Culture Findings from the International Project

1
Culture Findings from the International
Project

• Rose M. Ylimaki, Ph.D.
• Associate Professor
• University of Arizona

2
Successful School Leadership Culture

• Single Nation Studies Identify Culture Building
  as an essential part of Successful Leadership
  Seminal Studies
• Effective Schools Research in USA correlates
  feature safe school environments norms of
  learning and continuous improvement ethos of
  high expectations role of principal as
  instructional leader (Purkey Smith, 1983 Louis
  Miles, 1990 Lezotte, 1997)
• British Head Teachers in High-Poverty Schools in
  England leaders take a directive approach to
  school safety and improvement of academics and
  gradually release leadership responsibility as
  safety improves (Harris, 2002)
• AERA Task Force - Leithwood Riehl (2005)

3
Aera Task Force Report Leadership requires

• Setting Directions
• Developing People
• Redesigning the Organization professional
  learning structures and norms
• Managing the Instructional Program
• These concepts are necessary but not sufficient
  for successful leadership in any context

4
School Culture

• Ethos feeling how we do things around here
• Safety
• Norms
• Beliefs
• High Expectations for Learning
• Rituals

5
International Successful School Principalship
Study (ISSP)

• Eight Countries (USA, England, Denmark, Norway,
  Sweden, Canada, Hong Kong Australia)
• 86 cases to date
• Focus on Challenging School Contexts US,
  England, and Australia

6
Challenges - Changing Demographics

• Immigration accounts for population increases
  (increased cultural diversity)
• High-poverty schools serve a minority majority
  population
• USA (64 of foreign born residents arrived since
  1980, most coming from non-English speaking
  nations 30 of schoolage children live in
  poverty)
• Britain (Half of population growth between 1991 -
  2001 due to immigration
• Australia (41 of population growth in 1991 due
  to immigration

7
Increased Accountability

• England (1988 Education Reform Act)
• National School Inspections and Standardized
  Tests of Academic Performance - Student Outcomes
• Australia (1990s)
• State and Territory Levels
• Self-Evaluation and External Review Combination
• Differentiated Reviews based on Past Performance
• Multiple Data Sources and Foci on Participation
  as well as Authentic Pedagogy and Student
  Performance
• USA
• No Child Left Behind Act (2002)
• State Testing Mandates

8
Organizational Reforms

• England (Local Management of Schools)
• Decentralization - head teachers are accountable
• National Mandate
• Australia
• Decentralization and Self-Management
• Variation by Region (initiated in Victoria,
  spread throughout the Australia during the 1990s)
• Accountability for Participatory Leadership
• USA
• State and District Mandates for Site-Based
  Management
• No Accountability for Participatory Leadership

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Research Phases

• Phases
• Development of Common Interview Protocols, using
  single nation literature on successful school
  leadership
• Development and Analysis of Case Studies (86 to
  date 13 high-poverty)
• Survey
• Digital Videos and Modules for Leadership
  Preparation

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Case Study Phase

• Sampling - Reputation and Outcomes (13 culturally
  diverse, high-poverty schools in NE)
• Data Sources and Collection
• Document Analysis
• Participant Observations
• Semi-Structured Interviews - common protocol
• Principals (two interviews) random selection of
  20 teachers parent focus groups student focus
  groups
• Data Analysis
• National Case Study Development Identification
  of Themes and Categories - Leadership Practices
• Cross-National Analysis

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US Case Descriptions

• Seven Northeast US Elementary, Middle, High
  Schools
• Four women (three African American and one
  Caucasian) three men (all Caucasian)
• Range of Experience (3 years to 22 years)
• Three Masters and Four Doctorates
• Range of School Size and Location (urban,
  suburban, rural)

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Findings

• (Outer) Core Practices
• Multi-focal Direction Setting Beauty, Safety,
  Learning
• Developing People - Unlearning and Learning
• Organizational Redesign - Physical and Learning
• Managing the Instructional Program (Direct and
  Indirect)
• (Inner) Qualities of Leadership - persistence,
  empathy, passion, respect for multi-culturalism,
  flexible thinking

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Multi-Focal Setting Directions

• Two Simultaneous Intentions
• Secure the building
• Beautify the Physical Setting (with respect to
  school culture)
• Refocus on teaching and learning
• Principals / Headteachers Close the Doors in
  Order to Open Them

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Setting Direction - Security, Beauty, Learning

• USA Costello Principal - I knew the first thing
  I had to do was clean the school upliterally. We
  locked all doors but one and got parents to help
  us secure that oneParents and the teachers
  needed to see the school as a safe, beautiful
  place where children could and would learn.
• Australian Billabong Principal - I would have to
  stand outside and stop transients from coming in
  school. I had to also teach people that this
  building was for education and giving children a
  chance. That means we plant flowers and
  learning.

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Setting Direction cont.

• Respect for Multi-Culturalism
• I started working with a community organization
  to beautify the surrounding neighborhood and to
  create a mural in the school entranceway that
  respected the school culture. US Fraser
  principal

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Setting Directions cont.

• Part of making a school beautiful is showing
  respect for the community culture. Beauty is in
  the eye of the beholder (our kids) and part of
  that requires respecting and learning from the
  community culture. US Hamilton principal

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Setting Directions cont.

• I really had to develop relationships with the
  growing Muslim population and help create
  positive learning relationships, giving respect
  for their beliefs and educating all of us
  (including me) about what that meant. Australian
  principal

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Developing People - Unlearning and Learning

• Knowledge, Skills and Dispositions to Improve
  Teaching and Learning
• Creativity with Resources
• Direct Modeling and Support in Classrooms
• Unlearning and Learning
• Intellectual Stimulation and Emotional Support
• Empathy for Poverty Barriers but No Excuses

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Developing People Quotes

• England (Shale) Head Teacher - You have to make
  sure the kids get to do the real reading and
  writing, to be actively involved in learning, and
  I really had to help teachers unlearn old
  practices and learn new ones, even teaching in
  their classrooms.
• Australian (Appler) Principal - Our kids have a
  lower tolerance for didactic teachingthey have
  to have constructivist learning, which means some
  teachers need to unlearn more didactic practices.
  We spend time every day sharing strategies to do
  that.

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Developing People cont.

• USA Teacher quote about Fraser Principal - She
  knows so much about literacy. She sent us to
  Teachers College for training in authentic
  literacy and she came with their coaches into our
  classrooms.
• Costello Principal - I found Americas Choice
  and it included literacy coaches, which really
  helped teachers learn how to teach reading skills
  and raise their expectations about what kids can
  do when they get good instruction.

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Organizational Redesign - Physical and Learning

• Redesigns focused on Safety and Learning
• Decision Making Teams included beautification
  or physical school development
• Variation in Transition Toward Teacher and Parent
  Leadership and Participation (from early
  stages/intentions to sophisticated (horizontal
  and vertical) teams
• Using Accountability for Leverage

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Redesigning Organization Quotes

• Influence of Accountability
• England (Birch) Head Teacher - When local school
  management is working well, it provides a
  principal with opportunities for democratic
  curriculum development.
• Birch Teacher We have a clear view of where
  curriculum should be headed. Our meetings are
  open and we communicate about students daily. We
  make decisions together.

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Redesigning Organization

• Australia (Billabong Principal) - We are
  accountable for values of participation,
  particularly following the riotswe are conscious
  of including diverse participants in decisions
  about the school.
• Billabong (Muslim) Parent - I attend school
  meetings, and we look at what our kids are
  learning and make decisions with the teachers
  about how curriculum needs to be for our
  children.

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Redesigning the Organization

• USA (Fraser Principal) - We have layers of
  decision-making teams at grade levels,
  cross-grade level and stakeholder groups, school
  governance, and specific projects. We started
  with a beautification group, which was improving
  the look and safety of the building, then we
  gradually added curriculum issues. Parents and
  students sit on the teams as well.

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Managing the Instructional Program (direct and
indirect)

• Teaching and Modeling in Classrooms
• Monitoring Classroom Activity
• Buffering Staff from Distractions
• Hiring (and Removing) Staff According to School
  Priorities
• Variation in Philosophy, Pedagogy, and Use of
  Externally Developed Programs
• Using Accountability to Leverage Improvement

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Managing Instruction Quotes

• England Head Teacher - I teach and spend a lot
  of time in other classrooms. I help teachers do
  what needs to be done..Its unlearning in some
  ways.
• Australian Teacher about Tasmanian principal -
  His real credibility is in the fact that he
  practices what he preaches. He runs our staff
  meetings like a teacher who believes in immersion
  and engagement.
• USA Hamilton teacher - She rolled up her sleeves
  and taught eighth gradeShe stands out in the
  rain with us to get kids on the buses safely.
  Then teachers started to take on a new belief.

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Managing Instruction

• USA Fraser Teacher Quote about Principal - She
  constantly reminds everyone that this school is a
  place for learning. Theres no time to waste.
• Fraser Principal - I literally had to get kids
  to sit so teachers could teach. In some ways,
  accountability helps create pressure to change.
• USA Hamilton Teacher Quote about Principal - We
  listen because she doesnt ask people to do
  anything she doesnt do herself. She actually
  taught eighth grade when there wasnt a qualified
  teacher available. When we looked at data, it was
  her own teaching data, too.

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Inner Leadership Qualities

• Persistence (England Head Teacher) - You just
  need to persevere. This job is not for the faint
  of heart.
• Empathy (Costello, USA) - She seems to have more
  empathy for the neighborhood children than
  teachers who she thinks are not able to handle
  them.
• Passion - (Australian Principal) - Shes
  passionate about making a difference.
• Flexible Thinking (Hamilton Principal, USA) - We
  tapped Fraser teachers trained in literacy to be
  coaches and give workshops at our school.

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Discussion Connection to Culture

• Principals exhibit common practices to improve
  school safety (direct as well as indirect)
• Each principal initiated change in physical and
  learning environment
• Professional development required creativity and
  flexible thinking, using whatever fiscal or
  material resources were available.
• Whenever possible, they redesigned school
  structures, policies, and practices to facilitate
  collaboration and improve school performance.

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Discussion cont.

• Self-management was at various levels of
  maturity, but there was tighter coupling.
• Differences in policy shape leadership beliefs
  and practice (i.e. accountability for
  participation as well as student outcomes)
• This job is not for the faint of heart. It takes
  courage and persistence as well as leadership
  knowledge and skills to be successful in
  high-poverty, challenging schools.

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Discussion - Differences

• Schools differed both within and across countries
  in size, diversity, stage of development,
  leadership structure, school-wide pedagogy, and
  resources.
• School leaders differed in their philosophies of
  learning and pedagogy, and these differences were
  shaped by national / regional context.
• Schools were in different stages of development
  toward distributed leadership or participatory
  governance, which may be due, in part, previous
  principal experience and district/state/national
  expectations.

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Culture

• Ethos how we do things around here (school
  culture are the same)
• Safety and Beauty Multi-Cultural Beauty
• Norms of Cultural Respect and Rigorous Academics
• Beliefs making our cultures into better places
  to live
• Rituals respect multi-cultural, diverse
  population

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Conclusions and Implications

• Findings Extend Single Nation Studies of
  Successful School Principals
• Direct as well as Indirect Leadership Processes
• Context is Critically Important, but there are
  Marked Similarities Across these Countries
• Limitations of Case Study Research and Sample of
  13 (cannot be generalized to All High Poverty
  Schools)

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Conclusions cont.

• Evidence Suggests that Creating a Safe, Nurturing
  Child-Centered Environment may be a Necessary
  First Step in Schools Confronting Conditions at
  13 Sites
• Emphasis on Beauty and Safety
• Respect for Multi-Cultural
• Emphasis on Western Perspectives
• Need for Longitudinal Component and more
  Ethnographic Methods