and enhance
their learning skills - a stress on moral purpose and social justice in
order to equalise life chances - enhance teaching quality rather than structural
change - commitment to sustained, systemic change since a
focus on individual school improvement distorts
social equity.
8Towards system wide sustainable reform
Building Capacity
Professionalism
Prescription
National Prescription
Every School a Great School
Schools Leading Reform
System Leadership
9Four key drivers to raise achievement and build
capacity for the next stage of reform
- Personalising Learning
- Professionalising Teaching
- Building Intelligent Accountability
- Networking and Collaboration
10(i) Personalising Learning Joined up learning
and teaching
- Metacognition
- Curriculum choice entitlement
- Assessment for learning
- Co-production
My Tutor Interactive web-based learning
resource enabling students to tailor support and
challenge to their needs and interests.
11(ii) Professionalising Teaching Teachers as
researchers, schools as learning communities
The Edu-Lancet A peer-reviewed journal
published for practitioners by practitioners
regularly read by the profession to keep abreast
of RD.
- Enhanced repertoire of learning teaching
strategies - Evidence based practice with time for collective
inquiry - Collegial coaching relationships
- Professional development to tackle within school
variation
12(iii) Building Intelligent Accountability Balanc
ing internal and external accountability and
assessment
Chartered examiners Experienced teachers gain
certification to oversee rigorous internal
assessment as a basis for externally awarded
qualifications.
- Moderated teacher assessment and AfL at all
levels - Bottom-up targets for every child and use of
pupil performance data - Value added data to help identify strengths /
weaknesses - Rigorous self-evaluation linked to improvement
strategies and school profile to demonstrate
success
13(iv) Networking and Collaboration Disciplined
innovation, collaboration and building social
capital
Autonomous Federations Groups of schools opt
out of LEA control but accept responsibility for
all students in their area
- Best practice captured and highly specified
- Capacity built to transfer and sustain innovation
across system - Greater responsibility taken for neighbouring
schools - Inclusion and Extended Schooling
144 drivers mould to context through system
leadership
Personalised Learning
Networks Collaboration
Professional Teaching
SYSTEM LEADERSHIP
Intelligent Accountability
15System Leadership A Proposition
- System leaders care about and work for the
success of other schools as well as their own.
They measure their success in terms of improving
student learning and increasing achievement, and
strive to both raise the bar and narrow the
gap(s). Crucially they are willing to shoulder
system leadership roles in the belief that in
order to change the larger system you have to
engage with it in a meaningful way.
16System leaders share five striking
characteristics, they
- measure their success in terms of improving
student learning and strive to both raise the bar
and narrow the gap(s). - are fundamentally committed to the improvement of
teaching and learning. - develop their schools as personal and
professional learning communities. - strive for equity and inclusion through acting on
context and culture. - understand that in order to change the larger
system you have to engage with it in a meaningful
way.
17Evidence from OFSTED suggests that teaching is
still a relatively weak area
18Seven Strong Claims about School Leadership
- School leadership is second only to classroom
instruction as an influence on student learning. - Almost all successful (school) leaders draw on
the same repertoire of basic leadership
practices. - It is the enactment of the same basic leadership
practices not the practices themselves that
is responsive to the context. - School leaders improve pupil learning indirectly
through their influence on staff motivation and
working conditions. - School leadership has a greater influence on
schools and pupils when it is widely distributed. - Some patterns of leadership distribution are much
more effective than others. - A small handful of personal traits explain a
high proportion of the variation (such as being
open minded, flexible, persistent and optimistic)
in leader effectiveness.
19Act as a Community Leader
Work as a Change Agent
Managing Teaching and Learning
Developing Organisations
Personal Development
Partner another School Facing Difficulties and
Improve it
Moral Purpose
Lead a Successful Educational Improvement
Partnership
Strategic Acumen
Developing People
Lead and Improve a School in Challenging
Circumstances
20Leadership for Learning
- Setting direction
- Total commitment to enable every learner to reach
their potential - Ability to translate vision into whole school
programmes -
- Managing Teaching and Learning
- Ensure every child is inspired and challenged
through personalized learning - Develop a high degree of clarity about and
consistency of teaching quality -
- Developing people
- Enable students to become more active learners
- Develop schools as professional learning
communities -
- Developing the organization
- Create an evidence-based school
- Extend an organizations vision of learning to
involve networks
21I wrote (with Bruce Joyce) some time ago that
- Learning experiences are composed of content,
process and social climate. As teachers we create
for and with our children opportunities to
explore and build important areas of knowledge,
develop powerful tools for learning, and live in
humanizing social conditions.
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23Powerful Learning
- Is the ability of learners to respond
successfully to the tasks they are set, as well
as the task they set themselves In particular,
to - Integrate prior and new knowledge
- Acquire and use a range of learning skills
- Solve problems individually and in groups
- Think carefully about their successes and
failures - Accept that learning involves uncertainty and
difficulty - All this has been termed meta-cognition it
is the learners ability to take control over
their own learning processes.
24Teaching Models
- Our toolbox is the models of teaching, actually
models for learning, that simultaneously define
the nature of the content, the learning
strategies, and the arrangements for social
interaction that create the learning contexts of
our students. For example, in powerful
classrooms students learn models for
- Extracting information and ideas from lectures
and presentations - Memorising information
- Building hypotheses and theories
- Attaining concepts and how to invent them
- Using metaphors to think creatively
- Working effectively with other to initiate and
carry out co-operative tasks
25The Dialectic between Curriculum, Learning and
Teaching
Role Playing
Group Investigation
Synectics
Curriculum Development
Evaluation
Concept Attainment
Simulations
Curriculum Development
Synthesis
Concept Attainment
Inductive Thinking
Analysis
Models of Learning Tools for Teaching
Concept Attainment
Inductive Thinking
Application
Comprehension
Inductive Thinking
Mnemonic
Inductive thinking
Mnemonic
Knowledge
Simulations
26System Leadership and Student Achievement
- To sustain improvement
- the leadership develops a narrative for
improvement - the leadership explicitly organises the school
for improvement - the leadership is highly focussed on improving
the quality of teaching and learning (and student
welfare) - the leadership creates
- clarity (of the systems established)
- consistency (of the systems spread across
school), and - continuity (of the systems over time)
- the leadership creates internal accountability
and reciprocity - the leadership works to change context as a key
component of their improvement strategy
27Teacher performance DeterminantsPj f (Mj,
Aj, Sj)
- P teachers performance
- M teachers motivation
- A teachers abilities, professional
knowledge and skills - S work settings and features of their school
and classroom
28Effects of School Leadership on Student Learning
29System leaders share five striking
characteristics, they
- measure their success in terms of improving
student learning and strive to both raise the bar
and narrow the gap(s). - are fundamentally committed to the improvement of
teaching and learning. - develop their schools as personal and
professional learning communities. - strive for equity and inclusion through acting on
context and culture. - understand that in order to change the larger
system you have to engage with it in a meaningful
way.
30Act as a Community Leader
Work as a Change Agent
Managing Teaching and Learning
Developing Organisations
Personal Development
Partner another School Facing Difficulties and
Improve it
Moral Purpose
Lead a Successful Educational Improvement
Partnership
Strategic Acumen
Developing People
Lead and Improve a School in Challenging
Circumstances
31System Leadership Roles
- A range of emerging roles, including heads who
- develop and lead a successful educational
improvement partnership across local communities
to support welfare and potential - choose to lead and improve a school in extremely
challenging circumstances - partner another school facing difficulties and
improve it. This category includes Executive
Heads and leaders of more informal improvement
arrangements - act as curriculum and pedagogic innovators who
develop and then transfer best pracatice across
the system - Work as change agents or experts leaders as
National Leader of Education, School Improvement
Partner, Consultant Leader.
32Networking and SegmentationHighly
Differentiated Improvement Strategies
33Segmentation requires a fair degree of boldness
- All failing and underperforming (and potentially
low achieving) schools should have a leading
school that works with them in either a formal
grouping Federation or in more informal
partnership. - Schools should take greater responsibility for
neighbouring schools so that the move towards
networking encourages groups of schools to form
collaborative arrangements outside of local
control. - The incentives for greater system responsibility
should include significantly enhanced funding for
students most at risk. - A rationalisation of national and local agency
functions and roles to allow the higher degree of
national and regional co-ordination for this
increasingly devolved system.
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35The Systemic Agenda
The future reform agenda is about schools
supporting each other in a new educational
landscape
- Schools exist in increasingly complex and
turbulent environments, but the best schools
turn towards the danger and adapt external
change for internal purpose. - Schools should use external standards to clarify,
integrate and raise their own expectations. - School benefit from highly specified, but not
prescribed, models of best practice. - Schools, by themselves and in networks, engage in
policy implementation through a process of
selecting and integrating innovations through
their focus on teaching and learning. - Schools use the principles of segmentation to
transform the system
36A Three Phase Strategy for School Improvement
- Phase One Establishing the Process
- Phase Two Going Whole School
- Phase Three Sustaining Momentum
37Phase One Establishing the Process
- Commitment to the School Improvement Approach
- Selection of School Improvement Group or Cadre
- Enquiring into the Strengths and Weaknesses of
the School - Designing the Whole School Programme
- Seeking Partners and Seeding the Whole School
Approach
38Establishing the Process
During this early phase, strategies need to be
clear and direct focusing on a limited number of
basic curriculum and organisational issues, to
build the confidence and competence
- provision of early, intensive outside support
- surveying opinion disaggregating data on student
achievement - identify a school improvement group (SIG), who
receive specific training in classroom practices
crucial to achieving schools goals - focus on managing learning behaviour, not
behaviour management - work on re-skilling teams of teachers in specific
repertoire - progressive restructuring to generate new
opportunities for leadership, collaboration and
planning.
39Preparing for School Improvement
40Phase Two Going Whole School
- The Initial Whole School INSET Day(s)
- Establishing the Curriculum and Teaching Focus
- Establishing the Learning Teams
- Curriculum groupings
- Peer coaching or buddy groups
- The Initial Cycle of Enquiry
- Sharing Initial Success on the Curriculum Tour
41Going Whole School
- Developmental activities at this stage include
- The use of whole school training days to focus on
practical teaching and learning strategies. - The allocation of dedicated time for school
improvement activities. - The organising of staff into critical friendship
groups. - Monitoring progress through a focus on student
learning. - Generating an on-going dialogue about values
across staff and with key groupings such as heads
of faculty.
42Curriculum Tour
WHOLE SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PRIORITY An Enquiry into
Teaching and Learning
Dept. A (Inductive Teaching)
Dept C (Inductive Teaching)
Dept. B (Inductive Teaching)
Stage I
Stage II
Curriculum Tour
Group Work
Stage III
Memory
Synectics
WHOLE SCHOOL WORKING TOWARDS REPERTOIRE OF
TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES
43Phase Three Sustaining Momentum
- Establishing Further Cycles of Enquiry
- Building Teacher Learning into the Process
- Sharpening the Focus on Student Learning
- Finding Ways of Sharing Success and Building
Networks - Reflecting on the Culture of the School and
Department
44Sustaining Momentum
School improvement is not another project. It
needs to be built into the fabric of the school
the ways teachers work together.
- new understandings about learning change
management - more flexible and creative use of space, time,
and people - widespread use of collaborative ways of working
and - redefinition adaptation of ideas through the
use of evidence.
When these are internalised then not only will
student attainment have risen but also the school
will be a learning organisation.
45Moving to Scale
Cohorts of 6 - 8 Schools 6 - 8 Members of School
Improvement Group
Year 1 Year 2
Year 3
PLAN Cohort A
. Cohort B
.........
Cohort C
.....
46iNets Mission
- to create powerful and innovative networks of
schools committed to achieving systematic,
significant and sustained change that ensures
outstanding outcomes for all students in all
settings.
47OECD Trends
- The nature of childhood and extended
adolescence - The knowledge economy
- Inequality and exclusion
- Changing family and community life
- And more broadly
- Alarming increase in the inequalities between
rich and poor countries - Patterns of population growth
48Why Scenarios?
- Scenarios translate trends into imagined probable
futures, helping us to - understand more about our current direction of
travel, our values and our principles - imagine the preferred future we hope to shape
together - explore how school leaders and policy makers can
work to make this a reality.
49Six OECD Scenarios
- Maintaining the Status Quo
- 1. Bureaucratic school systems continue
- 2. Teacher exodus, the meltdown scenario
- Re-schooling
- 3. Schools as core social centres
- 4. Schools as focused learning organisations
- De-schooling
- 5. Learning networks and the network society
- 6. Extending the market model
501. Bureaucratic School Systems Continue
- strong pressures towards uniformity
- schools as distinct institutions, knitted
together by complex administrative arrangements. - media commentaries frequently critical in tone,
but radical change is resisted. - fear that change will not address fundamental
tasks of guardianship socialisation, alongside
cognitive development equality of opportunity.
512. Teacher Exodus - Meltdown Scenario
- crisis triggered by a rapidly ageing profession,
exacerbated by low teacher morale and buoyant
opportunities in graduate job market - large size of the teaching force makes
improvements in relative attractiveness costly,
with long lead times for tangible results - disparities of the crisis by socio-geographic, as
well as subject, area. - creates vicious circle of retrenchment conflict
523. Schools as Core Social Centres
- schools enjoy widespread recognition as the most
effective bulwark against social, family and
community fragmentation. - extensive shared responsibilities exist between
schools and other community bodies, expertise and
institutions of further education, shaping, not
conflicting with, high teacher professionalism. - generous levels of financial support meet
demanding requirements for quality learning in
all communities, elevating the esteem of teachers
and schools.
534. Schools as Focused Learning Organisations
- schools are revitalised around strong knowledge
agendas (rather than a social agenda), in a
culture of high quality experimentation,
diversity and innovation. - new forms of evaluation and competence assessment
flourish. -
- ICT is used extensively alongside other learning
media, traditional and new. - knowledge management moves to the fore, and the
very large majority of schools have extensive
links to tertiary education and other
organisations.
545. Learning Networks - Networked Society
- dissatisfaction with institutionalised provision
diversified demand leads to the abandonment of
schools in favour of multiple learning networks. - networks are founded on extensive possibilities
of powerful, inexpensive ICT. - deinstitutionalisation of school systems becomes
part of the emerging network society. - various cultural, religious and community voices
come to the fore in the socialisation and
learning arrangements for children.
556. Extending the Market Model
- governments encourage diversification in a
broader environment of market-led change, - many new providers are encouraged by reforms of
funding structures, incentives and regulation. - flourishing indicators, measures accreditation
arrangements start to displace direct public
monitoring and curriculum regulation. - Innovation abounds, as do painful transitions and
inequalities.
56The iNET Scenario
- Breaking with the past
Preferred future - Transmission model
Learning focussed - Jack of all trades
Supported professionalism - Islands of excellence
Networking - Secret gardens Social centres
57Critical path how do we get there?
Personalised Learning
Networks Collaboration
Professional Teaching
SYSTEM LEADERSHIP
Intelligent Accountability
58The Logic of System Leadership
Learning Potential of all Students
Repertoire of Learning Skills
Models of Learning - Tools for Teaching
Embedded in Curriculum Context and Schemes of Work
Whole School Emphasis on High Expectations and
Pedagogic Consistency
Sharing Schemes of Work and Curriculum Across and
Between Schools, Clusters, Districts, LAs and
Nationally
59Paulo Freire once said
- No one educates anyone else
- Nor do we educate ourselves
- We educate one another in communion
- In the context of living in this world
60Professor David Hopkins HSBC Chair in
International Leadership